Talking Trades
This post has no basis in reality and is just my thoughts on some of the rumors being floated around. With Shane Doan and Peter Forsberg off the market attention will now be focused on guys like Bill Guerin, Keith Tkachuk, Gary Roberts and Ruslan Fedotenko. It sounds like Fredrik Modin is about to re-sign with Columbus, which would take him off the market. That’s fine with me as I am not a big fan of Modin’s game.
The guy I still have at the top of my wish list is Bill Guerin, but strictly as a rental. Matt over at On the Wings is a fan as well. St. Louis Blues president John Davidson has been coy regarding what he will do with Guerin:
“Listen, here’s where it is with Billy: Billy didn’t play in the playoffs last year, and Billy didn’t play the year before because there was no hockey,” Davidson said. “Billy is a guy that, you never know, if he did get traded, and that’s a big if, he may want to come back during the summer. If we miss the playoffs and Billy’s here and we didn’t re-sign him, we’d be caught with nothing. That’s not a good thing for the future of the St. Louis Blues. There’s all kinds of different options with a guy like Billy.”
Level whatever criticism you want at Wings general manager Ken Holland, but I am glad he doesn’t go from zero to 180 degrees in his opinion in 3 sentences. Cutting through John Davidson’s artful wordplay leaves you with this: If [St. Louis]…didn’t re-sign him, [they’d] be caught with nothing. That’s not a good thing for the future of the St. Louis Blues.
The question is how much they will get in return for Guerin. My guess is he will be out of Detroit’s price range but I still hope Ken Holland gives it his best shot to trade for Guerin. I’m not suggesting he should overpay, though.
One guy who is starting to be mentioned as trade bait that would be intriguing is Glen Murray. This article suggests he could be on the block.
Glen Murray is signed but at a hefty $4.15 million a year for two more seasons. Thus, he also could be on the move so the club can have more flexibility under the salary cap.
The two years left on his contract concerns me as he is 34, but he could be the type of scorer who could help Detroit in the playoffs. He has averaged 35 goals for the past 4 seasons and is on pace to pot 40 goals this year. He also has great size as he’s 6′3″ and 225. That makes him tough to move.
He would fit in nicely on the second line, which has been ice cold. Pairing Murray with Dan Cleary and Robert Lang could also work out as it has been suggested the line could benefit from a right-handed shooter. That line would have a good mix of size as well as offensive and defensive talent. Cleary would be the smallest forward at 6′ and 211. Both Lang and Murray are 6′2″ and 6′3″ respectively. Clearly is an excellent forechecker and has plenty of speed, while Murray would add some much-needed offensive firepower. That addition might also free up some space for Robert Lang and get him on track offensively.
Moving on, I still expect Ryan Smyth to do what Shane Doan did and re-sign with his current team. There is no way the Oilers can let him go, so they are going to have to bite the bullet and pay up. I think that is what will happen here. Even if he ends up being traded he would likely garner more than Philly received for Peter Forsberg, so it is a moot point for Red Wings fans. The best hope for us is that the Oilers continue to low-ball him to the point where he gets fed up and decides to see what he can get on the open market.
I like Gary Roberts and could see him being an option if Detroit is priced out of the trade talks for Bill Guerin or Keith Tkachuk. He probably wouldn’t add much scoring to the second line but would probably work well with Dan Cleary as both players are good at working along the boards. Cleary, who plays on the second power play unit, has started to move to the front of the net like Tomas Holmstrom does. Having Cleary and Roberts near the front of the net could make that second unit more dangerous. So Roberts could work as a rental.
Some Wings fans are intrigued by the prospect of trading for Ruslan Fedotenko. I have mixed feelings. He appears to be a 20 goal scorer, as he has come close to hitting that mark in several seasons and acutally potted 26 goals last season. He also was a beast during Tampa’s run to the Stanley Cup as he scored 12 goals in 22 games. He has good size at 6′2″ but I am not sure he is a consistent enough offensive weapon to warrant a trade that might be fairly costly. One positive is that if he performs well he could be worth signing to a long-term deal as he is only 28.
Bill Guerin Gary Roberts Glen Murray NHL trades Red Wings Ruslan Fedotenko1 Comment(s)
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[…] I’ve been a big supporter of trading for Bill Guerin but I don’t know what it will cost to do so. I trust Red Wings general manager will make the right decision. If he is able to do a deal that makes sense I think Guerin would be a huge acquition, better than Peter Forsberg given what Detroit needs: scoring, speed and a little sandpaper. Guerin would provide all of those qualities. […]