McKeon Grades the Trades
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Ross McKeon of Yahoo! Sports has been busy today, grading all 30 teams of the NHL according to how they did with the Trade Deadline.
It may come as a suprise to some that Dallas and Pittsburgh, the 2 teams who made the blockbuster trades yesterday are graded so differently.
McKeon grades the Dallas Stars at #1, citing their trade as “the big strike”.
1. Dallas Stars – Grade: A+: The Stars made the big strike by acquiring arguably the best player available for now and moving forward. Center Brad Richards was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner when Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup in 2004. He’s 27, skilled and durable – just a perfect fit for any team. Never mind that $7.8 million owed for each of the next three years. The Stars parted with backup goalie Mike Smith, who may emerge as a No. 1 with the Lightning, Jussi Jokinen, Jeff Halpern and a fourth-round pick. Dallas did not have to surrender any of its young defense, another key. That deal makes a lot more sense than what Pittsburgh gave up to Atlanta in the day’s other blockbuster.
The Pittsburgh Penguins however, failed to gain such a high ranking, coming in at #22 with a D+ grade.
22. Pittsburgh Penguins – Grade: D+: No one can accuse the Penguins of being shy at the deadline. Pittsburgh changed more than any team by adding three players and deleting two from the roster and one from the pipeline and parting with three draft picks in two separate deals. Pittsburgh got rental Marian Hossa to play alongside either Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby. They got versatile and dependable Pascal Dupuis in the same deal with Atlanta but surrendered young, popular teammates Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen and prospect Angelo Esposito. You have to wonder what team chemistry will form out of all these moves. In addition, Hal Gill comes aboard to add size and a physical element on defense. First-, second- and fifth-round picks were dealt away.
Filling out the top 10 are:
2. Atlanta Thrashers – Grade: A
3. Washington Capitals – Grade: A-
4. Colorado Avalanche – Grade: B+
5. San Jose Sharks – Grade: B
6. Columbus Blue Jackets – Grade: B
7. Carolina Hurricanes – Grade: B
8. Chicago Blackhawks – Grade: B
9. New York Rangers – Grade: B-
10. Buffalo Sabres – Grade: B-
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