Vladislav Namestnikov’s exchange: who won and lost in the end
Thanks to the Internet and the emergence of sites like CapFriendly, any fan and journalist could feel like a general manager – and even now, an insignificant exchange can be disassembled with the help of advanced statistics ten years after its implementation. Of particular interest is a retrospective analysis, as well as the search for winners and losers of the most high-profile deals of recent years, the consequences of which are still felt and have a real impact on the balance of power in the NHL.
Vladislav Namestnikov became the hero of the first issue of our cycle. How it happened – let’s see.
The exchange looked like this:
Rangers: ln Vladislav Namestnikov, z Libor Gayek, c Brett Howden, pick in the 1st round of the 2018 draft, conditional pick in the 2nd round of the draft (conditions: becomes a choice in the first round when Tampa wins the Stanley Cup in the season 2017/2018 or 2018/2019).
Tampa: z Ryan McDonagh, n JT Miller
Exchange context:
At a time when Tampa was just becoming a super team, and the halo of a master around Steve Yzerman’s managerial talent had just been formed, the balance of power in the league was different from what we see now. “Pittsburgh” thought about the “trip”, after winning the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017, Alexander Ovechkin and his “Washington” were mocked for a long time – they say, “Alexander the Great is, of course, great, but the sweater with the Stanley Cup winner’s patch is still something too big for him ”and everything like that.
Vegas spent their first season after the expansion draft, and no one was betting at the time. From old memory the heroes of the past years “Chicago” and “Los Angeles” flapped, the losers of the last seasons “San Jose” and “Nashville” loudly declared their ambitions.
Well, “Tampa” in the 2017/2018 season gained a tremendous pace. The ingenious find of the coaching staff was the transfer of Vladislav Namestnikov to the top three to Nikita Kucherov and Stephen Stemkos. The native of Voskresensk gave fire and gave out a season of life: 44 points (20 + 24) in 62 matches.
Photo: Getty Images
Closer to the deadline, rumors spread: the team from Florida really needs a defender and … Everyone immediately guessed that the Viceroy would be the main lot. Ryan McDona, Eric Karlsson, and even Mike Green were also under the hammer. Tampa were believed to be more interested in Ottawa’s Swedish defender, who was also considered to be one of the best in the league. Plus he spoke the same language as the defensive prims Hedman and Strolman.
Alas, the Canadians turned out to be very intractable. The Rangers are another matter. Another failed season, the refusal to go into perestroika, the leaders who have become mocked, who have become the main assets for sale. Well, how can you not agree? In general, we thought, and shook hands: “Lightning” – ready-made players on sane contracts, “Rangers” – promising players and draft picks. They said the New Yorkers really wanted to get Cal Foote and Libor Gayek, but got only a Czech and another prospect + a couple of draft picks. On that and decided.
What happened immediately after the exchange
“Tampa” without any problems made it to the playoffs, where it reached the final of the conference, having easily dealt with “New Jersey” and “Boston” on the way, but stumbled over “Washington”. That year, nothing and no one could prevent Ovechkin from winning the Stanley Cup. McDonagh, by the way, almost immediately recovered from the New York blues and became part of the general command mechanism, and Miller slowly began to find himself in the third link of the “lightning”. In the meantime, Omestnikov didn’t pull the burden of the New York lead with a paltry 4 (2 + 2) points in his remaining 19 games of the season. Already at the end of the gaming year, it is persistently similar: the cunning Yzerman once again deceived everyone with this managerial talent, squeezing the maximum out of the deal.
Winners
Tampa. Firstly, the exchange of Namestnikov really brought the team from Florida two Stanley Cups, and this is far from the limit. Secondly, Ryan McDonagh has finally established himself as one of the most balanced defenders of our time. Right now, the American hockey player is confidently in the top 10 in terms of his position. The high level that supports Ryan is noticeable against the background of his peers, who play much worse for a lot of money.
