As the trade deadline of March 2nd draws nearer and nearer, we at Bleedin’ Blue decided to recap the day’s trade news for you. We focus on the St. Louis Blues trade rumors, as well as how other teams’ movements affect our Blues. This feature will run every day until trade deadline.
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Recap
Yesterday we covered about a million minor trades (including one by the Blues) and two surprising, big ones. Jagr to Florida was oddest, while Clarkson to Columbus in exchange for Horton was a head-scratcher for many at first. Why trade an injured great for a costly not-so-great? Where was the benefit to either team? Ken Campbell broke it down for us in The Hockey News:
"The trade does not violate the letter of the collective bargaining agreement, but it does violate the spirit of it. NHL teams, the same ones who come up with ways to tighten the system and seem more than willing to shut the league down to do so, continue to amaze by turning around and figuring out ways to beat that same system. (That’s likely why Nonis was talking about Horton and saying the Leafs will get an elite player if Horton ever plays again, when he knows the chances of that happening are close to zero.)The NHL’s Central Registry approved the trade, but I’m willing to bet my last dollar that those who occupy the big offices at the league’s head office in Manhattan are apoplectic about this deal. Because Nonis and Kekalainen have set a precedent that other teams will be sure to follow."
Essentially, Toronto got rid of a large, cumbersome salary and took one in return that still gives them the room to maneuver some money becuase Horton is on IR, and as we know, players on LTIR must still be paid, but the team in question has the opportunity to go over the salary cap by the cap hit of the injured player, minus the amount of cap space left to the team.
And Columbus got a player that will probably fit in pretty well in their system. And saved a million dollars at the same time.
New News
Photo from NHL.com
Late Friday evening the Blackhawks announced they had traded a pair of picks to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Kimmo Timonen. Additionally they have placed Swedish defenseman Johnny Oduya on IR.
This opens up a number of possibilities for Chicago. They have been weak defensively throughout the entire season, with Oduya and Rozsival playing sloppy, leading to turnovers and problems with zone exits. They are not the only issue the Blackhawks are having this season, but they are some of the easiest to point out.
Timonen is an interesting choice. He hasn’t played in a year, and in fact had announced to the media that he planned to retire at the end of next year.
Timonen has reportedly said he plans to retire after this season. So he'll try to make one last run. #Blackhawks
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 28, 2015
Many on social media are sounding off, surprisingly negative about the Timonen trade. Perhaps they were expecting Keith Yandle to join the team, but with the cap ceiling Chicago is up against, that’s highly unlikely.
Timonen was out for a season, diagnosed with blood clots in his right leg and lungs, but has been working to stay in NHL shape. He made his NHL debut in 1998, has played in 4 Olympics and in 87 NHL playoff games and is third among all active defenders in the NHL for goals. Last season Timonen had 35 points in 77 games, 6 of which were goals.
All in all, a pair of draft picks is not a huge thing to give up for a player of Timonen’s caliber.
But, most importantly, how does this affect the Blues?
This makes the Blackhawks stronger across the blue line, which they have had issues with all season. While they still have a number of things to deal with (least of which is finding a rental to help out while Patrick Kane is down) Timonen will be an improvement over whichever defender he replaces.