Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Winners and losers at the 2011 trade deadline

Not pictured: Joe Nieuwendyk
The 2011 NHL trade deadline was yesterday, a fact of which you may be dimly aware if you happened to turn on a television at any point during the day.

Now that the dust has settled, fans want to know who came out ahead, and who may have set back their cause. Since most of the deals involved assets like draft picks or prospects, knowledgeable observers know that they can't possibly be accurately evaluated for years to come. But that won't stop the rest of use from passing judgement immediately.

So let's take a look back at the moves made on deadline day and in the weeks leading up to it, and start slapping arbitrary "winner" and "loser" labels on everyone involved.

Winner: Pittsburgh Penguins - In James Neal, managed to acquire an elite winger to play with Sidney Crosby who's young enough to still be halfway decent when Crosby returns from his concussion in 2016.

Loser: Vancouver Canucks - Despite a handful of minor moves, still completely failed to address the team's most obvious flaw, a distinct lack of depth on the sixth line.

Winner: St. Louis Blues - Acquired a player named Brock Beukeboom, which will come in handy if the NHL ever decides to becomes a 1980s arcade game or high school football movie.

Loser: Wade Redden - The bad news: The Rangers filled a need for a veteran defenceman by trading assets for Bryan McCabe rather than bring up Redden from the minors for nothing. The worse news: Their second choice was a bag of wet leaves with a plastic hockey stick nailed to it.

Winner: Anton Khudobin - Exists, apparently.

Winner: Nashville Predators - Acquired Mike Fisher, helping a young roster lacking in playoff experience by bringing in a long-time Ottawa Senator who can describe in detail what not to do.

Loser: Calgary Flames - Foolishly failed to trade any veterans for prospects or draft picks, even though everyone has been saying all season long that as a last place team they need to rebuild by … wait, they're in what place now? Let me see those standings. Wow, has Darryl Sutter been told about this?

Winner: Pierre Gauthier - Made several aggressive moves to bolster his fantasy team, presumably, since he must have been doing something all day.

Winner: Craig Anderson - The latest Ottawa goalie has so far resisted attempts by coaches to teach him the Senators' traditional "Hey, get out of the way of that puck, that would totally hurt if it hit you!" technique.

Loser: Colorado Avalanche - Have you ever made an impulse decision to adopt a stray dog that's been raised in an abusive environment because you hope things will be different if it's given a loving home, but then when you get it back to your place it just poops all the over your floor and rolls around in it? Trading for an Ottawa goaltender is pretty much the same thing.

Winner: Jason Arnott - By escaping the 27th place Devils to join the Washington Capitals, the veteran center will get a chance to return to the postseason for up to six or seven games.

Loser: Tomas Kaberle - Has struggled to adjust to the concept of clearing a rebound after allowing a shot on goal with the Bruins, instead of just automatically skating to center ice for the faceoff like he always did in Toronto.

Winner: That guy at work who made fun of you for using a vacation day to stay home and watch the deadline coverage - Yeah, he was right.

Loser: Dustin Penner - Will have to spend time booking movers and making travel arrangements from Edmonton to Los Angeles, instead of just picking up all his stuff and sprinting there like he probably wants to.


  1. haha. the funniest one is by far the Colorado/Ottawa situation.

  2. Got some funny stuff in there..but the Sid concussion thing?? Not funny

  3. As a Sens fan I say you are getting soft on us... I love it your stuff! Now I know what to scream at the TV! "Anderson: we are taking: MOVE!"

    Keep up the good work!

  4. I know that we the NY Rangers are a B team at best, but do you have to call us that here?

  5. @Glen...

    Oops. Apparently you have to hold down another key along with "B" to get the bold to work. Live and learn.

