Another Trade

November 20, 2011

This morning, the Milan Micahleks traded Gabriel Landeskog, Cam Fowler and a 2012 3rd round pick to the Winter Claassics for Patrick Marleau and Kyle Quincey.

Analysis: According to the Milan Michalek's GM, "this trade was a difficult decision for our organization, but we knew we had to give value to get value." He denied allegations that the Fowler trade was intended as a wake-up call for teammate Ryan Getzlaf. Coming over in Landeskog's slot is Marleau, "a keeper without hesitation." Marleau went in the 3rd round of the inaugural KL draft last year. He's been over a point-per-game in three of his last five seasons, and he's the model of reliability, missing, on average, just two games a year over his 13-year career. At 32, he still has a few good seasons left on a top team. Quincey is not a keeper on this roster but he's having a great season and should fill the 4th d-man slot nicely.

The Winter Claassics get younger, faster, and sexier. The jury is still out on whether 2nd overall pick Landeskog is "elite" enough to be a superstar. Fowler is either experiencing a sophomore slump or it looks like he is because his whole team is in a protracted slump. But both players have lots of upside: Landeskog is 4th in the league in shots, for example. We will re-examine this trade in a few years and there will be a clear winner - and that winner will likely be Claassen.