The Minnesota Wild took steps to add more depth to their
defense corps by acquiring veteran blueliner Marc-Andre Bergeron from the
Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a third round pick in the 2008 entry draft.
Bergeron has terrific offensive skills, a smooth skater with
a tremendous slapshot that ranks amongst the hardest in the league. However,
his defensive skills are average at best and tend to leave something to be
desired.
The Wild are Bergeron’s fourth team in two seasons. He was
dealt to the New York Islanders mid-way through the 2006-07 season. After
clashing at times with the Isles coaching staff Bergeron was dealt to the
Anaheim Ducks at the 2008 trade deadline but saw limited regular season action
with the Ducks and no playoff time.
Bergeron’s offensive skills will make him a welcome addition
to the Wild’s powerplay but it’ll be interesting to see how he responds to the
demands of head coach Jacques Lemaire, who preaches a defense-first style.
1) It'll probably take about 2 shifts for Bergeron to cause Lemaire to start to pull out what few hairs he has left.
2)Bergeron’s one of those enigma players; he has skills, but never puts it all together driving coaches nuts. "Fourth team in two seasons", will undoubtedly become 5 or 6 before the years out!
It should be clear to most observers that Marc-Andre Bergeron has not been the same player since he pushed Andrew Ladd into Dwayne Roloson in Game 1 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final.
Some players are able to overcome such mistakes and go on to lengthy productive careers. Steve Smith comes to mind. The jury remains out on whether Marc-Andre can turn that trick.
It's interesting the third round shuffle that Bergeron caused. When the Oilers originally shipped him to the Islanders for Denis Grebeshkov, the deal included their 3rd Rounder in 2008. The Oilers subsequently made another swap a few months later to recover their 3rd round pick from NYI so they could go off and sign Dustin Penner from Anaheim.
Earlier this season the Ducks gave up a 3rd Round selection to acquire Bergeron from the Islanders. It was the one they received from Edmonton for the Penner signing, 73rd overall, the same pick NYI had originally received in the Bergeron trade back in 2007.
To close out the run, Anaheim picks up Minnesota's 3rd Round Pick (85 overall), so their rental cost for Bergeron was essentially 12 places lower in the draft, while Minnesota gets some cheap insurance while most of their defensemen are in sickbay.
Matt, you're an amazing guy. How do you find all this stuff? Or do you just have a phenomenal memory? It continues to look like Burke has started to miss little things without Nonis there to notice them for him. Anaheim didn't really need to rent a defenceman, did they? Or was it when Pronger was out this year and they needed someone to occasionally play the power play?
Spector, do you have any thoughts as to which team has the inside track to sign Blake Wheeler? Getting him as a free agent, is like winning a free first round pick. Did he not sign with Phoenix because of contract issues or did he just not want to play in Arizona?
Montreal signed Brock Trotter and the Stars won the Brunnstrom sweepstakes, are there any other impact prospects who can be signed without being drafted?
It's one part memory and one part having a bunch of websites and reference books available which I can quickly reach out and confirm/refresh/enhance that memory as needed. (As Einstein said, "Never memorize what you can look up in books.")
In hindsight, it looks like Burke took a chance acqiring Bergeron because he was using Edmonton's draft pick. Kinda like gambling with the casino's money, maybe?
Anaheim was looking primarily at the upside (Bergeron's PP production) and not dwelling on his defensive shortcomings. The Ducks needed help BIGTIME on the power play. Marc-Andre was easy on the wallet, too.
Turns out, Burke should've gone after a player that could produce at even strength. But, scorers were too expensive at the trade deadline. Dead Weight was NOT the answer. Oops... Doug.
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.
