No Deal Howie!

Posted 12:50 PM ET | Comments 7

While I have been a big fan of David Poile in the past and, truth be told, will continue to be in the future I felt yesterdays moves (if you want to use that strong of a word to describe them) were wasted and not even needed.

The Preds went into the day looking, like many other teams, for a top six forward. What they ended up with, in my opinion, are two role players. While some will say that these players were needed to fill the spots vacated due to injuries of Martin Gelinas and Jed Ortmyer I would argue that these two additions are no better than what we could have brought up from Milwaukee.

Instead of bringing up farmhands to help out in a time of need we spend a draft pick and future considerations on these guys. I would much rather see the passion of a young player like Peverly, Cal O'Reilly or Antti Pihlstrom who would be playing to try and impress the coaches at the next level. It would be their chance to shine.

Chances are that Brandon Bochenski and Jan Hlavac are not part of our long term plans. Yes I know we needed a left handed shot (Pihlstrom, Peverly and Cal all have that in Milwaukee) but I still think that yesterday was a waste.

I talked to a season ticket holder who yesterday told me that they were angry over the lack of dealing done by the Preds. I have to agree. There was no excitement. Nothing to get Pred fans or non traditional fans fired up.

Perhaps Poile and ownership don't see this team as a real contender and didn't want to get involved in the bidding wars for a true top six forward. I trust Poile to not to mortgage our future for the sake of taking a chance at making the playoffs. I have said in the past that I think it is vital for this organization to make the playoffs and to bring in a marquee player. We did not do anything that gets us closer to either of these goals yesterday.

We better have one heck of an off-season in the free agent market.

Filed Under: predators predjoe trade poile gelinas ortmyer

predJD

February 27, 2008 2:25 PM ET | Delete
I have to agree with a lot of that predjoe. I think your last comment probably hits it right on the head.It seems to be shaping up to be a big off season and a supposed ton of talent coming through the draft.If you really look at the deals done, there were really only a handful of big trades- some of which won't hold up past season end and will cost the teams a ton of money.I did hear the reason why we could not bring up more players was because of the contract arrangements with the AHL which prohibits some of the movement going into the playoffs. That being said- if one more of our guys goes down, we would have been really screwed.Yes, the are only role players. I am sure hoping though that they take this personally and come out with something to prove!I am also dreaming for the "Big" deal in the summer.Nice Blog!

jim bob jones

February 27, 2008 2:25 PM ET | Delete
I agree completely. We could have got rid of atleast on of the d-men we have. Don't get me wrong, I like all of the young d-men we have but, now we have 8 guys taking up space on the roster. And to think we are going to re-sign all of them is stupid. Same thing with Dan Ellis. He was signed to a one-year deal. Now they are going to lose him to free agency for nothing. I'm pretty sure that we could have made a deal. I mean, look at the price that Philly gave up for Prospal. Not much at all, Alexandre Picard, no better than any of our d-men in my mind.(Besides DeVries)

Scottrod83

February 27, 2008 5:22 PM ET | Delete
Poile knows what he's doing. It's not his first rodeo.

predjoe

February 27, 2008 5:25 PM ET | Delete
which is why I said I will continue to trust him to lead this franchise. Nashville is fortunate to have a great hockey mind like David in the front office. That being said...this year was a bit of dud at the deadline.

blueline

February 27, 2008 7:31 PM ET | Delete
Guys - the real deals are made during the off season, not trade deadline rentals. Most teams way overpay for a crap-shoot and almost none work out. And we can still resign UFA's/RFA's, or deal them once the season ends, so stating that Ellis will now go for nothing (assuming we don't resign him, which we may) is just not necessarily true. (Remember Timonen and Hartnell? - traded to Philly on June 18th of last year in return for our 1st rd draft pick which we had previously given Philly for Forsberg?) Please re-read some of the recent posts on Paul's last two blogs - we have very bright future. Also, if you want to take the time, read Dan Tolensky's blog of Feb 21st: "Buyer Beware: Overpaying on Deadline Day Can be a Disaster." (He's the NHL blogger whose specially reserved space is directly under Ek's.) Our BEST opportunities, if you really want the chance to win it all, are through patience, drafts, and off-season trades.

preds24

February 27, 2008 7:32 PM ET | Delete
I like the moves. It was only for a seventh round pick, and future considerations will be a player we are going to get rid of anyway. Because there are no roster restrictions anymore, they can still call up kids from Milwaukee if these guys don't get it done. I don't think Hlavac is in our long term plans, but I think Bochenski could be, if he can play up to his potential. This team has been one of the best teams in the NHL since the beginning of January. There was no need in giving up a top prospect, young roster player, or one of our four top draft picks, for a big name. The Preds were not going to be competing for a cup this year anyway. But they can make the playoffs and maybe squeak into the 2nd round. We can still make moves this summer, and probably get a better value.

Texhorns02

March 3, 2008 10:43 AM ET | Delete
Thats the one thing that sucks about being in a non-traditional market. If you aren't winning as consistently as you would like, or dont make a big splash at the deadline theres no excitement. it's really unfortunate.

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