Some All-Stars might be on the move
Lang, Tkachuk most likely to be dealt before deadline
Miles Kennedy / APThe Capitals' Robert Lang, who is challenging for the NHL scoring title, will probably be smiling if he is dealt to a Stanley Cup contender before next month's trade deadline.
ASK THE NHL EXPERT
By Kevin Dupont
NBCSports.com contributor
updated 9:26 p.m. ET Feb. 10, 2004
Our NHL Expert, Hockey of Hall of Fame honoree Kevin Dupont of the Boston Globe is here to answer your questions. Since the Stanley Cup will be handed out before you know it, let's quickly move to the first question and get started. And if you have a question, please submit one at the bottom.
Q: Which of this year's All-Stars are most likely to be traded before the (March 9) deadline?
-- Walt, from St. Louis.
A: Heck, Walt, they're All-Stars, and by virtue of that designation they're typically coveted by their teams, and they're also typically very well paid-usually making it all the more difficult to move them if their clubs wanted to make a deal.
Of the bunch, though, I would say Washington center Robert Lang could be the one in play. Among the league leaders in scoring most of this season, the Washington winger was mentioned in trade rumors in the weeks leading up to the Caps dealing his former Pittsburgh teammate, Jaromir Jagr, to the Rangers.
Lang is scoring more these days than when he was with the Pens, in part because he is not surrounded by the hi-profile scorers that made up the Pittsburgh roster-prior to the Pens' financial meltdown and ensuing talent selloff. He is also making $5 million a year, and has at least two more seasons on the books at that rate. Washington owner Ted Leonsis sounds committed to trimming back payroll, and the combination of Lang's salary and age (33), put him high on the “most-likely-to-be-dealt'' list in D.C.
The Avs don't need any more scoring punch, but I could see the Caps trying to sell Colorado on a Lang-Olaf Kolzig package. Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix said a few weeks back that he isn't seeking help in net, because he has been satisfied by the work of Mssrs. David Aebischer and Philippe Sauve. Buy that if you will, but I'm not. I'd have to believe that Lacroix, one of the game's great horsetraders, would be enticed by any package that included Kolzig, who'll turn 34 years old at the start of the playoffs and is on the books for $6.25 million next year. No doubt Leonsis would be delighted to move $11.25 million -- the combined salaries of Lang and Kolzig -- off his ledger, especially because of reports that he'll have to pick up about half of Jagr's $11 million a year for the remainder of the failed forward's contract.
If the Avs were to bite on a Lang-Kolzig package, the Caps would be looking to get back younger, cheaper talent-players such as Alex Tanguay ($1.5 million), Martin Skoula ($1.35 million), Dan Hinote ($700,000) -- and a couple of higher (second- and third-round) draft picks.
The only other All-Star name that jumps out at me, given the way the season is unfolding in St. Louis, is Blues power forward Keith Tkachuk.
With injured defensemen Al MacInnis (eye) and Barret Jackman (shoulder) out for the season, and the Blues in a free fall that has them targeted to miss the playoffs for the first time since the spring of `79, a Tkachuk move would not be shocking.
Again, money is a consideration. Tkachuk, who will turn 32 just before the end of the regular season, is scheduled to make $9 million next season.
There would not be many takers at that price. But the final month of this year's deal would only cost an acquiring club about $1.6 million to add on Tkachuk, and if that same club had a high-priced player destined for unrestricted free agency on July 1, then Tkachuk's $9 million for next year might not look so daunting.
Detroit certainly could use Tkachuk's blend of grit and goals, and the Blues could use Mathieu Schneider's mobility and point production at the blue line. Long one of the NHL's big payers, the Red Wings have a good number of aging defensemen and forwards on deals that will expire after this season, including the likes of Chris Chelios ($5.9 million), Brett Hull ($5 million) and Steve Yzerman ($5.8 million). Add Schneider's $3.75 million to that list. Combined, those four come to roughly $20.5 million.
True, the Blues wouldn't be eager to move Tkachuk to a Central Division rival, especially one with better odds of winning a Cup this year, but paychecks have an odd way of bringing unlikely partners together. Look no further than Jagr leaving the Caps for the Rangers for proof of that.
Q: Do the Thrashers realistically expect Dany Heatley to return to the form that he showed when he was the MVP of last season's All-Star game?
-- Jerry Penner, from Savannah, Ga.
A: Heatley turned 23 in January, and that's young enough for the Thrashers to expect he not only will return to his top form of last year, but it's realistic to think he soon can become a 100-point scorer in the NHL. He has the strength, grit and on-ice savviness to be one of the game's true stars in the next 2-3 years.
Now, what no one knows is what toll, if any, the death of teammate Dan Snyder will have on the psyche of the University of Wisconsin-trained star. As you know, Jerry, Heatley was at the wheel of his Ferrari, traveling at a speed estimated to be 80 miles an hour, when it crashed Sept. 29, leading to the death of the 25-year-old Snyder, who was in the car's passenger seat.
