This trade makes a lot of sense for both teams. The Coyotes needed a center after parting with the very disappointing Petr Nedved and they got a good one in Reinprecht. The key to this deal for Phoenix will be to resign him, as he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Reinprect is a decent second line talent, who has been criticized for being a bit too soft in his career. Nevertheless, he possesses good skill and elite speed, a trait the front office has shown it covets in recent years, especially in the new, obsruction-less NHL. Reinprecht was made available as he had not fit in well according to his former coach, Darryl Sutter, which is not surprising given Reinprecht's finesse game.
On the other side of the trade, the Flames get Mike LeClerc, a player that fits in well with their team philosophy. He brings good size and grit to the team, as well as the knack for being a guy who will drive to the net hard and often, making him a prototypical Sutter-type player. The Coyotes were willing to trade LeClerc because had they resigned him this offseason, the team would have had to send Anaheim their 2nd round pick as the conditional pick in the agreement that brought LeClerc to Phoenix in the first place. Instead, the Coyotes will send a 4th rounder to the Ducks.
Calgary and Phoenix also swapped back up goalies in the deal. Phillippe Sauve was another guy who had fallen out of favor of his coach so was packaged into the deal. He is still young and at one time showed a great deal of upside, but whether he can ever become a starting goaltender in the NHL remains to be seen. However, he should make an adaquate back up for Curtis Joseph. Sauve is also an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, so the Coyotes do not risk very much taking him on in this deal. As the Coyotes begin to sputter in the playoff race, Sauve will certainly get some games to show if he has a future with this organization.
Brian Boucher has been an extremely inconsistent player throughout his career. He burst onto the NHL scene in a big way with Philadelphia back in 1999, when he posted a 1.91 GAA and a 0.918 save percentage in 35 games, esentially carrying that team through their playoff run to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. He was never able to duplicate that kind of success over a full year. He once again showed flashes of brilliance in the 2003-04 season, where he posted shutouts in five straight games, a new modern NHL record. During that span, he went 332 minutes without giving up a single goal. After that shutout streak, he completely fell apart, finishing with a record of only 10-19-10. This season has been another disappointment for Boucher, as he lost his starting job to Joseph early in the season and could never get back on track. Nevertheless, he will serve as a solid backup for Miikka Kipprusoff as Calgary makes another run at the Stanley Cup.
