Noronen to the 'Nucks

Link: TSN : nhl - Canada's Sports Leader.

Bon Voyage and all the best to you Mr. Noronen, I'm sure everyone is relieved that you finally get the chance to have a career as a goaltender.  The return was the same (in essence) as the offer Darth Regier turned down from Don Waddell in October, a 2nd round pick in this year's draft.  Which 2nd round pick (the Canucks or the Isles) is unknown by me at this time.  If it's the Isles' pick than that is a solid return and a far better resutl than having to potentially faced Mika 4 times a year.  Regier is ruthless in his dealings with his assets, and everyone knows this.  With the team playing well Noronen's plight didn't have to be resolved, so there was no reason for a deal to be made any earlier than it did.  It didn't behoove the organization to trade him off until it was absolutely in their best interest to do so.  BTW, I'm sure last month Dave Nonis was not offering a 2nd round pick of any sort for Mika.

In the end, the price for a backup goalie was a lot lower than the price for depth defensemen.  As guys like Willie Mitchell and Denis Gauthier went for a afar higher price than I would have expected Regier to pay.  So, in the end,the only help we are getting on defense is the return of Dmitri Kalinin from a shoulder injury.  This along with the only real locker room distraction, which is a stretch to say considering Noronen didn't even have a locker, has been dealt with.

As for my deadline predictions?  Well, the surprises to me were that neither Cujo nor Luongo were moved, what else is there to say?  Had either one moved, I'm sure Mika and a guy like Novotny or Paetch would be wearing a different sweater and we'd have our defensman....oh well, that's not the way things worked out.

With all of the guys getting healthy now, it's like we've added a whole slew of help at the deadline.  That kind of depth is truly its own reward.

Ta,

Comments

[Peter]

I'm another Sabres fan whose happy that we didn't lose any players. (Well, maybe if we traded Grier for an 8th round pick I'd be happier. Is there a forward on the team with a lower shooting percentage? He takes like 2 1/2 minutes to wind up for his slap shot.) With a healthy Kalinin, workhorses McKee and Tallinder, the steady play of Lydman and Numminen and Campbell's offensive abilities -- we have a well-rounded defense. (We'll overlook Fitzpatrick's poor passing and weak O cuz he's a local kid.)

Go Sabres!!!