The Confluence
Whitney trade is a good first start for the Penguins
by Tony on 02/26/09 at 04:10 PM ET
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LOL, and I thought I’d have nothing to talk about today.
You can probably imagine that GMRS wanted to do his dealing this season with more than one minute remaining before the trade deadline ends, like he did last year in the Marian Hossa deal.
Well, he completed the first major deal of the NHL trading season six days early when he dealt disappointing defenseman Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks for winger Chris Kunitz and budding power forward prospect Eric Tangradi.
On the surface, at least in my mind, I’m pretty satisfied with this deal. But I can just feel that Shero is far from finished when it comes to fine-tuning the Penguins’ roster as they inch closer to a playoff slot.
First of all, let’s discuss the “family business” that Whitney supposedly had yesterday that forced him to fly to Boston and miss the Pens/Isles game. Well, guess where the Ducks play tonight ?? You guessed it, Boston. Now, Shelly Anderson of the PG said on ESPN Radio early this afternoon that she believed that Whitney indeed had those “family issues”, so who knows. Seems awful suspicious and coincidental, that’s all.
Anyway, as I said, I’m pretty happy with the return the Pens got for Whitney. Let’s face it, scouts aren’t blind. They saw what we Pens fans saw in the defensive zone for Whitney, fans that expected a slew of top players, prospects and draft picks were simply overlooking his defensive liabilities and merely focusing on his offensive potential. And that’s the problem with offensive defenseman, there’s a reason they’re referred to as that, because most of the time their defensive game has some holes in it.
In return for Whitney, GMRS got pretty good return. No, he didn’t get a Kovalchuk or Gaborik, not close. But he got a winger in Kunitz that knows how to put the puck in the net, charges the net and isn’t afraid to get dirty in doing it, something that a lot of his new teammates simply don’t do. In addition, if that means dropping the gloves, he’s more than willing to do that as well.
The acquisition of Eric Tangradi by the Pens will ultimately give them the “in the crease” replacement for Ryan Malone. The guy basically a Malone clone, 6’ 3” 220lbs. or so. Again, will drop the gloves if you look at him funny. My best resource for prospects is the Faceoff Factor’s Jesse Marshall, who commented on the trade that Tangradi “is instantly the best power-forward in the Penguins prospect pool right now”.
It’s funny, but in my recent Trade Deadline Roundtable discussion, I asked the participants if they felt that IHCDB would be consulted on any upcoming trades. Well, I think it’s clear that Bylsma’s fingerprints are all over this one. Bylsma and Kunitz were teammates several years ago. On Kunitz, Bylsma says ““With Chris Kunitz coming here, he’s got 148 hits and he’s a top-six guy. He drives to the net and creates space for people. He’s a pretty speedy guy up front. Immediately that’s what you can expect from Chris Kunitz. I’ve played with him and coached him. That’s what he does. He’s straight forward. He goes and gets pucks. He drives to the net. He’s around the net a lot so you’ll find him there, getting goals and creating space for people.” For what it’s worth, Kunitz said he was “shocked” at news of the deal.
In order to create room on the roster for Kunitz, forward Chris Minard was placed on waivers. I would doubt that Minard is going to last without getting picked up by another team, considering he’s one of the leading scorers in the AHL.
So the question now becomes what’s GMRS’ next move going to be ?? One might think a move for a physical defenseman, or possibly for another winger.
The fun is just beginning.
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Tags: Anaheim+Ducks, NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
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