This used to be one of my most favorite days of the year.
Today is trade deadline day in the NHL, and thanks to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), it's unlikely there'll be lots of moving and shaking when it comes to the Red Wings. As I write this, just over two hours remain before the 3:00pm deadline is upon us.
Oh, how I used to look forward to trade deadline day!
When I spoke to Red Wings GM Ken Holland last month for the Motor City Sports Magazine interview (March issue available at Barnes & Noble and Kroger's and other newsstands -- hint, hint), he told me that, because of the salary cap and the Red Wings being so close to it, it was unlikely the team would do anything major at the deadline.
"We have space to add a depth player, but nothing like a Robert Lang," Holland told me, referring to the deal two years ago -- about a week before the deadline -- that brought Lang to the Red Wings from Washington.
Holland: "We can add a depth player, but nothing major."
Some trades come together at the last minute, though -- so maybe there is hope something will happen before 3:00 today. But, again, probably nothing major.
Trade deadline day used to mean watching the crawls on the bottom of all the ESPN screens and checking NHL.com every ten minutes and listening to sports talk radio -- even in the shower. If I was at work that day, I had moles all over -- minions who kept me abreast of the goings on in the outside world. Now I work from home, so I have all the resources at my disposal. Problem is, what are they resourcing?
It's not boring all over the league, however.
The Avalanche and Canadiens traded goaltenders -- David Aebischer to Montreal for Jose Theodore -- and that's blockbuster-ish. Other teams have some space to do some serious things. Todd Bertuzzi of Vancouver is supposedly a hot item. Maybe he'll be moved today.
But around here, the new CBA has pretty much put the kibosh on the Red Wings doing anything major, unless big salaries were swapped, and that's unlikely. Every year, it seemed, the Red Wings would pull something out of their hat -- or a part of their anatomy -- like a Larry Murphy (1997), Fredrick Olausson (2002), or Jamie Macoun (1998). Sometimes it was really big doings, like in 1999, when Holland pulled off several deals within the final few hours that landed the Red Wings Chris Chelios, Wendel Clark, Ulf Samuelsson, and Bill Ranford. All old guys, and it didn't work (the Wings lost in the second round to Colorado), but it sure was fun that day.
It's also exciting to see the new player(s), learning a new uniform number or two, and seeing how the new guy fits in. It's also satisfying to hear the predictable comments from the new acquisition, talking about how great it is to be a Red Wing (they all say that, you know). It seems like it's sports that's the only venue where people are public in stating their affection for coming to Detroit -- as long as it's about the Red Wings and the Pistons.
So now it's about 1:00, I made one more check at NHL.com, and all's quiet.
Damn that new CBA!
P.S. If the Red Wings do something, come back to "Out of Bounds" for expert analysis. (Now, if I can only find an expert....)
1 comment:
No kidding things have changed! I didn't even realize the trade deadline was near till a few trades were announced yesterday afternoon. That would never have happened before the new CBA.
I'm with you, I miss the days when it was almost a given that the Wings were going to pick up another team's salary dump.
The salary cap may have been good for the overall health of the NHL. Unfortunately, it just killed the blockbuster deadline trade, which was one of the few times a year when hockey news was front and center in the national media.
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