This comes your way via an email from my friend and sometimes blog-contributor, Chunky Moose:
The Vancower Canucks’ offer notwithstanding, it looks like the Flames have a deal in place to bring heralded Finnish centerman, Olli Jokinen, to the Calgary Flames.
In this 5-player deal (Flames 3, Panthers 2), we would send Alex Tanguay and parts heading the other way. Why would Tanguay waive his NTC to go to FLA you ask? Well, apparently #40 does not like living under the regime of Keenan.
If you are concerned about the lack of news regarding the Langkow signing, apparently word from the inside (and all other CBA PhD’s) is that it has to do with tagging room. His contract is unaffordable until July 1 due to this mysterious “tagging room”, but it should be announced on C-day.
I won’t urinate on the post by giving it a [C4] or something ridiculous like that, but the sources are reliable and from what I hear it will be fairly soon.
However seriously you take the rumor (which seems to crop up every six months), it's an interesting talking point for this dull latent period between the play-offs and the draft.
Here's my stab at the hypothetical deal, based on the parameters stated above:
To Flames: Jokinen + Booth (5.25M+0.7M)
To Panthers: Tanguay + Lombardi + Eriksson (5.25M+1.817M+1.5M)
Thoughts?
EDIT - for those of you confused by the "tagging room" stuff re: the stalled Langkow contract, click here.
LATER EDIT - Darren Dreger appeared on some radio stations today reporting that Jokinen "will not be reporting back to Florida this summer". Maybe this thing actually has legs?
EDIT THE THIRD - George Williams of the Miami Herald says no deal for Jokinen has been reached, though he expects the Panthers Captain to be traded at some point this summer:
People I've spoken to within the organization say no trade involving Jokinen is forthcoming, although there is plenty of interest in the 29-year-old centerman.
...That said, I do think the Panthers and Jokinen will probably part ways in the coming weeks. I don't think Olli and JM like each other very much, and if JM was still the coach, Olli would probably have found himself somewhere else.
Via Spector.
16 comments:
I like Jokinen alot but I dont want to see Lombo go anywhere. His speed is a huge factor in today's game and I just have a feeling that it will pay dividends one day and Lombo will put up big numbers. With Lombo coming at a cheap price for the next couple of years I think he is a very valuable asset. With all of this said Jokinen is a superstar and is more valuable than Lombo at this point.
How about:
CGY: JOKINEN, BOOTH
FLA: TANGUAY, ERIKSSON, BOYD
I would evaluate this (prospective?) trade the same I would any trade:
1) Does it improve depth for this year?
2) Will it improve the team over the long term? (More than 3 years, let's say.)
1) If Booth is ready for a #1 role, then I have to go with yes. Iginla has proven his ability to make linemates look good. Together with Jokinen he should be able to shelter Booth in the worst case scenario. Langkow has proven his ability to play more than Lombardi has, and is a better bet to be reliable on the 2nd line. And dumping Erikkson and the difference in salary between Booth and Lombardi should make it easier to fill in gaps deeper in the lineup.
2) It depends on Booth's prospects over Lombardi's. But I would expect Booth to have a better shot at quality time (ie, time with Iginlas) than Lombardi, since if Lombardi doesn't perform in a #1 center spot, he'll get dumped for Langkow immediately. With Booth, there won't be a presumptive #1 above him, because every player competing for the spot will be new. And Booth is younger by a couple of years, with less experience.
This is based on numbers and depth charts only. I have no idea what Jokinen and Booth actually play like, so I really can't judge their effect that way.
I like Jokinen and I really think we have to get stronger at the centre position. Langkow is a natural second line centre and with Jokinen the Flames would have the nucleus of two scoring lines.
It depends on Booth's prospects over Lombardi's.
You hit the nail on the head here. I consider Tanguay for Jokinen, at best, a lateral move. But Booth is a kid I've really liked every time I've seen him. He played tougher competition than Jokinen last year and had the best ESP/60 rate of anyone on the team. Also he was +15 at ES. Jokinen, in contrast, was -13. Those are some fantastic results for a young sophomore and I he would put up even better numbers with some more PP time.
