Why trade for Jamal Mayers?

From Damien Cox of the Toronto Star:

The question, however, would be why is the team selling off newly acquired picks, even third rounders, for aging veterans who can at best play supporting roles?

It's not a big deal, that's for sure. But isn't this where the Leafs want to be hoarding as many young prospects as possible, not dealing off picks? Or is the plan here to patch together a lineup that can qualify for that exalted eighth and final playoff berth in the east?

While first and second rounders are obviously the most useful, any pick in the top 100 has value. The idea was to move Kilger to start the rebuilding process, yet the pick acquired in exchange for him has now been flipped to land another older player.

Read more from The Spin here.

Cox is exactly right here. If you can pick up a player with Mayers' character through free agency then I'm all for it; he is going to be a solid dressing room presence. But why give up an asset for such a player when you are trying to build for the future?

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Pierre Lebrun previews the playoff picture.
2. An update from the CHL.
3. The weekly release from the USHL.
4. This is what I assume a Calgary Flames practice looks like, only with less manliness.
5. EJ Hradek looks at the top stories from last night.
6. Are you sitting around thinking, "Man, I wish I could ogle some girls who have a slight affiliation with hockey and then judge them."? If so, your wildest dream just came true.
7. Want to know all about the SM-Liiga? Its your lucky day.
8. The latest Hockey News Top 10 lists looks at who really puts out on the road.
9. NHL Agent Rand Simon with his thoughts on the game.
10. It looks like Chad Kilger will not be playing for the Panthers.
11. A look at Boston U. forward Colin Wilson, projected to go in the 1st round of this year's NHL entry draft.
12. Ken Hitchcock remains optimistic about Columbus' playoff hopes.
13. Don Cherry hearts hockey moms.
14. Brent Sutter is being considered for the head coaching job for the 2010 Olympics.
15. Kind of an old post, but check out the Top 10 Don Cherry Suits.
16. Play the NHL player guessing game.
17. Sergei Fedorov's family may be psychic.
18. Mike Brophy profiles a bunch of players who are quietly having a good season.
19. Damien Cox with a list of playoff matchups he wants to see.
20. INCH thinks that the Hobey is Kevin Porter's to lose.
21. Eric McErlain wonders who is the best player in the NHL.
22. Victor Chi looks at the game's top snipers.
23. Just because I am bored, here is another chance to judge pretty girls. This time its for hottest individual ice tart.
24. Its been a good day for hockey tarts.
25. Joe Pelletier's blog looks at goaltending innovators.

