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PFellah · 01-11-2019, 12:07 AM

Fire Brigade: Breaking Down The Trade Deadline

Cliff's Notes: I didn't get the deals I wanted, got a little flustered and made a few moves I'm not thrilled with. Won't sink the franchise, but also not making me all that excited, either.

Welcome to the Fire Brigade, your source for all the breaking news on your Atlanta Firebirds. I'm your host, Brock Whitney. As you know, the Birds hit a bit of a bump in the road this week as Ryan Kesler and Rick Nash both went down with injuries. Kesler is definitely going to be out for a while, and the medical staff is still evaluating Nash's wrist.

The moves we got were a little unexpected, as they almost decided to be buyers and sellers at the same time. On one hand, they sent 2nd round pick Filip Hallander to Buffalo to rent Jason Pominville, but then on the other hand, they traded away expiring contracts Jordan Martinook and Michael Del Zotto in separate deals.

We'll have our team of experts break all this down in a minute but first let's look at the deals. We have:

Filip Hallander, an 18-year-old center selected in the 2nd round this past year to Buffalo for RW Jason Pominville.
LW Jordan Martinook to the Tampa Bay Lightning for 22-year-old center Mitchell Stephens.
D Michael Del Zotto traded to Chicago for a 2020 3rd-round pick.

So, our panelists as always, Logan Marx, Stu Kennedy, and Sarah Shaw. The floor is open.

Stu: Oh boy. I am not happy with these moves. I don't know if it's inexperience in the front office, or they just don't have an overall strategy, or maybe we'll be charitable and assume the injuries caught them off guard, but I can't make heads or tails of these moves. Picking up Pominville seems like a smart move -- he gives you a veteran presence and he's probably a minor upgrade over Pitlick. I can see that. But what does sending Jordan Martinook to a division rival get you? And if you're trying to stay viable for the playoffs, why send Del Zotto packing? It's not like the salary was doing any harm, and he comes off the books at the end of the year.

Logan: Well, I agree that the Del Zotto move doesn't really fit with the rest of it. But if you take the other two moves as a package deal, it sort of makes sense. They probably weren't going to get Buffalo to do expiring contract for expiring contract, so you send them a prospect in Hallander, and then the Martinook trade recoups that for a guy that's maybe a little more NHL-ready. It's not a drastic upgrade, but at the edges, you move talent from the left wing where you're already pretty deep to the right wing where you need it more, and you get a prospect who's maybe a little closer to contributing. Does it single-handedly replace Kesler? I would say no. But it's something.

Sarah: I think the thinking on Del Zotto is twofold. First, they took a step back after the Artem Zubov trade and I think they weren't crazy about going from the 2nd round to the 5th in 2020. I don't think they regretted the trade itself, but they wanted to maybe close that pick gap. But I also think they wanted to start moving forward with DeMelo or Koekkoek or maybe give Olofsson one last chance before his contract expires after the year, to see if one of those guys can be a contributor.

Stu: Why are they worrying about the 2020 draft now? You need draft picks, go trade for some draft picks later. Right now, there's a playoff race going on.

Sarah: Sure, there's a playoff race. I do think you have to look at the big picture, though. At the end of the day, it's still an expansion team. It's exciting that they're competing, but they're still pouring the foundation, the cement is still wet. Maybe they didn't take a huge leap forward, but they also didn't disrupt things either. They didn't take on some other team's problem contracts, like we talked about with Bobby Ryan. They didn't give away their best draft picks, like Boston did to get Henrique from the Ducks. I do think there's a danger where if you go too far too fast, you undermine the long-term goals, and they didn't do that.

Brock: That's a good point, Sarah. Look at Vegas last year. They generated a lot of excitement with their playoff run, but then they took a step back this year. Did that early success interfere with their long-term building in ways that they didn't intend?

Stu: I don't think anyone roots against winning, Brock.

Logan: Come on, Stu, that's not what he meant. However, to your earlier point about inexperience and learning curve, I will say this. I do think, talking to my sources within the organization, that it's a fair criticism that the market moved faster than they anticipated. I think they were looking to wait as long as possible and put something together in the last day or two of the month, and a lot of other teams had already made their deals by then. I think a lesson for next year and beyond is to be a little more aggressive, maybe not wait until the last minute to get something done.

