It was a solid Deadline Day for general managers in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
TORONTO – It fits that the Calgary Flames, the best hockey team in Canada, had the strongest day at the deadline of any Canadian club.
But does the fact that Vancouver and Montreal left us wanting on Deadline Day foreshadow a similar feeling coming out of those cities this April? That’s a good question, and one of many.
As our eyeballs adjust back to round from square, after a day of staring at the TV and following that ticker, there are more questions than answers left over from what turned out to be a rather obtuse Deadline Day.
What exactly transpired in the Western Conference Wednesday? Well, somehow, the Conference that no one thought could get any tighter found a way to do cinch up tighter than a hangman’s noose.
The top two clubs – Detroit and San Jose — did nothing and almost nothing respectively to make themselves better. As such the gap closed.
The No. 3 team in the West, Calgary, did some serious catching up when it added Olli Jokinen and Jordan Leopold. No. 4 Chicago made up ground on the top three clubs by picking up a veteran, playoff ready winger Sammy Pahlsson – the modern day Ulf Dahlen in these eyes.
So the Top 4 clubs draw closer to each other, and the way Vancouver has been playing – with the confidence of a new deal for Alex Burrows - we’ll put them in the elite group of five Western powers for now.
And we have to say this: We applaud Canucks GM Mike Gillis, who did the hardest thing a general manager ever has to do – especially at his first deadline. He said "No."
"No," to a deal for Jay Bouwmeester that was simply too rich for an impending UFA, a trade that would have looked awful had Bouwmeester come in, played out the season and signed elsewhere this summer.
Mason Raymond, a first-round pick and Kevin Bieksa? That was enough to make Gillis pull his horns in. It’s the tough decision, but the right one for a GM whose team is rounding nicely into a playoff contender.
It had to be excruciating for Gillis however, as Calgary — likely a better team then Vancouver when the day began, and surely a better one now — just kept on reeling in the big fish. Sutter went into the deadline looking for a big centreman and a depth defenceman, and landed Jokinen and Jordan Leopold.
If you’re like me, and you’ve always wondered if it is the fault of Jokinen or the lousy teams he has played on that he’s never played a playoff game, wonder no more.
After nearly 800 NHL games, we’re about to find out about the big Finn.
Now Jokinen, who has played under head coach Mike Keenan before, will get the triple whammy he’s never before dealt with: Playing for Iron Mike, under the arched eyebrow of GM Darryl Sutter, and in a city where he won’t be able to hide for even a second.
If this guy has any guts, they’ll come out now. Or forever hold their peace.
Even Edmonton found a way to get better, moving the disappointing Erik Cole for an old acquaintance of Ales Hemsky in Ales Kotalik, and another pretty good young player in Patrick O’Sullivan.
If Kotalik brings out some more from Hemsky, and helps the Oilers powerplay, that will be enough to allow Edmonton to keep pace or sixth through eighth spot.
Meanwhile Phoenix entered the day as a small and not very physical team, and finished even smaller and more likely to be pushed around. Columbus got better, and they’re looking to be on a steady march to their first playoff series in history.
Colorado, for all the talk of all the selling, could not rid themselves of the final three years of Ryan Smyth’s contract, despite the fact it comes attached to exactly the type of blood and guts player that would make any of 16 playoff teams a better club.
That’s how hard it is to get out from under a mistake of a contract in today’s NHL, and that’s exactly why Gillis chose discretion over valour.
As for the Flames, if they like Jokinen, they’ll probably not have enough money this summer to re-sign Mike Cammalleri. If they prefer to ink Cammalleri they’ll get a nice draft pick in June for Jokinen to make up for the one he cost them, and chalk Matthew Lombardi and Brandon Prust up to the cost of doing business.
In the end, three smart GMs in Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton did completely different things Wednesday. And when it’s all said and done, all three look pretty good this morning.
