The following is a breakdown of the key points in the Tampa Bay /Ottawa Andrej Meszaros trade from late last week .
Key Points ;
* Ottawa had failed to come to a contractual agreement with the 22 year old defender .
* Tampa Bay had been rumored to have signed the 2004 draftee to an offer sheet but were unable to complete the process because they
lacked a part of the compensation due the Senators should they refuse to match (specifically a third round draft pick in the 09 Entry Draft)
* Tampa Bay had previously dealt their 2009 third round selection to the Penguins for the rights to Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone (who they wanted
exclusive negotiating rights to prior to the July 1 Free Agent signing day). There are conflicting reports on whether the Lightning attempted to re-acquire the pick from Pittsburgh and therefore have all their ducks in a row to tender an offer sheet to Meszaros .
So a trade was consumated Thursday where Andrej Meszaros was sent to Tampa Bay in exchange for defencemen Filip Kuba , Alex Picard , and a First Round Draft Selection in the 2009 Entry Draft (this is San Jose's 2009 first).
What the Lightning get ; Meszaros is only 22 years old (turns 23 in mid October) and is already a veteran of 246 NHL games (as a point of reference Alex Picard , one of the parts traded for him, is 23 and has played just 96 games at the NHL level) . He first entered the league in 2005/06 playing all 82 games in his rookie season . He also has played 82 in 06/07, and in 07/08 so we know durability is not an issue . He has point totals of 39,35, and 36 points in his first 3 seasons so he's been pretty consistent as well . He was reportedly looking for a contract similar to what Mike Green signed for in Washington .
What the Senators get : The Senators get a huge haul here and the main reason is that they had all the leverage in negotiations with the Lightning since no offer sheet could be completed without that 09 third round pick .Filip Kuba is the least exciting asset coming to Ottawa . He's 31 years old and is coming off back to back 30 plus point seasons . He's a better than 20 minute defender and slides in perfectly as part of the Sens second pairing . Alexandre Picard turned 23 this summer and has been traded twice now in 2008 having been swapped from the Flyers to the Lightning (Prospal trade Feb. 25) during the 07/08 season .Picard is still projection at this point, but he has enough offensive tools to score 35-40 points soon in the NHL . He makes very good decisions with the puck, and is capable of moving it either with a good crisp first pass, or by carrying it himself . The Sens also get the Sharks first round selection in the 09 draft - an asset that will give them an extra pick in the top 30 of next June's selection process or allow them an extra trade chip to improve this years roster . They also saved enough money to allow them some cap flexibility to add a scoring (preferably) winger to their lineup.
What each team's blueline looks like after the trade ;
Senators Defense : Chris Phillips , Jason Smith,Anton Volchenkov, Filip Kuba, Alexandre Picard, Brian Lee ,Brendan Bell , Christoph Schubert (possible conversion to forward).
Lightning Defense : Andrej Meszaros,Matt Carle, Paul Ranger,Janne Niskala, Shane O'Brien, Andrew Hutchinson, Matt Smaby.