Ryder was the Stars' leading goal-scorer last season (Bridgetds@Flickr)
With the trade deadline over a month away, trades were rampant on what would have otherwise been a normal day in the NHL.
Early Tuesday evening saw veteran winger Simon Gagne leave the reigning Stanley Cup Champions for the team that drafted him in 1998, the Philadelphia Flyers. The Los Angeles Kings received a conditional draft selection in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft in return.
Just about an hour later, the Montreal Canadiens announced that they acquired Michael Ryder, whom they drafted in 1998, and a third round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft .from the Dallas Stars in exchange for forward Erik Cole
Let’s take a closer look at these deals, shall we?
Gagne Goes Back to Philadelphia
Gagne was held to just 4 games played in last year's playoffs (Bridgetds@Flickr)
After signing a two-year, $7 million contract in 2011, Gagne succumbed to a concussion that kept him out of 48 regular season games in 2011-12. He was also kept to just four games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, all coming in the Final against the New Jersey Devils.
Gagne did not seem to fit in Head Coach Darryl Sutter’s system in LA as he has played in just 11 games this season and has recorded just five assists. Gagne was likely going to request a trade, but the Kings shipped him to Philadelphia before he could ask.
“They just did it on their own,” said Gagne. “It just shows you the class those guys have. Even if it’s hard getting traded in the middle of the season, going to Philly — and they told me it was the best place for me to go — they’re really gentlemen to do that to me this year.”
Reportedly, the draft pick will be a third round selection if the Flyers make the playoffs. If the team were to miss the post-season, the draft pick would then become a fourth round selection.
The Flyers have been bit by the injury bug as of late. Top-line forward Matt Read was placed on IR last week with a rib injury, and Flyers GM Paul Holmgren announced Tuesday that forward Tye McGinn suffered an orbital bone fracture Monday night in a fight with Toronto tough guy Mike Brown. The injury will likely require surgery.
Gagne has not been the top line player that he was in 2008-09, when he scored 34 goals as a member of the Flyers’ top line with Mike Richards and Mike Knuble. With the injuries mounting and the team currently in a tie for the 8th and final playoff spot (9-11-1 record; 19 points), a familiar face may just be what the doctor ordered in Philadelphia.
Ponder’s Take: At the moment, It is hard to pick a winner in this deal. Gagne will fill a hole in Philadelphia on one of the top two scoring lines, while the Kings are turning a player who was not cutting it into a mid-level draft pick. Even if Gagne comes into Philadelphia and makes an immediate impact, it would be hard to give the Flyers the edge in the deal. The reason? He was not going to do the same thing in LA.
Ryder won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Bruins in 2011 (Bridgetds@Flickr)
Ryder Enjoys Success Away but Returns to Where it Started
Much like Gagne, Ryder left the team that originally drafted him and reached Hockey’s Holy Grail, winning Lord Stanley’s Cup in 2011 with the Boston Bruins. Ryder then signed that summer as a free-agent with the Stars, inking a two-year, $7 million contract. Unlike Gagne, Ryder found his stride with his new team.
In his first season with the Stars, Ryder scored a career-high 35 goals, leading the team at season’s end. His 62 points was just one point shy of his career high, which was set in his rookie year with the Canadiens in 2003-04. This season, Ryder departs from Dallas in a tie with Jamie Benn for the leading point-scorer, amassing six goals and eight assists in 19 games played.
Going with Ryder is Dallas’ third round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
Gritty winger Erik Cole will be the Stars’ return in the deal. He signed a four-year, $18 million contract with Montreal last summer, meaning his contract will expire at the end of the 2014-15 season. Last season, Cole proved the worth of his contract by leading the Canadiens in goals (35), en route to a 61-point season.
Cole, a long-time Carolina Hurricane, has posted just three goals and six points in 19 games this season. Despite the Canadiens’ hot start (1st in the Eastern Conference with a 19-12-4 record), Cole’s play has been lacking. As a result, he was demoted to the third line at times to try to get him out of his funk.
Ponder’s Take: By a long shot, I give the edge to the Montreal Canadiens on this one. Michael Ryder is a dynamic player that can put some pucks in the net on the top line or can chip away defensively on a third line. He proved last season that Dallas was a great fit for him offensively, as he generated scoring chances more than anyone (maybe with the exception of Benn).
Cole spent 63 games with the Edmonton Oilers in 2008-09; he scored just 16 goals and 27 points as a regular first line player before going back to Carolina where he had success. Although the Oilers have a much different makeup from the Stars, Cole has shown in the past that his game did not translate well in the Western Conference.
Losing one of your team’s most reliable forwards along with a third round draft choice for a gamble is not an ideal situation for the Stars.
