Weighting Game

You've all been waiting for this post, haven't you?

Yeah.


Here's the deal:


TO ST. LOUIS:


Carolina's first-round pick in 2006
Toronto's fourth-round pick in 2006 (the one we got for O'Neill)
Chicago's fourth-round pick in 2007 (the one we got for Vrbata)
Mike Zigomanis
Jesse Boulerice
the rights to Magnus Kahnberg

TO CAROLINA:

Doug Weight
Erkki Rajamaki

Wow.

My thoughts:

Wow.

Do I think the 'Canes overpaid for what may well turn out to be a rental? It certainly looks that way....however:

On one hand:

The Hurricanes acquire a hell of a playmaker. Not a Ron Francis, no--but somebody who can still set 'em up quite well.

On the other hand:

The loss of Mike Zigomanis and Jesse Boulerice will hurt our depth, as will the loss of those draft picks.

But on the gripping hand....

Neither Ottawa nor Philly get the guy, and the Hurricanes are positioning themselves to go deep.

The 2006 draft is projected to be on the wimpy side once you get out of the Top 10--so the loss of the draft picks comes as no surprise to me, because JimR has a tendency to trade out of wimpy drafts and trade in to stronger ones. When the 'Canes acquired Stephen Peat from Washington, Jesse Boulerice's days were numbered because of his post-lockout struggles on the ice. His attack of the Stupids during the Hurricanes' last game with the Crapitals effectively sealed his fate, so losing him was a foregone conclusion. Ziggy, though moving for great justice !!!, was pretty much at the end of his rope with the 'Canes. He had to move for the sake of his development, and he can get some quality ice time in St. Loo. Magnus Kahnberg wasn't going to ever be signed by the 'Canes, so he was no great loss as far as I'm concerned. Rajamakki, if he comes back over to North America, will serve as depth in Lowell (which is not a bad thing).

In the final analysis, this is a very good trade for Carolina, especially since some of the pressure will be taken off our existing centers (and the burden of icetime will be taken off the Warchief somewhat) and the team will get a guy that is known to several of the players and the coach. It's also a good trade for St. Loo, in the sense that they get some draft picks and depth guys to help rebuild the team in the wake of their continuing post-lockout fire sale.