When the Rangers traded Lauri “Korpdeo” Korpikoski for Enver Lisin, I think a bunch of fans were shocked. First, who’s Enver Lisin? And second of all, Korpikoski was turning in to a solid player.  Here was Dave’s reaction when the deal went down. I was not writing for BSB at the time, but if I was, I would not have liked the deal. I was beginning to love the Korpedo. Great penalty killer, responsible defensively. He has offensive skills, even if they weren’t showing yet. I thought he would be a Ranger for a long time. Instead, he was traded to the Southwest Rangers Coyotes.

Well, fast forward a couple of months. Enver Lisin is getting consistent top-line duty, and his 3 goals and 5 assists have come even while playing a significant amount of the year on the 3rd or 4th line. He’s -1, which is not great, but I tend not to place too much importance on plus/minus. How is the Korpedo doing? Well, not so good. Through 13 games, Korpikoski has zero points. Zero. In 13 games, he’s had 7 shots on goal. 7.  While the ‘Yotes have cooled off after a hot start, it’s a talented team. Korpedo is having trouble getting on the ice.

Lisin is a work in progress defensively–he’ll never be a penalty killer–but right now, that’s okay. He has plenty of speed, and uses it to create offensive chances. While he’s benefited from playing with Prospal and Gaborik, it’s clear that Lisin is a much better player than Korpikoski. And so, the Rangers won another trade. And we say Sather is inept.

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