ESPN: A Glimpse into Trade Deadline Day

[96warrior 11]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3946240

Ken Holland, Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings have never been shy about adding pieces come trade deadline time. Over the past decade or so, Chris Chelios, Bill Ranford, Larry Murphy, Jamie Macoun, Wendel Clark, Mathieu Schneider, Todd Bertuzzi and Brad Stuart have all made their way to Joe Louis Arena for late-season runs.

The Wings haven't won the Cup every year they've made a deal, but GM Ken Holland said if you just judge deadline deals on whether a team wins a championship, then every year there are 29 teams who go bust at the deadline.

"If you don't win the Cup people think you made bad moves," he told ESPN.com this week.

Instead, Holland points to his team's recent moves as an illustration of how winning a Cup is a process and how deadline deals are a part of it.

In the two seasons prior to the lockout, Detroit was knocked off in the first round (2003 by Anaheim) and second round (2004 by Calgary). In 2006, despite winning the Presidents' Trophy, the Wings were upset by eighth-seeded Edmonton. The next season, Holland raised eyebrows by acquiring Bertuzzi, who had played just seven games during the 2006-07 season because he had a bad back, for prospect Shawn Matthias and a second-round pick. It was a move that many would consider one of Holland's rare missteps since taking over as GM in June 1997.

Holland views it differently. He recalled Bertuzzi's playing well in a physical first-round series against Calgary, a series Detroit won in six games.

In the 2007 playoffs, Robert Lang, acquired at the 2004 trade deadline, and Schneider, another deadline acquisition from before the lockout, helped the Red Wings come back to defeat favored San Jose in the second round and push Anaheim to six games in a series that was painfully close.

"I think it worked out beautifully," Holland said. "We needed some playoff success to keep people believing in the program."

Bertuzzi, Lang and Schneider moved on, but Holland points to that playoff year as being crucial to the team's 2008 championship run.

"We didn't win the Cup with Schneider and Lang, but we did a lot of winning," Holland said. "When we were challenged in '08, we were ready for the challenge. If we lose in the first round in '07, I don't know that we win the Cup in '08."

Holland equates the trade period to a student's preparing for exams. Be prepared. Like many GMs, Holland will work the phones and assemble a list of players that might be available given a team's performance as it heads toward the trade deadline. Then, it's a question of whether Holland and his staff believe the assets they have to offer, generally picks and young players in the minors, represent good value for the piece they're looking to add. Sometimes, it's not Plan A that makes the difference, but an alternative plan.

Last year, Holland and Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi chatted at length about veteran defenseman Rob Blake. Holland was interested in Blake given his Stanley Cup experience, but the defenseman wasn't interested in waiving his no-trade clause (he remained with the Kings before signing with San Jose as a free agent in the offseason).

So, early in the afternoon of deadline day, Holland and Lombardi swapped calls and turned their attention to another Kings defenseman, Brad Stuart. Lombardi wanted second- and third-round picks. Like a home buyer, Holland came up with some comparables for other defensemen of Stuart's age and productivity, and the two teams agreed on second- and fourth-round picks for the big defenseman who went on to play a key role during the finals against Pittsburgh. Stuart later signed a multiyear deal with the Wings.

"It's got to work for both teams," Holland said of the process. "There's no one way to do deals. There's no cookie-cutter way to make a deal." --Scott Burnside

[VM1138 1,921]

I love reading "behind the scenes" stuff. Knowing that we might've gotten Blake instead of Stuart at the deadline is very interesting.

[Blueliner 69]

Wow. I wasn't suprised when we got Stuart. I had a good feeling he was coming. I was actually pissed when I didn't see the trade was reported by 3 o'clock. But I would have been really suprised if they got Blake. Almost as suprised as when I saw the Wings signed Hossa.

[sureWhyNot 19]

Awesome article. Thanks for the link.

[Echolalia 2,961]

Geez, it seems like his plan B is always everyone else's plan A. Thank God he works for the Wings.

[Zion 93]

Thanks for sharing!

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Did anyone else watch ESPN's The Season: Detroit Red Wings a few years back? It had footage of Kenny informing the NHL of the Scneider trade, and showed him calling Avery to let him know he'd been traded, as well as Schneider arriving in time for the next game.

[Booster313 138]

Did anyone else watch ESPN's The Season: Detroit Red Wings a few years back? It had footage of Kenny informing the NHL of the Scneider trade, and showed him calling Avery to let him know he'd been traded, as well as Schneider arriving in time for the next game.

I was actually "in" ESPN's The Season: Detroit Red Wings!

I was at Yzerman's first game back vs. the Kings after his knee surgery. They interviewed me and I made the cut! I have been looking for a copy of it on DVD recently. Anyone know where I can get one?

[finalfilppula 2]

awesome.

[Packer487 3]

Wait wait wait...last year, didn't Holland cite the Matthias thing as a reason NOT to make deadline trades? I remember being pissed when I read that because I'm most definitely one of those people who would argue that just because something didn't end up working out doesn't mean it wasn't the right move. You gotta take your shots when the window of opportunity is open.

And contrary to that, just because we won the Cup last year doesn't mean it was the right move not to pick up a forward. We got fortunate that Franzen exploded.

[egroen 384]

I think that article is interesting for Waddel's perspective as well. Interesting that the Wings were that serious going after Hossa at the deadline (Montreal, Detroit followed by Pittsburgh were the front-runners). I wonder what Holland had on the table, considering Atlanta wanted roster players. Filppula? Hudler? Ericsson?