Tanguay Back to the Mile High City
Dobber Sports
2013-06-28
The Trade: Alex Tanguay is going back to Colorado (along with defenseman Cory Sarich). Coming to Calgary – big winger David Jones and depth defenseman Shane O'Brien.
The Flames get:
In a word – younger. Jones is five years younger than Tanguay, and O'Brien is five years younger than Sarich. Jones has scored over 20 goals twice in the NHL, but he is paid quite a bit for an injury prone and one-dimensional forward. O'Brien and Sarich are different defensemen (O'Brien is more of a two-way guy who can skate a little bit, while Sarich is a pure PK/defensive guy), but both of their impacts will be minimal.
From former DobberHockey rambler Kent Wilson:
The return from the Avs is rather underwhelming. Jones is a 28-year old 6’2″ winger who has twice scored 20+ goals in the NHL, including a career high 27 in 2010-11. He’s not a high volume shooter, though, so his production is dependent on a relatively high personal SH%. His career rate is 14.7%, but with less than 500 shots under his belt, it’s entirely possible we don’t really know his true shooting ability and that number will come down a tad.
The Avalanche get:
A productive top six winger with ties to the organization (he was ranked as the ninth best Avalanche player of all time by Mile High Hockey). Tanguay was instrumental in previous Avalanche successes, skating on a line with Joe Sakic and skating in front of Patrick Roy. The Avs know what they are getting with Tanguay – an elite playmaker who won't cost you defensively. He can even play on the PK if need be.
Tanguay will bring a nice veteran presence to a pretty young forward group (and one that may get even younger with a Nathan MacKinnon selection this Sunday). Tanguay had 11 goals and 27 points in 40 games in 2013.
The fantasy impact:
Here's a side-by-side comparison from Mile High Hockey:
2010-2011 |
2011-2012 |
lockout-2013 |
|
Tanguay |
22G 47A (69P, it’s hilarious, .87 PPG) |
13G 36A (49P, .77PPG) |
11G, 16A (27P, .68PPG)
📢 advertisement:
|
Jones |
27G 18A (45P, .58PPG) |
20G, 17A (37P, .51PPG) |
3G, 6A (9P, .27PPG) |
The real win for this trade is Colorado getting rid of Jones' awful contract. Tanguay will slide in on line two or three and contribute on one of the power play units. Sarich has one year left on his deal, while O'Brien has two. Colorado gets the best player, older, and more cap flexibility. I'd call that win.
Jones will get an opportunity to produce in Calgary, but the winger situation there is far from clear. Outside of Cammalleri, the Flames have zero top line wingers, and calling him that is a bit of a stretch at this point in time.
A potential top nine in Colorado now includes Duchene, Downie, Tanguay, MacKinnon ("potential), O'Reilly, Stastny, Landeskog, McGinn, and Parenteau. Not too shabby.
Calgary had way too many LW relative to RW, and the added cap money won't matter for the next year or two, so this move isn't going to kill their salary situation.
It is still too early to say how this move impacts the two teams (especially Calgary), but here goes:
Players who will benefit:
1. Duchene (another playmaking winger)
2. MacKinnon (if the Avs select him)
3. Sven Bartschi
4. Jones (if he can stay healthy – which has been a huge "if" for his entire career)
Players who will suffer:
1. Michael Sgarbossa (short term)