Pros & Cons: Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Our newest feature, Pros and Cons, holds a debate between two of our featured writers as they make an argument for each team in the series. We will continue this series throughout the playoffs as we delve deeper into how these two teams will interact.
Categories: Around the League, Atlantic, By Teams, Eastern Conference, NHLHS Features, Northeast, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Playoff Coverage Tags: Alexei Kovalev, Andy Sutton, Anton Volchenkov, Brian Elliott, Chris Phillips, Daniel Alfredsson, Evgeni Malkin, Filip Kuba, Jason Spezza, Jordan Staal, Marc Andre Fleury, Matt Cullen, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby
The Value of: Ales Kotalik
NHL Hot Stove presents it’s “The Value Of” series which will look at some of the names discussed around the NHL who likely will be moved at the March 3rd trade deadline.
After enduring four long games on the bench after a few previous stints watching from the press box, Ranger forward Ales Kotalik would like a trade. Jim Schmiedeberg of Blueshirt Banter describes the full story as Kotalik seems destined for a new destination.
Categories: Anaheim Ducks, Atlantic, By Teams, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Deadline Speculation, Eastern Conference, New York Rangers, Northwest, Pacific, Value Of:, Western Conference Tags: Ales Kotalik, Glen Sather, John Tortorella, Matt Cullen, Michael Del Zotto
The Value Of: Ray Whitney
The Carolina Hurricanes, currently clawing and scratching their way out of the cellar within Eastern Conference, face some tough decisions down the road. From now until March 3rd, one of two things will happen.
Categories: By Teams, Deadline Speculation, Value Of: Tags: Bill Guerin, Cam Ward, Eric Staal, Joe Corvo, Mason Raymond, Matt Cullen, Paul Maurice, Ray Whitney, Rod Brind'Amour, Ryan Kesler
Trade Rumors: Not So Lazy Sunday
Just a couple of trade rumors going around the league.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets are not looking to make a move at the moment according to Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch. As of this writing only two teams have less wins than the Blue Jackets in the last ten games, the Oilers and Hurricanes.
GM Scott Howson believes the team as it is currently constructed needs to and should improve. If we profile Howson a bit we can see he tends to bring in younger players via trade, picking up Fedor Tyutin and Antoine Vermette in separate deals last season. If he was to make a move like this, it would likely have to be later in the year when more teams fall out of the race. It could also involve moving a valuable young player who has fallen out of favor such as he did with Pascal Leclaire and Nikolai Zherdev. Nikolai Filatov anybody? - Chris Botta’s Islanders Point Blank reports that the Islanders will spend cap room to make the playoffs. As Botta mentions, the Isles need two top six forwards preferably a center and left wing. With their salary cap situation the way it is, GM Garth Snow can make a salary dump type move and acquire a good player without giving up a high draft pick or solid prospect. A quick look around the League renders very few clear-cut sellers. Pure speculation but Paul Kariya or Matt Cullen would make sense if their teams decide to sell.
Categories: Atlantic, By Teams, Carolina Hurricanes, Central, Columbus Blue Jackets, Eastern Conference, New York Islanders, Southeast, Western Conference Tags: Aaron Portzline, Antoine Vermette, Bob Harwood, Canes Country, Canes Now, Carolina Hurricanes, Chip Alexander, Chris Botta, Fedor Tyutin, Islanders Point Blank, Jim Rutherford, Matt Cullen, New York Islanders, Nikolai Filatov, Nikolai Zherdev, Pascal Leclaire, Paul Kariya, Scott Howson, The Columbus Dispatch
Restoring the Rosters: Anaheim Ducks
Based on Matthew Pouliot’s series on Circling the Bases, I have decided restore the rosters for every NHL team. Like Pouliot, I have established some ground rules for my selections.
- Each team contains players they originally drafted or signed before any other NHL team. This includes players drafted and not signed, as well as European free agents coming over at an older age.
- I have chosen to leave retired players off the list, and lean toward players in the AHL rather than those deported (KHL, SEL, DEL, etc.).
Essentially I am choosing the best available players for a team to succeed in the current NHL season. All 30 teams will be covered, with grades assigned to forwards, defense and goaltending. After all 30 articles are written, they will be ranked in order. This series’ intent is to reward or shame NHL scouts.
The lineup for the Anaheim Ducks is as follows.
Forwards:
The forward core for the Ducks is extremely deep. Their top 9 combines skill, speed and toughness making a combination that few other teams have rivaled. In addition to the Ducks great drafting, they successfully signed and implemented undrafted free agents into their roster.
Categories: 30 Team Series, Restoring the Rosters Tags: Anaheim Ducks, Andrew Ebbett, Andy MacDonald, Bobby Ryan, Brendan Mikkelson, Chris Kunitz, Corey Perry, Drew Miller, Dustin Penner, Ilya Bryzgalov, Joffrey Lupul, Jonas Hiller, Jordon Leopold, Ladislav Smid, Mark Popovic, Matt Belesky, Matt Cullen, PA Parenteau, Paul Kariya, Ruslan Salei, Ryan Carter, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Shannon, Shane O'Brien, Trent Hunter
