The Salary Cap is killing us.. I just don't know why they even traded Versteeg... Out of the Stanly Cup team the Hawks had to trade... Dustin Byfuglien who showed up in the Playoffs, didn't play well in the regular season. Ben Eager who isn't a goal scorer, but a needed player imo. Colin Fraser a decent fourth liner, he wasn't used much in the playoffs. Now Kris Versteeg, one of my favorite Blackhawks. Finally Brent Sopel, a Veteran running on his last leg, replaceable. This isn't the core players though. Just remember that.
I just wrote this article, "Blackhawks making cap room, going to far?" about trades and how I think about the players.
My guess is they're gearing up to overpay Niemi. I love, love, love this trade. I was in the middle of a wedding when I got this texted to me, and there went my attention span for the rest of the ceremony. Versteeg's another established 2-way forward, but what I love the most about him is that he's still very young. And he's only ever had the chance to play on Chicago's 2nd/3rd line, because of all the talent on that roster. He's going to get more minutes in a bigger role in Toronto, and I expect his production/numbers to jump in the next couple seasons. His cap hit is already very reasonable, but it could look like a huge bargain down the road. I figure Chicago fans might want some idea of the players they're getting back. Stalberg is probably the most sure thing out of these 3 prospects. He's got wicked speed and stickhandling ability and he'll challenge for a roster spot this year. He was lights out in last year's training camp and pre-season, leading many Leafs fans to consider him one of our "core" prospects. His play during the regular season is what led to his stock declining to the point of "tradeable asset." He showed his speed and skill on every shift, but just didn't translate that into numbers consistently enough. Ron Wilson gave him significant minutes and roles after his training camp, but he just never seemed to be take advantage of it. At times he looked tentative and unwilling to utilize his considerable size (he's 6'3", 209 lbs.). Some Leafs fans think he never really played the same after he got nailed by Volchenkov early in the year, but I think that's a cop-out: [video=youtube;OvTrcvHlOD8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvTrcvHlOD8[/video] DiDomenico is an interesting prospect. The guy's got a lot of skill and it's evident by the monster numbers he's put up in the QMJHL. The Quebec league is a bit weak and does tend to create inflated statistics, but his consistent point production is impressive nevertheless. Moreover, he's got a very direct influence on his team's success. He came back from injury mid-way this year and started racking up points, almost single-handedly boosting his team into the playoffs and contention. The problem is that aforementioned injury. He was out for a year and a half with a broken femur and it's got a lot of people wondering if his quickness and speed will be taken away from his game. I will say that if anyone can come back from an injury like that, it's DiDom. The guy's a dedicated, hard-working character guy who I'll be rooting for even though he's traded. I can't tell you much about Paradis. We traded one of our first rounders that didn't pan out for one of Carolina's first rounders that didn't pan out, and he hasn't made any noise since entering our system. Apparently he's a bit of a work-in-progress, a guy with good size and intensity who needs to refine his skill and skating. I think teams are hoping that he can become one of those valuable power forwards every team's looking for, but if you ask me, I wouldn't get my hopes too high. It's tough to drastically improve a player's skating ability this late into his development. The trade is lopsided in favour of the Leafs, but if you look at this as a salary cap dump that the Blackhawks felt they had to make, it could've been much worse. You have an NHL-ready prospect who I think will benefit from playing with such a skilled roster and a promisingly productive junior player who only real white flag is a single freak injury (and his play since coming back from it may suggest it hasn't affected his speed at all).
