Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Caps Get Cooke For Pettinger

Per TSN, the Caps have sent Matt Pettinger home to Vancouver for winger Matt Cooke.

Cooke has seven goals, nine assists on the season. Per his scouting report, Cooke "can easily get opponents off their game," is "a fairly quick skater [who] defends his own end effectively and is an oustanding penalty-killer," but "despite his dedication, he doesn't have the size or skill to be a major scorer," "can ill-afford to take any shifts off," and "is somewhat injury-prone."

For all of his defensive responsibility, however, Cooke had Vancouver's fourth-worst plus/minus at minus-four before being traded.

Like Fedorov and Huet, Cooke is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

What They're Saying:
"Cooke is a gritty winger whose bang and crash style made him popular with Canucks fans, but with younger and affordable Canucks now stepping up and filling that role he wasn’t expected to be re-signed by Vancouver." - Spector

"The Capitals are determined to make the playoffs. Cooke is an agitator in the mold of Sean Avery or Jarkko Ruutu. He should bring an edge to Washington's game. - Empty Netters

10 comments:

Allen Popels said...

Love it! Cooke is a baller.

~Mark said...

My reaction to today's trades:
Wow. Just, wow.

Allen Popels said...

From what I have found, Cooke will be an UFA at the end of the season.

Anonymous said...

Cooke is a good hitter too. He should be a decent agitator for us as well as a defensive forward.

Anonymous said...

So, essentially, they traded Pettinger for an older version of himself. Um, why?

Whiter Mage said...

tg - prediction, Brashear gets to sit more. Matt Cooke has scored a few this year, just under the league average. Laing takes 3rd line LW, Cooke 4th.

Marky Narc said...

TG:

Cooke's stats - 61 GP (7-9) 16 pts, -4, 64 PIM

Pettinger's stats - 56 GP (2-5) 7 pts, -11, 25 PIM

If you don't think that's an upgrade, there's not much else that can be done to convince you.

Anonymous said...

I guess it's an upgrade. I'm just remembering all those short handed goals Pettinger scored. But I guess maybe this was done more to give him a new start than for what the Caps got in return.

Marky Narc said...

TG: shorties last year, but that season's over. *shrug* And so is Petty's tenure as a Cap.

Allen Popels said...

Giroux is back with the Caps. Most likely back with Hershey actually. Traded for Motzko.