Halpern traded to LA Kings

[BucForce]

for Teddy Purcell (RW) AND a 3rd round pick. Not a bad return for a guy that was a 3rd line center. Purcell is still young, and has offensive potential. May be he is paired with Vinny and can spark him for the final 20 games. Veillieux sure isn't the answer on his wing. We still don't have a 2nd round pick, but now have 3 3rds. Still one hour before the trading deadline, hopefully Tanguay and Meszaros are on their way out of here

[Edski]

No luck on Tanguay amd Meszaros.

Sorry, this doesn't do it for me. This Purcell kid has 8 goals in 91 career games - he sounds like a career AHL guy to me. At 24, if he was a bonafide scorer he'd have shown a little more by now.

Then again, MSL's numbers when he came to Tampa were 69 gp, 4g, 16a...not too different from Purcell's 91-8-17. Maybe hes' lightning in a bottle (pun marginally intended). But it pains me to think all we have left from Brad Richards is a goalie that gets hurt a lot and now a 24 year old winger with some "potential".

Brian Lawton = FAIL

[BucForce]

After last night's "performance", they should have been sellers, and tried to unload the dead weight, like Mess-zaros, and Tanguay for whatever you can get. Still no 2nd round pick, an inconsistent team, a still dysfunctional management group (Tocchet freezing out Jim Johnson). I am encouraged by the words of our latest owner, I only hope his dreams come true. This team has begun circling the drain again, and the fans are staying away in droves (the home fans anyways)...

[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by Edski

Brian Lawton = FAIL

Is this guy not the biggest douchebag ever? Even when I hear him talk on the radio I cringe. I hope he's shown the door no later than Friday. This Friday.

[Paintballer8791]

I don't see what yalls probably is, I have watch alot of games this year and I don't see whats so bad about meszaros or tanguay, they ain't great players but they aren't crappy players, neither was halpern, but who knows maybe I'm just a idiot when it comes to hockey, the lightning this year are playing better then last year but that's not saying much, also what's the great deal about having a second rounder? is a second rounder guaranteed to be a star? hell no but he could be you never know, but I still and will always be pissed that they traded brad richards what a epic fail type of move just my 2 cents

[BucForce]

A) Not only did we trade 2 players AND a 1st round pick to Ottawa for Meszaros, they signed him to a 6 year, $24M deal to be their cornerstone defenseman. His production has steadily declined, from 9 goals and 36 points in 07-08, to 5 goals, 11 points so far this year. He has been benched as a healthy scratch already this year.
B) Tanguay luckily was only signed for 1 year $2.5M to be the scoring winger on Vinny's line. He has also been benched and currently plays on a checking 3rd line.
C) As we fall further away from a playoff spot, a 2nd round pick will probably be in the top 40 players. Our depth at Norfolk is weak, we need all the good players we can get and develop them so they can help us in a few years. This team has drafted poorly for years and is paying the price.
D) The biggest disappointment of the Brad Richards trade is not getting a player and a pick for Jeff Halpern. It is the injury prone, inconsistent Mike Smith in goal who was the key player in the deal for us. I still don't think anyone of us, including team management, knows if this guy can ever be the #1 goalie we thought we were trading for.

[unBUClievable]

We're slowly going from the worst team in the league to respectability. We're 2 points out of a playoff spot when we were much worse last year. It's a slow climb back up the hill, but look at the Kings, Coyotes, Blues, Preds, Blackhawks, and a ton of other teams that were used to being the doormat that now have tons of talent. To that end, I believe the lack of a 2nd round pick is a big deal, but having a bunch of 3's gives us the flexibility to move up or take what we can get there. With a new owner coming in it will be interesting to see what they do with Vinny and Marty.