Heatley, finally back in the Thrashers lineup just before the All-Star break, potted his first goal of the season on Feb. 3, in a 5-4 loss to the Bruins. Heatley sustained serious injuries, requiring reconstruction of ligaments in his right knee, along with repair of another knee ligament and cartilage.
“It means a lot just to get going,'' Heatley told the Boston Globe, shortly before potting his first goal this season. “Being back with my teammates has really helped me out. Everybody in hockey has been unbelievable.''
It appears that Heatley is fully capable of overcoming his injuries and rebuilding his strength and stamina. Provided he doesn't suffer a physical setback, I see no reason for him not to fulfill his on-ice promise. The bigger battle will be that of his memory, dealing with the regret and remorse inherent in such a tragedy. No one, not even Heatley, can predict what impact that might have on his career.
Q: Good to see Toronto's Pat Quinn was behind the bench for the Eastern Conference All-Star game. Has he changed any as a coach since losing his GM duties?
-- Alan O'Neal, from Valley Stream, N.Y.
A: Quinn, who turned 61 years old at the end of January, repeatedly has dismissed theories this season that his job has become immeasurably simpler this season, ever since John Fegurson, Jr. became the Leafs' general manager just before the start of training camp.
Philosophically, there appears to be no difference in how Quinn's club deploys its game plan. The former NHL defenseman in recent years has expressed disdain for the trapping, defensive-oriented game plans of many other clubs. He far more prefers a flowing, back-and-forth attack, with an emphasis on skating and body contact. By current-day standards, that could be brandy old timey hockey, and when the Leafs have been at their best during his five-plus years behind the bench, they often have been a joy to watch. Have they won the Cup? No. But the Toronto brand of hockey, with Quinn at the helm, is consistently good entertainment.
Q: Are we any closer to having a shootout? That was all the rage after it was used in last year's All-Star Game.
-- Arnold M., from Oak Brook, Ill.
A: Frankly, Arnold, I just don't see it happening. I know the shootout was praised in the now-defunct International Hockey League, and you are right, it was the subject of some fascination at last year's All-Star break.
But by and large, the NHL's Lords of the Boards view it as novelty item, and it's one they seem very reluctant to incorporate into the rulebook.
That's not to judge it as good or bad, but simply to say that they aren't viewing it, right now, with as an imminent change.
Personally, I would not be in favor of the shootout. I'm all for looking at ways to open up the game, and bring more shift-to-shift action back to what once was an action-packed, freeflowing sport. That would mean more skating, more hitting, and maybe more scoring. By my eye, the skating and hitting are more important to the overall entertainment value of the 60 or 65 minutes of play.
No doubt, the game does need some fixing. One of the added drawbacks of all the talk surrounding the now-expiring CBA is that the quality of play, in my opinion, has slipped while owners and players have been fixated on how to proceed with the sport's economics. Too bad they haven't been equally engaged, or at least concerned, over how to bring excitement back to the ice. In the end, if play becomes so shoddy that no one wants to pay to see it, then it doesn't matter what kind of financial framework they have governing the sport.
Q: If the Rangers are hopelessly out of the playoffs before the trade deadline, do you think Mark Messier would be acceptable to a trade to a contender for one last shot at the Cup?
-- S.D., from New York.
A: That's a good question, S.D., and based on the struggles of the Blueshirts, we may soon find the answer.
My hunch here is that Messier will stay put, provided the Rangers allow Glen Sather to see the season through as club president/general manger/head coach. Out of sheer loyalty to Sather, his friend for nearly a quarter-century, Messier wouldn't ask to go anywhere else. Another club could come calling, and if the Rangers were down at out, on the verge of missing the playoffs for a seventh straight season, then perhaps Sather would go to Messier and ask if the 43-year-old wanted to play his get-out-of-jail-free card.
Messier is the owner of five Stanley Cup rings, four with the Oilers and one with the Rangers, and I have no sense that his desire to win again is so strong that he would sacrifice his friendship and loyalty to Sather for another championship run.
Q: What's the latest on Al MacInnis and Pavel Bure?
-- George, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
A: The good news, George, is that there has been no retirement announcement from either the Blues defenseman or the Ranger winger.
MacInnis, earning $6 million this year, has been out since re-injuring an eye in October. Still one of the game's hardest shooters at age 40, MacInnis is not expected back this season. Whether his career continues after 2003-'04 could hinge on whether there is a protracted lockout following the expiration of the CBA on Sept. 15.
Bure is much younger (33 in March) and is under contract for $11 million next season. But a problematic knee has prevented him from playing this season, and the Blueshirts certainly aren't counting on getting him back this season, and there has been no indication that the Russian Rocket will be able to play next year, either.
At their best, they were two of the game's brightest stars. For now, consider them both in the cold-case file.
Kevin Dupont is a contributor to NBC Sports.com and covers the NHL for the Boston Globe
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