Brock: So what does the team on the ice look like in the wake of these deals?

Logan: Well, a lot of it is still fluid until we know more about Nash's situation. I know they're reluctant to send anyone through waivers, so for the moment, nobody has been sent down. They're just going to manage scratches as best they can for now. There's a little internal.... I wouldn't even call it disagreement, but some back and forth. Some people want to stick with Pitlick and keep Pominville as insurance against further injuries, but the more prevailing sentiment is "you went to the trouble to get this guy, might as well use him". We're also seeing some interesting things at center where Letestu and Helm are both getting work at center. We'll see how that shakes out.

As far as defense, I'm told DeMelo is day-to-day at Birmigham, but he probably gets the call-up when healthy. If he's going to be out for a while, they might go with Olofsson or Koekkoek instead. Again, there's a sense that whoever they bring up will probably be with the team the rest of the way because of waivers, so they're willing to take a day or two to make sure they make the right choice. Bieksa and DeAngelo will just hold down the fort until then.

Brock: Now that we've discussed things from Atlanta's perspective, let's bring back Sarah Shaw to give us a rundown of how things looked across the rest of the league. Sarah, who was making the big moves out there?

Sarah: Well, the single biggest name on the move was former Montreal Canadien Max Pacioretty, who went to Minnesota for a package that included Matt Dumba, along with pick-shuffling on both sides. Boston was probably the single biggest buyer, making separate deals with Anaheim for Adam Henrique and Patrick Eaves; and with New Jersey for center Brian Boyle and goaltender Keith Kinkaid. St. Louis also went big, grabbing Josh Bailey and Thomas Hickey from the Isles, and making a smaller deal with the Senators. San Jose grabbed Clayton Stoner from the Vegas Golden Knights. Ottawa and New Jersey were probably the most aggressive sellers out there, both making multiple deals. A few other teams got involved with smaller roster tweaks.

FULL TRADE LIST

Numbers in parens are age/OVR (as best I've scouted it), Potential.

2/1 - Firebirds trade D Adam Larsson (26/83/T4) and LW Brandon Pirri (27/78/T9) to Rangers for C Kevin Hayes (26/82/T6) and D Tony DeAngelo (23/77/T4)
2/6 - Kings trade D Markus Phillips (20/??/??) and their 2020 1st-round draft pick to Devils for LW Marcus Johnansson (28/83/T6), C Torrey Mitchell (34/76/B6) and New Jersey's 2020 3rd-round pick.
2/8 - Coyotes trade D Andrej Sustr (28/81/T4) and a 3rd-round pick in 2019 (orig: CGY) to Flyers for LW Michael Raffl (30/77/B6), their 2nd-round pick in 2019, and two other draft picks.
2/11 - Bruins trade their 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2019 to Devils for C Brian Boyle (34/80/T9) and G Keith Kinkaid (29/81/FS).
2/14 - Wild trades D Matt Dumba (24/85/T4), their 2nd round pick in 2019, and two other draft picks to Canadiens for LW Max Pacioretty (30/82/Elite), Montreal's 2nd-round pick in 2020, and two other draft picks.
2/14 - Blues trade C Ty Dellandrea (18/??/Elite) and their 4th round pick in 2020 to Senators for D Fredrik Claesson (26/80/T6) and Ottawa's 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2020.
2/16 - Maple Leafs trade LW Artem Zubov (19/62/T6) to Firebirds for D Eric Gustafsson (30/78/7D) and the Firebirds' 3rd and 4th-round picks in 2020.
2/17 - Blues trade C Jordan Kyrou (20/68/T9), C Robert Thomas (19/??/B6) and their first-round pick in 2020 to Islanders for LW Josh Bailey (29/85/T6) and D Thomas Hickey (30/82/T4).
2/18 - Panthers trade RW Jamie McGinn (30/77/T9) and a 4th-round pick in 2020 to Senators for LW Alexandre Burrows (37/77/B6) and a 3rd-round pick in 2019 (orig: PIT)
2/19 - Oilers trade their 2nd and 4th-round picks in 2020 to Canucks for D Carl Gunnarsson (32/84/T4) and the Canucks' 2nd and 4th round picks in 2020.
2/19 - Panthers trade D Brandon Davidson (27/78/T6), a 3rd-round pick in 2019 (orig: PIT), and their 7th-round pick in 2020 to Stars for RW Chris DiDomenico (30/78/T9) and the Stars' 3rd-round pick in 2020.
2/21 - Bruins trade RW Zach Senyshyn (22/77/T6) and their 1st and 2nd round picks in 2020 to Ducks for C Adam Henrique (29/84/T6) and RW Patrick Eaves (34/80/B6).
2/24 - Hurricanes trade C Matt Cullen (42/77/B6), C Vaclav Skuhravy (40/76/B6), and their 3rd round pick in 2020 to Devils for Ben Lovejoy (35/79/T6) and the Devils' 4th-round pick in 2020.
2/24 - Sharks trade LW Rudolfs Balcers (21/74/B6) and D Jeremy Roy (21/76/Elite) to Golden Knights for D Clayton Stoner (34/79/T6), D Brad Hunt (30/76/7D), and a 2nd round pick in 2020 (orig: PIT).
2/26 - Canadiens trade C Markus Kruger (28/79/B6) and a 2nd-round pick in 2019 (orig: MIN) to Flames for LW Michael Ferland (26/81/T6) a 2020 3rd round pick, and two other draft picks.
2/27 - Penguins trade C Linus Olund (21/58/B6), and their 3rd and 4th round picks in 2020 to Flyers or LW Michael Mersch (26/71/B6) and the Flyers 3rd-round pick in 2020.
3/1 - Firebirds trade C Filip Hallander (18/61/T9) to Sabres for RW Jason Pominville (36/80/T9).
3/1 - Firebirds trade LW Jordan Martinook (26/78/T9) to Lightning for c Mitchell Stephens (22/74/T9).
3/1 - Firebirds trade D Michael Del Zotto (28/79/T6) to Blackhawks for a 3rd-round pick in 2020.

