Just minutes after a deal that sent Brent Sopel to Vancouver, the Red Wings have taken off another potential player to be traded the night before Deadline Day, I hope there's something left for tomorrow.
The Chicago Blackhawks traded defenceman Lasse Kukkonen to Philadelphia for struggling forward Kyle Calder who sports a league worst -31 with the Flyers this season and has struggled offensively, netting just 9 goals, which began coming after Christmas and earned 12 points for a measly total of 21.
The Hawks then dealt Calder to the Detroit Red Wings, who have hopes of resurrecting this player from the dead, in exchange for surprising young forward Jason Williams who has put up some impressive numbers this season with
This is just a gamble by the Red Wings in hopes of adding a potential scorer (who hasn't scored this season). They did give up Williams to get him, but seriously, why the hell would Detroit do this? No logic behind this move at all, unless they expect Calder to become the player he was which, at this point, there's no telling what he'll do.
Williams has floundered this season and has not lived up to his $1.6 million salary, Red Wings fans will be happy to see him go.
Kukkonen is a solid young defenceman and the Flyers will likely play him if an injury occurs (very likely.)
I nearly lost all respect for Ken Holland...until a reader notified me of Williams' salary.
Calder could be a make-or-break player for Detroit.
We'll just have to wait and see...
Bleu, Blanc et Rouge
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26 February 2007
Red Wings gamble on underachieving Calder
Goal scored by Bleu, Blanc et Rouge at 11:55 PM
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3 fanatics have replied:
Jason William's production had pretty much dried up over the last couple of months. And he's been struggling ever since coming back from the concussion he suffered in a game against Edmonton earlier in the season. Even before the concussion, he was loathe to go to the net much, play things on the outside. He was terrible manning the point on the power-play and pretty much a turn-over factory in the offensive zone. Oh, and he sucked greatly in the Wings' playoff series against the Oil last year (then again, so did most of the Wings forwards).
Williams also has another year remaining on his salary at $1.6 million U.S.
Calder plays with more grit, will go to the net and play hard in the corners. And he's a UFA at the end of the season.
Basically, the deal is swapping spare parts, with a little more sandpaper going Detroit's way and William's salary coming off the books to do something else with this summer.
Understand now?
I agree but really, maybe Holland does believe that Calder only sucked because of his team? Or maybe I overlooked Williams' salary, thank you for clearing that up, I have changed my view on this now.
Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.
I don’t think Holland or any knowledgeable Wings fan for that matter views the Calder acquisition as a move that will “put the Wings over the top.”
As I said above, this was primarily a salary dump for next year—freeing up $1.6M and a roster spot. The extra cash gives Holland some bucks to maybe get Datsyuk under contract this summer, or spend the money elsewhere.
Williams was going nowhere in the organization. Calder had a good year his last season in Chicago. He blew in Philly, but Knuble and Gange didn’t exactly light it up this year, either.
It’s worth the exchange to see if Calder can find his game in a new locale. If he plays well, maybe Holland makes him an offer this summer. If not, no great loss as Williams wasn’t a piece of the puzzle anyway.
Is Holland done trading? I don’t know. What I do know is, like many GMs around the league, he isn’t too thrilled with the prices that were paid for Forsberg and Tkachuk and he’s not to happy, apparently, in what’s being asked in exchange for Guerin. He isn’t going to mortgage the future by sending high-picks and/or prospects for rental players and most Wings fans are thrilled with his stance on that.
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