Bubba clarified their goaltending situation by trading a goalie who, until last season, has consistently had a SV% above .910 and they give him to a division rival for a fourth-round pick. Geez louise, they’ve just got to stop hiring first cousins in the front office. The inbreeding is rotting their brains.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 06/20/08 at 09:59 AM ET

Crazy that they would trade with a division rival. But when you have no money and dumping salary is Job 1 you will do things that will assure that you never win the Cup.

Posted by kevin from boston on 06/20/08 at 10:36 AM ET

Excellent move for St. Louis, though.

A backup for Legace as well as someone who can take on a heavier workload in case of injury.

Nashville must be awfully high on their prospect - Rinne, I think? - if they are trading away Mason.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/20/08 at 10:45 AM ET

You guys really don’t know what you are talking about. No money? Dumping salary? Come on. At least research a little before you post. Both of those statements are completely false. Mason lost “it” last year. Ellis found “it”. Simple as that. And David Poile is calling the shots. I believe he is quite Canadian. Morons. And yes, we are very high on Rinne.

Posted by PredNeck from Hicktown on 06/20/08 at 12:13 PM ET

I don’t question Preds trading Mason, but to St Louis? I guess if no one else is taking… Still, why help out the team that has the potential to steal points from you?

Posted by AndrewB from TN on 06/20/08 at 12:28 PM ET

By definition:

Trading a roster player for a low draft pick = dumping salary

Posted by kevin from boston on 06/20/08 at 01:01 PM ET

Trading within the division doesn’t mean much anymore, especially with the schedule changing this fall.  It’s not like Poile is scared to death of having to face Mason a couple times next season.

And as far as dumping salary goes, outside of this transaction everything else the Predators have done over the last several months (new deals for Legwand, Dumont, Erat & Suter in particular) has led to higher payroll and locking up good players for multiple years.

Posted by The Forechecker from Tennessee on 06/20/08 at 01:31 PM ET

Mason was due to make $3 million next year. Their new goalie will make $500,000. Mason was DUMPED....As for the signings, they have to sign somebody but Erat at the price they paid is not all that great. If they think they can come back with the same guys and some more youngsters next year they are bound to be disappointed. Though they do draft well 20-24 year olds are not Stanley Cup contenders most of the time. I don’t see how teams like Naskville and Columbus can ever survive when there is a salary floor that keeps risings and they can barely cover their costs. It seems like a losing battle unless those towns become hockey hotbeds.

Posted by kevin from boston on 06/20/08 at 01:51 PM ET