01-11-2019, 12:07 AM	#31
PFellah Rookie OVR: 5 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Pittsburgh, PA	Re: Third Time's The Charm(?) - Atlanta Firebirds Fire Brigade: Breaking Down The Trade Deadline Cliff's Notes: I didn't get the deals I wanted, got a little flustered and made a few moves I'm not thrilled with. Won't sink the franchise, but also not making me all that excited, either. Welcome to the Fire Brigade, your source for all the breaking news on your Atlanta Firebirds. I'm your host, Brock Whitney. As you know, the Birds hit a bit of a bump in the road this week as Ryan Kesler and Rick Nash both went down with injuries. Kesler is definitely going to be out for a while, and the medical staff is still evaluating Nash's wrist. The moves we got were a little unexpected, as they almost decided to be buyers and sellers at the same time. On one hand, they sent 2nd round pick Filip Hallander to Buffalo to rent Jason Pominville, but then on the other hand, they traded away expiring contracts Jordan Martinook and Michael Del Zotto in separate deals. We'll have our team of experts break all this down in a minute but first let's look at the deals. We have: Filip Hallander, an 18-year-old center selected in the 2nd round this past year to Buffalo for RW Jason Pominville. LW Jordan Martinook to the Tampa Bay Lightning for 22-year-old center Mitchell Stephens. D Michael Del Zotto traded to Chicago for a 2020 3rd-round pick. So, our panelists as always, Logan Marx, Stu Kennedy, and Sarah Shaw. The floor is open. Stu: Oh boy. I am not happy with these moves. I don't know if it's inexperience in the front office, or they just don't have an overall strategy, or maybe we'll be charitable and assume the injuries caught them off guard, but I can't make heads or tails of these moves. Picking up Pominville seems like a smart move -- he gives you a veteran presence and he's probably a minor upgrade over Pitlick. I can see that. But what does sending Jordan Martinook to a division rival get you? And if you're trying to stay viable for the playoffs, why send Del Zotto packing? It's not like the salary was doing any harm, and he comes off the books at the end of the year. Logan: Well, I agree that the Del Zotto move doesn't really fit with the rest of it. But if you take the other two moves as a package deal, it sort of makes sense. They probably weren't going to get Buffalo to do expiring contract for expiring contract, so you send them a prospect in Hallander, and then the Martinook trade recoups that for a guy that's maybe a little more NHL-ready. It's not a drastic upgrade, but at the edges, you move talent from the left wing where you're already pretty deep to the right wing where you need it more, and you get a prospect who's maybe a little closer to contributing. Does it single-handedly replace Kesler? I would say no. But it's something. Sarah: I think the thinking on Del Zotto is twofold. First, they took a step back after the Artem Zubov trade and I think they weren't crazy about going from the 2nd round to the 5th in 2020. I don't think they regretted the trade itself, but they wanted to maybe close that pick gap. But I also think they wanted to start moving forward with DeMelo or Koekkoek or maybe give Olofsson one last chance before his contract expires after the year, to see if one of those guys can be a contributor. Stu: Why are they worrying about the 2020 draft now? You need draft picks, go trade for some draft picks later. Right now, there's a