Thursday, August 4, 2011

Bogosian, Be Gone?

Throwing journalistic credibility to the wind today it’s time for some completely baseless gossip. What would idle summer time be without rumblings of player trades from the Internet? Today’s rumour comes to us from the twitter verse where everything is double fact checked so you know it’s true, and yes I have lowered myself to using cheap sarcasm to get my point across.

The word off the Twitter-wire is that the negotiations with Bogosian are not going well and even more so after Shea Webbers arbitration ruling. Therefore Chevy is looking to deal Bogosian. Although Bogosian is primed to be become a big time shutdown d-man, he hasn’t proven himself yet and with negotiations stalled there certainly would be reasons to deal him while he’s still hot. Another consideration is that the Jets have depth on defence but come up short on offence. Swapping out a top defenseman for a first line forward could make a lot of sense in the grand scheme of things.

According to rumour, New Jersey wants a top shutdown guy in a big way and they have their eyes firmly fixed on Bogosian . Lou Lamoriello, it is said also has a bias towards American players and has had Bogosian on the radar for some time. So what do they have that we want? That’s where the guesswork begins. There have been a couple of scenarios proposed by fans and followers; these seem to be the favourite ones:

Scenario 1: Bogosian for Parise straight up or with the Jets throwing in a sweetener. Ok now that you’ve stopped laughing, let’s look at this objectively. Parise is their Marque player and probably going to be their top goal scorer so that’s a pretty big piece to trade away. On the other hand he’s only signed to a one year deal, and he does have a big cap hit for a team looking to free up space. I guess the question is, how bad do the devils want Bogosian? Are they willing to part with a proven offensive first line talent for a still as of yet unproven shutdown d-man. My feeling is probably not, so don’t shoot the messenger.

Scenario 2: Bogosian for Travis Zajac, and a draft pick or utility player. This in my mind seems like the more plausible deal. Zajac is exactly what the Jets are looking for; a young talented centre with great offensive upside, who is co-incidentally from Winnipeg. If that’s what’s on the table, I say pull the trigger. I’m not convinced Bogosian will turn into the stud everyone thinks he will, and if we can fill that gaping hole at center with a good Winnipeg kid I say do it!

There are also rumblings of other teams in the mix, including Philadelphia, although how serious that is and who might be moved are beyond my pay-grade.

Again this is all rumour and speculation, but aint it fun? There are very good reasons to move Bagosian and good reasons to keep him. Bogosian is supposed to be the next big thing, and good defensemen don’t grow on trees. Nor do they become stars overnight, and at age 21, Bogosian is nowhere near his prime.

In the end I think the Jets probably are shopping Bogosian around, whether it’s to New Jersey, and whether they pull the trigger on a deal, who knows. What I do know is that a lot of times, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. We’ll just have to wait and see. 

1 comment:

  1. Hard Six Hockey panel member "The Expert" mentioned to me last night that Shea Webber was visibly upset with preds management after the arbitration hearings. "The Expert" brought this up as a potential acquisition target for the Jets but it may have ramifications beyond that.
    If Webber's on the market, perhaps New Jersey turns their attention away from Bogosian?

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