I have to admit, this one is kind of out of left field.
A simple, seemingly innocent prospect swap has a ton of underlying themes surrounding it's significance. Although this trade just happened moments ago, I'll break it down the best I can, with as little speculation as possible. More details will come out in the next 24-48 hours I'm sure, but mine as well get some discussion going tonight. I'm pretty bored.
Right out of the gate, when analyzing this trade, you have to be careful how you read it.
Did Montreal trade Desjardins for Ramo? Or did Tampa Bay trade Ramo for Desjardins?
Which side actively pursued the other goalie? We may never know the answer, so it's not worth discussing. The fact of the matter is that Montreal was willing to give up their top AHL prospect, a 24-year old All-Star coming off one spectacular season, for a lesser-valued goalie that is a few inches taller, catches with his right hand, and had an All-Star season in the KHL.
From that perspective, what does it reveal? A few things.
1. Montreal has even more faith in Carey Price than we thought. Yes, I know he's still an RFA, but you don't move a guy like Desjardins in this somewhat-volatile situation without knowing there's a resolution in the near distance. Or at least without wanting Price to be the goalie leader for the forseeable future.
2. They also wouldn't make this move unless another goalie with NHL-starter upside in the system was capable of handling a decent workload in Hamilton. Ramo is clearly capable of that, but will he get out of his KHL contract? Maybe it's someone like Robert Mayer or ...... insanely enough, maybe it could be the recent invitee, PETER DELMAS. Wouldn't that be a trip? Stranger things have happened.
3. It's too early to count anything out right now, so I have to say that I think Robert Mayer is a BRILLIANT young goalie, and he's only 21 years old. Swiss goalies are quickly becoming very potent as a whole, and so I won't be surprised if Mayer somehow ends up backing up Curtis Sanford in Hamilton. Consider this nothing more than a hunch...but trusting goalie instincts is never a faulty line of reasoning.
4. It reveals that despite Desjardins' incredible AHL season last year, Montreal is not as high on him as many are led to believe. To be honest, he's a quality puck stopper, but there's still plenty of technical flaws to his game.
And let's face it, he's only going to get smaller heading into the new season thanks to new leg pad sizing. The 6-foot-0 goalies are dwindling, and this trade is somewhat proof of that. But I wouldn't consider his size any kind of major reason to trade him. But it's worth mentioning for sure.
5. This could be a setup to something bigger, but that's speculating and I don't really want to do that. It is what it is ... there could have easily been a trade request or some off-ice drama. But there's no way Desjardins would be happy going from a solid AHL gig in Hamilton to being squeezed in with Dustin Tokarski and Jaroslav Janus in Norfolk. As of now, it really hurts his value, as he's mixed in with two other good prospects.
On Tampa Bay's side, it says a lot about Steve Yzerman's resolve to improve the team in all areas. They already have incredible depth in goal, but this does say a lot about their current depth chart situation. A few of them are as follows:
1. Mike Smith's band-aid boy status. He's all over the place in a number of games, he's almost hyperactive...and that lack of refined movement leads to injury proneness and inconsistency. This was very clear last season, so Tampa Bay could just be covering their bases by bringing in a legitimate AHL stud for a goalie that is playing in Russia with limited upside. Remember that Ramo has already played 30+ games for Tampa Bay, and didn't impress them enough to keep him in Norfolk. He's been the odd man out for a couple of years. And since they already have Riku Helenius playing in Europe as well, it was only a matter of time before they moved one of those guys.
2. Jaroslav Janus' development might be going slower than I expected. I'm really high on his skills, but he's still a massive work in progress. And now with Desjardins in the mix, it begs the question of just how well-liked he is by the organization. For some reason, I feel like he's starting to slowly fall out of favor. I have no concrete reasons for this, other than my goalie intuition strongly feels there's something going on there...
3. Cash money in the bank. You don't pass up a potential trade like this. Getting Desjardins for Ramo is a no-brainer in my opinion. For every game he played in Russia, he'll need to play a game in the AHL to re-adjust to North American hockey. That's just the name of the game.
Trying to compare Desjardins' skill upside to Ramo's is difficult. I haven't seen Ramo play in a year. I think he's got just as much upside as Desjardins, but he's got a longer learning curve ahead of him since he's familiar playing against KHL players as opposed to AHL players. It's just natural to think Desjardins is the better goalie, but don't be so sure. Ramo has potential just the same. It's a murky cloudy compare and contrast situation.