NHL Morning Papers (Monday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• William Houston of the Globe & Mail is critical of CBC's Hockey Day in Canada coverage, in this morning's paper.
• There was a scary incident involving Richard Zednik last night in Buffalo, as the winger had his neck cut by the skate of a teammate and was taken to a local hospital to have emergency surgery.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today has the recap of the Red Wings/Ducks match-up from Sunday afternoon.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Since the All-Star break, Kari Lehtonen is finally starting to display the form that made the Thrashes draft him second overall in the NHL Entry Draft, writes Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• Even after undergoing surgery on his left knee, Manny Fernandez may not be done for the season just yet, writes Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe. With the trade deadline just over two weeks away, Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald says fans should hope the Bruins don't sacrifice the future for a quick fix.
• The Sabres' 5-3 win over the Panthers was put into perspective last night after Richard Zednik was cut with a skate blade on his neck and was taken immediately to the hospital.
• After yesterday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Capitals, the Rangers now have the week to come together at practice before their next game on Saturday, writes Larry Brooks of the NY Post.
• After yesterday's 4-3 loss to the Penguins, the Flyers are now 0-for-3 in February, and to make matters worse, they lost Simon Gagne to a mild concussion. (Writer's note: I think it is time to shutdown Gagne for the season. He has suffered far too many head injuries in one season.) On the Forsberg front, the Flyers announced that his agent Don Baizley told them that the Swedish center wouldn't make a decision on his comeback for another week.
• Evgeni Malkin is vying for the NHL's MVP with his recent play, and last night was no exception, as the talented Russian had four points in his team's 4-3 victory over the Flyers. Meanwhile, Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury has been sent down to Wilkes-Barre on a conditioning stint.
• Alexander Ovechkin and Mike Green made sure to fix the Capitals powerplay yesterday, as they led Washington to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Rangers.
• The result of their game with Buffalo was secondary last night, as the entire Panthers team and fan-base was more concerned about the status of Richard Zednik after he took a skate blade to the neck. In positive news, the winger is listed as being in stable condition.
• Canadiens defenseman Ryan O'Byrne has been recalled from his conditioning stint in Hamilton. Mark Streit has become one of the Habs' most valuable players, writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette.
• The salary cap won't get in the way of the Devils' attempts to make a trade at the deadline, writes Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger.
• The Islanders won't be looking for a short-term fix this season as they did last season, writes Greg Logan of Newsday.
• The Senators are only three points up on the Pittsburgh Penguins for top spot in the Eastern Conference, writes Chris Stevenson of the Ottawa Sun. Here are the results from the Senators' skills competition.
• The Maple Leafs were happy to have Chad Kilger back with the team, and he didn't take long to make a good impression by winning the team's hardest shot contest. Big-time prospect Steve Stamkos wants to be a Maple Leaf, so someone has to tell the Leafs to go back to losing, writes Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun.
• Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune has the month-by-month story of the Lightning's difficult season.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Mathieu Schneider made the Red Wings pay for letting him go yesterday, tallying a goal and an assist in the Ducks' 3-2 victory in Motown.
• "The thing that's been our nemesis all year is haunting us right now, and that's our inability to garner more than a couple goals a game," said Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock after his team's 3-2 shootout loss to the last-place Kings at home. Last night was the Columbus debut of Dick Tarnstrom, as the former Oiler registered one assist in his team's loss.
• J.J. Taylor of the Dallas Morning News says the Stars are flourishing this season, in large part due to their balanced scoring. Even though Marty Turco is now back to 100% and the unquestioned starting netminder in Dallas, it doesn't mean Dave Tippett will forget about impressive back-up Michael Smith.
• The Wings were unhappy with Nicklas Lidstrom's disallowed goal with under a minute remaining in the game as they lost 3-2 to the defending Cup champion Ducks. Yesterday's game may very well have been a preview of the Western Conference Finals, writes Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press. In injury news, the Wings will be without Dan Cleary for the next 6-8 weeks because of a broken jaw.
• The Wild continues to be impressed with the play of youngster Brent Burns as the defenseman scored the shootout winner last night in his team's 2-1 victory over the Blues. Even though Wes Walz has retired from hockey, that doesn't mean he won't be a part of the Wild organization.
• Many of the Blues had the flu yesterday, but even so, the team had an opportunity to defeat the Wild in a shootout; unfortunately for Blues fans they came up empty, writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• The Flames are the definition of mediocre so far this season, writes Jean Lefebvre of the Calgary Herald.
• Even with the return of Jonathan Toews to their line-up, the Blackhawks continued their free-fall from playoff contention last night with a 3-2 shootout loss at Vancouver. While his team is struggling, youngster Cam Barker finally seems to be finding his way in the NHL.
• Brett Clark is second place in the entire NHL in blocked shots, writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
• Ladislav Smid is more aggressive than some people may think, writes Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal.
• "This team is built on being resilient," said Predators coach Barry Trotz after his team scored three period goals at Phoenix to defeat the Coyotes 6-3. If you listen to coach Trotz all the internet rumors about Kevin Klein being traded seem even more far-fetched.
• The Coyotes continued their poor play at home with a 6-3 loss to the Predators last night. In other news, coach Wayne Gretzky is growing tired of these one-piece sticks. (Writer's note: I agree with Gretz on this one. It is time to go back to wooden sticks. )
• The Canucks were victorious last night, but it wasn't without controversy on the shootout winner, writes Gordon McIntyre of the Vancouver Province.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Email any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions to illegalcurve@gmail.com

Morning Musings: Let the games begin

It seems like only yesterday that that Ducks defeated the Sens in game five of the Stanley Cup Finals to become the 2006/07 champions. Somehow, the off-season is already complete and this afternoon (at 11:00 CST) the L.A. Kings take on the Anaheim Ducks overseas in London. With much excitement around the league it looks like 2007/08 will be a fascinating season.

