More on the Trades, a Media Perspective

Hey, this is it. We’re going to exhaust the trade discussion right here, because now, for the caps, it is time to get busy and the 4-1 thumping of Minnesota last night was a great start.
Taking a look at what the local media reports of the moves General Manager George McPhee orchestrated at yesterday’s trade deadline to help the Capitals Southeast division and playoff push.
First off, Tarik from the Washington Post.
Here is the the thoughts of McPhee on why the moves came about

“We thought that if we could give our team a push to get into the playoffs, and add a few things without giving up a lot, then we would do it,” McPhee said. “I think we accomplished that.”

You know, we discussed it here yesterday, but thinking about it even more, McPhee’s moves were somewhat masterful on his part. The Washington Capitals took some significant strides to fill some gaping holes. Did he solve everything? No. We failed to get the gutsy, rugged blue liner we needed. But, as we saw with the other moves, it wasn’t that McPhee failed to address the need, it was more in line with the absence of options.
What McPhee did was plug some widening holes. The impact of the injury to Michael Nylander was kind of washed aside and forgotten with a surging Capitals team and a red hot tear from the two DC Alexes. But, when the Alexes cooled a bit, Backstrom’s play leveled off, the impact of Nylander’s absence was becoming more and more clear, game by game. The Capitals were clearly missing Nylander, and despite line changes by Bruce Boudreau, no one really stepped up. The Sergei Federov signing plugs that hole and he should fill the second line center spot alongside fellow Russian Alexander Semin fairly nicely. And the move was relatively cheap, defensive prospect Ted Ruth. Hey, no one likes to give up prospects for rental players, but for the Caps, if you have to, defense is a pretty good way to go considering the mass of blue line prospects in the system. So overall, Fedorov, plugs a big hole at a fairly chap, bargain price.

How about the ability of McPhee to pull off the deal to bring a very good Cristobal Huet to DC? Masterful. So masterful, many of the NHL analysts writers and the XM Home Ice analysts were stunned at the trade. They never even knew Huet was on the block. Others were stunned at how cheaply the Caps were able to pry away Huet.

“You just never know what’s going to transpire,” McPhee said of the surprise nature of the Huet trade. “We didn’t anticipate a lot happening. But when the Huet deal came along, that was one that was hard to lay off of.”
Backup goalie Brent Johnson also remains on the Capitals’ roster, leaving them with three goaltenders presumably for the remainder of the season.
McPhee said he did not attempt to deal Kolzig, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.
“Not a chance,” McPhee said. “He didn’t ask for it, and we didn’t contemplate it.”

Oh, and good luck to Boudreau in trying to juggle three goalies. He’s gonna need it. But seriously, getting a goalie of the caliber of Huet for a second round pick that was obtained via an early season trade of Brian Sutherby, that is simply awesome. A big time goalie for next to nothing.
So essentially, we pick up 3 players that can and will likely make an immediate impact on the capitals playoff run in exchange for Matt Pettinger, Brian Sutherby, and Ted Ruth.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
Similar article by Corey Masisak at the Washington times.

“[Majority owner] Ted [Leonsis] was all for it,” McPhee said. “Ownership was clear if there was something there that could give us a push to go ahead and do it.”

Don Daly gives up Olie’s perspective on the trade for Huet.

“It”s a little bizarre,” Kolzig said. “When [the Huet trade] happened, I was waiting by the phone, figuring I was going somewhere, and then … I didn”t see this coming. You think you have a pretty good read of where we are as a team, what our needs are, but I guess not.”

Hey, as much as I love Kolzig, there was no doubt that one of the things that was beginning to hurt the caps was goal tending. To sit and deny for the sake of not hurting Olie’s feeling sis all great and everything, but reality settle din over the past two weeks.

So Leonsis and McPhee, inhumanly patient until now, decided to get back in the game, decided to be buyers at the deadline rather than sellers. Now we’ll sit back over the remaining six weeks and see whether their maneuvering has the desired effect. Midseason shakeups often do in hockey — for some strange reason. Look at the Capitals’ turnaround since Boudreau replaced Glen Hanlon behind the bench. It’s almost as if the players periodically need a fire lit under them, just to keep them hopping. Maybe I’m wrong about this, but it doesn’t seem quite that way in any other sport.

