Edmonton/Winnipeg Trade

[Gilly]

Edmonton sends:
Daniel Alfredsson, $2.7m (2013-14)
Kris Letang, $3.5m (2013-14)

Winnipeg sends:
Tyler Johnson, $0.2m (2014-15)
Alexandre Burrows, $3.6m (2014-15)
Justin Schultz, $0.2m (2014-15)
Keith Yandle, $3.3m (2014-15)

Edmonton also sends down Justin Fontaine to make this deal work.

Edmonton does this deal to pick up youth. Didn't really want Burrows but was needed to get the deal done. Edmonton likes the incoming talent of Johnson and Schultz!

I approve of the trade, Drew won the deal but its not a veto from me.  Geesh guys!!

[SlackJack]

I also get what you guys are saying about Johnson but what happens to him once Stamkos come back? He will not be playing with St. Louis anymore and producing near as much. Schultz has had a bad season, he hasn't looked nearly as good and this is coming from an Oiler fan. Burrows is the cap dump as he hasn't produced anything really this season. Yandle was thrown in because it was him or Jones and he makes the cap work and it a 30 year old instead of a 20 year old. Winnipeg gets the two best players in the deal in Alfredsson and Letang, so how can we work it so that I actually get value back for two of my top players?

To be honest, for me Alfredson muddies the waters. At first glance (given his age) he looks like slightly less of a cap dump than Burrows. I'd be curious to see what you think the fair price for Letang is on his own but I'll parse it out later. The main issue I have is not so much what is going to Edmonton, but what is leaving Winnipeg and the fact that the new GM seems to have reckless disregard for the future of the franchise.

If Kris Letang wasn't on an expiring contract I'd be more inclined to accept the deal as is. For my own team I'd rather have Yandle at $3.3m next year then having Letang at his resign price of $6m. Especially given his injury history and the possibility he gets traded before his big contract kicks in. Now, I don't really think he'll get traded but the point is here I'm thinking to the future and it worries me that Winnipeg's GM is not.

Of course he is entitled to load up for a cup run so lets look at some numbers. Letang's YTD FPPG is 1.79 while from Dec. 1st it is 1.92. Yandle's YTD FPPG is 1.52 and 1.62 from Dec. 1st. Obviously Letang is a clear upgrade on the number of points he produces per game played. Digging in to the actual number of games played proves to be the equalizer. Going back to 2009 Yandle has played in every single game while Letang's average is 82.6% attendance. In other words, over the course of a season Letang's total output is roughly 18% less than Yandle's whereas game to game it is currently about 16% more.

All this is to say that I've given it a bit of thought. Maybe too much because I have to get back to work now but I still need to parse it out some.

I think either of Schultz or Johnson is a fair swap for Alfredson. I don't like him for next year on Winnipeg's team for both age and resign value but that's been mentioned. Let's just say that Johnson for Alfredsson is fair. I also think that Shultz and Yandle is also fair for Letang. Again, maybe not wise for the future in Winnipeg (especially in context of acquiring other hi-resign players like Kessel), but it is more or less fair. The problem I have boils down to Burrows as a "cap dump". Sorry but the guy has averaged 30 goals for the last 4 seasons. There needs to be some value ascribed to him to mitigate the impact of the youth and future resources Winnipeg is dealing away.

This argument (if that's what it is) should not be framed as Yandle vs Jones....that's a false dichotomy if ever there was one. No, all I need is to see some value for Burrows. Say an Edmonton 3rd or better yet, a 4th plus a 5th. Something that will help Winnipeg a little down the road.

To be honest, when looked at as a whole I'd rather see an Edmonton 2nd included in the package....

[favo_zomg]

The issue I have with it is Johnson's inclusion. I understand he might falter because of dropping to the 3rd line, but how do we know that will happen? What I see right now is a player making 200k and averaging 1.56 points a night. I would offer a lot for a guy like that. As I said, contracts like that win championships in the backyard. I don't like yandel's inclusion too, but that at least makes a little more sence.

If he included a different spec that is not Johnson and something small came back, I would of beenfine with the deal. But moving a player of Johnson's caliber does not make sence for a cup contending team.

[SlackJack]

I'd like to hear from the rest of the TC.

[Tony]

I have to agree with the others that this is a little one-sided but I'm sure it can be re-worked.