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Kenny’s Goal: Keep Sundin Out of Anaheim
by IwoCPO on 01/30/08 at 08:56 PM ET
Comments (18)
So you’re thinking Rob Blake may be a possibility in Dynastic Red and White? Oh yes, you are.
Me? I don’t think we need him all that much. But the discussion around the former piece of trash Dive has me reminiscing about some not so pleasant trade-deadline evolutions.
You may recall that Rob Blake was a hot commodity at the deadline in 2001. You may also recall that we were all atwitter about possibly picking him up, then Pierre LaCroissant scooped him and sadness ensued. The kind of sadness the Wings were all too familiar with since the same damn thing happened with Ray Bourque the year before. Two years Darren Garcia’s Dive grabbed a player at the deadline, or just before, with much of their motivation stemming from a pathological need to keep each of those players off the Detroit roster.
Well, guess what? Here we go again, and Kenny Holland faces an equally dastardly foe in Brian Burke.
Mats Sundin’s going to leave Toronto. And he’s not going East. He’s headed West and he’s only going one of three places: Detroit, San Jose or Anaheim. He’s not going to Dallas and he’s not going to Calgary. And he sure as Hell isn’t going to Denver where he wouldn’t even make the playoffs, much less realistically compete for the Cup. It’s the Wings, the Poultry or the heartless Sharkies.
And here’s the rub. The Wings don’t need Sundin as much as they absolutely need to keep him out of Anaheim. Time to face some facts: (1) It’s going to be the Wings and Anaheim at some point in the postseason, and that series will decide the Cup…just as it did last year. (2) Detroit, at least the organ-I-zation, is throw-up-in-your-mouth terrified of that Swedish albino on a line with Paul Kariya’s big sister Teemu. (3) For Burke and Holland, it’s going to be a down-to-the-wire chess match, one that Atlanta and Toronto are frigging ecstatic over. Someone’s getting paid to the tune of talent and prospects and money and fire trucks and probably hookers.
What would Anaheim be willing to give up in order to keep Sundin out of Detroit? Oh, their first round pick from Edmonton, and, yeah, probably Bobby Ryan. What do the Wings have to compare to that kind of sweetness? On the surface? Nothing. Deepest draft in years and the Oilers are probably going to finish in the bottom half of the league, while Detroit’s pick will be somewhere between 27 and 30. Someone to compare to Ryan? Nope. No prospect in our system can bring the kind of player (Sundin) in return that Ryan could. So it would have to be a roster guy, and we’re not talking Maltby. And there’s no way Holland trades Hudler, Filppula, Cleary or Kopecky for a rental, right?
Woops. Wrong. And here’s why. Pencil a chick named Fabian in Detroit’s lineup next year. Before we go any further, please tell me how any player in the NHL could be named Fabian without the last name of Lang? We can discuss that in the Fall, and we will because that’s a done deal and you heard it here. I don’t care what kind of lies Kenny told Teddy Kulfan the other day. Brunnstrom’s as good as signed with the Wings, just as long as they’re convinced he can make the team in TC next year.
If he’s as good as advertised, that makes someone expendable at this year’s deadline. As much as I like Filppula, I think that if it came down to it—if it meant keeping Sundin away from Burke’s chubby fingers—we might be bidding farewell to Fil, or to Hudler, or to Cleary.
Because the Wings aren’t really the type of franchise to kick a Cup gift horse in the mouth. If the opportunity’s there, the Wings will move anyone if it means Cup number 11. But what if Big Boy Burke offers a better deal for Sundin and he ends up a Duckie?
Then Hossa’s a Wing. Simple as that. And vice versa. It’s Burke vs. Holland in February, the under card to the war in May.
Oh, and Blake? We’ll see you in San Jose Robbie. Unless of course, the shoulder Kronwall was just clutching as he headed to the Wings’ room turns out to be the annual season ender.
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Comments
Trade Hudler if you want but not Fil; he’s one of the Swedes that has attracted our new (hopefully) anti-Enigma.
Although this whole schema you’ve laid out is a bit paranoid, I’m right on board. I would love to see Hossa is Red and White. Screw Sundin. Great guy but he’s gaurenteed to bolt back to the Lea(ves). Hossa might get used to winning and holding on the puck and winning…
Posted by Osrt on 01/30/08 at 11:34 PM ET
“....prospects and money and fire trucks and probably hookers.”
Sounds like you had fun in Cancun, glad you had a nice vacation Chief!
Posted by Aaron from Phoenix, Arizona on 01/31/08 at 01:38 AM ET
Fil is Finnish, Osrt. Easier to part with Hudler than Fil. Certainly must keep Cleary!
Posted by Alex from San Francisco on 01/31/08 at 01:41 AM ET
Pierre LaCroissant…HAHAHAHAHA! I love the juvenilia on this blog.
Cleary and Filppula are untradeable. Hudler, Kopecky, and Samuelsson are not.
Posted by Justin on 01/31/08 at 01:57 AM ET
Someone’s getting paid to the tune of talent and prospects and money and fire trucks and probably hookers.
Been hanging our with four Habs fans? 
Insufficient creativity and everyone is thinking inside the box. Let Anaheim trade for Sundin and make the playoffs with a strong team.
