Trade Bait
February 25th, 2008 by Tom
The Isles and GM Garth Snow have about 24 hours to decide whether to be buyers or sellers in the trade market. As reported by Greg Logan in today’s Newsday and aFeb. 22 piece, the OrangeAndBlue have some pretty good chips to offer, should they decide to let go of some talented veterans now in the hopes of turning them into prospects or high draft picks. Here are some of the names that may no longer be stitched on the back of an Isles jersey come tomorrow night:
Miroslav Satan – Proven scorer (335 career goals, 679 points) who would be an offensive boost to almost any club in contention. He has played 56 postseason games, scoring 15 goals, 23 assists, and a minus-1.
Mike Comrie – At times very good, other times he sort of disappears. Helped Ottawa reach the finals in 2006-07. Has played 32 playoff games in his brief career, registering 4 goals, six assists, and a minus-2.
Ruslan Fedotenko – The 29-year-old was one of the leader’s in Tampa’s march to the Stanley Cup Championship in 2003-04, tallying 12 goals in 22 games. For his postseason career, Fedotenko has 13 goals, four assists in 53 games with a whopping minus-15.
Josek Vasicek – Has been a solid contributor for the Isles for most of the season. Has just five goals and two assists and a plus-3 in 37 playoff games.
Chris Simon – You think anyone is going to touch this guy? For the record, he’s played in 73 playoff games, scored 10 goals, assisted on seven, has a minus-12 and totaled 191 penalty minutes.
All that said, the Isles could easily decide to be buyers and bring in some scoring prowess and blueline skill. With 67 points and 19 games to go, the Isles are tied for ninth with the Flyers and are just one point behind Buffalo for the final playoff spot. Both the Sabres and the Flyers have a game in hand on the Isles.
Our friends at FauxRumours understand Snow’s predicament and have the Isles as a bubble team going into the deadline, which basically means they could go either way.
Whatever Snow decides over the next 24 hours or so will have a huge impact on this franchise. Is there enough there to win now with a little outside blood or do the Isles need to replenish the core with a talented young group from the farm? Decisions, decisions.
