NJ Gets: Oleg Tverdosky, Jeff Friesen, Maxim Balmochnykh Anaheim Gets: Petr Sykora, Mike Commodore, J-F Damphousse, Igor Pohanka
My Thoughts: When I first saw that Skyora was traded, I was upset. I mean, Sykora TRADED!? But who will pick up the slack? And who will lead Anaheim's defense? But it really is a good trade. Anaheim gets a player who can seriously contribute on the offense in Sykora, a possible future top 4 d-man in Commodore, a good backup goalie who could be a starter in Damphousse, and an OK prospect in Pohanka. New Jersey gets Friesen, who may not contribute as much offensively as Sykora, but plays much better defense than Sykora. Tverdosky is a very good d-man who can definately contribute on the offense and the powerplay. And Balmochnykh still has some time to develop, despite having been developed for almost 5 years now. He can probably find a spot on Albany at worst.
*Drools* Oates, Kariya and Sykora all on ONE LINE? COOL!
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Tverdovsky is one dimensional but with the devils defensive strategy his defensive shortcomings can be covered up - Friesen has been a player with "potential" in San Jose and Anaheim and should fit well into the devils non-descript collection of wings that score 15 to 20. Sykora will love the freedom he gets in Anaheim - good deal for both but it still doesn't cover up the hole left by Holik's absence.
Interesting trade. The Devils get more offense from the blue line and a 20 goal scorer. Makes me wonder if the trap is finally dead.
On the other hand, the Ducks put together one heck of a top line. But then again, the Ducks were never known for their depth. It has always been the lack of scoring from everywhere but the top line that has killed this team.
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Originally posted by evilwaldoInteresting trade. The Devils get more offense from the blue line and a 20 goal scorer. Makes me wonder if the trap is finally dead.
Uh, what? The Devils haven't played the dreaded Neutral Zone Trap since Lemaire was coaching. They may have done it a bit under Constantine this recent season, but the Devils actually had a healthy offense in the past few seasons:
*Ftorek replaced by Robinson in remaning 8 games in the season.
See, under Lemaire they employed the trap and their offense totals have been low. In 93-94, they scored so much because then, not many teams knew how to employ a similar trap to prevent the Devils' offense. Nevertheless, the scoring got lower and lower as the trap was further used. Once Ftorek came in, the trap was relaxed and the Devils scored more. So, no, we're not using the trap. Sorry, it's a touchy subject with me, being a Devils fan and all.
Oh, and Frisen netted 31 in San Jose back in 97-98. But he only did it once.
The NY fans let their feelings be known again as to the direction they want Dolan to take with the club - 4 years ago Slats was brought in because he knew how to build a competitive exciting young team out of scraps and the NYR were old, broken, overpaid ...