Shuffling the deck

Three big trades at the NHL Entry Draft sent shockwaves through the league, shockwaves that will still be felt around the league as free agent season kicks off next week.

In the first move, the Calgary Flames acquired Mike Cammalleri from the L.A. Kings. Cammalleri is a smallish forward with outstanding skill. He is a more complete player than Alex Tanguay was for Calgary, and still has room to improve. The most surprising part of the move is that L.A. was willing to part with him. I can’t say I have any idea where Cammalleri fits in the Flames lineup, but obviously they’re hoping he clicks with captain Jarome Iginla to create a real scoring threat. The fact remains though, that Cammalleri can’t make up for a woeful defense corps that can’t bail out their goalie when Miikka Kiprusoff is having an off night.

With Cammalleri wrapped up, the Flames shipped the disgruntled Tanguay to Montreal—finally. Tanguay-to-Montreal rumours started at the beginning of last season with a Tanguay-for-Alex Kovalev swap that nearly everyone thought would come to fruition. Later, at the trading deadline, the rumour was Tanguay-for-Michael Ryder, before finally becoming Tanguay-for-picks. It should be interesting to see how Tanguay reacts to the Montreal media, since he wilted under the media here in Calgary. If he can handle the pressure, he should be a great fit on a line with Saku Koivu. Sadly, the acquisition of Tanguay almost certainly means Ryder’s days in Montreal are done.

The last big trade involved the Phoenix Coyotes. Yes, you read that right. Phoenix made their first big splash in ages, shipping a pair of young defensemen to Florida for Olli Jokinen. The former Panthers captain has missed just one game in the last five seasons, and is among the post-lockout scoring leaders with 251 points. He gives the Coyotes the kind of offensive threat they haven’t had since a young Keith Tkachuk called the desert home. Added to a mix of youngsters like Daniel Carcillo, Peter Mueller and Kyle Turris, it’s easy to see the Coyotes are no longer content to be in the club. The Coyotes are going to be 2008-09’s favourite darkhorse pick.

From the Florida side, they lost their captain, but gained two very steady, young defensemen. Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton are very reliable defenders, and both have a lot of potential waiting to be tapped. The concern is that Cats had 12 defensemen under contract at the end of the draft. The best I can figure is they’ll bring all 12 to training camp to get a good look at all of them, then make a move early in the season to try to get a forward. Or, they’re going to play two forwards and three d to try to give Tomas Vokoun some help.

Later, in smaller deals, the Flyers sent R.J. Umberger to Columbus for picks, and picked up Steve Eminger from Washington for picks. Eminger is a good depth move by the Flyers. During their improbable playoff run, their lack of blue line depth was exposed. As for the Jackets, on paper they’re completely out of excuses. If they still can’t make the playoffs this year (whether top pick Nikita Filatov comes over or not), look for GM Scott Howson to make big moves at the end of 08-09.