Without Booth as part of the deal, I dont offer Lombardi (whom Im pretty fond of too).
Nooooo, not Lombardi. Anyone but him (and the 'core').
Tanguay for Jokinen straight up...throw in Eriksson for free.
No way with Lombo.
Nystrom would work though.
I understand the protestations against the inclusion of Lombardi. I really like the guy myself and I think he turned a corner this season. However, I included him in this trade proposal for a couple of reasons:
You have to give quality to get quality. Guys like Nystrom and Boyd are fairly useless to most other teams, especially a club like Florida that is teeming with former early round draft-picks that are lining up to crack the squad (Glass, Frolic, Globke, Matthias).
In addition, the Flames have so few NHL-probable kids on cheap, entry level deals, I'm loathe to deal one. Even one as marginal as Nystrom.
i'd rather see the flames deal warrener than eriksson (purely cost-wise) but i'm not holding my breath on that...
i was actually saying to duncan just yesterday that i've got a reliable source who's friends with a relation of tanguay's, who insisted that tangs and keenan hate each other. this "fact" would give credence to the entire scenario, IMO.
thanks for posting this... i've now got a day or two to come to grips with the fact that lombo's gone.... i've been saying for months that he's our most tradeable asset (fast, skilled, cheap). *sigh....
haha...
well, I'd rather deal Warrener too. In fact, I doubt Florida would even want Eriksson, but I threw him in for fun.
As for Lombo being gone, don't start mourning yet. If all my wild speculations came to fruition, this team would look very different right now.
Well, if the Flames want to change their fortunes, do they do a Philadelphia and blow the thing up, or do they do a Dallas, and basically do nothing and hope for better results? I don't think there is nearly enough FA talent available and the Flames don't have the cap room to do a Philadelphia, so they'll probably try incremental ism. And in the Flames favour, if Kipper plays 5% better, the Flames probably win the division and are the three seed in the playoffs. If you add Jokinen (even at the expense of Tanguay) I think this team is closer than last year. Of course if Kipper plays 5% worse the Flames probably don't make the playoffs.
Jokinen wants to be the big guy. He can't handle Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne with Finnish National team so how could he handle Iggy?
Jokinen is a very good hockey player with hockey IQ under room temperature. He shoots, shoots and shoots but just can't feed his wingers.
Jokinen is not well liked in the room - both in FLA and Team Finland - because he can't put a sentence together without saying I or me at least five times.
Jokinen is a total opposite of Kipper so there might be some tension there, too. Coming from same faraway country you're expected to hang around a bit.
But this rumour has legs because Sutter tried to get Jokinen already at the trade deadline in 2003-4 season.
I doubt Florida would even want Eriksson
this, my friend, is the understatement of the year... i was telling awildermode at season's end that even dynamo moscow is unlikely to want the guy...
I like this trade proposal, I think David Booth may not have the speed that Lombo has(no-one really does) but he's got some great hands, decent size and plays well in both ends of the rink.
I think moving Lombardi now is a good thing, his value is still fairly high but if he cant seem to take that next step in the next few seasons, his value will drop significantly.
I also think the addition of a great shooter like Jokinen is going to open up more space for Jerome, no longer would teams be only looking to shut down Iginla. And the fact that he still has 2 more years on his contract in the 5 - 5.5 mill range is great. His only weakness it seems is his plus minus hasn't been very good. This could be b/c he has been playing on a non-playoff team or he could be getting alot of his points on the power play.
I still think this would improve the team for next year. Both Booth and Jokinen are guys that can put the puck in the net.
Answer: Not bloody likely.
Question: Florida would trade a 22-goal scorer earning $700,000 per?
Answer: Not bloody likely.
Question: Florida would trade a 22-goal scorer earning $700,000 per?
ha! Indeed. Sometimes it's fun to dream though.
Fer Godsake, don't get rid of Lombardi. I still think Sutter screwed up when he dumped Kobasew and Ference, and I think (hope?) Lombo will step up big-time this year.
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