  6. Winner: DGB for schooling long time Flyers beat writer Tim Panaccio and the Flyers website with the Lupul joke. Epic.


  7. Beukeboom went to the Blues from the Lightning.

  8. LMAO Moron, dont quit your day job, as the Canucks did exactly what was needed. Good god man, how stupid can one be.

  9. ^^^
    Clearly Doesn't get the joke and must be a name throwing 12 year old. Also, This is his day job :D. You mad?

  10. I think Canucks fans are quite familiar with the existence of Anton Khudobin...

  11. Good god man, how stupid can one be.


  12. Good One DGB . As for the Idiot Canucks fan ... LOL

  13. Winner: Joffrey Lupul for not getting sent to the Islanders for real...

    It was an awesome prank though.

  14. "a distinct lack of depth on the sixth line"

    Good God that line nearly made me eject bodily fluids all over myself! What's even funnier is the commenter who didn't get it!

    Also, loved the Lupul prank! Way to go, DGB!


  15. @Anonymous...

    You took the words out of my mouth. Which, now that I think of it in context with your "bodily fluids" remark, is just plain gross.

    Anyway, it was one of the lines I laughed hardest at (along with the Ottawa line), but the Canucks fan's was the comment I laughed at most.

  16. I bet the Canuck's fan's day job is planning the "Yay We Made the Playoffs Parade"

  17. Pure gold as always. Thanks for coming out Canucks fan, maybe next time haha.

  18. I don't know how, but you make me laugh in almost every post you put up. Keep it up!


    Coach Boudreau only coaches 7-game playoff series. So unless Arnott gets injured or become a healthy scratch, Arnott will be playing 7 games in the playoffs, this year.

  20. Little talked about feel-good story of the day: Bryan McCabe's wife being nice enough to waive Bryan McCabe's no movement clause.

  21. AnotherRetardedCanucksFanMarch 2, 2011 at 6:44 AM

    "Trading for an Ottawa goaltender is pretty much the same thing."

    What are you talking about? Colorado getting Brian Elliott was a horrible move... Don't quit your day job DGB!

  22. @ AnotherRetardedCanucksFan (Amen)
    you're joking, right?

  23. As a Canucks fan, the Canucks jab was awesome. As was the moron who completely misunderstood it. The parade comment was highly predictable and tiresome.

  24. Where is the Lupul joke everyone's talkin about?

  25. To that anonymous Canucks fan....way to make the rest of the fanbase look like morons...

    I loved the jab at the Canucks but I think you forgot to mention that the Canucks could also use some work on their 5th defensive pairing too.

  26. @Anon

    concerning Lupul, google is your friend.

    search lupul hoax

  27. Great post regarding winners and losers. Ranger fan here and I agree with other Ranger fan when Mentioning that the Rangers are a B team at best. What brought my attention to this page was the comment about Wade Redden. Been wondering what happened with him and his over-payed contract, but know that he has been playing in Hartford for the time being. Can't believe he still has 3 years left on his contract. Ouch, got to be so tough in the NHL to have signed a contract for that much and a team not want you because you don't play comparable to what you are payed. Don't blame the Rangers(except for them signing him for that long and for that much) or any team for making the move they made regarding Redden. No team would pick him up off of waivers for that much even it being half his salary. Salary Cap space is at a premium and teams can't take on a contract like Redden even if they are in need of veteran defenseman especially not one with three years left on his contract. Was surprised the Rangers parted with Rozsival, know they needed forward help with all the injuries but feel they should have gotten more for him. Wolski has still yet to prove himself and know that the Rangers parted with him also to help with the salary cap next season but feel the coyotes benefited more from that deal, if not them another team certainly would have offered more for him. The Ranger who is most worth their salary and more is Ryan Callahan. If there were only a few more players like Callahan (or more Callahan's) on the Rangers it would help light a fire under their ass. That kid is just pure energy and has a great hockey sense. Sorry for the long comment, once i start talking hockey it is tough for me to stop. Anyways glad i found this page, keep up the work DGB!!! Thanks for the space. Ranger fan forever