Hawks Trade Campbell, Kopecky To FLA, Brouwer To WSH

WEFFPIM · Post #1 » by **WEFFPIM** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:35 am

Canada's TSN reported that Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell had agreed to waive his no-trade clause to come to the Panthers. The much maligned Rostislav Olesz(notes) was expected to be heading to Chicago in return.

Tallon said that the deal was not done and wouldn't comment on it further. "Nothing is official yet,'' Tallon said. "It's not official yet. It's in the works.''

The Panthers need to spend around $30 million to reach the league-mandated salary cap floor this season. Getting Campbell on board goes a long way in fulfilling those obligations.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_d ... nhl-wp7995

The Washington Capitals acquired winger Troy Brouwer from the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night in exchange for the 26th overall pick in the first round.

"I'm very excited to join the Washington Capitals organization," Brouwer said in a team release. "They are consistently one of the top teams in the NHL and I look forward to helping them reach the ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup."

Brouwer had 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists) in 79 games for the Blackhawks last season. He underwent surgery to repair a right shoulder tear during May.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/n ... LHeadlines

Love the Campbell deal because...well, it's self-explanatory. The Brouwer deal is decent, he was expendable, in my mind. Now free agency becomes extremely more interesting, and Patrick Sharp will be cashing in soon.

EDIT: Kopecky now shipped to Florida for seventh-round pick in 2012 or 2013

The Chicago Blackhawks traded the rights to forward Tomas Kopecky to the Florida Panthers on Monday, days before he was set to become an unrestricted free agent.

The team said Monday it will receive a 2012 pick, conditional to Nashville. If that pick is not available, Chicago gets Florida's seventh-round pick in 2013.

Kopecky, 29 , had career highs with 15 goals and 27 assists in 81 games played before injuring himself in the Western Conference playoff series against the Vancouver Canucks.

The Panthers have exclusive negotiating rights to Kopecky until Friday when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/n ... id=6710317

Post #2 » by **TNBT** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 1:32 pm

I forgot about Sharp. With the cap space we have now after these two trades, I'm hoping some of it is used to lock up Sharp for a few more years. I really like his versatility.

Obviously things will happen in trades and free-agency, but if we look only at what we have now, I would guess we'd be giving Beach a shot to replace Brouwer, and Hendry will grab the 6th defensemen spot. I wouldn't mind seeing those two young guys have their chance, but I'm also hoping that we pick up some veterans, even if just for depth reasons.

Cliff Levingston · Post #3 » by **Cliff Levingston** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:58 pm

Brouwer didn't live up to expectations this past season so it's not a surprise that he's gone. Make room for the kids and some new, more physical guys on the roster.

...can we get big Buff back now?

Beryl 96 · Post #4 » by **Beryl 96** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 4:13 pm

We'd have to give up alot to get him back right now I think, especially with the team moving to Winnipeg, they need somebody to draw in fans, and he is the best guy they've got for that.

GRADEN · Post #5 » by **GRADEN** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:43 pm

Overall, all 3 players were good moves by us. The extra money will likely go to a 2-3 year extension on sharpy (my guess) while freeing up ice time for our young guys like morin/leddy/mk etc...

Good moves! Rostislav Olesz is crap, but the 4m save is worth taking on a worse player (younger too). BC was never a good player the way he was in BUF but he was never a bad player either... He was a solid 2nd line defenseman that knew spacing and it helped us. Good luck BC!

WEFFPIM · Post #6 » by **WEFFPIM** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:20 pm

Beryl 96 wrote:We'd have to give up alot to get him back right now I think, especially with the team moving to Winnipeg, they need somebody to draw in fans, and he is the best guy they've got for that.

Winnipeg will have no problem drawing fans.

Post #7 » by **TNBT** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:02 am

I just found out that we traded Kopecky. I know it was probably for cap reasons, but I'm not thrilled about that trade. He was versatile for us and was a good two-way player. I grew up as a Red Wings fan and he was never really given much of a chance by a lot of Red Wings fans, and I think a lot of Blackhawks fans under-valued him as well. If we had no choice because of the salary cap then I guess we had to do it, but if this was a trade for trading's sake, then it was a bad one. Good luck to him in Florida though... at least he'll have better weather down there.

WEFFPIM · Post #8 » by **WEFFPIM** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 11:38 pm

Kopecky was the most maddening player this side of Kris Versteeg. Good riddance. He got 4 years, $12 million from Florida, way too much for him. And they wind up essentially flipping Kopecky for Montador, who fits the team's needs better.

Post #9 » by **TNBT** » Fri Jul 1, 2011 2:38 pm

I hadn't heard any details on Kopecky's new contract. Congrats to him on getting some nice coin.