WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA....

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=796417&navid=DL|NHL|home

Not often you get a player for player swap like this. Ryan Johansen for Seth Jones. Pretty crazy end of the hockey day.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=796383&navid=nhl:topheads

Also, Lecavelier and Luke Schenn for Jordan Weal (who is that....) and a 3rd round pick. No idea what is up with this trade at all. LA gets an alright defenceman and a bottom 6 forward. Philly gets rid of a contract basically

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=796385&navid=nhl:topheads

And then there is this. Mike Richards finally signs somewhere and he picked Washington. Looks like someone just wants to win another cup. He picked one of the best teams in the league right now and adding him (assuming he tries at all) will make them even better. That's a big if though.

geeogree : I honestly believe it was a good move for the preds. Even though Weber is getting older now, they could only promise Jones a top four spot. The Preds want to win a cup now, adding a first line centre and having the Defence that they do, I think they have a decent chance at it. 

LA is just getting the best deals out of everyone this year. It's unreal the team they have now and I'm terrified, as a habs fan, who could make it to the finals if Price is healthy. They get Lucic for nothing (in my opinion) and now they get Lecavelier AND a top 4 D-man? Seriously? And for what.. a 3rd rounder and a prospect?

I don't think it really means anything for Washington. He'll be on there third line at best, he might make a push at the beginning but then he'll realize that he doesn't want to actually play hockey, he just wants the money.


P.S The Habs actually won another one last night, damn!

Domdof : yeah, think of Johansen, Forsberg and Neal on a line together. That would be pretty deadly. And Weber isn't THAT old yet. There have been plenty of defencemen of his caliber that played into their late 30's and played WELL. They are deep enough on defence that this isn't a bad move.

I'm not sure LA won this trade exactly. Lecavelier isn't doing much and likely won't make a big impact and Schenn isn't a top 4 d-man. Maybe in Toronto he was supposed to be but he hasn't lived up to the hype. I think he'll do fine for LA but I don't expect him to be stellar.

Still, Philly got rid of both of those contracts and only are holding half the cap hit. Not bad for them. The trade was all about Schenn replacing Greene while he is hurt and having depth for a cup run. Lecavelier was the price to get that more than anything they gave back.

So the Habs just traded away Tokarski for Friberg (who..?). I'm not sure why Anahiem would want Tokarski, the have Andersen AND Gibson so I'm not sure what they have planned for Tokarski, and I'm not sure what the habs are doing either. Friberg is a player who has played 6 games in the NHL and wracked up a great total of 0 points. I know the Habs still have Condon and Fucale, but Fucale isn't old enough yet. Believe it or not I like Tokarski more then I like Condon, so it's a little upsetting but I guess what the Habs have in mind is that Fucale will be ready to backup Price in 1-2 years. I'm not sure if we'll ever see Friberg play in a game with a Habs jersey though.

Domdof : Gibson got hurt last night and they don't know how long he'll be out. Sounds like he'll be out for a while.

As for Tokarski, he was basically an AHL goalie at this point. To trade him for a prospect isn't the worst thing. Sure he won't be a top player but he'll probably end up as a 3rd or 4th liner going forward. And the Canadiens don't need Tokarski going forward. Tokarski hasn't been great for the Canadiens based on his numbers. Seems like both teams get something out of the trade but it is far from a game changer

geeogree : You have a point, I'm probably still prisoner of the playoff run he had, so my opinion is probably biased. Have you heard about the Crosby snub for the all-star game? And big ol' John Scott coming in for it? What the heck is going on with the all star game haha

Domdof : well, John Scott got in because of voting. There is usually someone like this that gets in every year.

And the Crosby snub isn't really a snub. He's only been in 1 All-Star game in his career. Can't really call it a snub when he has been in the league for 8-10 years and only been in 1. I get what you mean though. He's generally considered the best player of the last 10 years (or top 5 along with a few other obvious choices) and he wasn't picked.

geeogree : John Scott though? The only name that comes close to that is Probert from the Wings and at least he had some offensive talent.

Domdof : if the league wanted it to be the "best" players in the league then they shouldn't have left the voting open to anyone and pre-selected people for the fans to choose from. Instead they get this. This is what happens when internet voting is allowed and people decide they want to troll.

geeogree : Entrusting the internet to do anything coherent as a group is asking an awful lot of them. I don't know when they'll learn...you just can't do that.

So we got the Caps being the first team to 30 wins in the league (seriously, they look like they can break 100 points right now), and the Panthers continuing to play well. Can someone explain to me how you can have two goals eight seconds apart in ice hockey? How do you screw up that badly as a defense immediately after a goal?

Senators played the Panthers pretty close otherwise, scoring two to make the final score 3-2.

