The Nux attempt to remove a 22 year old monkey from their backs tonight as they host the reining Eastern Division champion Philledelphia Flyers, having not beaten the Broadstreet Bullies at home in over two decades.
Relatively big news day in the NHL as Darryl Sutter steps down in Calgary, and the Habs make an interesting move, both which will have ripple effects throughout the NHL.
Many of the Flames overpaid stars have lengthy contracts well over market value, and worse, many of them also have no movement clauses. Jay Feester is in the interim position right now trying to right the ship in the Sea of Red, but the first ever mid-season change of GM in Flames history doesn't imply that the correct bearings for that ship is a playoff appearance this season. It looks likes Feester is the man brought in to blow it up and he should be hoarding prospects and picks to re-stock an aged roster with little or no real stand out farm hands. Where do Flames players fit in on the Nux radar? Is Robyn Regher a worthwhile upgrade on Andrew Alberts? Could we move some salary to put Iginla on our third line? I don't really think anyone on Calgary fits the Canucks, but I'm sure lots of teams are salavating at the thought of acquiring a few of the experienced vets off this Flames team.
That takes us to Long Island, where management and ownership couldn't be tighter, however, that's not necessarily a good thing. Montreal dumps a second and fifth round pick in projected weak draft year for a 21 point blue liner? This is a good trade for Les Habitants, and it really sets the price in the market early. I'm sure a lot of teams have been after Wisniewski and if Garth Snow felt the best he could get for him was a pair of picks then I wonder how soft the other offers really were.
With competition just to make the playoffs, let alone go all the way, being at an all time high, I think we're in for a fairly fluid market as teams try to make tweaks earlier than usual in hopes of getting the upper hand, and it seems to be a Buyer's market.
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