Remember that time Bob Clarke pissed everybody off and tried to offer sheet Ryan Kesler?
It was September 2006, just a few days before training camp, and Kesler, a restricted free agent, didn’t have a contract with his Vancouver Canucks. Clarke tried to steal him away, sending him the league’s first RFA offer sheet in seven years. WHAT A BAD GUY YOU CANT DO THAT HOW DARE YOU. Clarkie done did that, and didn’t even care.
“Well I bet you Dallas is upset after losing [unrestricted free agent] Willie Mitchell [to Vancouver] without having a chance for compensation or right to match,” Clarke told the Canadian Press from Philadelphia.
“They [the Stars] traded for him last year and liked him. But that’s the rules in the CBA [collective bargaining agreement]. The rules aren’t convenient just for one team, they’re there for everybody. You can’t pick and choose. If you like one rule and I like one rule, does that mean we can only use one rule? That’s crazy.
“If you’re unhappy with the rules, complain to Gary Bettman. I didn’t put the rule in.”
Man. What a dude. (Friendly reminder: Paul Holmgren subscribes to this bad ass logic, too.)
Anyway, this is really neither here nor there. It’s only relevant because Kesler — who didn’t become a Flyer after Vancouver matched that offer sheet in 2006, and then subsequently signed two more deals with the Canucks extending to 2016 — apparently wants out of Vancouver. His agent denied the news, but I mean, come on. Playing for John Tortorella sucks and we all know this as a fact.
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Kesler, of course, probably isn’t a fit for the Flyers. Well, let’s rephrase that. He’s actually a prototypical two-way Flyers center, and he’d be a nice fit, but he’s kind of old and he’s a center and the Flyers have about 400 young centers. So, not a fit. But he’ll definitely make some team better if a trade does happen, and while he’s not a 40 goal scorer anymore, he’s still a really valuable second-line center. Teams will want him, and hopefully those teams aren’t in the Metropolitan Division.
Speaking of the Metropolitan Division…
Rangers fans at Blueshirt Banter were pretty excited last night. This is some news: We know Martin St. Louis is being a big baby requested a trade from the Steve Yzerman-led Lightning, apparently because he was angry about initially being left off of Team Canada, a team also run by Yzerman.
But last night, TSN reported that St. Louis will only accept a trade to the New York Rangers.
Doesn’t really make much sense to me. Why would Yzerman trade a player who’s being completely unreasonable in his demands, assuming the reported demands are what’s accurate? St. Louis is an important piece of the puzzle in Tampa Bay. He plays with Steven Stamkos. He scores a lot of points. He’s their captain. The Bolts are a playoff team, and trading him makes little-to-no sense. There’s gotta be more to this than meets the eye, right?
As for St. Louis and the Flyers, somebody will inevitably write a story about how the only way to get Vincent Lecavalier going is to acquire his old buddy St. Louis. I’m calling it now. But yeah, St. Louis doesn’t make much sense. He’s still a very good player, but c’mon.
Hey, a defenseman!
The Isles are out of the picture this season, especially now that John Tavares is out for the year. But they’re interested in trading a defenseman, which obviously makes our ears perk up since — well, what’s a defenseman look like? Unfortunately, that defenseman is Andrew MacDonald. The rundown from Lighthouse Hockey:
MacDonald has been discussed and over-analyzed over the years, so the short story is this: He has power play points and big minutes due to playing a role above his ability, but his gaudy shot block numbers and underlying stats hint at a “shutdown” defensemen unfit for top competition.
…
Ironically, if the Rangers part with Dan Girardi, they’ll be doing just what the Islanders are doing: Parting with a defenseman whose reputation is better than his actual worth, and whose next contract is almost certain to be an overpayment relative to what value he can add.
The Isles are reportedly asking for a draft pick in return — like, a first-round or early second-round pick. No thanks.
Seeing any other trade rumors out there?
