(Spoilers) The thread where CALIFORNIA LOOOOVE~!

[Hewey]

Apparently there was some kind of negotiations between Pittsburgh and Vancouver, with Pittsburgh getting Kesler for Sutter and Derrick Pouliot. This was before Letang went down, but it wouldn't be a bad deal. I like Sutter, but he hasn't been consistent enough for Pittsburgh. I'd hate to lose out on a young defenseman, but Pittsburgh still has Despres and a few others they can bring up. Kesler's struck down the trade rumors, but lets see what happens.

I haven't being paying attention to the Maple Leafs, but who's been better, Reimer or Bernier? Also, anyone else read that St. Louis requested to be traded from Tampa?

I heard it was Sutter, 2 2014 draft picks (1 is a first) and the choice od despres or dumoulin.

I think it's a 1st and a 3rd, plus Sutter and either Despres or Dumoulin. Supposedly Shero does not want to part with Dumoulin, and the Canucks have shown interest in Despres.

Let's see what happens, if this trade goes down, hopefully they can keep Kesler on after the off season.

[Gabriel]

Why wouldn't they be able to? He still has term on his deal.

[Hewey]

Why wouldn't they be able to? He still has term on his deal.

Oh, I thought he was a UFA. Glad I was wrong. Also, I'm looking forward to the next two days, hopefully it's more exciting than last year's deadline. Edited March 3, 2014 by Baby Hewey

[Hewey]

Bryz goes to the Wild, which I thought was looking into Brodeur, and Dustin Penner gets traded to Washington.

[Ruki]

MacDonald to Philly for a 2nd and 3rd.

Fasth to Edmonton for a 3rd and 5th.

[Hewey]

Philly is also in the Kesler hunt, other than draft picks, it's being reported that they would have to trade either Schenn or Couturier. Toronto and Chicago are also interested in Kesler, so lets see what's gonna happen. I really don't see Philly parting with either Schenn or Couturier.

[NobBe Nobbs]

So, Sean, your reaction to the Luongo deal?

[caucasianheat]

[Ruki]

Luongo getting traded killed HFBoards. Holy fuck.

What was the return?

[caucasianheat]

Hearing Markstrom and Shawn Matthias plus presumably some picks. Vancouver will keep some of the salary as well.

[Ruki]

Good news: I just traded Luongo in one of my fantasy leagues last week

[Hewey]

Luongo and Thomas on the same team? Who woulda though............

[Gabriel]

Markstrom is a solid goalie with a lot of good years ahead of him... but this move means that Gillis moved both Schneider and Luongo, when there was talk last year of better offers for Luongo being turned down, and the decision was made to move Schneider at the draft.

Sean, what's the feeling on this one? If I was a Canuck fan, I'd be a little pissed at Mike Gillis right now.

[Ruki]

What a terrible return.

[Gabriel]

Vancouver acquires Bo Horvat, Shawn Matthias and Jacob Markstrom

and loses Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo.

All because Gillis refused to move Luongo last year for "less than he was worth", but more than what they got.

I still feel like Mike Gillis inherited a diamond mine, and has been graded based on the work of his predecessor.

EDIT: I also feel like Edmonton robbed Anaheim by only parting with a 3rd and 5th for Viktor Fasth. When I saw that, my jaw dropped. Fasth isn't a UFA, and he's carrying an affordable cap hit for almost any team. THAT is the most they could have gotten for him? No way.

[caucasianheat]

Anaheim was salary dumping to land Robidas. The pick they got from Washington went directly to Dallas. For the moves they made, I think they won out because it firms up their defense even more when Robidas comes back healthy.

[Gabriel]

Anaheim was salary dumping to land Robidas. The pick they got from Washington went directly to Dallas. For the moves they made, I think they won out because it firms up their defense even more when Robidas comes back healthy.

That is true, and it's not like they don't have the depth in net. Anderssen has been lights out, and Hiller is still The Guy in Anaheim. It's just weird, that because of the salary cap, we see guys get moved for so little, and then see lesser players moved for greater return.

[caucasianheat]

I feel like the value of any UFA rental player just gets lower every year. Even the truly elite guys have started to yield less and less because really the gamble is hard to justify when it almost never translates into winning the Cup.

Time will tell on the Luongo thing, but they definitely put themselves in a terrible predicament. I feel like Luongo and Schneider are having drinks in the corner of a bar somewhere right now, laughing.

(truthfully, I see a 6'6" 24 year old Swede goalie coming back and think there might be some silver lining in it. Matthias' stock could go up in Vancouver a little bit as a power forward in progress. We'll see.)

[Hewey]

Wasn't Florida one of the places Luongo wanted to go to originally? Or was that just a place that was always rumored for him?

[Gabriel]

Wasn't Florida one of the places Luongo wanted to go to originally? Or was that just a place that was always rumored for him?

That's where his wife's from and it's his home away from home... err, now it's just his home. When Luongo was first in play, it was widely speculated that he would only waive his no trade clause to go to Florida or Tampa Bay.