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Niclas Havelid traded to Devils


Xunolix

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As long as your predicting the future can you give me lottery numbers for this week??????

Fine deal...but Sal has every chance of being an effective NHL'r despite what some here are saying.

every chance just got somewhat slimmer, given that he's going to an organization that has brought up about 3 solid NHL defensemen in 10 years of existence.

salmela's positioning is terrible. he's a nice curiosity, and he may well become a solid NHL player - hell, since atlanta's going to stick him right on the roster, i bet he scores at least 2 goals by the end of the year - but i'm not sure that skillset is particularly valuable.

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I think it's good asset management. Salmela is as good as gone, IMO, we owned his rights and he wasn't going to make the team next year either, because he's never going to learn how to play his position defensively.

So, from that standpoint, it's a good trade. But for the need, it's not. We already have players of this level, I think we need another player of Martin's level or higher.

what would a player like that cost? no point in filling a need by creating another.

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So, from that standpoint, it's a good trade. But for the need, it's not. We already have players of this level, I think we need another player of Martin's level or higher.

for the need it's not? lou likes to have 8 defensemen on the roster come playoff time. basically, the #8 man would've been either salmela, mark fraser, or someone else totally unprepared to play NHL playoff hockey. the devils have 3 injury-prone defenders on the roster - colin white has been banged up the last 3 playoff seasons. having a havelid type isn't going to win you many games, but he's not going to lose you many either, and that's the point - he can adequately fill in on a top-ish pairing if someone gets injured. seeing how this team played with paul martin out, he had to at least plug up that hole, even if the plug is temporary.

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He's a good pick up. His only real eye catching stat is that he led Atlanta w/ 164 blocked shots. Thats 50 more than anyone on the Devils. He's 4th in the league in blocked shots.

Unfortunately blocked shots by a defenseman isn't as big a deal in the Devils system. Marty doesn't like his defenseman to block shots. Matvichuk had the same dilemma when he came to the Devils and he had to stop the shot blocking.

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every chance just got somewhat slimmer, given that he's going to an organization that has brought up about 3 solid NHL defensemen in 10 years of existence.

Does Coburn count as one of the three? :giggle:

Typical Lou move - not flashy but solid. And he almost always trades for D depth at the deadline anyway, with good reason this year since every time White or Martin have been out of the lineup the D's been lost.

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Unfortunately blocked shots by a defenseman isn't as big a deal in the Devils system. Marty doesn't like his defenseman to block shots. Matvichuk had the same dilemma when he came to the Devils and he had to stop the shot blocking.

this isn't quite true - marty doesn't like his defensemen/forwards sliding on the ice to block shots. i don't think swedish players are taught to do that, though.

it is funny that shot blocking has a negative correlation with winning.

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this isn't quite true - marty doesn't like his defensemen/forwards sliding on the ice to block shots. i don't think swedish players are taught to do that, though.

it is funny that shot blocking has a negative correlation with winning.

I think in general he doesn't like them blocking shots with their bodies at all. It's all a sight issue for him. I think the Devils are ok to block shots with their sticks but they better make darn sure they block it if they're going to get in Marty's sightline.

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for the need it's not? lou likes to have 8 defensemen on the roster come playoff time. basically, the #8 man would've been either salmela, mark fraser, or someone else totally unprepared to play NHL playoff hockey. the devils have 3 injury-prone defenders on the roster - colin white has been banged up the last 3 playoff seasons. having a havelid type isn't going to win you many games, but he's not going to lose you many either, and that's the point - he can adequately fill in on a top-ish pairing if someone gets injured. seeing how this team played with paul martin out, he had to at least plug up that hole, even if the plug is temporary.

I think we need another top level defenseman. Partially because of the injury reasons you said. I don't trust Martin.

We'll see how everything shakes out. Most of the teams around/behind us are not that strong defensively. Boston worries me, though, because if they can pull something off, they might be able to shut us down. I feel like we're in a deadline showdown with them. If they improve radically defensively and we don't, it's an issue. Although I obviously trust Marty far more than I would Tim Thomas.

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Maxpower, you said you don't trust Martin. Is it that you don't think he'll stay healthy, or you just don't think a team with Martin as the top defender (and he is the best D-man we have) is going to win anything?

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That's an interesting stat. The fact that Havelid is a plus player on such a lousy team says a lot. Salvador I believe was also a plus player on a horrible St. Louis team at the time of that trade last year too IIRC. This is a VERY solid depth move. I think Lou is done now, so I really hope there aren't a bunch of whiny bitches on this board if nothing happens on Wednesday.

You must be joking. There are always people complaining on here after the deadline because they think the trade deadline is just Lou going to the grocery store with his shoppers' club card and coupons and picking out whatever he wants at a ridiculous price without having to actually negotiate with other GM's who are also trying to assemble a championship roster. Every year people complain when we don't get the big-name guy even though nobody on here knows what the asking price is.

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