On to the morning papers:

• With regards to the Steve Downie suspension, the NHL got it exactly right this time writes Erik Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail.
• Here is a list, from the aforementioned Duhatschek, of the top 200 players to draft for you poolies out there.
• If Nikolai Zherdev is not in the Blue Jackets' top-six forward lines, it appears he will request a trade out of Columbus. Meanwhile, the Jackets were defeated by the Hurricanes 2-1 in exhibition action on Friday night. The game didn't lack physicality writes Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer.
• With the preseason coming to a close, Stars' coach Dave Tippett has some concerns about the Stars game but he is not going to put some of his injured players in the lineup to make the team more consistent heading into the season.
• Kyle Quincey has a broken hand and will be out of the lineup at least two weeks writes George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press. Perhaps the Wings already miss Quincy's defensive presence as they were defeated 6-4 by the Leafs last night.
• The Oilers have yet to name a captain and coach Craig MacTavish says he would prefer to avoid having alternating captains throughout the season; Derek Van Diest of the Edmonton Sun has the story.
• The Oilers only have one preseason game remaining but don't expect their veterans in the lineup for tonight's contest says Craig MacTavish.
• The Panthers completed their exhibition schedule last night with a 1-0 loss to the Thrashers.
• The fact that both Kings/Ducks games in London have sold out is a pleasant surprise for all involved.
• Michael Russo of the Star Tribune examines the possibility of the Wild signing youngster James Sheppard to an NHL contract prior to the start of the season.
• Patrice Brisebois has hardly even practiced but that hasn't stopped coach Guy Carbonneau from pairing up his former teammate with Roman Hamrlik to form the team's number two defense pairing.
• Greg Zanon has proven himself to the Predators' brass and will be a vital part of the team's top six defense. In other Predators' news, Dan Ellis has won the team's backup goaltending job to start the season.
• As Bridget Wentworth of the Newark Star-Ledger tells us, Brent Sutter is not afraid to shake things up at Devils' camp; the new coach has split up the checking combination of John Madden and Jay Pandolfo. "I don't like the like the idea of having a checking line that's just your checking line," Sutter told the New York Post on Friday.
• With Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery sitting out last night's exhibition game versus the Islanders, the Rangers will probably not be able to experiment with their new line combinations before the regular season begins next week.
• It wouldn't be MSG without drama and yesterday was no exception as MSG filed suit against the NHL on Friday afternoon.
• Brendan Shanahan and Scott Gomez are starting to develop some good chemistry writes Steve Zipay of New York Newsday.
• Bruce Garrioch explains where both sides are at in the Dany Heatley contract negotiations in this morning's Ottawa Sun.
• Flyers' GM Paul Holmgren thinks the Steve Downie 20-game suspension was a little bit long, but respects the decision of Colin Campbell. (Writer's note: I think Holmgren and Nick Kypreos are the only people who believe this suspension is excessive.)
• Coyotes' forward Steven Reinprecht says there is more enthusiasm and energy around the team this season with so many youngsters on the roster.
• Colby Armstrong will try not to beat himself up so much if he struggles to score goals early on in the season writes Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Meanwhile, the Pens were defeated by the Sabres 6-5 in exhibition action on Friday night.
• Steve Bernier is fitter than he was last season at training camp writes David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News.
• Brad Boyes had two goals and an assist in the Blues' 4-2 victory over the Wild in exhibition action on Friday night.
• Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune details what the Lightning management and coaching staff bases their roster decisions on.
• Paul Maurice says the Leafs need better performances from their goaltenders writes Mark Zwolinksi of the Toronto Star.
• Bill Lankhoff of the Toronto Sun has the story of Chad Kilger's long road to success.
• Curtis Sanford was sensational in his team's 3-2 victory over the Flames on Friday night.
• Tarik El-Bashir documents the nervous times of Capitals' youngster David Steckel in his quest to make the NHL roster.
• The Ducks have an opening day salary cap hit of $45.8 million writes Dan Wood of the Orange Country Register.
• Kari Lehtonen is looking sharp heading into the season writes Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune tells us that coach Denis Savard doesn't think all of his players have turned the switch on yet.
• Zdeno Chara doesn't want to answer questions about his shoulder writes Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald.
• Flames' players approve of the length of Steve Downie's suspension writes Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.