The Carolina Hurricanes have traded the rights to defenceman Jack Johnson and defenceman Oleg Tverdovsky to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for defenceman Tim Gleason and centre Eric Belanger.
The Hurricanes were in need of some immediate defensive help after losing Aaron Ward to free agency and Frantisek Kaberle for up to six months because of shoulder surgery. Johnson did not want to sign with Carolina this season because he wanted to return to the University of Michigan.
''This deal improves our forward lines and adds a very good, young defenseman with NHL experience to the Hurricanes,'' Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford said. ''Eric and Tim strengthen the balance of our team.''
Johnson, who the Hurricanes picked third overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, is a highly regarded prospect. He tallied ten goals, 22 assists and 149 penalty minutes in 38 games for the University of Michigan last season.
Tverdovsky scored three goals and chipped in 20 assists (12 on the power play) in 72 games with the Hurricanes last season. In 687 career NHL games he has 77 goals and 236 assists. He has two years and $5 million remaining on his contract.
In 78 games with the Kings last season, Gleason scored two goals and assisted on 19 others. The Kings re-signed Gleason, who will earn $1.2 million his season, as a restricted free agent to a two-year deal on September 17.
Belanger put up 17 goals and 20 assists in 65 games with the Kings last year. In 323 career NHL games he has 63 goals and 87 assists. He will make $1.3 million this season.
All I can say is wow... maybe this is why Gainey picked up Traverse: to try and land Johnson. Did Carolina use Houle or Charles Wang as a consultant on this one?
I think we should all take a pause and be happy Gainey hasn't tried to trade for a D. If this is the market, a top caliber prospect (much better than Perez, Kost, or Lats) for a number 4 or 5 defenceman, then anyone still calling for Gainey to get more active in his pursuit for D should send me some of the stuff they are smoking. It is good stuff.
All I can say is wow... maybe this is why Gainey picked up Traverse: to try and land Johnson. Did Carolina use Houle or Charles Wang as a consultant on this one?
I think we should all take a pause and be happy Gainey hasn't tried to trade for a D. If this is the market, a top caliber prospect (much better than Perez, Kost, or Lats) for a number 4 or 5 defenceman, then anyone still calling for Gainey to get more active in his pursuit for D should send me some of the stuff they are smoking. It is good stuff.
You are speculating! Gainey said he would claim a D off waivers and he did.
This is a salery dump for Canes. Same as the Theo dump. He found a way to get rid of Tverdovky and jumped at it. He has more money to play with and may now trade for Rafalski. Who knows?
Also, Gleason is a top round pick and a big boy. He's young and Canes must feel he will develope into a solid player. He had 23 points last season. Also Johnson was playing hard ball with Canes and wouldn't sign. He would rather stay in college. They were probably worried he would end up back in the draft.
The trade may be good for both teams if LA has more success in getting Johnson in a jersey and playing.
All I can say is wow... maybe this is why Gainey picked up Traverse: to try and land Johnson. Did Carolina use Houle or Charles Wang as a consultant on this one?
I think we should all take a pause and be happy Gainey hasn't tried to trade for a D. If this is the market, a top caliber prospect (much better than Perez, Kost, or Lats) for a number 4 or 5 defenceman, then anyone still calling for Gainey to get more active in his pursuit for D should send me some of the stuff they are smoking. It is good stuff.
You are speculating! Gainey said he would claim a D off waivers and he did.
This is a salery dump for Canes. Same as the Theo dump. He found a way to get rid of Tverdovky and jumped at it. He has more money to play with and may now trade for Rafalski. Who knows?
No one gets rid of one of the top defensive prospects in the world in a salary dump. They would have preferred to send him to the minors and have us take him off waivers than to lose Johnson. They needed defensive help just like us, and this was the going rate.
And I am not trying to say that we should have taken Traverse, I would personally have preferred inaction, but many people on this forum have been saying Gainey should have made a trade or signed someone in the offseason, and all I am pointing out is that the market price during the offseason for D was extremely high, and now people are saying he should have gone for a trade, and this is what the trade market is. They needed to give up Johnson to get Gleason. We would have had to drop Kost AND Perez or something similar.
All I can say is wow... maybe this is why Gainey picked up Traverse: to try and land Johnson. Did Carolina use Houle or Charles Wang as a consultant on this one?
I think we should all take a pause and be happy Gainey hasn't tried to trade for a D. If this is the market, a top caliber prospect (much better than Perez, Kost, or Lats) for a number 4 or 5 defenceman, then anyone still calling for Gainey to get more active in his pursuit for D should send me some of the stuff they are smoking. It is good stuff.
You are speculating! Gainey said he would claim a D off waivers and he did.
This is a salery dump for Canes. Same as the Theo dump. He found a way to get rid of Tverdovky and jumped at it. He has more money to play with and may now trade for Rafalski. Who knows?
No one gets rid of one of the top defensive prospects in the world in a salary dump. They would have preferred to send him to the minors and have us take him off waivers than to lose Johnson. They needed defensive help just like us, and this was the going rate.
And I am not trying to say that we should have taken Traverse, I would personally have preferred inaction, but many people on this forum have been saying Gainey should have made a trade or signed someone in the offseason, and all I am pointing out is that the market price during the offseason for D was extremely high, and now people are saying he should have gone for a trade, and this is what the trade market is. They needed to give up Johnson to get Gleason. We would have had to drop Kost AND Perez or something similar.
Sorry, I was editing my post while you answered mine. Please reread.
