Predators Deal a Case of Risk/Reward

[Slava]

The Nashville Predators GM has been less than thrilled with his club over the past week or so. Rather than sit back and complain he made a major move to try to spur the club onto the play-offs. The deal breaks down as follows:

To Anaheim:

Shane Doan
Vitaly Vishnevski
Scott Thornton
Marek Schwarz (AHL)
1st rd. Pick 2008 (Col)

To Nashville:

Scott Niedermayer
Mark Parrish
Trevor Letowski

"It was time for a shake-up here. I am pushing for a playoff appearance this season, and the club is just not there yet. We have had some sporadic production from Shane, and he is a tough player to trade."

The move gives the Predators a strong looking defence as long as Niedermayer plays (or never officially makes a decision):

Rafalski (81) Niedermayer (85)
Salei (76) Malik (77)
Modry (74) Jackman (72)

GM Slava continued "We are pushing Scott to make a decision by the New Year. I want to give Alain all of the tools he needs to ice a competitive squad. When I see a performance like this evening though, its clear to me that we need to make some changes. You just don't win games with 24 shots!" Slava seemed to refer to the past five games where the Predators have been out-scored 20-9, and managed a mere 2 points during that span. "We had to improve on the back-end".

The move does not come without its risks however. If Niedermayer retires before February 1, 2008 then the return for the Predators is a mere 2nd and 3rd round pick in this years draft.

Adding Parrish into the deal was also a critical move for the Predators. He has 11 points on the season thus far, and hopefully can find some chemistry with Henrik Sedin and Rick Nash (his probable line-mates). GM Slava also commented on trading Marek Schwarz. "I never wanted to include him here. He is going to play in the NHL and will be a solid goaltender in the league. You hate to move talent like that, but to acquire a player like Scott you do what you have to."

Thanks to Anaheim for the long and protracted negotiations! I think that we started this process at least a month ago?!

[RT14]

Obviously, the Preds win this big time for now and with Nieds' recent news, it appears he is looking promising to come back but there's still a good risk involved and even if he plays this year, how long will he continue? Not even possible to call a winner here until more questions are answered but if you assume he'll play two years it's a good deal for the Preds, if only this year, I like it for the Ducks but it does give the Preds a big advantage for their playoff push.

Regardless, the Sharks are extremely pleased this happened as they are now off the hook with returning Suter and the TB 1st if Nieds does decide to retire and can now entertain trade talks with either asset...mmmm, trades!

[OILFAN #81]

Good deal for Anaheim imo. Nieds will come back and play this year but then I honestly think he is done. I knew he'd come back as soon as he said "I have to decide". The plan all along was for him to sit till February and then go on a cup run. As soon as they got Bertuzzi and Schneider Anaheim can't afford him. Well if he waits till February they can take on the cap hit and be under the cap. For this year it's good for Nashville in that they can make a push. Long term though Anaheim easily wins. Doan, the 1st are great assets.

[cphlblackhawks]

No matter what I think the big winner for this deal are the Sharks.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by cphlblackhawks

No matter what I think the big winner for this deal are the Sharks.

I agree, as this deal voids the special consideration clause that was there when the trade was made.

[I wanna be like Miikka]

This was more of an issue of damage control for the Ducks. While we had insurance on Nieds, having him on this team put a strain on the directions that we could go. Having another asset that could be gone at the years end was not part of the plan.

Trading Suter was a mistake in the first place, put the team in a bad spot and we had to wiggle out of it in anyway we can. This was a deal where it was like, just cut losses while you can and get out. Basically a sunk cost investment and I tried to make the best decision moving forward.

Doan is a great Canadian kid, only 30 so he should make a big difference for years to come. He has had a great start in the NHL too and is on a solid two year contract at 5.85 mill per year. Schwarz was the other big piece coming back, a good goaltending prospect that hopefully will see some time with the Blues next season.

Congrats to the Preds and Sharks, hopefully the end of the Nieds saga can help the Ducks more forward and make more appropriate changes.