First of all, it's depth for depth. In the long run this isn't going to be a trade that moves the needle much for either team.
However, as others have pointed out, Jokinen is a player that has had a corsi above 50% almost every year. His one major down year was his first year in Pittsburgh. Other than that, this is a player who consistently helps his team drive play.
On the other hand, Cammalleri has been the opposite. His second year in Calgary he had a CF% of 50.82. Every other season was underwater.
Furthermore, Jokinen has had poor puck luck this season. 5v5 he's scored zero goals on 17 shots. He's obviously not going to continue shooting at 0% all year. He's going to rebound.
Cammalleri is shooting a little below his career average, so you might assume he's going to put up some goals. However, if you look at his season over season shooting percentage he's seen a decline in shooting percentage every year since 2013-14 (except for 2015-16 where he shoot an abnormally low number of times, which inflated his shooting percentage).
In all, this seems to be a situation where LA sold high and bought low. Jokinen will start scoring and will definitely help LA defensively. Meanwhile, Cammalleri will probably see his production drop off slightly and won't help Edmonton defensively in the least bit.
LA wins this trade, although as I said before, it's a depth trade and not a big deal either way.
Really, you could argue Calgary is the big winner here. This trade will keep Edmonton pacified for a while thinking they actually made a move that will turn around the team. We should have another 10-15 games before Edmonton realizes Cammalleri for Jokinen wasn't the solution.
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"I’m on a mission to civilize." - Will McAvoy
Jokinen is better suited to a bottom 6 role. So in that sense I see how it makes sense for LA. That being said, this has more about trying to shake up the room with probably one of the few players that they could easily trade. After the huge win over LV Chia is probably sitting back in his chair thinking all is right again.
First of all, it's depth for depth. In the long run this isn't going to be a trade that moves the needle much for either team.
However, as others have pointed out, Jokinen is a player that has had a corsi above 50% almost every year. His one major down year was his first year in Pittsburgh. Other than that, this is a player who consistently helps his team drive play.
On the other hand, Cammalleri has been the opposite. His second year in Calgary he had a CF% of 50.82. Every other season was underwater.
Furthermore, Jokinen has had poor puck luck this season. 5v5 he's scored zero goals on 17 shots. He's obviously not going to continue shooting at 0% all year. He's going to rebound.
Cammalleri is shooting a little below his career average, so you might assume he's going to put up some goals. However, if you look at his season over season shooting percentage he's seen a decline in shooting percentage every year since 2013-14 (except for 2015-16 where he shoot an abnormally low number of times, which inflated his shooting percentage).
In all, this seems to be a situation where LA sold high and bought low. Jokinen will start scoring and will definitely help LA defensively. Meanwhile, Cammalleri will probably see his production drop off slightly and won't help Edmonton defensively in the least bit.
LA wins this trade, although as I said before, it's a depth trade and not a big deal either way.
Really, you could argue Calgary is the big winner here. This trade will keep Edmonton pacified for a while thinking they actually made a move that will turn around the team. We should have another 10-15 games before Edmonton realizes Cammalleri for Jokinen wasn't the solution.
I think this trade works for both sides. For LA, exactly how you described. For Edmonton, they are getting a guy who, they hope, can still bury the biscuit in a limited role. EDM has pretty good possession numbers this season but obviously cannot score.
Cammy isn't going to be the saviour though so not much to worry about here.
I am not a huge fan of Cammalleri, and yes, I do think he is quickly regressing. I just think that Jokinen has already regressed. Still think this is a win for Edmonton, but it shouldn't really change Edmonton's fortunes much.
What I do think is that Cammalleri might have been a good insurance policy to keep around. Gaborik is returning and taking his spot, but Gaborik is always getting injured. Is it worth having Cammalleri in the bottom 6 - a role he is undoubtedly ill suited for? I don't know.
Neither player will probably help their new teams much. Maybe Cammalleri finds lightning in a bottle having McDavid or RNH setting him up. Maybe Jokinen rejuvenates his career playing within a system he MAY be more comfortable with.
At any rate, I hope this makes the Oilers suck more, and helps make the Kings suck too.
I think this trade works for both sides. For LA, exactly how you described. For Edmonton, they are getting a guy who, they hope, can still bury the biscuit in a limited role. EDM has pretty good possession numbers this season but obviously cannot score.
Cammy isn't going to be the saviour though so not much to worry about here.
Yes, Cammalleri can score but since he's more of a defensive liability than Jokinen will he end up giving up more goals than he's scoring?
With Cammaleri in the line up Edmonton will be losing games 5-4 instead of 3-2. (This is obviously a hyperbolic exaggeration for effect. Please don't assuming I'm suggesting Cammy will single-handedly score 2 goals every night.)
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"I’m on a mission to civilize." - Will McAvoy
He was out of LA's plans with Gaborik coming back and his ice time steadily declined the last few games and he was apparently pretty unhappy with his usage. Only 5mins of ice time last game or something. I think I read all that in Freidman's 30 thoughts.
So if you look at it that way, LA get a look at a different type of player that may be useful in the bottom 6/PK role at the expense of a player they didn't want.
Someone use this Cammalleri quote on the Sportsnet article comment section:
"I can't accept that we will display a losing attitude as we're doing this year. We prepare for our games like losers. We play like losers. So it's no wonder why we lose."
... Could apply to Edmonton as much as it did to the Habs at the time when he said it.
