Hotspots for Deadline Day
By Ray Calder HockeyObserver.com
I am not an internet rumor monger and I have never even played one on TV . My intent here is to point out some interesting places to watch come Wednesday .
In no particular order here are some areas of interest that I'll be paying attention to, and of course please click on the blog all day as I will of course be analyzing transactions as they happen (I don't break news and won't pretend to, I promise ).
Detroit goaltending - The Wings are in an interesting position . They are very deep on the blueline and up front, but the goaltending has been far and away the clubs weak spot . They have a deep cache of assets to trade and I just can't see GM Ken Holland not bringing someone in to stabilize things .
Columbus Scoring depth - Yes Columbus should be a place to watch . It would appear that they have their longterm solution in net so the job should be to try and find some help to support the offense .
The Phoenix Coyotes - It's no secret that this is the franchise in the most financial difficulty and they would appear to be set to be moving some veteran contracts in order to minimize the balance sheet problems . Fortunately for them they do have a lot of young players who can step in and play more prominent roles the rest of the way while auditioning for next year .
The Lightning Sell Off - If there is one organization that seems to change directions about every two weeks it's this one . To be fair the new owners certainly had their hearts in the right place in being very active last offseason attempting to put a good product on the ice . Unfortunately the season started and they suddenly decided they had the wrong coach and made many wrong player acquisition decisions in the summer . Anybody who claims to know what this bunch will do at the trading deadline is selling you a bill of goods - this group should provide some interesting storylines .
Boston's defense - Here's a club entering the week with the best Goals Against Average in the NHL . Despite that there seems to be some feeling that they need another stopper on the blueline . They're deep up front and probably feel good about a possible long playoff run this season . Will they trade some of their future to add a Pronger, Niedermayer or Kaberle ? Do they really need to ?
Washington's goaltending - The team is the fifth highest scoring in the league, but only 17th at keeping the puck out of it's net . It says here they'll be a place to watch in grabbing some defensive help (probably too expensive) or more likely an upgrade in net .