Minneapolis, MN – Minnesota Rink Rats GM may be off in Vancouver co-managing the Team USA squad, but that hasn’t stopped him from making deals to improve his squad. At the start of the Olympic break, GM moved disgruntled veteran Daymond Langkow to the Icedogs in exchange for Jamie Langenbrunner and just this morning the league confirmed the Rink Rats have acquired Andy McDonald and Roman Hamrlik, two veterans who should help Minnesota’s playoff push. In exchange for McDonald and Hamrlik, Minnesota sent Brian Elliott, Dustin Boyd and a draft pick to Nashville.
Elliott was considered a key prospect in Minnesota’s system and one of the better goaltending prospects in the league. Minnesota had reacquired Boyd, a first round draft choice by Minnesota two years ago, this past month but felt there was an opportunity to advance the club now and wanted to bring in the two veterans in place of the prospects.
Minnesota attempted to make it a three-way swap by bringing in the Las Vegas Bulls who would’ve received McDonald & Hamrlik in exchange for Zach Parise. That deal didn’t come through for Minnesota, but the Rink Rats are excited about moving forward with their new lineup. LaDouceur was available via conference call to discuss the moves quickly before Team USA’s Thursday morning practice.
“This was big for us,” said GM. “We’ve been working really hard at trying to find something that works for us. We wanted to keep Elliott. We considered him a big part in our team’s future but Jimmy Howard has stepped up his progression and should be able to play alongside Ryan Miller for years to come. McDonald already has a built-in chemistry with Brad Richards on our team so that will be considered when we pencil in our lineups. I really like the way our roster looks right now and hopefully this will help our PowerPlay out a bit. Our conference is wide open right now and I think we can really make a run at this thing and give our fans something to be excited about.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment