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Two Sides to an Even Coin

By Salim786, Section NHL
Posted on Wed Jul 11 2007 at 7:58 PM EST
More on: (all tags)

On Sunday, while at work, I was frantically looking for news on where impending NHL free agents had signed and was hoping to hear something like "the Oilers have signed Chris Drury" or something resembling that.I didn't, but I heard Oilers news of a different kind. "The Edmonton Oilers have traded Jason Smith and Joffrey Lupul to the Philedalphia Flyers for defenseman Joni Pittkanen and forward Goeff Sanderson, plus a 2009 3rd round draft choice," was what the announcer on TSN was reporting. At first I was angry about my team trading away its captain and perhaps the toughest guy in the league for an unproven defender, who was -22 last season. But after composing my thoughts, and my tears, it wasn't that bad. Kevin Lowe and Paul Holmgren have pulled off, in my mind, one of the most even trades in modern NHL history.

The deal gives Edmonton the puck-moving blue liner they have coveted since Chris Pronger bolted and a guy who is 8 years younger than Lupul yet contributed the same number of points as him (29) last season. Philedalphia recieves some much-needed offense and grit in Lupul and Smith. Both teams gave up on 23-year olds who are still maturing into their prime, and both traded away veteran has-beens who's main job is to influence young players. Even if either of these players ends up being a bust, neither team can claim they got gipped. The Flyers were looking to unload Pitkannen and Lupul had fallen heavily out of favor in Edmonton. Both teams added by subtracting spare parts. They did each other a favor, while still thinking of their own needs. Lupul and Pitkannen will bounce back from sub-par seasons and Sanderson and Smith will chip in every now and then, but will provide lots of experience and leadership to two very young teams. In the NHL, trades that benefit both teams are few and far between, but Holmgren and Lowe seem to have pulled one-of-a kind deal. However, this doesn't mean I don't think he should be fired for what he did at the draft.