Cliff Fletcher appeared to be an unhappy man after the deadline while the Stars and Penguins loaded up for playoff runs.
You could boil down Cliff Fletcher's seemingly endless press conference after the NHL trade deadline to one spectacularly definitive moment.
Asked if he might have got a Marian Hossa-like deal for the Toronto Maple Leafs had captain Mats Sundin waived his no-trade clause, the interim GM essentially said yes.
Now he also said Sundin had rights and that the club honored them and that he's a great player and a great captain, but in that simple statement the veneer of refinement was put aside, the gloves came off and Fletcher hit Sundin back: hard.
It was abundantly clear he wasn't happy and while some might argue that no one -- not former GM John Ferguson, not Tomas Kaberle, not Pavel Kubina -- got a pass from Fletcher in his Tuesday afternoon report. The Pittsburgh Penguins got Hossa, arguably the best scorer available, and throw-in Pascal Dupis for a package of Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, prospect Angelo Esposito (a former first-round pick) and a first-round draft pick in the upcoming draft.
That's a great player for Pittsburgh and Atlanta got two good players off a very good roster, a highly-regarded prospect in Esposito and a first-rounder for what could well be a rental player if the Penguins can't find the money to sign Hossa. When it comes to players you can't sign that's good value indeed.
Fletcher got bupkiss.
Oh, he did move some players of little or no consequence for draft picks that will not bring in any kind of impact player. Not if you lumped all the picks into one package and tossed in all the heritage sweaters in Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment's vast stores could you make a deal like Pittsburgh's youthful GM Ray Shero made and that's what seemed to bother Fletcher the most.
One had the sense that his true mission was to get some of his no-move players off the roster and that he needed Sundin to show the way. He was graceful in trying to make it happen, but when it didn't, when the whole grand plan went up in smoke or down in flames (take your pick) it seemed to change everything.
And I mean everything.
One has to wonder just how kind the Leafs will be to Sundin now that the plan appears to be to drive the team into the lottery pool. One also has to wonder how kind the exiting ex-teammates like Hal Gill, Chad Kilger and Wade Belak will react now that they were tossed into the trade hopper instead of Sundin. One also has to wonder how the remaining players in the room will adjust to the fact that the plan is clearly to have them go nowhere under a captain who likely won't be offered the time of day once his contract runs out at the end of yet another useless season.
Don't misunderstand. I fully support Sundin and his right not to go. It was his choice. He signed a one-year deal with a no-trade clause and he's played to the best of his ability this season and he had the contractual right not to leave, but there are actions and reactions and the consequences of not giving the Leafs management what it really wanted will have consequences.
They won't hurt Sundin in the long term. He can finish this season and retire or, should he choose, sign with any team that he wants and that wants him, but the idea that all will end well with the Maple Leafs, that Mats will be the Jean Beliveau of Toronto for years and years to come; not likely.
It was that kind of 24-48 hour period across the NHL coming up to the deadline Tuesday.
If you're counting winners and losers, well, the Penguins did OK, at least in the short term.
Hossa doesn't have a track record of being a playoff star, but he should do fine with the lineup the Penguins can ice, especially when Sidney Crosby is healthy. They did give up a lot and may have trouble signing Hossa come summertime, but they aren't going to worry about that just yet.
The San Jose Sharks got the puck-moving defenceman they were seeking in Brian Campbell and the Dallas Stars made a very Brett Hull-like move in acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning, though one might argue that the Lightning didn't lose in picking up goalie Mike Smith and two useable players in Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Halpren.
Richards was the best play-making centre and power play performer available and the Stars are a better team tonight for having him and now backup goalie Johan Holmqvist in the lineup, but the Lightning got out from under an annual salary of $7.8 million for at least three more years to come. They also got an immediate upgrade in goal, one that might actually allow them to compete for a playoff berth in the remaining days of this season. That's not a bad deal in this salary-cap era, especially when you consider that Tampa GM Jay Feaster had to convince Richards to give up his no-trade clause in the process.
You could argue that the Buffalo Sabres also did well in dumping soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Campbell on the Sharks. That won't play in Buffalo where the fans think Sabres management has been largely inept in handling the salary cap and their budget. The fans aren't wrong, but that doesn't mean general manager Darcy Regier didn't make a decent deal in getting former first-round pick Steve Bernier and a first-rounder in the upcoming draft. That's decent value for a good but not great defenceman who still has a way to go in regards to not giving the puck away in key situations and isn't at all physical in his own end, but when you tack Campbell's name onto a list that includes lost players like Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Jay McKee and Mike Grier (most of whom left for nothing in return), well, you have to wonder if there is a commitment to winning in Buffalo or just a commitment to keeping prices down, ticket sales up and revenue sharing checks coming in from other money-market teams.
Buffalo's locker room was unstable with regards to management's commitment before this happened, it can't have improved no matter how well Bernier plays. The Sabres certainly aren't any better on defence either.
If there's an award for surprise move of the day it certainly goes to Montreal GM Bob Gainey who took a Ken Dryden-like leap of faith in goalie Carey Price when he traded goalie Cristobol Huet to Washington for a second-round draft pick. The pick might well be a good one if the Caps miss the playoffs (and they likely will) and Huet was hardly a can't-miss clutch performer, but the Habs have been on a roll of late and Ottawa has been suspect which means the East is a wide-open affair. If Montreal stumbles with Price in his first real pressure situation, well, it may be a missed opportunity for Montreal, the likes of which the Habs haven't seen in years.
The only other major transaction worth noting was in Colorado where the Avs reached back to their past both in trading for defenceman Adam Foote and in re-signing Peter Forsberg. Foote was a good pickup at his price point even though his best years are behind him. Forsberg could be, but he's a lot like his word, you just don't know what to make of it.
The Avs signed him just days after his agent ruled him out of the trade-deadline derby which was a statement given just hours before Forsberg said he might be back after all. It was a confusing time for many, including the Philadelphia Flyers who may well feel they were suckered in the word-of-mouth game, but both Forsberg and the Avs took the safe route.
If the comeback is a bust, fans in Colorado have too many good memories (including two Stanley Cups) of Forsberg in his prime. He'll get the returning heroes treatment even if he never plays a game. If it works out and he makes enough of a contribution that the Avs can make a last-grab at the eighth and final playoff berth, well then several people may well keep their managerial and coaching jobs.
Either way, Forsberg is a big winner. After all, in Colorado he can't fail even if he can't play.
Wouldn't Mats Sundin like to be in his skates right about now?
