Blues get a Center

[CMPunk]

The Blues were all over the Islanders 3 minutes after they posted they had players available. After finally hooking up today, the blues have send Ales Kotalik, Michal Handzus and Carter Ashton to the Island in exchange for Chris Drury and Eric Cole.

Drury is a great 2 way center, and although we lose out on Handzus's defensive prowess, we get more offense out of the second line. Cole for Kotalik is about even..with Cole being a bit more physical and more experienced. He's also putting up more goals at the CPHL level.

Thanks to Mike for the easy dealings

[Flickered Flame]

Well this sucks. I missed out on Cole.

[Swayze11]

Wow, big win for the Blues!!! The only asset here is Ashton for the Isles. Cant really see how this makes a ton of sense for the Islanders, 2 downgrades forwards and a prospect. Ashton just does not make up the difference IMO.

[mbeauchamp76]

Originally Posted by CMPunk

The Blues were all over the Islanders 3 minutes after they posted they had players available. After finally hooking up today, the blues have send Ales Kotalik, Michal Handzus and Carter Ashton to the Island in exchange for Chris Drury and Eric Cole.

Drury is a great 2 way center, and although we lose out on Handzus's defensive prowess, we get more offense out of the second line. Cole for Kotalik is about even..with Cole being a bit more physical and more experienced. He's also putting up more goals at the CPHL level.

Thanks to Mike for the easy dealings

Islanders land a decent two-way forward prospect in Carter Ashton who is arguably the Lightnings top prospect behind Hedman and son of Brent Ashton. Granted we get weaker but hopefully more stable with having Kotalik instead of Cole. Cole's scoring and hitting presence will surely be missed this year and will be welcomed in St.Louis. In the end we still have two decent starters in return to hopefully remain competitive. Thanks Kevin for being patient and getting the deal done.

[Enforcer]

I think this was an ok move for the Islanders. He got the player having the best current NHL season back in the deal. Handzus is doing well in LA this year. Kotalik is in the doghouse now but could turn it back around. Drury is struggling and Cole isn't healthy.

Good luck moving Drury with that contract if he doesn't fit in on your team. He's only got TWO goals in 26 games.

[I wanna be like Miikka]

I like this for the Blues by quite a margin. Basically traded 2 bums and a late 1st prospect for 2 big time players/upgrades.

[Goffie]

At first glance I thought this was a huge win for the Blues but the more I look at it the more sense it makes for me from the isles POV. Drury is absolutely horrid in the NHL this year and hsi contract may be a hard one to take in the later years of the deal and Cole has been on a downward spiral for a few years now and is actually not much different then Kotalik. Blues do great by adding great help this year but the isles do ok by adding the best piece long term.

[simmer2]

When I looked at this deal I thought it was a win for the Blues but looking at the Drury contract and his performance this year that could be tough to move. So overall I think the deal is rather fair.

The Isles have done a good job adding a number of good prospects; you're rebuilding which is something the team should have done a while ago.