Dudes are Right On With D-Man – But He Goes to Wrong Team!
February 9th, 2011, 12:16 pm
No Pronger, No Nieds, No Service.
Ian White is eating Cracker Barrel in the backwoods of Carolina.
James Wisniewski – Montreal, s’il vous plait.
Francois Beauchemin – Back to Anaheim where the Hills are Alive with the Sound of Selanne.
Our streak of picking available d-men to get moved continues to be golden today as the Toronto Maple Leafs traded veteran blueliner Francois Beauchemin back to the Anaheim Ducks for forward Joffrey Lupul, former 2008 first round pick Jake Gardiner and a future 2013 4th round pick. This leaves one less impact defensemen on the open market for Doug Wilson to target in the coming weeks, but Toronto’s asking price (a top three prospect) is too high for my taste.
Jake Gardiner is the jewel of this deal, an unsigned college defensemen currently in his junior year at the University of Wisconsin and fresh off a three assist and +9 performance for the United States at the World Junior tournament in 2011. Gardiner was the Ducks first round pick in 2008 (when the Sharks went fishing for the Daniels twins from Northeastern University – we profile them this week in our podcast posted below) and he has real solid potential to be a very good professional hockey player and he could surface in the NHL as soon as next year next to Luke Schenn, if he signs an ETL at the end of the year. In order to get Gardiner, the Leafs had to give up a solid blueliner in Francois – but they also had to take out a bit of Bob Murray’s trash in the bloated contract of Joffrey Lupul and his 4.25M cap hit until 2012-13. Lupul is a solid 2nd line forward when healthy, but he has only suited up for 49 games since 2009 and has a disappointing 27 points in that span. Is it worth it to get Gardiner? In my opinion, yes. If you’re the Leafs, you invest in your future and Gardiner could be a major player on that team in the next three years. Burke is fully aware of Gardiner and his skills, he did draft the kid after all when he was GM of the Ducks in the summer of 2008.
So, we can imagine that Brian Burke told DW he wanted something like Devin Setoguchi, Justin Braun or Charlie Coyle and a 4th round pick for Beauchemin. A hefty price for the French-Canadian d-man and a move I’m frankly shocked to see the Ducks make. Do they really think they have the horses, especially on their 2nd thru 4th forward lines, to make real noise in the playoffs? Nah. I think Bob Murray just made another boo boo and got taken by his former boss. Why break up the chance to have Gardiner, Fowler and Sbisa running around the Pacific Division for years to get a veteran guy who is better served on a Cup contender? With Murray, it’s not too surprising. “Stupid is as Stupid Does.” Just look at the Jason Blake deal (33 points in 78 games as a Duck while making 4M). Good job Bob. Throw another chair, just don’t hit my laptop.
Make sure to listen to the podcast this week and take part in the listener poll and let us know how you consume the Dudes on Hockey podcast. Mike loves stats and will spend hours pouring over the data as the Dudes continue their quest for Podcast Domination.
Join us next week when Joni Pitkanen gets traded to…somewhere else.
Loading ...
I agree it’s an overpayment and a deal that I’m glad DW passed on… However, I think you have to start considering the Ducks as a more serious threat now in the West.
The one move that has gone under the radar in my opinion, was getting Emery. Not because I like Emery but because that ensures Hiller will be rested, and that’s a proposition I don’t like.
Good moves by the ducks only for the short term, that risk too much of their future. I hope they crash and burn and miss the playoffs… 😉
I think you’ve over estimated what the equivalent of this deal would be to the sharks. Lupul is no where near what setos value is. I think the equivalent would be something like Braun-huskins-4th. Which if I’m DW I consider very carefully.
Also, im no fan of Murray but trading away Giggy wasn’t exactly giving away a gem to get Blake. If anything it was an add value to make room for hiller so I’m not sure it was so terrible.
So you’re saying, if you had Lupul and Gardiner on your team, you’d trade them for Huskins and Braun? I completely disagree. (Though I agree that Seto/Braun/pick is over-estimating by the Dudes, because Lupul has such a bad contract).
And if you gave me a choice between “nothing” and “Jason Blake at $4M,” I’d take nothing. He could have gotten a pick or prospect for Giggy, still made room for Hiller, and not be stuck with a crappy player on a crappy contract.
Hey Patrick,
I agree that swapping seto for huskins in the comparison might be a little over reaching but it was the best analogy i could come up with. Re. Giggy/Blake, maybe not ideal but sometimes you take what the market will give you. He took a chance on a player who, in the past, has been a premier offensive player. It obviously didn’t pay off for $4MM worth, but he’s still a productive 3rd line player (playing on the 2nd line in ANH).
Yeah, you’re right. I think I was just cranky when I replied. 🙂
I have to agree with Nick on the Giggy/Blake scenario in order to make salary room for a Hiller contract.
But I don’t know how “rested” Hiller will really be. He is practicing supposedly but he’s experiencing “concussion like symptoms” such as fatigue, light headedness/dizziness (same shiz in my opinion)…
As a Duck-supporting friend of the Dudes, I have to defend the trade. Jake Gardiner has yet to play a minute of NHL time, so the potential is there, yes, but never a guarantee. Beauchemin is a known commodity. The trade also does two other very important things – first, it keeps Franky off rival Western conference clubs jockeying for the same playoff position the Ducks are; and secondly, it sets the bar for puck-moving defensemen. Any other team looking to acquire a similar player to Beauchemin is now looking at needing a similar package. …unless they’re dealing with the other Murray in Ottawa.
Word.
I think the only reason why Gardiner is not in the NHL is because he’s in college, and doesn’t count against the 50-man roster limit. He’s getting some awesome hockey education at the University of Wisconsin, and tearing it up this season – 30 pts in 30 games as a defenseman. You are right that nothing is a guarantee, but one of the best players at possibly the best NCAA hockey program in the nation is pretty darn close.
Re: The Poll
I used to do the podcast stuff, but the website got so good that it’s better to come here to see not only the podcast but you’re blogs too. Glad to see a bunch of traffic here these days.
The website is nice because it works on my Droid too.
Agreed, I know i could dl the podcasts for my iphone but the fact that i can stream them off the site trumps that for me. Mostly listen at work off the website.
Doug, next Saturday there is a free “Give Hockey A Try” session at the Oakland Ice Center. Make it happen. If you can dress up in tights and sing and dance, you can put on some skates and pads and get knocked around. Man up.
OK, maybe Oakland isn’t the safest place, but still…