Right, so my reply no longer is relevant. Got it. I take it back.
I can't really comment about him not wanting to play for Carolina. I find it hard to believe that if it that was the case he wouldn't have made it public to force a trade and get into the NHL earlier, but maybe he did it discreetly to look more like a team player? Who knows, all reckless speculation on my part. makes me wish we had offered Komisarek for him though, since seeing Johnson in a Habs uniform would be amazing. Ah well, missed opportunity even if there was one, and losing another D would probably mean us being out of the playoffs this year, but long term it would have been sweet.
It's hard to see a talent like that traded (and maybe I am underestimating Gleason's potential here) for very little.
Right, so my reply no longer is relevant. Got it. I take it back.
I can't really comment about him not wanting to play for Carolina. I find it hard to believe that if it that was the case he wouldn't have made it public to force a trade and get into the NHL earlier, but maybe he did it discreetly to look more like a team player? Who knows, all reckless speculation on my part. makes me wish we had offered Komisarek for him though, since seeing Johnson in a Habs uniform would be amazing. Ah well, missed opportunity even if there was one, and losing another D would probably mean us being out of the playoffs this year, but long term it would have been sweet.
It's hard to see a talent like that traded (and maybe I am underestimating Gleason's potential here) for very little.
It has been public. I heard it on Prime Time. It's out there that Johnson wasn't willing to sign with Canes and prefered to stay in college. That kind of draft will never help them and also the passion may never be there if he doesn't want to play there. The Canes were in the inferior postion here because they also had to throw out Tev out of their Cap. This may be a good trade for both teams because Gleason has NHL experience and Belanger had good enough stats that they he'll help their Center postion and replace Weight.
I do not think it is a bad deal at all for a number of reasons:
Who knows if Johnson ever would have even signed with Carolina? Just because you draft a guy does not mean he wants to play there (see Eric Lindros)
Belanger and Gleason are not blue chippers but they are very solid players. Gleason will be the 4th dman in the depth chart and will not hurt you. Belanger is a solid forward who will constantly get you 20 goals a year. With Stillman out up front., Ward gone on D, they have just filled 2 very big holes..NOW. Not later.
They unloaded 2.5 million of precious cap space when LA took Tevrodovsky. Gleason and Belanger together make 2.5 million. In other words they got two for the price of one.
I give Rutherford credit for having canoles to make this deal. He wants to make his team better NOW. What alot of GM's do not get is that this "building for the future" thing is very iffy in the new NHL. You cannot stockpile talent like you used to. Just ask Buffalo and Edmonton. There is a good chance that Johnson may never have seen a game in a Canes uniform. He could also get hurt playing college hockey. There are lots of possibilities. The bottom line is that Rutherford did what he had to do to make his team better NOW and to plug some holes. I commend him for that. (Note that this deal took place AFTER teh habs took Traverse. I am sure that Rutherford had his eye on him but BG got to the waiver wire faster )
-- Edited by barry33 at 18:16, 2006-09-29
__________________
________________
I'm as confused as a starving baby in a topless bar!
barry , this is a terrible deal for carolina , they gave up a great prospect and a good powerplay qb for a couple of ok nhlers . they did save some cash but if you dont spend it its no good to you , not taking the contract status into consideration the gave up johnson and tverdoski for craig rivet and mike johnson would you do that deal . i wouldnt , not even for johnson . hell i wouldnt even trade rivet and johnson for gleason and belanger . l.a. robbed lina in this deal .
I'm sorry, I still don't buy that just cuz JJ didn't want to sign this year that he was going to pull a lindros. Lindros publically announced his intentions, and I can't think of any other top prospect who was willing to force himelf to be traded. As for getting injured, there is more chance Gleason would be injured in the NHL than Johnson would in College.
Unless he told the Canes privately that he would NEVER sign with them, they made a horrible deal.
If he felt he wasn't at his best and wanted to do one more year of college, so be it. It doesn't mean he has no passion.
I think there is a larger chance that Rutherford's pride was hurt when he made his desire so public and he didn't have the cojones to swallow that pride. LA robbed them. I would have given up almost any player on our roster for JJ. The guy will be a top defenceman for years to come.
But Barry, you are right. Carolina does get a little bit better now for the same money (two for one) but they get a lot worse in the future for a lot more money since Johnson would have come cheap at an entry level contract. If you actually believe that he wouldn't sign EVER (not just one year, which happens a lot) then there is a different element. I don't buy it.
I guess I have just never been sold on this Johnson kid. I have heard a few negative things about him (personality and attitude wise) and the thing is, we don;t know what went on behind the scenes or what was said. If nothing else it (and BG signing Reverse) shows that it is tough to plug holes when you have injuries.
__________________
________________
I'm as confused as a starving baby in a topless bar!
barry33 wrote: I guess I have just never been sold on this Johnson kid. I have heard a few negative things about him (personality and attitude wise) and the thing is, we don;t know what went on behind the scenes or what was said. If nothing else it (and BG signing Reverse) shows that it is tough to plug holes when you have injuries.
Very true. And at least this way we don't have to face the guy next year if he does turn out to be good.
Rutherford is not a stupid man. Look at the team he has built in carolina? That franchise was a laughing stock a few years ago. But if LA could pull that deal, where the hell was Gainey? We could have given up a Gleason/Belanger type player no problem? But to be fair it is quit epossible that Carlina wanted Johnson as far away a spossible
__________________
________________
I'm as confused as a starving baby in a topless bar!