Just over two weeks from the NHL trade deadline the first major trade of the 2007-08 season has finally taken place.
The Ottawa Senators dealt forward Patrick Eaves and defenseman Joe Corvo to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Cory Stillman and defenseman Mike Commodore.
With this deal Senators GM Bryan Murray lands the scoring winger (Stillman) he’d been seeking since training camp, while Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford gets the puck-moving blueliner he’d been searching for since November.
What’s also significant about this trade is that Stillman agreed to waive his “no-trade” clause to facilitate the deal. He’s eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer and may have been told by Rutherford that he didn’t fit into their future plans. It’s also possible that Stillman could return to the Hurricanes this summer as an unrestricted free agent.
With the Hurricanes presently battling for their playoff lives Stillman obviously felt his best chance to play for another Cup champion this season lies with the Senators.
Stillman has proven himself to be a reliable top-six scorer in recent years, particularly in the playoffs, as he was a key factor in the Hurricanes’ 2006 Stanley Cup championship.
He’s currently on pace for 66 points this season, including a possible personal best of 30 goals, which should provide the Senators with that secondary scoring punch they’ve been lacking for some time.
What was surprising was that Rutherford agreed to part with Commodore, arguably his best defenseman over the last two seasons who was also quite popular with ‘Canes fans.
Still, the Hurricanes have had a dire need for a good offensive defenseman and as solid as Commodore has been defensively, he couldn’t address that offensive need, not as well as Corvo will be expected to.
Commodore should be a great fit on a Senators blueline that’s been in need of more defensive grit in recent weeks. His physical game should make him a welcome addition.
It’s been long rumored Rutherford was interested in Corvo, whose stats over the last three seasons have proven his offensive ability from the blueline. He should mesh well with Carolina’s offensive attack.
The one big fault against Corvo however is his defensive game, which can be average at best, and Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette must put him with a more defensively responsible partner.
Eaves is a gamble for the Hurricanes. He’s been projected as a potential top six forward but injuries over the past two years have hampered his development, the most significant being a nasty concussion suffered during the opening round of the 2007 playoffs and a separated shoulder that sidelined him for 24 games this season.
It was rumored Rutherford had interest in Antoine Vermette, who’s eligible for RFA status in July, but it appears the Senators are keen to retain him, at least for the rest of this season.
If Eaves can shake off the injury bug that has plagued most of his short NHL career he could blossom into that scoring forward he’s expected to become one day.
It’ll also be easier for Rutherford to absorb the salaries of Corvo and Eaves than it will for Murray to re-sign Commodore and Stillman after this season.
Rutherford had just over $32 million committed to 12 players for next season, making it easy to absorb the remaining $5.5 million left over the last two years of Corvo’s contract and to re-sign Eaves, who earned $942K this season and is a restricted free agent at season’s end.
Murray on the other hand may have dumped Corvo’s $2.75 million per season cap hit, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to retain Stillman and Commodore. The former earned $1.75 million per season on his current contract, the latter $1.25 million, and both will be seeking significant raises this summer, which they’re bound to get on the open market if the Senators fail to re-sign them.
Murray was already facing a potential cap squeeze for next season having to re-sign Vermette, Andrej Meszaros, and Chris Kelly plus perhaps find a replacement for Wade Redden, who’ll likely be departing via the UFA market in July.
Retaining Stillman and Commodore, especially if they play well, will only make things more challenging for Murray.
It's about time a trade happened. Unfortunatly it's not one of the rumored names going around. I think it's a pretty fair deal if Stillman and Commador stay with the Sens. By the way, did anyone see Jokinen's interview about the whole Zednik? It's hilarious how he answers the first question, and all the best for a quick recovery to Zednik.
I think this is a really good move for Ottawa in the short term, because it addresses two major concerns. Of course, if Ottawa doesn't win the cup and also can't re-sign either of them, then it's a crappy deal. Obviously.
This is a good example of a trade that no one expected yet could prove to be crucial come playoff time.
Stillman gives them the offensive depth that will be greatly needed in the post-season, especially on those nights when their top line gets shut down.
Besides the defensive grit and offensive punch that Ottawa added to their team, these two players won a Cup 2 years ago and that experience can only benefit the Senators.
The other interesting aspect of this trade that I haven't heard mentioned is that Ottawa traded a right winger for a left winger (unless I'm mistaken) this leaves alfie, neil, donovan and mcgratton as Ottawa's right wingers. So unless Murry has something else planned Neil and Donovan are going to be seriously tested...
