Only 17 games into the season it could be thought that the Chicago Blackhawks are considering throwing in the towel.
"Not really." said Co-GM George Bachul. "But you look at the deal and think long term and make your assessment."
The Hawks made an assessment last night with the trading of number one blueliner Ed Jovanovski to Philadelphia. Along with Jovanovski, the Hawks sent over back up tender Ty Conklin and an undisclosed amount of cash.
Coming back to Chi-town is fine offensive blueliner Paul Mara, Niclas Wallin, a 4th round pick formerly owned by New Jersey and what was the key to the deal, NY Rangers first pick in the upcoming entry draft.
"It was a tough deal to assess from my standpoint." said Bachul "I called my Co-GM David Yee, and some young lass answered his cell phone giggling...'Davy isn't available right now.'"
"I had to act though. The first pick locks up a great player. Even if the Rangers go on a run, they aren't going to be better than bottom third, and historically teams that start near the bottom, finish near the bottom. We know, we are right there with them. But also, we sit with our pick and the Isles pick. If the draft were to happen today, we would be sitting with one, five and six in the draft. And we have a great young team, that needs some tweaking, but with tons of good performing youngsters, it will turn around in a big hurry."
"And if it turns out to be the big blueliner Johnson, then the deal is a steal, because Johnson in a few years will be a key cog in anyone's wheel. And I don't want to induce any karma, but I hope the Rangers suck beyong belief."
"On top of it, we get a player that isn't top echelon but a darn good one in Paul Mara, a good depth blueliner with experience in Wallin, plus another 4th rounder. I am pleased with the deal....for sure."
I see the Rangers as having Mara but Philly as having their first, was there a deal that went down that hasn't been released yet?
The Rags look like a pretty decent team to me, I'm sure they will get out of their funk. I'd be quite surprised to see Vancouver or New York finish in the bottom 3 this year.
Never have liked Mara, and he's played pretty poorly so far this year in Boston. I wouldn't even want Jovo on my team in real life, but he's a very good fantasy defenceman.
I like Philly on this one, but there are quite a few nice picks to be had if the NYR 1st is in the bottom 5.
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To NYIslander: Daniel Tjarnqvist, Duvie Westcott, Ilja Bryzgalov, Pat Rissmiller, Tom Poti, Bjorn Melin, Karri Ramo, Tom Gilbert
To Boston: Chris Pronger, Doug Murray, Jocelyn Thibault, Ken Klee, Wade Brookbank, Denis Istomin, Viktor Dovgan
