Detroit -- Washington

[CapsGM]

To Detroit:
Alexander Ovechkin [80]
Josh Godfrey [57]

To Washington:
Vladimir Tarasenko [60]
Dougie Hamilton [80]
Detroit's first round pick in 2012

Three straight years of playoff mediocrity have made me give in to the thought of trading The Great 8 after three off-seasons of pondering it. If Crosby, Malkin, Stamkos, Fowler, and Seguin can be traded (somehow Cote or Bernier have something to do with all of that), nobody is untouchable in this league.

This move instantly gives life to my bare prospect pool. Tarasenko is EHEC-ready and if he scores 50+ points as a rookie I'll be happy. The 6th overall pick and Teach Me How To Dougie are at least a season or two away from making any impact, and my rivals are only getting better, so I'm prepared to be a slightly weaker team now in order to improve in the years to come. Another big thing here is the $11 million in cap space I get - I haven't had this much financial flexibility since 2009, where I gave stupid contracts to all the lazy Russian UFAs.

Best of luck to James and Mr. Ovechkin. With a core of Ovechkin, Richards, Perry, Backstrom, and Green (and about ten other ex-Caps it seems), the Red Wings will hopefully return to the playoffs in 2013.

[jamesredwings]

confirmed.

What else should I say? Do I really need to justify this?

Ovy - Richards - Perry here we come!

[SharksGM]

What else should I say? Do I really need to justify this?

Well, you're trading away a 90+ off forward, a 76/75/80 defenseman and a shot at another 80 off forward/80 def defenseman/starting goalie so maybe it's worth a shot.

[jamesredwings]

Ah yeah and I am getting one of the all time greatest players on the planet. Only 26 y.o. Immediate + 30 goals for my team next year. I went from last to 6th last and could finally be back to playoffs next year. What am I giving up? good players in 2015 maybe? Risk worth taking. Sales of Wings shirt will go up!!!!

[Virtual Jarmo]

This trade is under further deliberation from the Committee and will not be ruled on tonight.

[Virtual Jarmo]

This trade has been approved by 2/3 Committee vote.

There was some dissension in the Committee on this deal. For one thing, the timing of the deal makes little sense because Detroit is effectively blowing up most of his prospect pool when he's clearly more than just Ovechkin away from being a competitive team. The price for Ovechkin is undoubtedly high. Godfrey is actually a more useful player than you might think, though his 57 CON certainly lessens his value.

There were two issues with looking at this trade: We couldn't break down the deal to look at the pieces and try to rationalize what was equal to what and we couldn't wrap our heads around Detroit's reason for the deal. EHEC is a depth league. Very few teams try to roll with one line and a very limited defensive unit to win games. It's hard to envision that as a recipe for success.

Considering that DET/WSH have a history of big trades with the Datsyuk and Zetterberg deals, that was on our minds as well. It seems to be the summer of trading big pieces in EHEC and I don't know if that's due to lack of interest in your current team, reshuffling the deck, or boredom. It's not that I have a problem with trades like that, it's that you guys know I'm not big for seeing blockbuster deals (says the guy who traded Backes and Mason already this offseason).

In any event, Ovechkin's clearly a top ten player in the file. Tarasenko will be like Krejci, Hamilton is a strong two-way defenseman, and #6 will be a good player. Godfrey has use, especially to a team as devoid of defensemen as Detroit is.

Again, another trade that none of us had a strong conviction to pass or reject, but it was best to make a ruling and move on.

[Virtual Jarmo]

Entered.

Injured Godfrey traded manually. Ovechkin's actual CON is 86, the original trade post is a typo.