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Wow. Amazing what the littlest bit of rest can bring you. I feel much better today! I don't know if you noticed yesterday how beat to hell all the TV Trade Deadline people were, but I can attest to the fact that coming right out of the Olympics yesterday was no easy task!
It was interesting to see some of hockey's best journalists listing all the trades that were attempted yesterday, many of which we talked about as the day went along as well. I think the Olympic break made this year very tough to pull off for a lot of teams. It feels like teams still had their targets, but perhaps not as many contingency plans as usual....As Burke said in his PC, you need to lay the groundwork to make deals long before yesterday.
But yesterday, when Whitney and Hamhuis didn't move, it also meant a lot of other dominos never fell.
One source put it this way..."Many of the minor trades you saw yesterday came about because the two teams set off talking about something else entirely and settled back to a small deal."
Another source added, "There was one deal, one of the last deals announced where two very nondescript players were moved. Those players were throw-ins to a huge deal that fell apart...and in the end those teams decided to only move the extra pieces."
On Hamhuis...
We reported yesterday the Flyers and Canucks had interest and many others have said the same today. The Flyers fell apart because they couldn't get Dan to commit to any more years. The Canucks couldn't get the right deal together...well should I say they didn't want to spend too much because I believe the Canucks believe that Hamhuis wants to play for the Canucks. I would make them the big favorite for Hamhuis right now on July 1.
On Ray Whitney...
Once Ponikarovski was moved, LA (who lost out on Poni) got back in on Whitney in a big way...I don't understand how the Canes could have possibly ended up with nothing here. I think back to Keith Tkachuk going to Atlanta. At some point players usually help their franchises.
On Tomas Kaberle...
There were three teams in on him, and Boston and Philly were two of them. I am not buying the Canucks ever were on Kaberle's list of teams. I heard the third team was actually in the Southeast division. I today learned the Bruins were trying to make the Kaberle deal when they cleared space by moving Morris. The Flyers couldn't clear the space either.
I also wouldn't expect an extension in Toronto for Kaberle...
more to come.
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