Bucket of Pucks

Canadiens Fire Head Coach Guy Carbonneau, G.M. Bob Gainey takes the reigns

After jumping out to a decent first half, but stumbling miserably in recent weeks and facing fan pressure in this Centennial Season, the Montreal Canadiens finally decided to change bus drivers, firing Head Coach Guy Carbonneau today.  General Manager Bob Gainey will take over on an interim basis, likely for the remainder or the season. Assistant Coaches Kirk Muller, Rolie Melanson and Assosciate Coach Doug Jarvis will stay with the Habs.

Currently sitting in 5th place in the East with 77 Points, the Habs are 35-24-7 this season.  The team had a rough February, losing 8 of their first 10 games before putting together a 4 game win streak to close out the frame.  Corbonneau leaves Montreal with a 124-83-23 record with one playoff appearance (a second round exit vs. Philly last season) in his two plus year tenure.

Gary Roberts calls it a career, Nabokov's "tweaks" lower body

Winger Gary Roberts is retiring from hockey.  Roberts was the 12th overall pick by the Calgary Flames in the 1984 draft.  In 1,224 games played, with Calgary, Carolina, Toronto, Florida, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, Roberts accumulated 438 goals, 471 assists and 2560 PIMs.  He also won a Stanley Cup as a member of the Calgary Flames in 1988-89.

Roberts had originally retired in 1996 at the age of 30, due to a severe neck injury, but made an inspiring comeback one season later after intense recovery and re-conditioning.

Tampa Bay is expected to make a formal announcement soon.

BucketofPucks:  Roberts had already announced that he'd be retiring at the end of this season.  It's believed that Tampa Bay was trying to find a trade for Roberts to go out with a playoff team and he also went unclaimed through waivers.  It appears his contract was the main sticking point for most teams, as his cap hit was 2 million dollars plus a bonus package that paid him $10,000 for each game he plays.

Satan sent down to Minors, Briere injures groin. Again.

After clearing waivers on Wednesday, the end of the line has come for RW Miroslav Satan.  With just 17 goals this season, the Penguins demoted Satan to Wilkes-barre/Scranton of the AHL. This is a shocking turn of events, but according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was done to clear room for the arrival of Bill Guerin.

Satan was signed to a 1-year  deal in the hopes he would mesh with Sidney Crosby. When that didn't happen, Satan was bounced around the lineup, settling the past few months on the third line. While it's understandable the Penguins were disappointed with the former 40 goal scorer, Satan had already scored one more than he did last year for the lowly Islanders last year when they demoted him.  An even bigger question is why Satan was demoted when Petr Sykora has only 6 more goals and 8 more points despite having played a majority of the season on Malikn's wing. Seems a little wierd to me.

TRADE: 4 Team deal sends Cole to Carolina, Justin Williams to Kings, O'Sullivan and Kotalik to Edmonton.

In a rare 4 team trade, four player change addresses and a 2nd round pick makes three stops. Here's how it went down:

 The Carolina Hurricanes shipped RW Justin Williams to Los Angeles for LW Patrick O'Sullivan and a 2nd round pick.  Carolina then sent O'Sullivan and the 2nd rounder north of the border to Edmonton and then welcomed back forward Eric Cole. Edmonton then sent the 2nd round pick to Buffalo for RW Ales Kotalik. Nice.

Fantasy Wise, this is a curious deal indeed.  Cole has struggled mightily since leaving Carolina and has only 27 Points in 63 games with the Oilers this season. Heading back to Carolina could make a difference as Cole scored 51 goals the previous two seasons while on the Hurricanes. Cole has dual eligibility in most leagues, so I'd take a flier on him and pick him up.  Cole is a high energy player who will easily slide back into the top 6 for the 'Canes.

TRADE: NY Rangers Acquire Antropov from Maple Leafs, Derek Morris from Coyotes at the Deadline!

Photo by vipeldo.

The NY Rangers have made their annual deadline day splash, by acquiring Nik Antropov and Defenseman Derek Morris minutes apart just prior to the 3PM deadline.

First, the Rangers sent a 2nd round pick (plus a conditional choice) to Toronto for Antropov and then the Blueshirts turned around and dealt little used forward Petr Prucha, Forward Nigel Dawes and Defenseman Dmitri Kalinin to Phoenix for Defender Derek Morris.

Fantasy wise, these are interesting deals.  The Rangers are CRAZY center heavy and will have to move Antropov to the right wing.  Antropov has tallied 21 goals plus 25 assists in 63 games with Toronto this season and the 230 pounder is the kind of player new Rangers Coach John Tortorella likes.  Antropov's value rises slightly and he should have a respectable stretch run.

Morris is a former offensive defender who will clean up the garbage in front of Henrik Lundqvist's crease. Besides PIMS, Morris doesn't have much fantasy value unless he lands on the PP, but his glory days from the point are long past.

Prucha will get a fresh start in Phoenix, which has completely revamped its roster today.  A speedy winger, Prucha's fantasy value rises just because he'll actually get regular playing time instead of being a regular scratch.  Keep an eye on Prucha for next year as I expect him to rebound from this season in a big way if given a chance. A player doesn't score 52 goals over two seasons and just forget how to score. Unless they are named Cheechoo.  As for Dawes and Kalinin, neither has any real fantasy value for the rest of this season.  Dawes could bear future fruit, so remember his name next season

CLAIMED: Gerber, Morrison, Reitz all Claimed off Waivers, Roberts, Voros clear.

