Springfield: How did we get here?

How did we get here?

Just last month the CCHL marked an anniversary that went unnoticed.  The General Manager of the Springfield Isotopes, Aaron Stacey, celebrated his 4^th year with the team.  There have been many changes since he took over in 2013, some good and some not so good.  The anniversary offers a chance to look back at the team to see the transactions that came together to bring this team to where it stands today.

Current roster players (who play) are highlighted in Bold.

Year	Acquisition	Comment
2017	SUD trades R. Getzlaf to SPR for R. Nugent-Hopkins, M. Danault, SPR 1st-17 & CAL 2nd-17...	Picking up the first #1 C the ‘topes have had….cost a lot
	GEO trades P. Hornqvist to SPR for GEO 3rd-17...	A UFA signing that has really helped out
	SPR trades P. Martin, WIN 3rd-17, & GEO 8th-17 to GEO for J. Braun...	Martin leaves again but Braun has done well in his place
	FOR trades A. Goligoski & M. Nutivaara to SPR for E. Kane & M. Grigorenko...	Isotopes needed some D and Kane had to go
	SPR trades M. Methot & DAY-1st-18 to DAY for J. Muzzin...	This trade made sense to improve the D overall but could hurt if the draft pick is high
	FOR trades T. Bozak, M. Staal & Christian Jaros-p to SPR for J. Petry, S. Andrighetto & A. Burrows...	This trade was about shoring up the C position and worrying about Petry’s contract
	DAY trades N. MacKinnon to SPR for J. McCann, Victor Mete-p, Jeremy Roy-p, Warren Foegle-p, Danill Tarasov-p, DAY 2nd-18 & SPR 4th-18...	Can’t say this didn’t hurt but getting MacKinnon could be the difference in the future.
	SUD trades A. Dell to SPR for Jo. Benn & SPR 11th-18...	Remember that time the CCHL conspired to hurt both ‘topes goalies? And all we read about is a phantom elbow drop to some FOR backup??
	SPR trades A. Anisimov, K. Russell, SPR-2nd(18), & SPR-5th(18) to REK for E. Malkin & A.Greene...	Starting to add more punch to the lineup and bring Greene into give another 4 on D.
	DAY trades S. Upshall to SPR for SPR's 10th-18, SPR -12th-18 & SPR 11th-19...	PK is becoming important
2016	M. Tkachuk – Drafted 4th overall by SPR	A tough and skilled LW for the future….also the only real draft pick on the team
	FOR trades Nikita Zaitsev-p to SPR for Cliff Pu-p & Jack Lafontaine-p...	A draft day trade that brought a somewhat underwhelming Zaitsev
	SPR trades V. Nichushkin to MIN for R. Luongo, L. Komarov, & MIN 2nd (2018)...	SPR needed a backup and was able to find one
	M. Grabner waiver pickup	A skilled PK specialist at a good price
	SIB trades S. Andrighetto, K. Brodziak & I. Pakarinen to SPR for D. Brown & B. Orpik..	Expiring contract in Brown moved for bodies…one turns into a key PK guy
	SPR trades R. Suter, SPR 4th-17 & M. Grabovski to CGY for K. Turris, K. Russel, CGY 2nd-17, Nick Merkley-p & Kale Clague-p...	We had Suter?? Traded to a stacked CGY team that seems to help both teams, some prospects still to come out of this
2015	MIN trades P. Berglund, Caleb Jones-p & MIN 4th to SPR for C. MacArthur...	An expiring MacArthur gets moved for some assets
	SPR trades D. Krejci to FOR for MIN 2nd, Charles Hudon-p, Viktor Arvidsson-p, Phillip Danault-p & J. Williams...	A nice little haul for Krejci, the team would look different without Arvidsson
	GEO trades S. Bobrovsky, B. Saad, & M. Geertsen-p to SPR for M. Fleury & S. Doan...	The second time that Bobrovsky is traded for Fleury but this time he comes back to Springfield
2014		No current player was picked up in 2014!
2013	SPR trades P. Martin & D. Seidenberg & M. Kruger to MIN for C. Fowler & Nikita Zadorov-p & Danny Kristo-p...	First trade: Looking to shed some salary and add some prospects the Isotopes(Homers) made a trade that brought current d-man Fowler to the roster.  A note of interest, Martin would later join the team again only to be traded late last season.  Zadorov and Kristo never played for Springfield though Zadorov was important in a trade that brought Suter to the team a year later.
Prior	FOR trades S. Bobrovsky & Brendon Gallagher-p to SPR for T. Thomas...	Current Isotopes Captain was picked up prior to Stacey joining the team. Bobrovsky joins the team but gets moved later by Stacey.

What this activity has shown me is that the ‘topes seemed to be a constant state of transition as the team worked to find an identity.  2014 featured no moves that have anything to do with current players which is just shocking.  Another outrageous stat is that Tkachuk is the only SPR draft pick that is playing on the team.

The outlook is pretty good in Springfield and hopefully more picks will join the roster soon but for now it appears that the Isotopes have relied on some “smooth” trading to build its current roster.

Springfield Times