EDM/PHX

[Edmonton Mike]

Phoenix receives:
Marc Staal (81)

Edmonton receives:
Joe Basaraba (61)
Daniel Winnik (62)
Greg Betzgold (66)

[Edmonton Mike]

With Kevin Shattenkirk and Jacob Trouba playing very good hockey recently, my hand was forced here a little bit. I figured I'd try and see if I could get some help up front by trading a defenseman. Moving Staal and his extremely team-friendly contract was the best and easiest way to get this help.

Joe Basaraba has a cool name, so there's that. But most importantly, he's a big, young winger who plays a solid two-way game. He's been playing 16 mins/game with Phoenix with great results (7,6 rating). I like his stats and when I find the right fit for him, I know he won't disappoint. Winnik is a great pick-up for my 4th line, which is a joke. 26 TA and 25 HG with very limited icetime is impressive. He can play center which is always a plus. Betzgold will develop into a decent 4th liner in the near future. Basaraba and Winnik are locked for 3 years + TO. Sweet.

Marc Staal is the big name in this deal, but I like what I'm receiving in return. I feel my blueline is not weaker after this deal -as I still have 7 d-men of EHEC caliber- and I really do think Basaraba and Winnik can come in and solidify my bottom 6. This is a win-win for both teams.

Thanks Parker! Nice & easy!

[Parker]

Staal's a consistently solid stay-at-home defender with a very team-friendly contract, and with Kaberle gone at the end of the season I was going to end up with Shaone Morrisonn as my #4 defenceman, so when the opportunity to upgrade the Phoenix blueline with a proven asset like Staal presented itself, I had to take a shot, even if it costs me a personal favorite like Joe Basaraba. I hate to trade Bazooka Joe, not just because of my subjective attachment to him but also because he really seems to have found his groove this year playing with Slava Kartayev and Jordan Staal. The loss of Winnik is going to hurt my depth even more, but while I have guys like Namestnikov and Shaw pretty much ready to step in, I don't have really have anyone I feel is ready on D as an adequate replacement for Kaberle. Blidstrand and Backman are on their way, but I don't want to rush them, and Grist is as ready as he's ever gonna be, but he's more of a part-time goon squad type right now. Meanwhile, Greg Betzgold has potential to be a pretty decent hitting winger with some offensive upside, but he's at least a couple years away and I have a number of players like him in my system, so I'm okay with including him to sweeten the deal a little. Great doing business with you, Mike!

Phoenix approves this deal.

[Virtual Jarmo]

Approved and entered.