...The Hurricanes dump their blue-chip prospect Jack Johnson for a 6th d-man. WHAT??
According to TSN, the Hurricanes have traded the rights to Jack Johnson plus deadweight Oleg Tvderdovsky to the Kings for (get this) Tim Gleason! Tim-friggen-Gleason! Twenty-one points last year Tim Gleason!
Okay, granted, the terrible Tverdovsky contract was needlessly inflating the 'Canes cap number - but Jack Johnson seems a pretty steep price to pay to get someone to take it of their hands. And it's not like Carolina needed another 5th/6th defenseman THAT BADLY (nor is their cap situation that desperate).
On the other end of the scale, what a steal for the Kings. They're relatively flush with experienced d-men right now (Blake, Visnovsky, Norstrom, Miller, Sopel) meaning they can bear to part with a guy like Gleason. So the cost of adding a former 3rd choice overall and bluechip prospect is basically nothing. Two more years at 2.5 million/year worth of nothing...but still...
I just don't get this deal from a Hurricanes perspective, however. Someone down there must know something I don't, because this looks like a huge misstep on the face of it.
EDIT - Apparently Eric Belanger is going the other way with Gleason as well. Meh. Changes nothing about my assesment of this trade.