Then hire someone to sneak into the Ducks locker room two days before the playoffs and put a black widow spider in his jock.
The swelling will keep him out of the playoffs and it will cost the Red Wings nothing in prospects or players to prevent Anaheim from having him in the lineup.
(But they will still need the hookers and money.)
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/31/08 at 07:28 AM ET
Although I wonder if Sundin isn’t serious about not waiving his no-trade clause. Why should he feel compelled to inconvenience himself to make it easier for that money-printing machine called MLSE? If he wants to move on, he can always do it in the offseason, entertain all teams instead of just the ones who have something the Leafs might want, and move at his leisure. That way he can make sure that any team he joins isn’t weakened by acquiring him.
I’d be tempted to stick it to MLSE a little bit if I were in his position. Soemtimes it’s just fun to poke a large company in the eye with a sharp stick because you aren’t doing what they want you to do because it would suit them.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/31/08 at 07:35 AM ET
Hate to sound like I’m copying Spector here, but let’s make this simple—Sundin has a NTC.
He said he doesn’t care about anything but staying in Toronto, and if he does go, he doesn’t want to leave Canada (thank our brilliant government for ruining our dollar).
I’ll believe it when I see it. This rumor has never had legs no matter how hard the Canadian media has tried to make it run.
And those in the Detroit media that keep saying “get a scoring winger” should understand now why those of us that actually watch all the games have been saying “get a stay-at-home defenseman”. We don’t need Kronwall’s offense, but he has been stellar in his own end this year, and Lilja is bipolar—great game, or horrible game. Even if Kronwall is back for the playoffs, we still have the Lilja issue.
Posted by Nathan on 01/31/08 at 09:18 AM ET
If i’m the Wings, i’m demanding an extension with Mats be worked out with the Leafs first, especially if Hudler and Filppula are the expected return for Toronto.
I personally don’t see Mats moving, but if i’m trading for him, he’d have to be extended first.
Posted by Dan from Halifax on 01/31/08 at 09:22 AM ET
Thanks Alex for the correction. How did I forget Fil-Finn and the Teemu connection? Probably one too many hookers on a fire truck
Posted by Osrt on 01/31/08 at 10:59 AM ET
Kevin Allen was just on Fan590 radio in Toronto and said the Ducks, along with the Wings are a player for Sundin.
My personal feelings, he isn’t going anywhere.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 01/31/08 at 11:26 AM ET
Just to drive home a point, from http://www.spectorshockey.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=111:the-latest-leafs-news&catid=5:trade-rumors&Itemid=9:
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This saga is getting tired. Sundin keeps insisting he doesn’t want to leave the Leafs yet the media keeps suggesting, almost hoping, that he’ll change his mind if the Leafs fall out of the playoff chase. Maybe, just maybe, as Cox suggested, Sundin isn’t being sly but rather being truthful, that he doesn’t want to leave? If so, I agree with Cox that they should re-sign him.
God bless Spector.
Posted by Nathan on 01/31/08 at 11:36 AM ET
Just to add a little more drama to the intrigue!!
TSN just reportedthat:
“Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reports that Peter Forsberg has told Modo that he won’t be signing with his former Elite League team with the objective of returning to the National Hockey League this season.”
According to Bob McKenzie, on his TSN blog:
There is no shortage of teams that would have interest in Forsberg. Those who might like to take a run at him include: Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Detroit, New York Rangers, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Jose and Vancouver.
Forsberg might have a soft spot for Philadelphia and Colorado because he has played there before, but his best chance to win a Cup could be in places such as Detroit, Anaheim or Ottawa.
In any case, as long as Forsberg continues to progress on the skating front back home in Sweden, expect the Foppa Frenzy to increase dramatically in the days and week or two to come.
Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 01/31/08 at 12:05 PM ET
...expect the Foppa Frenzy to increase dramatically in the days and week or two to come.
Oy vey.
He’s a great player when healthy, BUT nowadays he is held together with spit and baling wire - except his balky ankle, which is probably held together with just spit.
It’s like the evidence for Bigfoot - a few tantalizing traces, but no hard evidence that will stand up to the harsh light of day.
(Maybewe should start an injury pool - how many games before something gives way, and what body part is the culprit? Ghoulish, but realistic.)
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/31/08 at 12:31 PM ET
Hmm. Forsberg. If I were the Wings, I wouldn’t bite on this one. Forsberg is too fragile. One of the strongest points of his game (in my opinion) is his foot strength and I think that is sure to be shot now with the multiple surgeries to the ankle. But it sure makes for good drama. Much better than “As the Maple Leafs Turn.”
Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 01/31/08 at 02:21 PM ET
He’s a great player when healthy, BUT nowadays he is held together with spit and baling wire - except his balky ankle, which is probably held together with just spit.
Why does everyone assume they have no duct tape in Sweden?
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 01/31/08 at 03:54 PM ET
Because if he WAS held together with duct tape his ankle would be sturdier! 
(Maybe that’s why Lidstrom is so durable - he has a duct tape monopoly and leaves only substandard stuff for the other Swedes. He should at least share with Zetterberg, though.)
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/31/08 at 04:47 PM ET
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