As Trade Deadline Nears, Teams Shopping Beware

A record 20 trades involving 29 players were made the day of the NHL’s trading deadline last season. That may be surpassed before today’s noon (Pacific time) deadline, but the timing makes a major move a major gamble.

The NHL season is nearly 85% over, and most teams have only a dozen games left. The NBA started its season a month earlier and set its deadline Feb. 24, when about a third of the schedule remained.

“For people that are legitimately aspiring to win the Cup, it’s not too late,” Mighty Duck General Manager Pierre Gauthier said. “Look at [Dallas General Manager] Bob Gainey. The moves he made came early in the season and that gave the team time to jell.”

Gainey signed free agent Kirk Muller in December and acquired defensemen Dave Manson and Sylvain Cote from Chicago in February. On deadline day last year, Gainey acquired center Derek Plante, who played only six games in the Stars’ Stanley Cup run.

“The later it gets for more than half the league, the less it’s worth doing it because you risk messing things up, rather than helping,” Gauthier said.

The advent of unrestricted free agency heightened the deadline-day frenzy. Teams that believe they are close to contending can get a short-term boost by acquiring a prospective free agent, and teams that are rebuilding can get prospects or draft picks for players they would be losing anyway July 1.

Last year, for instance, Calgary knew it couldn’t re-sign Theo Fleury and traded him to Colorado. The Avalanche reached the conference finals but got nothing when Fleury signed with the New York Rangers.

Colorado General Manager Pierre Lacroix went the rent-a-player route again last week when he grabbed Ray Bourque and Dave Andreychuk from Boston for Brian Rolston, two prospects and a draft pick, energizing his team.

That strategy doesn’t always work. The Detroit Red Wings got Chris Chelios, Ulf Samuelsson, Bill Ranford and Wendel Clark on deadline day last year, only to lose in the second round.

“You can theorize that because of free agency, the Ray Bourques, Theo Fleurys, Mark Recchis and Vincent Damphousses being traded, that changes the competitive balance,” Ranger General Manager Neil Smith said. “But there has never been a team that got a star player at the trade deadline and went on to win the Cup.”

A look at deadline-day deals since 1989-90 yields an exception: the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 1991 acquisition of Samuelsson and Ron Francis from Hartford, the catalyst for successive Stanley Cup triumphs. Smith’s point, though, is valid. He made several deals before winning the Cup in 1994 but for role players, not stars.

“One could theorize that parts can be put into the puzzle of a team that can improve the complexion of the puzzle, but major cornerstones take time to adjust,” Smith said. “The amount of minutes that an impact player takes has to come from other players, and it has to come from other good players. You bring in a power-play player and he takes minutes away from other good players who have been playing on the power play. But if you bring in a sixth defenseman or a checking center, your sixth defenseman becomes your seventh and your 12th forward becomes your 13th. . . .

“When the Islanders brought in Butch Goring [in 1980], Clark Gillies and Bryan Trottier weren’t affected. It didn’t affect Denis Potvin. Goring was a key player, but he was a role player. Those players blend in, but there’s no change in the complexion of the team. You get a Ray Bourque, and he changes the complexion of the team. No Bourques have been traded at the deadline to a team that won the Cup. Having said that, Colorado could go on to win the Cup.”

TRADE WINDS’ LAST GAP

Several big deals have been made, but today figures to be busy. “Most of what I hear is teams looking to add a role player or a depth guy here and there,” Vancouver General Manager Brian Burke said Monday.

Burke said center Mark Messier has not asked to be traded and he doesn’t anticipate getting such a request from Messier, whose approval would be required. “We’re trying to see if we can add something without taking anything away,” Burke said.

The Montreal Canadiens, who lost center Saku Koivu to a knee injury, may look for a forward. The Flyers can’t win with goalies Brian Boucher and John Vanbiesbrouck and may pursue Montreal’s Jeff Hackett or deal with Phoenix for the rights to restricted free agent Nikolai Khabibulin, who’s playing for Long Beach of the IHL.

