Trade Deadline...Finally...Part 6

Following the trade deadline on Tuesday, the most polled about issue on hockey related web sites was "Who was the biggest winner at the trade deadline?" Though last night's five point introduction by Stars' center Brad Richards would currently shoot Dallas to the top of that pole, many have made an argument for the most active team at the deadline: the Washington Capitals.

After the first month of the season, many in the hockey world believed the Caps would most definitely be sellers as opposed to buys during the trade deadline. However, the hiring of long-time minor league head coach Bruce Boudreau has not only given the Caps a surge in their play to push for the playoffs, but a new identity. Throughout much of his coaching career Boudreau has been characterized as too unpolished to become a successful National Hockey League coach, a reputation which, intentionally or not, Boudreau has responded to by coaching his teams fight for every inch with successful results.

The same underdog attitude that Boudreau has carried with him has begun to translate into success in the NHL through the Washington Capitals. With one of the biggest young superstars in the league, the Capitals have the opportunity to become the rag-tag feel good story of this hockey season, much the same way their coach could.

And after Tuesday's trade deadline, that "feel good" story is looking more and more realistic.

The first trade of the day for the Caps came with the acquisition of soon to be unrestricted free agent goaltender Cristobal Huet from the Montreal Canadiens for a second round pick in 2009. One of the most shocking deals of the day, most in the hockey world believed that the Habs would hang onto Huet for the playoff push and another few years until Carey Price was deemed ready to take over the number one spot. Apparently Habs GM Bob Gainey felt the 20-year-old Price was up for the task, a decision which was likely helped by the shaky play of Huet over the past few weeks.

To add more to the shock of the trade is the fact that the Capitals have a goaltender that has manned the crease for the franchise steadily over the past eleven years in Olaf Kolzig. Though Kolzig played it cool in an interview on Versus after the Caps 4-1 win over Minnesota the night after the trade deadline, Kolzig's agent Art Breeze has begun to stir up a hornet's nest.

The need for a change in goal that Caps GM George McPhee has obviously expressed has been the result of Kolzig's lack of consistency this season. Beyond that, Kolzig is 38 and could be showing signs of the end of his career. Though Huet could prove to be nothing more than a rental player, McPhee must have traded for the French goaltender with the intention of signing him to a contract extension. At 32, Huet could be entering the prime of his career and it has yet to be seen what he is or is not capable of over a full season (he has never played more than 42 games in one season). If the Caps do make the playoffs this season due to any form of stellar play from Huet, expect him to be asking for a hefty salary considering his upcoming contract will be the biggest contract opportunity of his career.

The Caps followed up the Huet deal with another stunner. For days rumors had Sergei Fedorov waiting for the go-ahead to hop on a plane to Detroit to rejoin the Red Wings; instead Fedorov joined an extensive cast of fellow Russians in exchange for the Caps 2007 second-round pick, defenseman Ted Ruth.

Having lost center Michael Nylander to season-ending shoulder surgery the Caps were in need of a second line center, but in the process of fulfilling that need they also added several years of playoff experience. Though the 38 year-old Fedorov is nowhere near the same player he was when he was competing with Wayne Gretzky for the scoring lead fourteen years ago, Fedorov is still a great skater with phenomenal hands. Beyond that, Fedorov can also serve as a mentor on and off the ice for a young comrade that just so happens to be one of the league's brightest young stars in Alex Ovechkin.

Though no one realistically believes Fedorov will put up the same numbers he did earlier in his career, playing with Ovechkin could provide a significant bump from the 28 points in 50 games he put up while playing in Columbus this season.

After the splashes GM McPhee made with these two deals, it would seem that he firmly believed that the Caps would be in the playoffs when he made his final significant trade by dealing Matt Pettinger to the Vancouver Canucks for agitator Matt Cooke. Cooke, a player right up coach Boudreau's alley, will provide the Caps with the grit and nasty play necessary to throw teams off their game plan in the playoffs. Plainly and simply, Matt Cooke was acquired for the playoffs.

Due to the way in which each of these trades addressed specific needs for the Caps, it would appear that the team that could gain further notoriety as the latest "feel good" story were the overall winners at the trade deadline. Now that the GM has done his job, it is up to the coach and his players to prove whether or not they truly are improved or just made for a good story for part of the regular season.