The Panthers, though, continuously showing that they're still one of the most touted defensive lines in the NHL, and very possibly one of the most well-rounded teams, as well. The young players are starting to stand out more and more, and I'm about to see if people can start asking Jagr where the Fountain of Youth is; it exists, and he's taken a dip in it. The man is 43, and still playing like he's 25. He's older than both of our other offensive line players COMBINED (Huberdeau and Barkov add up to 42).

And the Capitals...just wow. They have looked so impressive, and tonight was no different, ripping apart the Islanders 4-1. They're looking really dominant, even though they just had a skid a few games ago.

Personally, I think that the Seth Jones Ryan Johansen trade was a HORRIBLE trade for the Preds, but I'm fine with that since they play in the same division as my Hawks.

When do you EVER trade a top flight Dman prospect? Unless you are getting an Elite player in return and Johansen just hasn't shown that he can be that type of player in my opinion.

Jordanv78 : he may not be an ELITE player but he has put up 63 and 71 point seasons. In the nhl right now that is pretty good. Not elite but still up there. Jones is on a deep defensive team that needs something to push them over the edge. I think Nashville is trying to win sooner than later with this trade. This is more of a short term than long term thing. Not that Johansen is short term exactly but I figured Jones was more of a long term thing.

There's just question in my mind on if he brings it every night. Lots of questions surrounding him and Jones is thought around the league as an easy top defensive player in the near future. I just don't think that you trade away a pretty sure fire defensive prospect like that for a player that has a lot of question marks around him.

I think if the preds were a little more patient they would have probably gotten a better offer for Jones.

Jordanv78 : I agree that trading away a defencemean is not the best idea but you're also getting a pretty good player in Johansen. I don't know if the Predators were the instigator of the trade though. I think that the price was something they could deal with.

I do think Columbus will win this trade in the long run but it's hardly a bad deal for Nashville either.

Also, Johansen has already scored in his 2nd shift with Nashville. Doesn't prove anything yet but that is a good sign.

There's a lot of questions around the league that Johansen doesn't "bring it" each and every shift in every game. Guy seems to dog it a lot.

Not only that, it seems that in the Central, you are better off hanging on to all the young talented defensemen you can to stop the likes of teams like the Blackhawks. Having a guy like Johansen isn't going to put them over the top there.

Ultimately, I just feel like they could have gotten more for Jones.

ON another note, I'm excited with how my Hawks have been playing. The EASILY dispatched the Avs the other night on route to their 7th win in a row! Avs had been playing pretty well themselves coming in and they always seem to play well in the UC, was a different story that night though as the Hawks cruised to a 6-3 victory.

The Blue Jackets have the least amount of wins in the NHL with just 15... What a joke. At this rate, it'll probably be like another 10 years until they get back into the playoffs again...

I'm really getting excited with how my Blackhawks are playing at this point in the season. With 8 wins in a row, they are now right on the heels of the Dallas stars, who early on in the season looked like they were going to run away with the central (although we all knew that probably wouldn't last)

Also, with the win, Coach Q is now tied as the 2nd ALL TIME coaching wins leaders in NHL history. The only person in front of him is ANOTHER Hawks employee. Scott Bowman. He wont' pass him, but hey #2 all time is pretty sweet. Especially if he could hoist his FOURTH cup during his tenure with the Hawks and first back to back, which would MOST CERTAINLY cement him as the leader of a modern dynasty.

Hawks have a difficult 2 game back to back series with Montreal and Toronto. Should be interesting to see what happens there.

This John Scott situation is pretty crazy. I was just reading that Montreal plans on sending him down to the AHL, and have no intention on calling him up. If he's not on the active roster when the All Star game happens, then he wouldn't be eligible to play.

This whole thing really shakes out to make the Commish look bad. (once again) but I also read that they gave Scott an out...where he could attend the all-star festivities as if he was an injured player, and do all the interviews and whatnot, but he refused and said he wanted to be a full attendee. So I don't see this working out in a positive manner.

Jordanv78 : yeah, I'm a bit shocked by it. I guess the League decided they didn't like what the fans did and are making it go away. I can't believe they are bothering. The fans voted him in and now you are taking away the power the fans used. It's only going to piss people off.

And who knows what John Scott would have been able to do. The all-star game is meaningless as it is so let people have fun with it. I can't imagine he would do anything like start a fight (unless it was in jest with someone).

I'm super excited with how the Blackhawks are playing right now! Teams have got to be worried looking at how they are doing in the standings. Kane with a Hat Trick and starting to distance himself from the pack.

First time since 1938 that the Hawks have beaten the Leafs and Montreal in back to back nights and first time since 1958 that they beat them in consecutive games.

Coach Q is now alone as the #2 coach in total regular season wins. What an accomplishment and very much deserved. Great guy and GREAT coach.

Corey is playing out of his mind and backing up last season (his best as a pro) with an EVEN BETTER EFFORT THIS year.