My apologies for the past week, I have been traveling through Ontario with a jam packed schedule and didn't have much access to a computer. Follow me on Twitter for an easier way to keep up with me at times like these! I had a great time in Ontario, visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, watched a Blue Jays game, and toured several local rinks such as the Snyder Arena in Elmira, the Auditorium in Kitchener, and the Galt Arena Gardens in Cambridge. The equipment manager for the local Cambridge Winter Hawks' Junior B team was kind enough to give me a tour of the rink, and he reminded me of how generous people can be at times. A huge thanks to him!
Now this is old news, but the Bobby Ryan trade finally occurred. Ryan was sent form Anaheim to Ottawa in exchange for Jakob Silfverberg, Stefan Noesen and a first round pick in 2014. This is a decently fair trade, with good return for both clubs. Ottawa had a hole to fill with the departure of long time captain Daniel Alfredsson, as well as the need for a scoring forward. Ryan gives them a big winger who can provide 30 plus goals and upwards of 70 points. Right in his prime, we are just about to see how much Ryan can really produce. Silfverberg is young but very savvy and possesses loads of skill and upside. Noesen is an unknown as of yet but possesses strong tools to be a heady two way forward, and the first round pick is a nice throw in for the Ducks. I like this trade in terms of helping both teams.
When Ilya Kovalchuk announced his retirement I was absolutely shocked. When a 30 year old, super star player decides to retire with no reasonable explanation, it's always big news. No one in the hockey world could have predicted this. It is possible that Kovy If this is the case, abandoning the best league in hockey really annoys me. If you are honoured enough to play in the NHL I believe you should commit to it and stick it out. If Kovalchuk's sudden retirement was for family or personal reasons, then I become a little more understanding. Either way, I feel sorry for the New Jersey Devils' fan base, even though management may be relieved to have Kovalchuk's large contract off the books.
St. Louis dealt LW David Perron to Edmonton for LW Magnus Paajarvi and a 2014 second rounder. With this move Edmonton immediately upgrades their top six with Perron, a fiery winger with tremendous skill but lingering concussion issues. The Blues add Paajarvi, a big bodied project of a forward. Magnus possesses good speed and control, but is still raw and very much needs experience to learn the nuances of the game. Paajarvi has good two way ability and performed well in a third line role for the Oilers this past season, and I see him fitting in very well with the system in St. Louis. Once/if Edmonton manages to resign Sam Gagner, their top six would look like;
Taylor Hall/Ryan Nugent-Hopkins/Jordan Eberle
David Perron/Sam Gagner/Nail Yakupov
Not bad. A relatively small group of players, but a group of incredibly skilled individuals with enormous potential. It would help if Edmonton added some big nasty bottom 6ers to the team to balance out the small skill in the top six.
That's all for now, as usual, thank you for your continued loyalty! I hope you are enjoying the blogs and let me know of any thoughts or suggestions! -J