Blackhawks/Kings/Senators 3 Way Trade Rumors

[Boom!]

Hockeybuzz.com just reported that apparently Barker has been shipped off to Ottawa for Chris Neil and a prospect. I hope the prospect is a stud...otherwise we just got railed. No word on how true this is but they are reporting that the deal is in place and done...more to follow hopefully from their website and I'll post it when I get it.
Here is the original link
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=16256

[hockeyplaya97]

I really don't think we got railed if that is the deal. Neil is a pretty good player. We need some toughness and Barker doesn't bring that consistently. Neil will bring that toughness and he a is a good player. Good on the PK and can chip in some goals here and there. Neil and a prospect is not too bad of a return on Barker in my opinion. I think the Hawks are really high on Hjalmarrson (spelling?) anyways.

[Boom!]

I definitely think we get railed if that is the deal. Barker isnt consistent...but he is 22 years old! He has a lot of room for development, and yes it has been reported that the Blackhawks are high on Hjalmarsson or however you spell his name, personally I am not but maybe they see something that I don't.
However, lets not get too hung up on this because it looks like there may be more too it. pretty crazy with all the rumors, a lot of sites are reporting these and I don't know what to believe anymore, basically I am going to wait until I see something on TSN.CA to believe it. Lets see what the deal is, many media outlets are saying a deal is coming soon and what not....

[hockeyplaya97]

I actually think that Hjalmarsson will be an improvement over Barker, but that is just my opinion. Either way I am glad that they are trying to go out and make the moves that they feel are necessary. It should be interesting to see what happens.

[hockeyman9303]

I personally think that Barker really stepped it up towards the end of the year and showed a lot of improvement. I think he has a much higher ceiling than Hjalmarsson. Hjalmarsson definitely stepped up and surprised everybody with how well he played, but I'd call him a pleasant surprise but I definitely wouldn't ship Barker off in hopes that Hjalmarsson will take over in place. We definitely got screwed if this prospect isn't anything great.

[GA Hill's Afro]

Neither Hjalmarsson or Barker should be playing in our top 6 d-men when Wiz is healthy, so I don't see the big deal. Neil seems like a decent pickup. Play him on the 4th line with Burish and Craig Adams and I am happy.

[cubsbears1225]

I saw Hjalmarsson play in person and he had to have had the worst game ever. Im not basing his talent off of one game but man, I havent liked him since. I kinda wish he would be dealt. As for Barker, like Boom said, hes only 23 and it takes some D-men longer to groom. Look at Campbell.

As for Neil, I dont know anything about the guy but I keep reading hed be a good 4th liner to pair up with Adams and Burish. I wouldnt trade Barker for a 4th liner.

[bleedCUBBIEblue]

wow, a ton of stuff today...

i just saw another report about the 3way trade:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/...Potential_Sen/

if we give up bulin and barker, and in return get kopitar, that would have to be the best deal in the history of the hawks. Kopitar is not a star in the making, he IS as star! that would be amazing, and i almost might be ok with it if we give up bulin and seabs in order to get kopitar, thats how good he is.

the other thing from hockeybuzz about us giving up barker for neil and a prospect... wow, i really hope that tallon didnt just do this. as of right now, it is not reported on any reliable website. so lets hope that it didn't happen. i would give anything to NOT have neil on the hawks this year. especially if he is how they say he is: "Someone should tell Neil that if you don't want to be traded that it might be a good idea to show up for one of the 41 road games you dress for or to stop taking selfish/dumb penalties in playoff games when a veteran player like himself should know better."

[bleedCUBBIEblue]

also, you guys are talking about barker and hjalmarsson and top six and who should play...

Barker is a top 6 dman, with or without wiz. he is better than hjalmmy, he has a bigger upside than probably any of our young dmen, and is still only 22. look at how long it took seabs to start playing well. It took him a few full seasons to really start playing solid day in day out. I know bark has played a little shaky and inconsistent in the past, but hes young. This will be his breakout year and he will play like a top 4 dman.

yes, i just called that shot... this will be bark's breakout year. write that down folks.

The only way i would trade him is if we get something worthwhile in return... aka: NOT chris neil.

[chicagofan71]

wow, a ton of stuff today...

i just saw another report about the 3way trade:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/...Potential_Sen/

if we give up bulin and barker, and in return get kopitar, that would have to be the best deal in the history of the hawks. Kopitar is not a star in the making, he IS as star! that would be amazing, and i almost might be ok with it if we give up bulin and seabs in order to get kopitar, thats how good he is.

the other thing from hockeybuzz about us giving up barker for neil and a prospect... wow, i really hope that tallon didnt just do this. as of right now, it is not reported on any reliable website. so lets hope that it didn't happen. i would give anything to NOT have neil on the hawks this year. especially if he is how they say he is: "Someone should tell Neil that if you don't want to be traded that it might be a good idea to show up for one of the 41 road games you dress for or to stop taking selfish/dumb penalties in playoff games when a veteran player like himself should know better."

If this is true **** yeah

[WillyBeamon]

well .... a good buddy of mine just sent me this deal. This what he believes is happening ... who knows ... but he says the deal is just about done

"
Ott: gets seebrook, bulin

LA: gets havlet, gerber

Chi: gets Kopitar


i really hope that its Barker in place of Seabrook ... but who knows whats happening with all this crazzyness.

Im not saying i agree with this deal, but it could be possible.

[Boom!]

Is this "good buddy" a reliable source? I think that giving up Havlat, Seabrook, Khabi for Kopitar is a bit lopsided. Not to mention Ottawa gives up JUST gerber for Bulin and Seabrook...I dont see that one happening at all.

[Cubbies0808]

I really hope that this isn't true. I don't think Tallon would be that dumb, but if that was the case we would be getting anally violated in this deal. Even if you replace Seabs with Barker it is an awful deal because I really don't think it's time to give up on Barker quite yet. As for Hjalms it is way too early to get good value out of him in a trade and is worth holding onto until at least the trade deadline. I dont like this deal at all.

[WillyBeamon]

No ... i totally agree ... i dont like that deal either ... like i said ... i wouldent mind if it was Barker going instead of Seabrook ... than i think its an ok deal. We would be getting rid of our 2 highly paid guys, that we have lost faith in. In return we het a 20 year old Stud in Kopitar ... but no way we deal Seabrook away ... that would be messy for us.

And i wouldent say he is a really reliable sourse ... he was just saying that he had heard that that deal was almost done .... but again, hogwash is hogwash .... we will have to wait and see i guess

[Boom!]

I agree that if it was Barker instead of Seabrook I go for it. We need to dump Khabi, we give up Havlat who doesnt have a future past this year and we give up Barker. We get Anze Kopitar an absolute stud who i love to watch play and all is good, maybe even dig down into the scraps of the free agent barrel and pull up a halfway decent guy.