Isles Lose Schremp to Atlanta, Stay Pat at Deadline

Garth Snow was asking for 2nd round picks for each of Radek Martinek and Zenon Konopka. He didn't get what he was asking for either players, and thus they remained. That's actually what they would have preferred, anyway.

The only player that the Islanders did lose however was forward Rob Schremp. He was placed on waivers on Saturday, and had to wait until noon on Monday before knowing his fate. The Thrashers were fairly active in the weeks leading up to the deadline, and one of their moves on the final day was claiming him.

Schremp obviously was a little disappointed in having to leave the Islanders, but in all honesty this works out for both sides. Schremp gets a fresh start elsewhere, and the Islanders get to move on.

I had a comment from a reader who felt I was being a little tough on Schremp when I wrote about him after news broke of the waiver. However, I still stand by what I said. We make it a point, both in this space and on the show to point out guys who are having bad stretches or doing things wrong. We did numerous times earlier in the season. The team has generally played well in the last month though, and Schremp was one of the only guys not giving a complete effort, dogging it on defense and what have you. Even in limited time it was noticeable. The coaching staff gave him more than ample time to try and figure it out, but it didn't happen.

Meanwhile, the Thrashers have been trying to find ways to improve their offense in any way that they could. Their pick-up of Schremp, along with the other moves they made leading up to the deadline show that they obviously understood the need for a jolt on the power-play.

Schremp was always a fun guy to talk too, and quite the character. I enjoyed watching him grow last season, and enjoyed speaking with him a few times this season. All the best to him in Atlanta and the playoff push.

There was a lot of interest in both Martinek and Konopka, but ultimately it wasn't enough to make opposing GM's jump at it. I agree with the way Snow handled himself this deadline.

I was very adamant, both on the show and in posts here that Snow could get a 2nd round pick for Martinek if he wanted too. I was wrong, along with many other folks. However, that's what happens when there quite simply aren't too many sellers.

Snow wasn't coming down from his asking price, and GM's balked. They instead chose to go with the same price from other teams, for players that were either better or more durable, in the case of Martinek. The only thing you could argue that could have been done differently is construct a carbon copy of that Niclas Wallin deal from last March (Wallin and a 5th for a 2nd). But even that was a stretch. The purpose here was to try and gather assets to use in the summer, and not necessarily to draft young kids.

Snow tells Katie Strang of Newsday that he did take a look at some players who were under contract beyond this season, but was more just browsing. Perhaps that is something he will look at more in the summer.

Deadline day wasn't as active as it was in the past, with only 16 deals completed. Some teams got things out of the way earlier this year. Deadline day, in all honesty got about what I expected this year. I didn't think it would be the type we have seen in the past (25-30 deals) but expected maybe a few others.

The biggest deal was the Dustin Penner trade to the L.A. Kings for Colton Teubert, a 2011 first and a conditional 2nd rounder. The return is a bit much for a player like Penner, but for the L.A. Kings it's fine. They were so bad for so long, and have hoarded all of this talent at all positions. Having played well after hitting a bump in the road earlier, they could make this deal and are a better team for it.

The Oilers, meanwhile picked up a really talented, hard hitting defenseman. It'll be interesting to watch that team grow together over the next season or two.

We can only hope some seeds were planted for possible dealings in the summer. Many of the guys who didn't move today - Ales Hemsky, Steven Weiss, David Booth, etc - will surely be available in July. That's where some of those spare picks can come in handy.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com