WALES WATCHING
Rating the Trades
Marian Hossa to Pittsburgh- Hossa’s fantasy numbers just
shot up as he will line up next to Sydney Crosby in Pittsburgh. Hossa goes from Kovalchuk, who loves to
shoot the puck, to Crosby, who loves to pass the puck. ↑
Brad Richards to Dallas- Richards gets away from the
defensively poor Bolts to a Dallas team that is deep in talent. He had to center the second line in Tampa
Bay as Vinny Lecavalier occupied the top spot.
He can excel in Dallas. ↑
Johan Holmqvist to Dallas- Holmqvist owners just had their
starting netminder relegated to a backup role. As Marty Turco’s backup, he will
not see a multitude of starts. ↓
Mike Smith to Tampa Bay- Smith was a capable backup in Dallas racking up 24 wins
the past two seasons. He will likely
get the starting nod over young Kari Rammo in Tampa Bay, but before you jump on
Smith, remember that he is going from a defensively sound Stars team to a Tampa
Bay team that has a porous defense. ↑
Brian Campbell to San Jose- Campbell’s numbers should not
change too drastically with the move out west.
He will head the power play from the point and play his traditional 22
minutes a game.↔
Sergei Fedorov to Washington- Fedorov will have a resurgence playing next to Alexander Ovechkin in Washington. He brings plenty of playoff experience and
still skates well and can pass the puck to a flying Ovechkin. ↑
Christobal Huet to Washington- Huet is a good goaltender who
thrives in pressure situations. With
Montreal going with rookie Carey Price in net, Huet will see more of the same
in Washington unless he gets hot and surpasses Olaf Kolzig as the top
netminder. ↔
Martin Lapointe to Ottawa- Lapointe should see an increase in
point production as Ottawa boasts a stronger, more balanced lineup than the
Blackhawks. He will likely play on the
checking line and kill penalties. ↑
Vaclav Prospal to Philadelphia- Prospal
had to get out of Tampa Bay as he was at odds with Coach John Tortorella. He goes from playing with Vincent Lecavalier
and Martin St. Louis to a depleted Flyers squad. He will likely see a drop in points. ↓
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT (For games played
February 18-February 24)
Burning it up
Goals, assists
Thomas Vanek-BUF: 4 goals, 3 assists
Ales Kotalik-BUF: 4 goals
Michael Ryder-MTL: 3 goals, 1 assist
John Madden-NJ: 3 goals, 1 assist
Ryan Malone-PIT: 3 goals, 2 assists
Zach Parise-NJ: 3 goals, 1 assist
Alexander Semin-WSH: 3 goals
Jaromir Jagr-NYR: 2 goals, 4 assists
Ray Whitney-CAR: 2 goals, 3 assists
Derek Roy-BUF: 2 goals, 3 assists
Patrik Elias-NJ: 1 goal, 5 assists
Eric Staal-CAR: 1 goal, 5 assists
Plus/minus
Paul Martin-NJ: +6
Freddy Meyer IV-NYI: +5
Sean Avery-NYR: +5
Michael Rozsival-NYR: +4
Antoine Vermette-OTT: +4
Patrik Elias-NJ: +4
Shots on goal
Zach Parise-NJ: 19 SOG
Matt Cullen-CAR: 18 SOG
Evgeni Malkin-PIT: 18 SOG
Ray Whitney-CAR: 17 SOG
Vincent Lecavalier-TB: 17 SOG
Sergei Gonchar-PIT: 16 SOG
Jordan Staal-PIT: 16 SOG
PPGs
Thomas Vanek-BUF: 2 PPGs
Zdeno Chara-BOS: 2 PPGs
Matt Cullen-CAR: 2 PPGs
Ryan Malone-PIT: 2 PPGs
Mark Recchi-PIT: 2 PPGs
Brendan Shanahan-NYR: 2 PPGs
SHGs
John Madden-NJ: 1 SHG
Kimmo Timonen-PHI: 1 SHG
PJ Axelsson-BOS: 1 SHG
Chris Kelly-OTT: 1 SHG
Goaltending
Martin Brodeur-NJ: 4 wins; 1.48 GAA;
.947 SP
Rick DiPietro-NYI: 3 wins; 2.59 GAA;
.940 SP
Alex Auld-BOS: 2 wins; 2.12 GAA; .930
SP
Cam Ward-CAR: 2 wins; 2.59 GAA; .920 SP
Cold as Ice
Carey Price-MTL: 1 loss; 4.86 GAA; .818
SP
Olaf Kolzig-WSH: 1 loss; 3.84 GAA; .869
SP
Kari Lehtonen-ATL: 2 losses; 4.07 GAA;
.887 SP
Ville Peltonen-FLA: 4 games; 0 points;
minus-6
Olli Jokinen-FLA: 4 games; 1 goal;
minus-5
Mike Komisarek-MTL: 3 games; 0 points;
minus-5
Tomas Plekanec-MTL: 3 games; 0 points;
minus-4
Brian Berard-NYI: 3 games; 0 points;
minus-3
