Olli goes west as Panthers get defensive
June 23rd, 2008 by FrankThe anticipation and anxiety that Panther fans may have been feeling for the days and hours leading up to the draft friday night were finally put to rest. As I turned on the draft coverage, made sure my depends were on (my wife claims I may have been nervous), and saw Panthers GM Jacques Martin (Uncle Jack in my house) talking with the Coyotes crew, the first thing I said was ohh ohh! Then when the Calgary trades were announced I had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen. Olli was not going to Calgary, and was probably headed to the Coyotes. I spent the next few minutes trying to think of who would come back in return. I had just read in fridays paper that JM was hoping to improve the defense in the off season, and sure enough the trade was announced by his royal hindass Gary Bettman. Olli Jokinen to Phoenix for Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton and a 2nd round pick.
I would like to add that Pierre McGuire was drooling all over himself about what a great deal this was for Florida.
There are two ways, possibly three to look at and react to this trade.
One is the Panthers got raped! They gave up a 35 goal a year scorer, who was the face of the team, and provided much of the offense, was their #1 centerman, and was a threat on the powerplay from either the right point, or his natural position at center for 2 defenseman, who combined will give the panthers less about 30 points a year. (maybe)
The second way to look at this is Olli was going to be traded and it was not surprise other than the destination. I think that everyone was caught off guard by him going to Phoenix, but in return here’s what the Panthers got. In Keith Ballard an up and coming defenseman who can probably be put on the first unit with Jay B. A young player that can move the puck, is willing to go to the net and seems very capable of playing solid defense, and was thought of very highly by the Coyotes as potential captain material in the future.
In Nick Boynton a true stay at home defenseman who while probably a bit slow, makes up for it by being better positioned, is willing to play the body, throw his weight around, and is expected to be a solid leader in the dressing room. Potential captain material right away.
This scenario completely changes the structure and dimension of the Panthers. They are tired of giving up 35-40 shots per game, they are tired of losing leads late in the game (over 20 times in 3 seasons), they need someone who is going to step up and get in the oppositions face, and they need a solid puck moving defenseman so that they can get the puck out of their zone and not spend so much time on defense because of silly passes that lead to turnovers.
The third option is, oh my gosh where the heck is the scoring going to come from? We just gave up 35 goals a year and did not replace that with a solid player. We traded away another star player for nothing. This is worse than the Luongo deal. Why don’t we just give him away for a 12 pack of Molson? What is Jacques thinking? He couldn’t get more than these 2 slugs and a meaningless draft pick that will probably never amount to anything because the scouting staff of the Panthers is awful. These 2 guys are free agents after this coming season, if we lose them we have nothing to show for Olli! Etc, etc, etc. I can go on as these were some of the reactions by Panthers fans. In reality this third option was a knee jerk reaction by many and lets face it, while some of it may be true to a small extent, this was probably the best that JM was going to get. Jokinen was devalued for a few reasons:
Alan Cohen, majority owner said at a Panthers season ticket holder meeting after the season that he couldn’t protect Olli any more, and that if the trade makes the team better then we need to evaluate that. The stories about Olli’s relationship with JM were not good and this may have painted a picture that he was a problem. Oilli’s agent speculating that Olli will play somewhere, where he’s wanted. Then Olli himself finally saying, look if you want to trade me, trade me. I don’t want to leave, but if you don’t want me…
I at this point prefer to remain optimistic and go with the second opinion and hope that uncle Jack has something else in the works. Yes I really believe that he could have received more, but with his focus on defense, this is extremely satisfactory to him. I do agree that the Panthers need to tighten up defensively. Now the Panthers have enough defenseman to support 2 teams so maybe one or two of those players can be used in a trade. I don’t expect a big name free agent coming here. Sorry Panthers fans, no Hossa, and no Ryan Malone who has probably priced himself too high. But there are some others out there who may draw some interest.
All I ask, is that we do not bring back the likes of Krissy Huselius, Mark Parrish or Niklas Hagman. Please!!!
In addition the draft yielded a young goalie, 3 more defenseman, and a forward. Let’s not forget that Panthers # 1 pick from last year defenseman Keaton Ellerby is still around. So defensively I feel that there’s enough.
Quick shots:
1) Signing Boumeester is a priority for the Panthers (not for me), although a trade wouldnt surprise me.
2) Vokoun should be a bit happier with 2 solid d-men.
3) The youngsters must deliver this year, or let’s blow the whole thing up!
4) A veteran forward ala Gary Roberts needs to be added. Someone with grit, scoring ability and leadership, who is not at the end of the line. Can you say Brian Rolston?
5) Uncle Jacques, I hope you know what you’re doing and something else is is the works, cause right now, your decisions are causing alot of questions.
Thanks for reading.
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One Response to “Olli goes west as Panthers get defensive”
By moonman on Jul 30, 2008
Hi Frank,
Sam Pollock always said, “In multi-player trades the team that gets the best player wins.” IIRC, Pollock’s name appears on the Cup more often than anyone else so sorry but Ballard, Boynton and a pick doesn’t pass the Sam test.
As a Ducks fan, I hate that trade. Now Doan gets a great center. Olli makes the whole Top 9 better. With Breezy between the pipes Ballard & Boyton aren’t so critically important.