These moves were solid moves that should, and should is a critical word, have an immediate impact. yeah, we have to look at chemistry issues, but so does any other team that makes a trade. Fact is, McPhee did a nice job adding certain skater in certain areas, where the needs were apparent. If it doesn’t work out, just looking at the type of players that were brought in for the pretty cheap price that the Caps paid, I’m just not sure you can lie the blame at the feet of McPhee. If it doesn’t work out, the blame lies on the ice with the gutsy in skates. McPhee made moves to fill holes with proven players. he did his job as GM. Now, it is all on the team.
Here are some national media grade reports.
From CBS Sportsline, Wes Goldstein names names the Caps one of five trade deadline winners in the Eastern Conference.

There has been a bigger change in Washington over the last few months than at any time since the last mid-term elections, and it’s made the Capitals believe they can get to the playoffs and make some noise. The young Caps should be even more confident now that they’ve upgraded their weakest link by acquiring goaltender Cristobal Huet from Montreal and adding veteran Sergei Fedorov, a potential Hall of Famer who is in the twilight of his career but should get a big morale boost playing along side superstar Alex Ovechkin and other talented Russians Alexander Semim and Viktor Kozlov. Washington added some grit with Matt Cooke as well, and only had to give up role player Matt Pettinger in all their deals.

From ESPN

Washington Capitals: Got goaltending in Cristobal Huet, veteran scoring in Sergei Fedorov and a new gritty nuisance in Matt Cooke. Should get the adrenaline going in Washington. Trending up

AOL Canada

The Capitals added depth in goaltending in the form of Cristobal Huet, who came over from Montreal for a second-round pick in the 2009 draft. He will take some of the pressure off Olaf Kolzig as the Capitals make a push for the playoffs.”I expected the unexpected, but I was shocked,” said Huet, who met with the media at the Bell Centre in Montreal before heading to Washington. “I had three great years here. It was a lot of fun. I can’t say anything bad. I would love to have finished the job here but it was a little difficult.
“I didn’t play well enough the last three weeks so I guess I didn’t help my cause. Now I have a chance to join another team and try to help them jump into the playoffs.”
And by adding Sergei Fedorov from Columbus, the Capitals added a veteran presence that will help calm nerves heading into the playoff sprint.

From Jim Matheson at the Ottawa Citizen

Washington: The Capitals needed a centre to help key rookie Nik Backstrom, especially with Michael Nylander out for the year. Sergei Fedorov fits the bill, and he won’t hurt fellow Russian Alexander Ovechkin. Cristobal Huet, from Montreal, is an upgrade on backup goalie Brent Johnson.

From Yahoo Sports.

Washington Capitals – Grade: A-: GM George McPhee made some nice, subtle pickups addressing roles. Don’t underestimate what the Capitals did in four separate deals on Tuesday. The addition of Sergei Fedorov is intriguing, especially considering the number of prominent Russians already on the roster – Alexander Ovechkin, Viktor Kozlov and Alexander Semin. Matt Cooke is certain to get under the skin of opposing Southeast Division and Eastern Conference forwards, and Cristobal Huet provides goaltending insurance.

And the Sporting News.

Trade: Washington sends D Theo Ruth to Columbus for C Sergei Fedorov.
Analysis: It’s not much of a gamble for the Caps and they get a talented veteran who can complement Alex Ovechkin. The price for Fedorov is low because he’ll be an unrestricted free agent after this season and will come at a much lower price than his current $6.08 million.
Winner: Capitals.
Trade: Montreal sends G Cristobal Huet to Washington for a second-round pick in 2009.
Analysis: The Canadiens are putting an incredible amount of faith in 20-year-old goalie Carey Price, while the Capitals get some insurance for Olaf Kolzig. Huet has shown he can be incredible when he’s hot and could challenge Kolzig for the starting job right now.
Winner: Capitals.

