Olli Jokinen: Pros and Cons

Dear Readers, I present you, without further adue: Olli Jokinen.

Olli Jokinen is a 29-year old center playing for the Florida Panthers. His natural goal-scorer instincts and his above-average hands, as well as his good face-off abilities, have turned him into a star-superstar player at the NHL level. On February 5th, Jokinen reached the 200 goal mark. Over his past 3 seasons, Jokinen has scored at least 29 goals, and over his past 2 (not including 2007-08) has had 89 points or more.

Jokinen’s talent, goal-scoring ability and his “affordable” contract according to today’s market (08-09: 5.25M, 09-10: 5.50M), have turned the Finn into a hot commodity.

Many teams, like the Montreal Canadiens, could benefit from the acquisition of such a talented player, even though the bounty required to acquire him would be quite high. As an estimation of Olli’s worth, from a Habs’ point of view, expect the Canadiens to trade Chris Higgins, Ryan O’Byrne, Mikhail Grabovski and 1st round and 3rd round Draft Picks to the Panthers if Jokinen were to be acquired.

Although Jokinen’s team, the Florida Panthers, seems to be going nowhere, even with the acquisition and stellar play of goaltender Tomas Vokoun, Jokinen hasn’t voiced his displeasure publicly or hasn’t gone to see his GM Jacques Martin to ask him to be traded, but who knows, as the Trade Deadline draws nearer, he might.

Keep faith fellow Habs fans!

Rumor Central

FLA- Panthers' GM Jacques Martin is expected to offer a flurry of contracts before July 1st, the date unrestricted free-agents hit the open market. Martin needs to re-sign several restricted free agents including forward Stephen Weiss, defenseman Noah Welch and either goalie Alex Auld or goalie Craig Anderson. He is also expected to tender qualifying offers to defensemen Steve Montador and Alex Semenov. With those previous attempts at re-signing numerous players, Juraj Kolnik will not be re-signed, as the Panthers need to set a clear budget for this year's free-agent signings and are in need of a more productive forward than Kolnik. Several free-agents are on the Panthers' randar, including forwards Slava and Viktor Kozlov, as well as Todd White. Martin might also consider re-signing forwards Martin Gelinas and Jozef Stumpel, but his clock is ticking, since he has 7 more days to offer them offers they have to consider and then either accept or decline. Basically the Panthers, if they are willing to re-sign both veterans, have one offer to give them, since if the afforementioned players reject them, there likely will be no more time left before they hit the market, or July 1st.

NJ- Per Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Lou Lamoriello, currently without a head coach, has contacted Brian Sutter. Sutter was last an NHL coach in 2005, for the Chicago Blackhawks, a period of time which tarnished his, up to that point in time, highly recognised coaching ability.

NYR- According to John Dellapina of the New York Daily News, the 2nd round selection of big Quebec League goalie Antoine Lafleur in this year's draft could spell the end for goaltending prospect Al Montoya with the Rangers. Montoya was drafted 6th overall in the 2004 entry draft which means he is 22 years old and still hasn't had a "serious" stint with the Rangers. He is currently "blocked" by Rangers' starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist, whereas Lafleur, won't, since he is 7 years younger than the Swedish 'keeper, who is 25.

UFA- Alexei Yashin's agent indicates that if an NHL team does not offer the veteran center an "attractive" offer, over the "10 cents on the dollar" they expect they will sign him for, he might play in europe, for the "top dollar".

Goaltending's a Priority!

Florida acquires Tomas Vokoun:

Acquiring Tomas Vokoun was a key move for the Panthers and a big step towards turning them into a respectable hockey team.

The Cats got what they wanted in Vokoun, a legitimate no. 1 goalie that is.

Even though the Czech netminder sustained a severe injury to his thumb last season, which caused the emergence of Chris Mason as the Predators’ new starting ‘keeper, the Panthers have nothing to worry about, due to the fact that, since coming back from this aforementioned injury, Tomas Vokoun, proved that he was still the goalie he was during the 2005-06 season, when he lead Nashville to their 1st playoff birth.

The 30-year old netminder maintained a solid 27-12-4 record with the Preds, while giving up an average of 2.40 goals a game, and stopping 92% of the shots he faced.

With the acquisition of Vokoun, the status of Ed Belfour seems unclear, and seems to indicate that the veteran is unlikely to be re-signed.

So long, "hovering" eagle.

Toronto acquires Toskala and Bell:

Late June 2006--The Toronto Maple Leafs acquire goaltender Andrew Raycroft from the Boston Bruins for goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask. “Finally a great goalie in T.O., he is our savior” chanted Maple Leafs fans.

Late June 2007--After an unsuccessful season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Andrew Raycroft was practically “booed” out of town by the crowds at the ACC.

The 2003-04 Calder Trophy winner had a second disappointing season in a row, even though setting a new record for wins in a season by a Maple Leaf netminder, with 37.

Raycroft was mostly hurt by the ending frame of his 2006-07 season, especially in a game against Montreal where he allowed 4 goals in the first 28 minutes of Toronto’s most crucial game of the 2006-07 season. Even though Toronto won the game, they did not make the postseason for a 2nd straight year.

Toskala, used to being a “tandem” goalie at best, excelled at his role during the 2006-07 season, compiling a record of 26-10-1 with a 2.35 GAA and .908 SV%.

He will resume his role in Toronto, as Maple Leafs’ GM John Ferguson Jr. announced, despite Andrew Raycroft’s disappointing season, that the 2 goalies will be “platooning”, at least for the 1st part of the 2007-08 season.

While Toskala adds certainty and confidence to the goalie’s role, Mark Bell adds size and grit to the winger’s role in T.O..

He too, coming off a horrid season (21 Pts in 71 G), was a mere “throw-in” in this trade, but it doesn’t mean that he will be useless to Toronto for next season’s run to the playoffs.

Expect a very talented defensive line for the Maple Leafs if they retain Michael Peca, and assign Mark Bell to his line.