The third time was the charm for former Ottawa Goaltender Martin Gerber who was placed on re-entry waiver by the ottawa Senators for the third time yesterday and finally lost him to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have announced that Starting G Vesa Toskala is out for the season.  Fantasy Wise, drop Toskala if you have him and swap him for Gerber. Gerber cannot be any worse than Toskala was this year, so it's a better than even swap. Plus, if Gerber goes on a run, you'll look like a genius.  If you don't own Toskala, but are jonesing for Goalies, Gerber is worth streaming for a few games to see what direction he's headed for the rest of the season.

Brendan Morrison found himself heading to Dallas when they claimed him off waivers from the Ducks. Morrison had ACL surgery in the offseason and has been a step slow since coming back. Fantasy Wise,  Morrison had just 22 points in 62 games for the Ducks, and will likely line up on the third line in Dallas. leave him on the waiver wire, his value hasn't changed.

The Rangers waived Defenseman Eric Reits and Toronto picked up the physical defenseman. Reitz has a broken foot, but is young and good in front of his own net.  Fantasy Wise however, Reitz has no value.

Neither Gary Roberts or Aaron Voros were claimed.  Unless either gets dealt, the have no fantasy value by remaining with clubs that waived them.

TRADE: Islanders deal Guerin to Pittsburgh Penguins

After a rumored deal to send Guerin to Washington fell through this week, Guerin continued to be held out of games and practices in anticipation of a deal. Finally, it came, with Pittsburgh acquiring Guerin in exchange for a conditional pick.

Fantasy Wise, this is a HUGE boost for Guerin who has put up a respectable 36 points in 61 games with the worst team in the league out on Long Island. I would expect he is gonna end up in the top 6 and could be given a shot at pulling the sword from the stone meshing on Crosby's wing.  By attrition, a veteran like Guerin could have a renaissance in Pittsburgh and could put up 15 points from here on out.  If for some crazy reason Guerin's on your waiver wire, pick him up immediately.

TRADE: Boston Acquires Mark Recchi, Steve Montador in separate deals!

The Boston Bruins made two deals in less than an hour, acquiring well traveled veteran Mark Recchi  and a 2nd round pick in 2010 from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Defenseman Matt Lashoff and forward Martins Karsums just 45 minutes after getting Defenseman Steve Montador from the Anaheim Ducks for forward Peterri Nokelainen.

Recchi has been rumored to be leaving and even sat out last night's game (along with Gary Roberts, who cleared waivers) has been dealt late in the year five times and heads to Boston in search of his 3rd Stanley Cup. 

Fantasy Wise, this is a nice pickup for Boston and for Recchi.  The 41-year-old has 13 goals and 32 assists in 62 games for the Bolts this season, and is coming off a 5 assist performance against the Flames in his last game on Sunday.  If Recchi lands in the top nine, which seems likely, he's worth a pick up for the home stretch.

Montador is another great pickup for boston as his physical upside (125 PIMs so far) will help the Bruins in the tough stretch drive battles ahead.  if he's out there in your league, Montador is a great PIMs guy who has also tallied 20 Points so far. Pick him up if he's available.

The rest of the players in the deal are prospects and will have no fantasy value this year.

TRADE: Calgary Acquires Olli Jokinen for Lombardi, Prust, 1st rounder!

The Calgary Flames are wasting no time at all in revamping their team, making their second major deal of the day, getting C Olli Jokinen from the Phoenix Coyotes for C Matthew Lombardi, Forward Brandon Prust and a 1st round pick.

Fantasy wise, this is a huge deal, biggest of the day so far.  By rejoining Coach Mike Keenan, whom Jokinen played for in Florida, Olli's value has just soared. Jokinen has 1 year left @ $5.5M and will likely see the playoffs for the first time.  Jokinen, with 21 Goals and 21 assists in 57 games in Phoenix this year, will center the Flames 2nd line and get HUGE power play time.

Lombardi is a decent young player whose fantasy value falls in Phoenix as does Prust's, since Phoenix is already flush with Bruisers like Danny Carcillo.  Unless Phoenix is planing to send Carcillo elsewhere, Prust is not worth the pickup as he's still recovering from a concussion.

TRADE: Calgary re-acquires D Jordan Leopold

The Calgary Flames have solidified their blue line by dealing for Defenseman Jordan Leopold from Colorado for Defenseman Lawrence Nycholat, Defenseman Ryan Wilson and a 2nd round pick.

Fantasy Wise, Leopold has been a declining entity over the years who has never quite reached his potential. While his 6 goals and 20 points in 64 games this year are the most since a 20 point season in '05-'06, i wouldn't expect a huge jump in numbers down the stretch.  Calgary is an offensive squad however and Leopold will be given a chance on the 2nd unit  PP - if not opposite Phaneuf on the 1st unit.

Nycholat was claimed off waivers from Vancouver this week, making this deal practically a 2nd round pick for Leopold. Not too shabby.