The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features. Subscribe now to view the full THN Archives here [https://archive.thehockeynews.com/] Also, go to thn.com/free [http://thn.com/free] to subscribe. Nabokov For Kiprusoff - Sept. 7, 2009 - Vol. 63, Iss. 03 – Adam Proteau THE NHL’S INCREASINGLY RECEDING summer break is just about over. With a couple of notable exceptions – a solution for Dany Heatley in Ottawa and some type of significant move from San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson – teams have remodeled their roster as much as they’re prepared to before the regular season’s first dozen games reveal their strengths and deficiencies. Some of those teams will be rewarded for their confidence early in the campaign; others will feel significant pushback from the hockey gods and stumble hard out of the gate. Unfortunately, thanks to the implication of parity brought on by the salary cap era, a bad start for certain franchises (for example, five of the Original Six teams or the rebuilding Islanders) will resonate in a far more negative manner than it would for, say, the Detroit Red Wings. But if it gets more difficult to make trades each year of the collective bargaining agreement, what caliber of in-season roster reshaping can be done anymore? It depends what you think of the term “lateral move.” For instance, let’s say the Calgary Flames and Sharks stink up October with no more than a few wins apiece. Like coach Alain Vigneault in Vancouver and goalie Ray Emery in Philadelphia, neither team can afford a slow start. Calgary has added a new elite defenseman in Jay Bouwmeester and a new coach in Brent Sutter, while the local hot seat hosts the haunches of Brent’s other brother Darryl, the team’s GM. The Sharks have underachieved to an extent that cries out for some substantive change, yet we’ve only seen alterations via natural attrition (Jeremy Roenick’s retirement) and unnatural attrition (eg. the non-tendering of qualifying contracts to restricted free agents Marcel Goc, Lukas Kaspar and Tomas Plihal). Of course, there’s no way either Wilson or Sutter moves Joe Thornton or Dion Phaneuf during such a skid, because they know other GMs can smell blood in the water and would go skimpy on the trade offers. Which brings us back to the lateral move. Picture a Sharks-Flames deal like this one: To San Jose from Calgary: A 32-year-old goalie with 204 career regular season wins, 25 playoff wins, a career .912 regular season save percentage and career 2.46 regular season goals-against average; AN EX-NHL GM SAYS IT’S A POTENTIAL DEAL THAT PASSES THE SMELL TEST 3 AHL Rookies Who Could Be Difference Makers for the San Jose Barracuda [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/5cf82653-c025-4847-9f7a-6877e6ddb7e2.webp] 3 AHL Rookies Who Could Be Difference Makers for the San Jose Barracuda The San Jose Sharks have an abundance of prospects who will be battling for spots in the NHL and the<a href="http://thn.com/ahl"> American Hockey League</a> this coming season. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks/latest-news/3-ahl-rookies-who-could-be-difference-makers-for-the-san-jose-barracuda] To Calgary from San Jose: A 34-year-old goalie with 249 career regular season wins, 32 playoff wins, a career .911 regular season save percentage and a career 2.38 regular season GAA. That’s right: Miikka Kiprusoff to San Jose, Evgeni Nabokov to Calgary. Yeah, Kiprusoff’s contract term (he’s signed at an average of more than $5.8 million per year through 2013-14) differs greatly from Nabokov’s (he’ll be an unrestricted free agent after earning $5.375 million this season), but trading two virtually identical players would be a notable deck-shuffling that minimizes the potential downside associated with moving big-money players. Besides, the Sharks have all kinds of cap flexibility after this season. More importantly, they’d be repatriating Kiprusoff back into the organization that drafted him in 1995. The Flames, meanwhile, would have Nabokov in a contract year and cap relief if he didn’t pan out. They’d also be bringing in a familiar face – at least, familiar to Darryl Sutter, who coached Nabokov in San Jose for the first two-and-a-half seasons of the goalie’s career. According to one former NHL GM (who spoke on condition his name not be used), it’s a potential deal that passes the smell test. “It does make sense,” the former GM said of a Nabokov-for-Kiprusoff swap. “From the Flames’ perspective, I think they’d love to pass on Kiprusoff and get out of that contract. “Beyond that, it makes sense age-wise, salary-wise, and you have two (GMs) comfortable enough with one another to make that deal. One of the really interesting things is that Nabokov is one of the very best puckhandling goaltenders in the league. I start to wonder if Brent (Sutter), after having been around Martin Brodeur in New Jersey last year, might think that’s an element they need.” Regardless of whether the elements come together for that particular trade to become reality, there’s no doubt the bar for NHL blockbusters has been re-set by the league’s newfound financial prudence – and that bar hasn’t been heightened. It’s as if the league and its teams are doing what everybody else is doing in this uncertain economy: sticking with what they know, keeping risks to a minimum, getting value-for-value as much as possible. That’s why, for the foreseeable future, lateral moves may be the only ones that get made. 68 Days Until Opening Day: The Sharks' History of Number 68 [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/90724e78-637c-4108-a388-2f87bb952d78.jpeg] 68 Days Until Opening Day: The Sharks' History of Number 68 We’re just 68 days away from the San Jose Sharks kicking off their season against the Vegas Golden Knights at the SAP Center. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks/latest-news/68-days-until-opening-day-the-sharks-history-of-number-68] From The Archive: Michael Misa vs. James Hagens [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/7d94ceb3-254e-4486-acbf-3061eb83b953.jpeg] From The Archive: Michael Misa vs. James Hagens The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks/latest-news/from-the-archive-michael-misa-vs-james-hagens] From The Archive: The Joes' Last Stand? [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/2cd7ba8c-d411-4980-bd37-7755927127f8.jpeg] From The Archive: The Joes' Last Stand? The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks/latest-news/from-the-archive-the-joes-last-stand] From The Archive: Stay-At-Home Shark [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/80e15ca5-88ef-4423-b732-a10a3dfe7aea.jpeg] From The Archive: Stay-At-Home Shark The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks/latest-news/from-the-archive-stay-at-home-shark]