There you go, the heaping praise of the media, although some of the Canadian press was lukewarm, but then again, what did we really expect.
And finally, a look at our Blogger friends and their analysis … .
Over at the Alex Ovetjkin blog … obviously some glee …

I am so happy. Thank you Mr. McPhee. I truly believe Fedorov can show that he still has enough gas in his tank. He wants to play next season, for that he needs to show that he can still do it.
By the way, just a side note so I don’t forget to throw it in here, the Caps packed in 17,391 again last night tat the Verizon Center!

But seriously, you already see how Ovechkin has changed the hockey universe.
Cooke on TSN said that he was excited to be on the same team as Ovechkin. Fedorov’s Dad said Fedorov wanted to try it with Ovechkin.

From In Ahead of the Play

You can be sure Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin are excited about yet another countryman joining the roster. The chemistry should form quickly, allowing the Capitals to forge two strong scoring lines, something they have lacked since Nylander went on the IR.

The checking lines got an infusion of their own with the addition of Matt Cooke. The 29 year old Cooke comes to town in exchange for Pettinger, one of the biggest disappointments of the season in Washington

On Frozen Blog provides some more in depth insight … first on Huet and a possible willingness to stay in DC…

Huet’s impression of Washington: “It’s a really different place for players. [They’re] definitely tough opponents to play when we played them- young guys, tough to play against.”
Is Huet open to an extension at the end of the season? “I’m really open, I would definitely think about it, but right now it’s not really up to me. Definitely up to my play but that’s all I can really focus on right now, help the team get some wins and get closer to a playoff spot.”

And on Matt Cooke …

What does he think about the Caps’ system? “We played there before Christmas or just after, definitely a dangerous hockey club to play against. Obviously Alex brings a lot of speed and passion to the game- that’s something you’d want through your whole lineup.”
Final thoughts: “I look forward to coming somewhere where you’re used in the proper way and you feel like you’re wanted; you’re supporting the rest of the cast as well. I look forward to the change and the opportunity with the Washington Capitals.”

From Peerless …

George McPhee did what horse-traders do at this time of year. He went out and filled needs for a stretch run, and he did it without giving up a lot (we’ll probably have more to say later about why it wasn’t a lot). Whether in fact these moves were the right ones will have a proper airing another time (like after the season). But right now, the deals have – or perhaps should have – the effect of delivering a message to the rest of the team…the lollygagging around .500 over the last 15 games is not what is expected from this point forward.

and from Puckhead

The Capitals seemed to make the most head turning moves, and seemed to impress most of the analyst who are still scratching their heads on the Huet deal. GMGM did well, but are these only temporary band-aids for the rest of the season. Will McPhee sign any of the players he traded for. It seems that remains to be see.
Meanwhile Steve Eminger and Ben Clymer are still stuck in the system as neither player was moved.

And finally, how could we end it without word from the big guy, the Caps owner, Ted leonsis …

I think we helped ourselves without hurting our team’s future. We entered the sessions with a list of “must NOT do’s”: 1. Do not trade any young players in the lineup that we count as core. 2. Do not trade any first round picks. 3. Do not pick up any major salary requirements in the out years that make us NOT re-sign our young players. If we could add to the team without “blowing our brains out”, we would do so and we did.

Mission accomplished! Ok, enough is enough, I think we gave our analysis yesterday, then today we give you others. The trades are done, the trades were good, now onto the quest for the Southeast.
Finally, I have to note that the Caps poured in over 17,300 in the Verizon Center again. Once gain, the club is winning, the management is showing the willingness to compete, and the fans are arriving. In fact, here is a personal observation from the brother of DCPSR owner Spence, on the crowd last night …

Last night’s game was against the Wild, which have no road following, and the crowd was big. The Devils game on Sunday, which did benefit from a good-sized road crowd for the visitors, was also very good. Hopefully, the deadline trades will convince people that at least the franchise is trying and is going in a better direction, ultimately, than the Redskins.

Thanks for the comment John!