playoff race going on. Sarah: Sure, there's a playoff race. I do think you have to look at the big picture, though. At the end of the day, it's still an expansion team. It's exciting that they're competing, but they're still pouring the foundation, the cement is still wet. Maybe they didn't take a huge leap forward, but they also didn't disrupt things either. They didn't take on some other team's problem contracts, like we talked about with Bobby Ryan. They didn't give away their best draft picks, like Boston did to get Henrique from the Ducks. I do think there's a danger where if you go too far too fast, you undermine the long-term goals, and they didn't do that. Brock: That's a good point, Sarah. Look at Vegas last year. They generated a lot of excitement with their playoff run, but then they took a step back this year. Did that early success interfere with their long-term building in ways that they didn't intend? Stu: I don't think anyone roots against winning, Brock. Logan: Come on, Stu, that's not what he meant. However, to your earlier point about inexperience and learning curve, I will say this. I do think, talking to my sources within the organization, that it's a fair criticism that the market moved faster than they anticipated. I think they were looking to wait as long as possible and put something together in the last day or two of the month, and a lot of other teams had already made their deals by then. I think a lesson for next year and beyond is to be a little more aggressive, maybe not wait until the last minute to get something done. Brock: So what does the team on the ice look like in the wake of these deals? Logan: Well, a lot of it is still fluid until we know more about Nash's situation. I know they're reluctant to send anyone through waivers, so for the moment, nobody has been sent down. They're just going to manage scratches as best they can for now. There's a little internal.... I wouldn't even call it disagreement, but some back and forth. Some people want to stick with Pitlick and keep Pominville as insurance against further injuries, but the more prevailing sentiment is "you went to the trouble to get this guy, might as well use him". We're also seeing some interesting things at center where Letestu and Helm are both getting work at center. We'll see how that shakes out. As far as defense, I'm told DeMelo is day-to-day at Birmigham, but he probably gets the call-up when healthy. If he's going to be out for a while, they might go with Olofsson or Koekkoek instead. Again, there's a sense that whoever they bring up will probably be with the team the rest of the way because of waivers, so they're willing to take a day or two to make sure they make the right choice. Bieksa and DeAngelo will just hold down the fort until then. Brock: Now that we've discussed things from Atlanta's perspective, let's bring back Sarah Shaw to give us a rundown of how things looked across the rest of the league. Sarah, who was making the big moves out there? Sarah: Well, the single biggest name on the move was former Montreal Canadien Max Pacioretty, who went to Minnesota for a package that included Matt Dumba, along with pick-shuffling on both sides. Boston was probably the single biggest buyer, making separate deals with Anaheim for Adam Henrique and Patrick Eaves; and with New Jersey for center Brian Boyle and goaltender Keith Kinkaid. St. Louis also went big, grabbing Josh Bailey and Thomas Hickey from the Isles, and making a smaller deal with the Senators. San Jose grabbed Clayton Stoner from the Vegas Golden Knights. Ottawa and New Jersey were probably the most aggressive sellers out there, both making multiple deals. A few other teams got involved with smaller roster tweaks. FULL TRADE LIST Numbers in parens are age/OVR (as best I've scouted it), Potential. 