A WAKE-UP?

The eye injury suffered last Saturday by Toronto defenseman Bryan Berard has renewed calls for mandatory visors.

Eye protection must be worn in junior, college and European leagues, but the NHL can’t impose such a rule without approval from the NHL Players Assn., which has said safety is a personal issue.

Berard, who was struck in the right eye as Ottawa’s Marian Hossa swung his stick at a loose puck, was told he has a slim chance of regaining his vision and an even smaller chance of playing in the NHL again.

“Ninety-six percent of NHL players who take injuries to the face or the eye aren’t wearing visors,” said Emile Therien, president of the Canada Safety Council. “It just doesn’t make sense. A visor would mitigate and in most cases prevent injury completely.”

Players say visors impede their ability to see the puck at their feet. But is it better to not see at all?

COACH’S CORNER

Unlike many NBA coaches who say they will defy a league edict asking them to wear microphones during national TV games, NHL coaches want to be wired.

Detroit’s Scotty Bowman, who is trying to start an NHL coaches’ association, said his peers told NHL executives they’re willing to be wired to enhance telecasts. “It’s a perk that we gave them,” Bowman said. “We want to grow the league and the TV end. We’re hoping to get some cooperation [from the league] for marketing.”

O IS OR OLIE

A 24-6-6 turnaround has put the Washington Capitals atop the Southeast Division--and made them eager to look at the standings again.

“If you would have asked me back in December how far Florida was ahead of us, I couldn’t have told you because I really didn’t pay too much attention,” goalie Olaf Kolzig said. “That’s how far ahead of us they were. We were more concerned with just starting to play good hockey, much less get a playoff drive going. You can’t get into the playoffs if you’re not playing good hockey.”

Kolzig, a key performer in the Capitals’ 1998 East championship, has a 2.23 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.

“I think our team is playing a lot better than we did two years ago,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter of getting that playoff magic back. We still have [13] games to go, but I like our chances.”

SLAP SHOTS

Goalie Grant Fuhr was sharp in Calgary’s 3-1 loss to the Kings on Saturday, his first start since Dec. 15. Surgery on his right knee led him to think of retiring, and he hasn’t ruled that out. “I’ll sacrifice what’s left of my body. The future goes day to day for me,” said the 18-year veteran, whose 403 victories rank sixth. Fuhr knows he and the Flames are facing tough odds. “I think it’s a good test. This is the time of year you want to play,” he said. “You need 25 guys going if you want to make the playoffs. . . . We’ve got an uphill battle. We’re going to have to win nine or 10 down the stretch. My job is to instill confidence in the young guys and motivate everybody to play well.”

Fleury’s nightmare continues with the Rangers. He has one goal in his last 17 games and 14 overall. His previous low for a full season was 27. “It’s just ridiculous. I don’t understand it,” he said. “It’s not even like I’m pressing anymore. I’m relaxed. I get good shots. It’s hard to explain why the puck just isn’t going in. I’ve never, ever, ever, ever gone through anything like this. It’s a mystery, a total mystery.”

Buffalo General Manager Darcy Regier made two bold moves after losing Michael Peca to a separated shoulder. Doug Gilmour has a lot of hard miles on his odometer and Chris Gratton has never realized his potential, but they can score and Gratton is good on face-offs. Also making the deal attractive to Buffalo was Chicago’s agreement to pay half of Gilmour’s $6-million salary next season. Right wing Jean-Pierre Dumont, acquired from Chicago with Gilmour, has a scoring knack and speed.

Dallas goalie Ed Belfour called his arrest on charges of aggravated assault on a hotel security guard and resisting arrest a misunderstanding. It might actually have been a symptom of a real problem, since police reports say he was intoxicated. He met with health and substance-abuse counselors and was to rejoin the Stars today at New Jersey.

Vancouver forward Donald Brashear, injured when he was struck by Marty McSorley’s stick Feb. 21, has been working out lightly and is free of concussion symptoms.