In an extremely curious move, the Dallas Stars acquired goaltender Tim Thomas from the Florida Panthers:
Tim Thomas headed to DAL. #Tradecentre
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) March 5, 2014
Tim Thomas heads to Texas. The #stars send Dan Ellis to #FlaPanthers to complete the deal.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 5, 2014
Of course, the best part of this is the reply from newly-acquired Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo, whom had clashed with Thomas in the past:
@TSNBobMcKenzie NOOOO!!!!!!!!
— Strombone (@strombone1) March 5, 2014
Kari Lehtonen (G) and Tim Thomas (G)
I get that this is an insurance policy for Dallas, given Kari Lehtonen has an injury history behind him, but it’ll be interesting to see how Thomas handles a back-up role.
Lehtonen is a pretty good goaltender, as he has the same save percentage as Ryan Miller and Sergei Bobrovsky over the last four years. I can’t imagine this is a move to supplant Lehtonen in net. Thomas has had a good year this year considering the team he’s playing on, but I think he’ll be disappointed if he’s expecting to start for a team that’s currently sitting in a playoff position. Even his “good year” has been pretty bad as he has the second-worst even strength save percentage of any goalie with at least 40 starts this year. Heck, Carter Hutton isn’t very far behind Thomas’ mark of .914 at .908.
Nick Schultz (D)
The non-offensive Schultz has been traded from Edmonton to Columbus:
Nick Schultz to CBJ for a 5th round pick. #Tradecentre
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) March 5, 2014
That sounds about right for a depth defenseman.
Schultz is good at blocking shots and that’s about it these days. His possession rates are pathetic which means he generates absolutely zero offense.
This is a guy coaches love because he plays hard and blocks shots but I’m not sure how much he actually improves the team. The fact that the Oilers got anything for a defenseman that has a 3:2 goal differential against over the last three years is a pretty good haul.
Andrej Meszaros (D)
The Bruins have acquired a defenseman they’ve desperately needed since the injury to Dennis Seidenberg:
Flyers sending Andrej Meszaros to Boston. 3rd round pick in return.
— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) March 5, 2014
Meszaros isn’t the player he was, but he’s reliable enough to be a third-pairing defenseman on an elite team like the Bruins.