2/1 - Firebirds trade D Adam Larsson (26/83/T4) and LW Brandon Pirri (27/78/T9) to Rangers for C Kevin Hayes (26/82/T6) and D Tony DeAngelo (23/77/T4) 2/6 - Kings trade D Markus Phillips (20/??/??) and their 2020 1st-round draft pick to Devils for LW Marcus Johnansson (28/83/T6), C Torrey Mitchell (34/76/B6) and New Jersey's 2020 3rd-round pick. 2/8 - Coyotes trade D Andrej Sustr (28/81/T4) and a 3rd-round pick in 2019 (orig: CGY) to Flyers for LW Michael Raffl (30/77/B6), their 2nd-round pick in 2019, and two other draft picks. 2/11 - Bruins trade their 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2019 to Devils for C Brian Boyle (34/80/T9) and G Keith Kinkaid (29/81/FS). 2/14 - Wild trades D Matt Dumba (24/85/T4), their 2nd round pick in 2019, and two other draft picks to Canadiens for LW Max Pacioretty (30/82/Elite), Montreal's 2nd-round pick in 2020, and two other draft picks. 2/14 - Blues trade C Ty Dellandrea (18/??/Elite) and their 4th round pick in 2020 to Senators for D Fredrik Claesson (26/80/T6) and Ottawa's 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2020. 2/16 - Maple Leafs trade LW Artem Zubov (19/62/T6) to Firebirds for D Eric Gustafsson (30/78/7D) and the Firebirds' 3rd and 4th-round picks in 2020. 2/17 - Blues trade C Jordan Kyrou (20/68/T9), C Robert Thomas (19/??/B6) and their first-round pick in 2020 to Islanders for LW Josh Bailey (29/85/T6) and D Thomas Hickey (30/82/T4). 2/18 - Panthers trade RW Jamie McGinn (30/77/T9) and a 4th-round pick in 2020 to Senators for LW Alexandre Burrows (37/77/B6) and a 3rd-round pick in 2019 (orig: PIT) 2/19 - Oilers trade their 2nd and 4th-round picks in 2020 to Canucks for D Carl Gunnarsson (32/84/T4) and the Canucks' 2nd and 4th round picks in 2020. 2/19 - Panthers trade D Brandon Davidson (27/78/T6), a 3rd-round pick in 2019 (orig: PIT), and their 7th-round pick in 2020 to Stars for RW Chris DiDomenico (30/78/T9) and the Stars' 3rd-round pick in 2020. 2/21 - Bruins trade RW Zach Senyshyn (22/77/T6) and their 1st and 2nd round picks in 2020 to Ducks for C Adam Henrique (29/84/T6) and RW Patrick Eaves (34/80/B6). 2/24 - Hurricanes trade C Matt Cullen (42/77/B6), C Vaclav Skuhravy (40/76/B6), and their 3rd round pick in 2020 to Devils for Ben Lovejoy (35/79/T6) and the Devils' 4th-round pick in 2020. 2/24 - Sharks trade LW Rudolfs Balcers (21/74/B6) and D Jeremy Roy (21/76/Elite) to Golden Knights for D Clayton Stoner (34/79/T6), D Brad Hunt (30/76/7D), and a 2nd round pick in 2020 (orig: PIT). 2/26 - Canadiens trade C Markus Kruger (28/79/B6) and a 2nd-round pick in 2019 (orig: MIN) to Flames for LW Michael Ferland (26/81/T6) a 2020 3rd round pick, and two other draft picks. 2/27 - Penguins trade C Linus Olund (21/58/B6), and their 3rd and 4th round picks in 2020 to Flyers or LW Michael Mersch (26/71/B6) and the Flyers 3rd-round pick in 2020. 3/1 - Firebirds trade C Filip Hallander (18/61/T9) to Sabres for RW Jason Pominville (36/80/T9). 3/1 - Firebirds trade LW Jordan Martinook (26/78/T9) to Lightning for c Mitchell Stephens (22/74/T9). 3/1 - Firebirds trade D Michael Del Zotto (28/79/T6) to Blackhawks for a 3rd-round pick in 2020. Last edited by PFellah; 01-12-2019 at 10:24 AM.