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There are several things that make this proposal, as presented, strange:
Washington would have little use for JP without a guaranteed contract extension with his pending UFA- with the possible exception of hoping to flip him at the trade deadline. It wouldn't make much sense to hope for the latter however.
It would be odd for Nashville to include Shea Weber given that he represents a resource that the Predators have in short supply- a physical defenseman with loads of talent. It would make much more sense to move either Hamhuis or Suter in this trade, but that would probably not be as attractive from Washington's point of view.
The inclusion of Kolzig and the lack of a goalie moving back to Washington also seems odd. Kolzig is their only healthy goalie with any reliability.
Now, let's assume the trade occurs as proposed with Hammer/Suter in Weber's stead. How does that affect the Predators- both the positive and negative?
The addition of Ovechkin would certainly be a huge PR splash (in most every market). I would hope our local media would cover it accordingly. His presence on the ice should certainly be a huge boost to whatever line he would play on (hopefully one of Ovechkin-Legwand-Radulov).
If the Nashville market does fail, Ovechkin certainly makes this team an attractive team for another market.
The downside:
The loss of Zidlicky might have a huge affect on Ville and the PP. Zidlicky was a target for trade proposals for good reason (by myself included). One has to recognize, however, that his pairing with Ville has been a boon to both players and the PP.
What happens to our goalie situation? We cannot afford to carry three goalies. Either Mason or Ellis would have to go in some manner. Regardless, assuming Kolzig becomes the starter for this season, what happens next season?
What happens to our defensive pairings? Let's assume Weber's return is soon enough to not be an issue. That leaves Weber, Ville, Zanon, de Vries, Hammer/Suter, and Klein. If Ville doesn't regress with Zidlicky's departure, that should be fine- but there's certainly a risk and it's not small.
The loss of Dumont also represents the loss of a top six forward- another resource in which we are so low. Of course, we are betting that Ovechkin not only replaces Dumont's production, but also accounts for our lack of a sixth top-six forward. Accounting for Dumont's production is essentially a given. Generating production on the level of two top-six forwards is not a given, but possible if paired with the correct linemates- particularly Radulov.
The final caveat: this must be a sign-and-trade. If Ovechkin comes to Nashville without a new contract, that would represent a completely inept move by Nashville (something I don't typically associate with David Poile).
All that said, this is fun talk but I'm not holding my breath.
EDIT: If, by some happenstance, it is true- I'd do it in a heartbeat if we moved Hammer or Suter and kept Weber. If it had to be Weber, I'd have to think real hard, but I'd probably still do it.
David
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