Its been a burning question of mine ever since I joined the league. Do we as GMs in the dwshl make trades just for the sake of making them? In some cases I think yes. I know I have been guilty of it, and it was a large factor into the eventual demise of my franchise, but we'll talk about that another time.
Main point, team X has 83ov LW. Team B offers a 80ov LW and a random player in his low 70's, mabye a pick or something else. Should the trade be made? How important REALLY, is good depth on line 3 and 4? Actually the whole depth thing can be an entire other story, so we'll talk about that later too. Now I realize that I would not take the above deal. However if nobody was willing to downgrade a few OV points, it would be pretty hard to make deals in this league. But does the deal need to be made at all? If you look at an active GM, over the course of the season there seems to be mass amounts of trading and shipping off players. If player A is shipped off for player B that is really similar, whats the point of moving players at all? Salary?
Now if we take a GM that is happy with his squad and doesnt want to move players, or is in a rebuild mode with only youth that they want to keep around, and nothing substantial to trade.... If they sit pat with their squad only making minor deals here and there does that really make them inactive? Take in point the Vancouver Canucks franchise over the last 5 years. They have gone from bottom to dominance while only making 1-3 moves a year. Personally Im all for that system of first obviously you have to obtian a core of players, but let them stay together and develop into an actual group. Let them become a team.
Obvously this is a biased article based on my tastes, but it just seems wasteful to aquire a player for 20 games and then move them along again. At the same time, before labeling a GM as inactive, dont just base that on the number of moves made. I know all too well how hard it is to deal with little of value, in most cases making moves dont make sense. And thats my 2 cents.
GM Over-Activity?? (from K. Armstrong)
Already had a Goalie
Harvie said that Kari was their man even after the draft, "We drafted Marc Andre because he was the best player available when we picked. We knew when we picked him he would be moved along. Kari (Lehtonen) has shown that he is our goalie of the future." Harvie confidently stated. "We got a few offers and had some talks about Kari, but I think that people were wrapped up in the hype and so trading Marc Andre was the best choice for us." Not very often a player who is drafted in the first round is traded that same year, but Harvie not only traded one, but two. "When we drafted Zach, he was the most valuable player on the table. We are building a bigger team, but we knew that Zach would be very attractive to trade and after picking up Marc Andre and with the Bure deal we thought that he could be used as trade bait."
Meeting The Needs
With noticable wholes still remaining on the blueline and with the hole on the third line left by the Bure trade, this deal solves both problems. Young Novak is one of the elite young blueliners in the DWSHL and is a legit top pairing, powerplay specializing blueliner and at only 22 he fits into the IceDogs future plans. "Filip is already a top defensman and he's only going to get better," boasted Harvie, "he will really help get our powerplay back to were it was in 2003." The other whole filled was on the wing. With the trade of the two Sedin twins the forward ranks were a little depleted in numbers. "He's so durable and smart that he can be used in all kinds of situations. He's a real spark plug and he'll look good beside any of our centers." With Bure almost a lock to be on the right side of Yashin, that means Ruutu should line up beside Peca or Spezza.
Shouldn't Bite Back
When ever you trade a somebody with the potential of a guy like Fleury, there is the potential for you to get biten. Whether it's a regular season game or a playoff series, trades like this have sometimes came back to get a team. But with Fleury going over to what Harvie calls "the lesser conference" that should be minimized. "It's definately something we thought about," Harvie stated, "When you trade a guy with his potential you don't want to have to face him 5-6 times a year in the future or have to meet him in the playoffs thinking 'I'm going to show them.' "
Fleury Fine
Marc Andre had an idea that he may be moved in the not so distant future, "Their situation in net didn't call for another goalie. With Lalime, Lehtonen and Deslauriers there, I knew somebody had to be traded." Fleury's entry into the DWSHL hasn't been exactly as scripted. First off, he was a no brainer for the first overall spot. Then after the expected number one selection he should have went on to be cherished by a team who had big plans for him for both the present and future and enjoy a long career with the team that had picked him. That isn't what happened. But Fleury doesn't mind, "It's really not a big deal. I mean I had only been a member of the IceDogs for a couple weeks, you don't grow emotionaly attached in that small time. It's actually probably good for me because the just traded Osgood, so I will have a chance to earn a spot on the team."
1/9/04 - The IceDogs have made two trades already and the preseason hasn't even started. The first trade pulled by GM Harvie was a big one. The Dogs sent two of their first round selections in the 2005 draft to the Hornets. Shipped was goaltending phenom Marc Andre Fleury and the small-fry Parise. The IceDogs, in return, recieved two of the best young players with DWSHL experience in Filip Novak and Tuomo Ruutu plus a second round pick in 2006.
In the first big 2005 deal, Ice Dogs welcome Novak to Kingston blueline. (from B. Harvie)
This week's pre-FA results edition (ok, so there are results but no one's sent in any articles yet, lol) features a Big Canada division update by Brett Harvie, reviewing one of the Ice Dogs' latest additions and an interesting piece from Blaze GM Kent Armstrong on how we define GM activity....
Vol V, Ed. 2
1/15/04
