Andrej Meszaros Traded to Tampa Bay Lightning

The Ottawa Senators have traded Andrej Meszaros to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Philip Kuba, Alex Picard, and a 1st round pick (San Jose's), via TSN.

Filip Kuba is a 32 year old puck-moving defenseman. At 6'5 and 225lbs, as well as going 6-25--31 for .413P/G, 15-22--37 for .457P/G, and 6-19--25 for .385 P/G, in this season and the two previous ones respectively, he should help replace the offense Meszaros contributed, only he is a decade older.

Alexander Picard is a 6'2, 220lbs defenseman from the Gatineau. At 23 years old, he is still developing, at a slower pace than Meszaros granted, but in 06-07 he went 62GP, 3-19--22 for .355P/G, and last season he was 24GP, 3-3--6 for .250 P/G. More hometown talent, and hopefully he can mature under the tutelage of our more experienced defensemen.

It remains to be seen how valuable the 1st round pick will be. Maybe San Jose will falter a bit, but I wouldn't expect their new coach to be able to bungle up their talent as much as Paddock did for us, but who knows.

Overall, we're adding some soon-to-be-expiring offense from Kuba, whose recent form nearly matches that of Meszaros, but they're on opposite sides of their peak performance. We also get some more potential from Picard, along with that San Jose pick, and that might average out to Meszaros' value, but that still remains to be seen. Overall, I think Mez will improve, but he stood a much better chance of that on our blueline than on Tampa's.

For us to win with this deal, the hope should be that Kuba can produce a good 30 points, and maybe gets a one or two year deal after this season, if he works out well. Also, Picard's only 22, and while Meszaros has put out a lot for his age, defensemen, like goalies, often take more time to develop. Don't believe me? Just look at all the prospects Toronto has obliterated by pushing them too hard, too fast. If he can develop into any kind of solid blueliner, and we can avoid wasting San Jose's first round pick, then we should be good. Who knows; maybe Murray can flip out two first rounders into a pick that might net us Tavares or Hedman, but that's just wild hopefulness on my part.