The Minnesota Wild claimed forward Jason Wiemer off waivers from the New York Islanders this afternoon. Islanders beat writer Alan Hahn had this to say:
The move was made in an effort to shed the team of Wiemer's $1.6 million salary. There could be a few more deals made in similar payroll-trimming fashion, but Milbury has said it is not to be construed as a fire sale. Instead it is simply a reaction to the emergence of a few talented prospects, such as rookie Trent Hunter, and the progress of second-year forward Mattias Weinhandl, who is expected to return to the lineup soon.
Last I looked, the definition of fire sale meant that you disposed of an asset quickly, and at a price far below either it's actual value or the price that you paid for it. Wiemer was acquired before the 2002-03 season as a way to toughen the Islanders lineup after they were bludgeoned into submission by the Maple Leafs in seven games in the previous playoff.
In exchange, the Islanders gave up Branislav Mezei, a young defenseman with a lot of upside (not like the Islanders have given up on any of those -- Bryan McCabe, Eric Brewer, Wade Redden, or Brian Berard) who is playing in Florida. Mezei is 6'5" and 236 pounds, and is averaging 20 minutes a game with the Panthers.
By placing Wiemer, a consumate professional who never took a shift off, on waivers, you essentially have given away Mezei for nothing. Further, it's only been a week since Wiemer's hard work had been rewarded when he was promoted to the team's second line where he played with Michael Peca and Mark Parrish.
Sounds like a fire sale to me -- something which may obviously make it harder for the Isles to get anything in return for other players they might want to move (Peca and Parrish among others).
As it stands now, Wiemer's game fits in too well with Minnesota's overall philosophy, and something tells me we'll see him score an OT game winner in the playoffs against some other unfortunate Western Conference squad with a far higher payroll. As for the Islanders, I think owner Charles Wang has some explaining to do.
