More Fallout From The Cullen Trade
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The more I think about the trade of Matt Cullen back to Carolina, the less I like it. Sam Weinman posted a blog entry the other day and I think he hit the nail on the head. At the end of his post, Sam wonders whether the Rangers "really thought through what they'd be missing" by trading Cullen. Did the Rangers consider how loosing both Cullen and Ortmeyer would effect the penalty killing unit? What about how the loss of these players would effect ice time distribution?
Cullen was obviously not a core player for the Rangers. He was, however, a great penalty killer. Ditto for Jed Ortmeyer who is also gone. Conventional wisdom says that the loss of two of the teams top penalty killers is more than offset by the acquisition of Drury and Gomez, both of whom are excellent penalty killers. Unfortunately for the Rangers, it's not that simple:
In the "New NHL" a lot of time is spent on specialty teams. Is it wise to expect Gomez and Drury to be able to take the lions share of ice time at even strength and on the power play AND on the penalty kill? Are these guys going to play 25 minutes a night for the entire season and playoffs? The potential problem is only compounded by the fact that the Rangers are often undisciplined taking far too many penalties.
I agree that Drury and Gomez are probably better penalty killers then Cullen and Ortmeyer. But that's only half the analysis: Last season, the Rangers top three penalty killers (in no particular order) were Ortmeyer, Betts and Cullen. Ortmeyer and Betts did not get any power play time. Cullen got some time on the power play prior to the acquisition of Sean Avery. After killing a penalty, the Rangers were able to send out a top offensive line to regain some of the momentum lost as a result of being shorthanded. That line would be well rested as none of its players were on the ice killing the penalty. By trading Cullen and loosing Ortmeyer, the Rangers have lost that advantage. If Drury and Gomez have to kill penalties, they won't necessarily be ready to hit the ice on that first shift at even strength. Who will the Rangers be able to send out on the ice to regain that momentum? Will Renney mix and match his non-penalty killers for the first shift at even strength? Is it wise to disrupt line combinations after every penalty kill? What about the earlier question posed regarding managing ice time?
Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not saying that Cullen and/or Ortmeyer were "core" players for the Rangers. All I'm saying is that in today's NHL you can't expect your top players to do it all. 10+ years ago, Messier, Graves and Leetch could get the most even strength ice time while at the same time being the top penalty killers and power play specialists. In today's game more time is spent on specialty teams. Additionally, more and more teams are rolling four lines to keep all players rested and fresh. A team that relies too heavily on its top two lines will be at a disadvantage. Especially over the course of a long season and a long and grueling playoff tournament. Like I said, the more I think about the Cullen deal, the less I like it. I wonder if the Rangers "really thought through what they'd be missing" by trading Cullen?
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