<Gulp>

I found a trade rumors site, and see this blurb:

"Charles" sends in the following on the Canadiens: "On CJAD radio in Montreal this morning Michael Farber mentioned Sheldon Souray for Matt Carle. According to Farber, a star player on the Sharks said that it was going around the dressing room and was "a done deal". Farber sees Carle as a Chelios-type player, and no one could begrudge Gainey for trading a guy who likely has 20 games left in a Habs uniform - even if he is the top scorer - for a potential franchise defenceman."

I'm not a NHL player, and I'm not a GM, but this trade does not make much sense to me. Ok, I'm friggin biased. But even if I weren't, I don't see much upside here. Matt Carle is a great young defenseman, in the mold of a Chelios or even a Lidstrom- a strong skater with a bit of a scoring touch. Sheldon Souray is a known quantity- a 31-year-old blueliner who can score. But Adam Foote he ain't. Souray has been a minus player most of his career, and plays the point on the PP. He's good for 40 or 50 points a year. Foote is a plus player, who chips in a point every so often- his best season was 31 points. Foote is an older Scott Hannan that hits harder.

How is this an upgrade for the Sharks? Carle could easily reach 40 points this year, his first full year in the NHL. He plays the point on the power play, and can score. But he's only 22. With Ehrhoff, the Sharks have two young D that like to skate and shoot. In my opinion, the Sharks need an Adam Foote a heck of a lot more than a Sheldon Souray. We need steady D that calms the young kids down. We don't need a guy that will jump up in the play and get beat now and again. We have one of those already, and his name is Christian Ehrhoff.

Oh yeah, and Souray will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. If the trade goes down, we could actually be trading a better defenseman now that we can keep for another few years for a guy who could be gone by July. But on the plus side, Souray was married to Angelica Bridges.