Photo: Getty Images
The already mentioned Karlsson, as well as Vlasik and Burns, never came close to the achievements of MacDona. Ryan’s team-mate in the Rangers and the US national team, Shattenkirk took his ring, but already with … Tampa, being a player of the third pair. The titled Letang and Doughty could not get in shape for a long time and only this season (to a greater extent it concerns the Los Angeles defender) were able to remind of themselves. So it turns out that after the exchange Nampa “Tampa” got, perhaps the best pair of defenders in the world at the moment – Hedman-McDonagh. Could it have been better?
Top level! Before the goal, Kucherov and McDonagh managed to look each other in the eye
And the stay of JT Miller in the camp of “lightning” was far from useless. With him in the “Lightning” squad they played a historic season with 62 victories in the regular season. In addition, the exchange of the American to Vancouver in the summer of 2019 brought Tampa benefits in the form of draft picks and made it possible to postpone Tampageddon until the Stanley Cup was won. Miller himself became a part of the “killer whales”, especially this season, having received the letter “A” on his chest.
Losers
Rangers. No, not even that. RANGERS. Bend our fingers: lost one of the best defenders in the world – this time. Instead, they bought a hockey player, who has not been in the club for a long time – two. The rest of the compensation, it seems, also did not fire at all – three. So, Brett Howden, despite his successes in the junior league, for 3 seasons in the Rangers camp never scored even 10 goals and was naturally traded to Vegas this summer. Libor Hayek is balancing between the NHL and the AHL – it seems that almost no one believes in the progress of the Czech defender. Tampa’s 27th pick in the 2018 draft was spent on Swedish defender Niels Lundqvist, who just joined the Blue Shirts this season, but hasn’t really shone so far either.
Igor Shesterkin and Libor Gayek
Photo: Getty Images
The conditional peak of the second round did not become a choice in the first round in 2019 – it was all the fault of the already legendary departure of Tampa from Columbus at the initial stage of the 2018/2019 playoffs. The Rangers spent it on another Swedish hockey player, striker Karl Henriksson (59th overall), who is still developing in the home league, albeit without much success.
However, it is still very early to talk about the career prospects of the two Swedish prospectuses in the NHL. And there would be something to worry about. In New York, it has long been fashionable to waste money, conduct rash trades and part with future prospects for the sake of success here and now. And every time it is unsuccessful. At the moment, the only tangible plus from
of this whole deal, perhaps, in the fact that they managed to get Kaapo Kakko. And even then, right now, the Finn is closer to the status of a failed choice than finds.
Vladislav Namestnikov. Here, too, everything is pretty simple. Instead of the Stanley Cup – an annual opportunity to participate in the World Championships and the fight to win the draft lottery. Of course, one cannot say that Vladislav’s career went downhill, but during this time the Rangers, Ottawa, Colorado and now Detroit happened in it. 4 clubs in 4 years – can this fact be terrifying
testify that everything is going according to plan.
Viceroys are on fire! Created beauty and is the second Russian sniper in the NHL after Ovechkin
True, the forward’s career is undergoing a renaissance this season. Namestnikov is in better shape and is considered a strong candidate for a trip to Beijing in February, if one does take place. In addition, one should not discount the Yzerman factor – it was under the Canadian general manager that Namestnikov demonstrated his best game. Of course, now Kucherov and Stemkos are not around, but the managerial genius of Stevie I allows us to hope for the fight for the Stanley Cup – if not in the near future, then at least in the not-so-distant future.
Preliminary results
One of the most high-profile exchanges of recent years brought everything (read the Stanley Cup) to Tampa and nothing to the Rangers. And if the organizations survive any successes and failures, the career of Namestnikov, like that of any other player, is still not endless and there have not yet been any serious trophies in it. Whether Vladislav will have at least one more such opportunity, no one knows.
Photo: Getty Images
So far, one thing is clear: the NHL is a league of constant change, literally in 5 years everything can change. For example, a Russian will play a similar season and become a full-fledged star in the league. Or Rangers’ Swedish prospectuses, obtained from the Lightning trade, will lead the New York club to its long-awaited victory. Whatever happens, it will be very interesting to return to this deal in 5 years to summarize its final results.