Ha, I said months ago, Corvo for Commodore could work for both teams, and people laughed at me! :)
anyway, this deal helps both sides, i think... ottawa addresses 2 needs in 1 deal, carolina addresses their big concern...
unloading Corvo's salary should leave room to resign at least one of the two, although if they want to resign is another issue... it also should give the room to get ottawa's remaining FAs under contract (except maybe Redden)
Eaves has been slowed by injuries, but he is a very good forward and a real thorn in the side of opponents... he'll be missed in ottawa
Wow! As a Canes fan I sure didn't see this deal coming! I knew something was on the horizon, but I doubted it would involve Mike Commodore!
Strange to me that the Canes would trade 2 of their best playoff performers to a team that, in all likelyhood, they will have to beat to come out of the east (should they make it that far...)
Stillman porbably wasn't going to get re-signed by the Canes, so getting a young player with some upside was a good move. I hope Corvo is the answer for the "puck-moving defenseman" we've needed. If not we've given up a young, rugged, gritty, and popular defenseman entering the prime of his career.
This is probably a trade that benefits both teams, BUT what scares me is that this is obviously a trade the Sens made in regards to their future under the cap. The Sens just dropped Corvo's $2.625 mil cap hit over the next 2 seasons. The Sens already have committed $42 mil to 13 players next season. So now it's down to $39.4 to 12 players next year. Is the NHL becoming the NBA??? Where a lousy player such as Kwane Brown can be traded by the Lakers for a star player like Pau Gasol because Brown is a UFA next season, and the Grizzles just dumped like $15 mil salary per season. I really hate these trades where "cap relief" is worth all-stars caliber players.
This was a good trade for Ottawa, and for Carolina, I think it is an honest assessment that, even making the playoffs, this isn't the year to push for the cup. Commodore surprises me, but they may well have plans to bring him back. As much as I like Stillman, Whitney, Hedican, Wesley, Walker, etc, any trades that make them younger are probably a good idea.
Last edited by prplmnkydw on February 11th at 6:27 PM.
1st reaction-bad trade for canes, sens have great chance for "cup", if goalie status is improved...
2nd thoughts-long term good-to-very good for canes,
young f'wrd puckmov'n D, and could still resign cory and mike after the season! (maybe less chance
to make cup run this year, but that wasn't too
likely anyway)
not so good for sens (bigger money problems than before) if you want to resign either or both new
players, and resign current ufa/ rfa's good luck!!
I wonder if Hossa will get moved now. If he does, I really doubt it will be to Ottowa now that they have Stillman. The Sharks could use him to help bolster their scoring. Ottowa and Carolina are likely both done dealing this deadline, unless one of them makes a really dumb deal. It will also be interesting to see if Jokinen goes anywhere.
Last edited by sharkfan99 on February 12th at 11:20 AM.
Who knows, Murray may go after Hossa as well. I believe he plays RW mostly, so he would help with the second line scoring even more (new LW, new RW). Rutherford went after all the best UFAs when the Canes won, in part to strengthen the team, and in part to keep them out of the hands of rivals. Murray seems to think that the future is now for Ottawa, so why not burn a draft pick and prospect or two on Hossa?
Last edited by prplmnkydw on February 12th at 11:53 AM.
Jokinen's not going anywhere. Unlike the Rangers, known for trading their captains away thanks Glen, the Panthers aren't about to trade away the guy they're building around. They've surrounded Jokinen with young talent, and he's guiding their way right now. Watch out for Florida in a few seasons.
Atlanta really has to go for broke this season. They need to at least make the playoffs again. Wadell's job could be on the line if they don't, so it's likely Hossa won't move until July 1, if at all. On a side note, every time I hear Don Wadell's name, I immediately think of the Penguin from Batman...
I haven't kept up with Ottawa's injuries lately. Stillman may not fill the void on the first line, but if Alfredson and Heatley are still out, he could prove to be the stop-gap for the moment. Once the two return, he becomes that scoring depth everyone's been talking about. Oh, and they have some added grit on the blue line.
Count me in on the side of those thinking this was a bad deal for Carolina. Not a terrible deal, as clearly they had a need and filled that need, but I don't like the losses in the locker room of both Stillman, who has to be considered one of the more clutch forwards in the game, and Commodore, who lacks star power but brings heart and grit. The salary bears some looking into, but I felt Ottawa wanted to dump Corvo's bucks for a while and they are likely treating Stillman as a rental barring a tremendous postseason performance. Eaves has been impressive for flashes, but this won't be his last trade. He strikes me as the type to bounce around a great deal more, as new GMs look to give him a shot. It seemed to me he got some great opportunities to play with solid linemates in Ottawa at times, and it didn't pan out, due to injuries or what have you. So I give the verdict to the big O here.
I agree with chaas completely about Jokinen. Just not gonna happen. He's got to be one of the most rumored players in the last five years, and it all amounts to nothing. Maybe when this contract starts to run out, but only on his own terms.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
