Ray Shero Learns The Hard Way: Ray Whitney Is Better Than Alexei Ponikarovsky
by Bob Wage on May 13, 2010 2:00 AM EDT
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PrintIt was just a few days before the trade deadline in early March and the hockey world was waiting. Carolina Hurricanes winger Ray Whitney, the hottest commodity available as a rental, would surely be traded to a contender. Whitney held the cards because of a no-trade clause in his contract, but the rumor was that he wanted to go to an East coast team who had a good shot at winning the Cup.
Enter Pittsburgh, last year's Stanley Cup Champions and favorites to go deep in the playoffs again this year. The Penguins were missing a couple of pieces though and one need that had to be addressed was their weakness at left wing. General Manager Ray Shero was shopping for a skilled left winger to play alongside superstar Sidney Crosby.
Supposedly, they could have acquired Whitney, if they wanted to pay the price. The veteran winger was not going to be cheap though. Since Dominic Moore and Matt Cullen were previously traded for second round draft picks, surely Whitney was worth more.
But Shero went in a different direction and traded prospect Luca Caputi to Toronto for Alexei Ponikarovsky.
How did that work out for the Pens? Ponikarovsky was a non-factor, so much so that he was healthy scratched by Pittsburgh in game 6 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. In game 7 he chipped in with an assist but finished the playoffs with just one goal and four assists for five points in 11 games played.
Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but one must wonder what Shero was thinking if he truly could have acquired Whitney, a veteran with a Stanley Cup ring and 18 career playoff goals along with 25 assists, instead of "Poni", who has a total of 2 career playoff goals and 6 assists.
Carolina GM Jim Rutherford reportedly wanted a first round and a second round pick or equivalents for his star left winger. Would he have turned down an offer of Caputi and a second round pick? We will never know. But it seems certain that an offer of Caputi and a first round pick would have been enough to make a deal.
Now all fans can do is wonder what it would have been like to see Whitney and Crosby on the same line. It might have been magic.
Could "The Wizard" have helped the Penguins get over the hump in their tight seven game series and losing effort against the Canadiens? Well, quoting Whitney himself, "they don't call him "The Wizard" for nothing."
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Whitney v. Poni
I totally agree. When the deal was going down during the trade deadline I had predicted that Shero let his pride get in the way of his judgment (well perhaps some other part of the male human anatomy got in the way of his clear thinking). It was obvious that the Pens Achilles Heel was scoring at wing and the lack of an additional wing who had the spine to be a major contributor during the key times during the playoff games. Whitney is indeed the wizard and perhaps Whitney’s greatest asset was his play during money time. I really would have loved to have had the additional first round draft choice and the prospect or second round draft choice; but Shero would much, much rather still be in the playoff chase rather than having fans ridicule Cooke and Orpik for being chumps who now can go play a very physical game of golf.
What we know is Poni was a non-factor the whole playoffs and intuition says Whitney would have helped. Whitney probably would have made space for Crosby, which is what he lacked against the Habs, they had him bottled up pretty well, but what I’m curious about is why Crosby was such a perimeter player the 2nd round, the 1st round he had no problems with going to dirty areas that wasn’t the case against the Habs. The other thing that should be mentioned is what a bad job Bylsma did with matchups, he couldn’t get Crosby away from Gill & Georges the whole series. That tandom completely erased him, which was apparent early in the series and if they watched any tape from the last series they would have realized they needed to get Crosby away that pairing pairing. Now, some credit should go to J. Martin, but at home there’s no excuse – fail.
Well if the opportunities we lost for not moving Whitney also means the pens don’t repeat, I am happy he stayed. Screw Sid and Geno and the wilting Fleury.
+1
Watching the game I was thinking back to Game 4 last year against the Pens and listening to their fans in our building. Worst was walking out in the parking lot and getting heckled……“what goes around comes around”!…..Goodbye Sid and the Pens…..que sera Mellon Arena….Last ’Canes memory….LaRose to McBain slapshot beats Fleury…Canes win 3-2!
+1
Once again a chickens@#T GM let his prejudice against a smaller (but very awesome) player convince him to go with a BIG slug!! …and i’m happy to still have RAY to watch!!
+2 Bob
Pride always causes a person to stumble in the long run. You covered all the bases Bob…thanks alot…you said and posted the truth…am glad Whitney stayed.
When The People Fear Their Government,There is Tyranny;
When The Government fears The People, There Is Liberty
Worth peaking at
http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Canadiens+fans+nuts/3020075/story.html
As tough as their fans can be, when they’re winning it’s probably the best place to play in the NHL.
on last nights game thread when it was posted that fans paid 7.50 a seat to watch the game live at the Bell center I at first thought it was way too cheap…but and if it had been me either at the Bell Center or at RBCC i would have charged STH’s 20.and non STH.30. and All the monies raised from the sale of the seats would have gone to Charity and the monies raised by the consessions – the cost of labor & supplies…would have gone to the house…after all it does cost money to put the lights on ya know !! my wife says it should be 15.00 for STH’s and 25.00 for Non STH’s…but i’m a guy..what would i know ?? hehehe
When The People Fear Their Government,There is Tyranny;
When The Government fears The People, There Is Liberty
FWIW, when the RBC was opened for the Finals viewing parties it was free of charge to get in.
I just wish JR would have given up Ray Whitney for Lent.
If they made that event free of charge at the Bell center it would be filled to 2 times capacity and the people who still couldn’t get in would start a riot… We don’t quite have that many hockey fans in Raleigh yet
I thought the talk was that JR was willing to make the trade for another of their top prospects, either Sameulsson or Tangradi, with a 2nd, but Sherro didn’t want to part with either of those guys.
then again, maybe that was BS or I am just not remembering it correct.
Whitney and Pens and JR
My understanding was the JR was asking for a 1st round draft choice and a significant prospect in return for Whitney. I suspect in the end, Jim Rutherford would have strongly considered a first round draft choice and a later round draft choice. I thought at the time, Shero let his pride blind him; and that it was a huge risk to go with Poni. Whitney is a big-time player and it was obvious the risk to Pens was that secondary scoring would falter. In the end Shero could more easily afford losing that 1st round pick over not having his best shot at second consecutive Stanley Cup.
The asking price was the equivalent of a first and a second. Two picks would have done it, but a top prospect and a second was also viable for JR, at least according to the scuttle.
As for losing a first round pick, I don’t think PItt could afford that. They’re in the business of deadline acquisition and are usually moving out second round picks and/or prospects. They have to nail those first round picks or they end up with nothing in the system. The Pens can’t afford to move first rounders as that’s the only way they can build.
I just wish JR would have given up Ray Whitney for Lent.
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