Since there’s not much in the way of big names being traded today, I’m left to talk about the questionable moves that the Caps have made today.
7th Round draft pick to the Hurricanes for Scott Walker.
Walker will add some grit and some depth, but the guy gets hurt when the wind blows too hard. Sure the Caps only gave up a 7th round pick, but did anyone really think the Caps’ biggest need was forwards? If they had wanted a player like this, why didn’t they just hang on to Chris Clark?
2nd Round pick to Minnesota for Eric Belanger.
Even I can’t figure this one out. Belanger has bounced around the NHL more often than a cheap hockey ho. Again, I really don’t think forward or 4th line Centers were what anyone thought was Washington’s biggest weakness. Shouldn’t they have been pursuing a solid defenseman or an upgrade at goalie?
My comments on a Capitals website in response to how satisfied they are.
Scott Walker . . . the sparC get a gritty player albeit an honorary member of the M*A*S*H Unit. If he stays healthy what will be seen is that he hasn’t really proven to be much of a playoff player during his career. IMHO this is a good move for the Pens because it will limit the time Fehr gets to play in a top-6 role.
Eric Belanger puts some mud in the center position he’s obviously a third line at best and again (with Walker and Chimera) may be sending Fehr to spend a lot of time watching games. Why do you think they didn’t trade Fehr? Or, for that matter Brendan Morrison. Belanger is one of those players that everyone says has high expectations. After not reaching 40 points after 8 seasons most would say “maybe I was wrong about those high expectations”…….. good face-off guy, however, wasn’t Steckel a good face-off guy too.
Milan Jurcina . . . the guy’s suffering a sport’s hernia and quite frankly it’s my opinion he was only jettisoned to Columbus to dump Clark and get the C on Ovechnik’s chest. However, we know that can’t be true if it’s also true that the C doesn’t mean crabs to YINZ folks.
Joe Corvo becomes the key to the sparC Trade Deadline. I think we all knew that Pothier was a accident waiting to happen and a major screw-up when YINZ signed him in the first place. Oscar Osala (similar to the Pens Eric Tangradi) has a chance to be an outstanding power forward which usually takes a few years longer to develop. But you have to give to receive. The Pens wouldn’t part with Tangradi and let Luka Cuputi go for Ponikarovsky instead. Here’s the question with acquiring Corvo: Did you need a defensive defenseman or another offensive defenseman? Corvo while having a decent shot on the PP (like Green) is 10 times worse than Green in the defensive zone. This guy plays what some say is risky in the defensive zone while other point to the ton of turnovers and call it playing stupid in the defensive zone. On top of not playing very physical. IMHO, it’s almost like the complete opposite of what YINZ needed.
Raffi Torres a much more physical and more valuable and healthier player than Walker was available for a 2nd round pick. Of course, I still believe your biggest weakness is in goal – especially if Varlamov is a M*A*S*H Unit player. If he is and you have to go with Theodore YINZ ain’t much better than the Flyers.