Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman worked his magic once again; and this time off the ice. Within an hour, he sent agitator Steve Downie to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for offensive defenseman Kyle Quincey. He then turned Quincey around for defensive prospect Sebastien Piche and a first round pick.
Clearly, the Bolts are stockpiling picks as they firmly stand tall as sellers. Let’s take a look at how all the teams came out of the deal.
Steve Downie to the Colorado Avalanche
Downie gives the Avs a player they don’t currently roster– someone who can drop the mitts and score some goals. You could argue they lacked this type of forward since Darcy Tucker back in 2009-2010. Well, Downie is Tucker in his prime with possibly even more offense. He can play on the top line with Paul Stastny or muck it up on the third or fourth. More importantly, he moves to a region where his style game really goes far — the very tough Western Conference playoff race.
He does, however, push some players out of their place. When fully healthy, the Avs have several players who move between the top three lines including David Jones, Daniel Winnik, and T.J. Galiardi. In fact, one of those players could be moved to another team or the press box in order to remove the jam up front. We can only assume that GM Greg Sherman traded for Downie in order to properly utilize him, meaning someone’s playing time needs to be cut.
In addition, moving Quincey gives the team an extra defensive spot to work with, which makes sense with Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliott in the minors. In fact, the Avs just recalled Elliott from the minors in a corresponding move.
Kyle Quincey to the Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings prepare even more for the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom, and the possible departure of Brad Stuart, by acquiring Quincey. According to Yahoo! Sports columnist Nick Cotsonika, via Twitter, Quincey will take a regular turn on the third defensive pairing and second power play unit. Despite moving to a deeper depth chart, the move to Detroit should be seen as a big upgrade. In Detroit, bottom pairing defenders are the beneficiaries of padded plus/minus while, when everyone’s healthy, superstar Henrik Zetterberg regularly plays on the second power play unit. In short, grab Quincey if you can.
And while the offensive defender, who scored five goals and 23 points in 54 games with the Avs, is an upgrade on the third pairing, someone will need to come off. That someone is likely Jakub Kindl or Jonathan Ericsson. Neither young defender has established himself as great defender and both have room to grow. Maybe taking their everyday job away from them will finally show them what, exactly, they need to do in order to become top-four material. For now, neither should be trusted — barring an injury — while Mike Commodore should have no fantasy hockey ownership whatsoever.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Downie leaving for greener pastures opens up more ice time for competing wingers. For one, Ryan Malone probably moves right back up to the top line with Steven Stamkos. In addition, guys like Teddy Purcell, Ryan Shannon and Brett Connolly should all benefit from the left over ice time from Downie’s, and to a lesser extent Dominic Moore’s, departure.
Furthermore, the Bolts are now stacked with prospects and should be a real force over the upcoming seasons.
