Saturday, March 1, 2008
NHL Trade Deadline Grades
Yahoo:
9. New York Rangers – Grade: B-: The Rangers made a pair of deals but probably will use only one or two of the players acquired. New York got veteran defenseman Christian Backman from St. Louis for a draft pick. He should help in terms of depth. Out of the five-player swap with the Coyotes and former Rangers assistant GM Don Maloney, New York may get something from versatile young winger Fredrik Sjostrom. The Rangers got physical winger Josh Gratton and minor-league goalie David Leneveu in exchange for underperforming veteran forward Marcel Hossa and goaltending prospect Al Montoya.
24. New York Islanders – Grade: D+: A team in desperate need of scoring didn’t do anything to address that need. In fact, the Isles did very little of anything. They shipped out undersized defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron, received little-used defenseman Rob Davison and stockpiled two middle-round picks while losing one. The team also cut ties with the controversial Chris Simon, who was not warmly received by the home fans during his return last week from a 30-game suspension.
I agree pretty much with them. I definitely agree with the Rangers gave up to busts for a kid in Sjostrom who has amazing speed and makes a nice fit replacing Hollweg. Backman had a terrible 1st game, but you can tell he was nervous and I give him credit for trying to change his game and play more physical. I did not like that the Islanders traded Bergeron for a 3rd round pick. Even though he is undersized he has a wicked shot and is a fairly good defenseman. I would bump their grade to a C+ just for the fact that they were able to find someone to take Chris Simon.
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