I keep coming back to Mayer. I just think he's a hidden gem. I'll be honest, I've seen very little of him...but I'll be getting to know him much better. An excerpt from an ECHL press release back in May:
Mayer appeared in nine games with a 6-1 record, three shutouts, a 1.54 goals-against average and a save percentage of .938. He played all five games of the Finals going 4-1 with one shutout, a 1.68 goals-against average and a save percentage of .933.
This is the fourth straight year that a goaltender has won the Kelly Cup Most Valuable Player Award as Smith and Mayer join Idaho's Steve Silverthorn (2007), Cincinnati's Cedrick Desjardins (2008) and South Carolina's James Reimer.
I'll stop there...until we get some team releases and quotes from coaches and whatnot. Let's see how this unfolds, but it's a pretty crazy move for sure!!!
Notice the transactions have a rumor of him going to play for Lugano in Switzerland? It's from a few months ago...
More and more, it looks like Montreal is just towing the line. Making life comfortable for Price, adding a veteran flair with Sanford, and now developing another former QMJHL goalie around the age of 21.
If you look at Desjardins and Mayer, they have a lot of similarities as far as their development is concerned.
Both former QMJHL goalies (CD has more games played and experience w/ around 40 more games and 2 more years). both are former ECHL playoff heros and named as Kelly Cup Playoff MVP's (Mayer as co/MVP this year and CD in 2008). Both are similar in size and stature (Mayer is 6'1, 190 and CD is 6'0, 183). They were both undrafted goalies. And more fittingly, they were both 21 years old when they came on board with the Hamilton Bulldogs.
It looks like CD attended a Blackhawks training camp, they passed on him, and was later signed by the Hamilton Bulldogs in the summer of 2006. He was born in 1985. If Mayer were to make Hamilton's team out of training camp, he would also start his first solid AHL season as a 21-year old. He was born in 89.
What does all of this stuff show us?
Montreal has a lot of structure with how they have been developing goalies lately. Mayer is a lot like CD, with a bit of an interesting European flair. A Swiss goalie from Czech Republic. Kind of like Salak was a Czech goalie playing in Finland.
Remember when Rollie Melanson was let go by the Habs? The reasoning was because they didn't see eye-to-eye on Carey Price's development. Then Halak ended up being the goalie that stole the show and revealed his elite skills and mental toughness. Now they have Pierre Groulx as the goalie coach and the dynamics in that regard totally change with Price and Auld at the helm.
Here's the facts:
A spot is open in Hamilton. And if that spot is filled from within, that means a spot in Cincinnati will potentially be open as well. It depends on Ramo coming over or not. I'd have to think he's going to do everything they can to get him over to Hamilton.
They invited Peter Delmas to their training camp for a reason. They just might think he's capable of filling that ECHL role and Mayer is capable of filling the role in Hamilton, just like they did with CD.
This is a brilliant opportunity for a kid I have been saying (for two-plus years) deserved a better shot with the Avalanche to win a minor league job and prove he's capable of being a decent pro goalie. So long as the Habs don't have any other interesting tricks up their sleeve to acquire another goalie, the OPPORTUNITY is there. Straight up.
I don't think Ramo is getting enough credit here. He was brought up to the NHL at a young age by goalie standards so I'm not really surprised that he didn't set the world on fire. He had a solid KHL season so at least he's progressing. I remember seeing him as a highly touted goalie and it's far too early to write him off.
Seems to me like this is a Guy Boucher request.
Last edited by ericdaoust; August 16, 2010 at 11:36 PM.
It looks like Ramo is going to honor his KHL contract for the season.
If this is true, I think it proves even more that Montreal isn't seeing Ramo as some potential savior, but that they have tons of faith in the goalies currently in their system.
If Ramo stays in Russia, it's a huge opening for the other goalies in the system. Yes, Montreal could potentially sign another UFA like they did with Auld, but as it stands right now there could be a crazy battle with Mayer and maybe even Delmas.
If they traded Desjardins for Ramo with the expectations that Ramo was good enough to fill the same role, they would have done it only if Ramo was coming over to play in the AHL. But if he stays in Russia, it proves Montreal is willing to give their other goalies in the system a chance ...... and Delmas too.
Ramo for Desjardins
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