Now that the Jokinen trade is official, I thought I would provide my thoughts on the trade. And it’s pretty simple: Win for Glen Sather. Glen Sather may suck in free agency, but the man knows what he’s doing in trades. Jokinen for Higgins and Kotalik would be simply unheard of a couple months ago.

I’ve maintained that Jokinen is essentially being swapped for Higgins. Kotalik doesn’t play. Jokinen is a HUGE upgrade over Higgins. I like Higgins. He’s a hard worker. Good penalty killer. Can’t hit the side of a barn, though. Jokinen is a scorer. He scored 29 goals last year. Calgary wasn’t working for him. He and Iginla didn’t mesh, and he only has 11 goals. I expect that to dramatically change.  Jokinen is more of a fit with Gaborik. I think Jokinen can put up some points.

Put it this way: The Rangers made a push towards the playoffs, without sacrificing their youth. Kotalik was a bust. Higgins was a bust. They gave up nothing for one of the better players in the league. To me, that’s a winning deal.

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