Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Penguin Trades. Not Feeling Creative Today.

Trade #1: 2nd round pick for Jordan Leopold

ANALysis: Classic Ray Shero. A late second rounder for a guy who plays against the top lines of other teams. The Pens' D was looking really shitty for the last month or so, and adding another d-man to the mix, especially a good one, is just super cool. Was this move made with the Caps in mind? Most likely, yes.


Trade #2: Martin Skoula and Luca Caputi for Alex Ponikarovsky

What the Leafs get: Trade bait and a prospect. As I write this, Skoula has been traded to the Devils. So basically the Leafs get a prospect and a pick. Or what they should have expected for Poni all along. This is hardly a steal for any side. Caputi will put up 4th line numbers this year for the Leafs, and maybe third line numbers next season. Eventually, he could be a top six forward. He could also drop off the face of the Earth. One thing's for sure: I'll miss his name more than his play.

What the Pens get: Ponikarovsky is the "winger for Geno" that fans were hoping for. He's a 20-goal scorer on other teams, and a career +56 on the friggin Leafs. He should get a medal for that. He's also childhood friends with Ruslan Fedotenko, so here's hoping the new Russian Connection line (Feds and Poni are Ukranian, but they speak Russian) has a base for some chemistry. I'd say Poni seems like a younger Sykora in production, but I've only seen him play against the Penguins. And I didn't pay attention then. In short, the Pens' offense gets better.


Overall: Penguins upgraded their defense and offense while sacrificing a pick, prospect, and 8th d-man. Tell me any team wouldn't do that, and I'll call you a liar.

- Matt

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