Mar 10 2004
For trades prior to Tuesday, March 9, check the
2004 NHL Trade Ledger.
Note: UFA designates a player who is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2003-04 season.
To San Jose: Center Curtis Brown.
To Buffalo: Defenseman Jeff Jillson and a 2005 9th-round draft pick.
To Boston: Center Brad Boyes and defenseman Andy Delmore.
Brown can’t replace the scoring of Marco Sturm, who broke his leg last week. But he’s a useful forward.
Jillson, a highly-regarded prospect, seems to have stalled. He needs to play and develop. Buffalo will surely give him that opportunity.
Boyes, a first-round draft pick in 2000, is scoring a point per game in the AHL. It’s a futures deal for the Bruins.
To Toronto: Center Ron Francis.
To Carolina: A 2005 4th-round draft pick.
Francis (UFA), 41, gets a final shot at the Stanley Cup. He still wins faceoffs and is among the smartest players in the game, though his days as a big point-producer are over. An excellent addition for the playoff run.
The Hurricanes do a last favor for their franchise player.
To Ottawa: Defenseman Greg de Vries.
To New York Rangers: Defenseman Karel Rachunek and center Alexandre Giroux.
De Vries joins a solid team, where he will pair with a top guy like Wade Redden. That’s the kind of situation he thrived in during his time in Colorado. Ottawa’s defense has had some rough games lately. This is a definite improvement.
Rachunek is growing into a legitimate top-four or top-two defenseman, and was available because of the Senators’ depth. Giroux projects as a third-line forward.
To Vancouver: Left winger Geoff Sanderson.
To Columbus: A 2004 3rd-round draft pick.
Sanderson (UFA), a once-dangerous forward, has just 29 points. Perhaps new linemates in Vancouver will revive his game.
To Vancouver: Left winger Martin Rucinsky.
To New York Rangers: Defenseman Martin Grenier and forward R.J. Umberger.
Rucinsky (UFA) is having a solid year and should provide a few points. Umberger, an unsigned first-round draft pick, is the key player for the Rangers. Grenier is a minor-league brawler.
To St. Louis: Left winger Brian Savage.
To Phoenix: Future considerations.
Savage has a dozen goals, and makes $7.5-million over the next two years. The Blues have the option of giving him back at the end of the season. That they took him on at all is a testament to how thin they are at forward.
To Buffalo: Right winger Mike Grier.
To Washington: Center Jakub Klepis.
Grier, big and hard to stop, is a high-energy third-line player.
Klepis, a playmaking center reputed to have loads of talent, has changed teams twice since he was a first-round draft pick in 2002.
To Nashville: Defenseman Shane Hnidy.
To Ottawa: A 2004 3rd-round draft pick.
Hnidy fits the mold in Nashville, with its blue line of low-key worker bees.
To Vancouver: Defenseman Marc Bergevin(UFA).
To Pittsburgh: A 2004 3rd-round draft pick.
The 19-year veteran will be a spare part on the Canucks defense.
To New York Islanders: Defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev.
To Chicago: A 2004 4th-round draft pick.
Karpovtsev (UFA) is hurt a lot, and his stock has fallen steadily since his prospect days in the early nineties.
To Colorado: Defenseman Ossi Vaananen, center Chris Gratton and a 2004 2nd-round draft pick.
To Phoenix: Defenseman Derek Morris and defenseman Keith Ballard.
Vaananen is big and sure-handed. Right now he's more reliable than Morris. Gratton is insurance at center, in case Peter Forsberg and Andrei Nikolishin continue to have injury problems.
The Avalanche and Flames both lost patience with the pace of Morris' maturation. But at the age of 25 he still has time to become a first-class defenseman. Ballard is an excellent prospect. Long term, both he and Morris could turn out better than Vaananen. The best trade Phoenix has made in a long time.
To Colorado: Goaltender Tommy Salo and a 2005 6th-round draft pick.
To Edmonton: Defenseman Tom Gilbert.
Salo is a goalie in decline, but he's a more reliable backup goalie than rookie Phil Sauve. Salo is a UFA if the Avs decline his contract option.
The Oilers get an improving prospect for a guy they were going to cut loose at the end of the season.
To Los Angeles: Defenseman Jeff Cowan.
To Atlanta: Defenseman Kip Brennan.
Not a bad pickup for LA. Cowan, a plugger, has 24 points. Brennan can fight.
To Dallas: Right winger Valeri Bure.
To Florida: Defenseman Drew Bagnall and a 2004 compensatory draft pick.
Bure (UFA) has made a career of disappearing when the games really matter. He has four points, all assists, in 17 career playoff games.
Bagnell has an outside shot as a big, nasty defenseman. The draft pick will be in the second round.
To Columbus: Center Brian Holzinger.
To Pittsburgh: Forward Lasse Pirjeta.
Holzinger (UFA) is a marginal player who could score a few years ago. Pirjeta is a checking forward.
For trades prior to Tuesday, March 9, check the 2004 NHL Trade Ledger.
