Trade deadline day was as eventful as any in recent memory.
There were enough star players on the move to keep things interesting, but per usual, there were plenty of deals that weren’t made garnering more discussion.
Stanley Cups are never won or lost in March, but the jockeying to grab a final piece of the puzzle marks the final checkpoint of the NHL season before the dash to the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins.
The rosters are now set (pretty much) for the rest of the season. Let’s sort out the winners and losers of the trade deadline.
Winners
Minnesota Wild
Added-Ilya Bryzgalov, G, Matt Moulson, LW, Cody McCormick, F
Lost-Torrey Mitchell, F
It may not seem like the Wild added a ton here, but they addressed their specific areas of need and gave up virtually nothing. Bryzgalov will have the opportunity to seize the starting goaltender job, but Darcy Kuemper has been on fire lately. Moulson is a sneaky good add, providing a big body for the front of the net. No player in the NHL is as good at getting the dirty goals as the former Sabre/Islander.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Added-Lee Stempniak, F, Marcel Goc, C
Lost-Draft picks
The Pens were considered front-runners to acquire the services of Ryan Kesler and had a considerable offer on the table, but came away with some depth moves instead. Goc and Stempniak will provide the Pens with options up top. Stempniak is a wing that can score while Goc is a nice defensive center that will lead the third line.
Montreal Canadiens
Added-Thomas Vanek, RW, Devan Dubnyk, G, Mike Weaver, D
Lost-Sebastian Collberg
The Habs barely make the winners list because of Vanek. They basically got him for free which has to be noted. They were noteworthy earlier in the day because of their boneheaded decision to trade for Dubnyk, rather than acquire him for free off the waiver wire before 12p.m. EST. I’ve never been impressed with Vanek, particularly in his ability to produce in meaningful games, but he’ll be smack dab in the middle of the playoffs for the first time in a while.
St. Louis Blues
Added-Ryan Miller, G, Steve Ott, F
Lost-Chris Stewart, F, Jaroslav Halak, G
The Blues were probably the biggest winners of the trade deadline week. Though I questioned the need for Miller, he is a top-level mercenary and so far looks like he is well worth the investment for at least the remainder of the season. He provides the pedigree that the Blues have lacked in their recent playoff runs, and could be the difference this year.
Boston Bruins
Added-Andrej Meszaros, D
Lost-Draft picks
Not that Mesz is the next Norris Trophy winner, but he should be able to step in for the injured Dennis Seidenberg for the Bruins 2014 Stanley Cup run. He was an Olympic teammate of captain Zdeno Chara and Boston gave up nothing to get him.
New Jersey Devils
Added-Tuomo Ruutu, F
Lost-Andrei Loktionov, F
The biggest news coming from New Jersey is that they didn’t ship Martin Brodeur off to a contender, ensuring that the legend will retire as a Devil. He’s been remarkably mediocre this year, lest we forget he is also 74-years old. Ruutu gives the Devils depth up front as Lou Lamoriello has decided that the Devils still believe they are a playoff team.
New York Rangers
Added-Martin St. Louis, RW, Raphael Diaz, D
Lost-Ryan Callahan, F
While it is easy to look at this deal and say that the Rangers won by getting St. Louis, lets not lose sight of exactly what they gave up. Potentially two first round draft picks and a player ten years younger. Diaz is advertised as a puck moving defenseman, but has five goals and 35 assists in 134 career games. St. Louis is the key to the trade here. He is the top scoring player in the NHL over the last five years and has already won a Stanley Cup with new (again) teammate Brad Richards.
Los Angeles Kings
Added-Marian Gaborik, F,
Lost-Matt Frattin, F
I’ll throw the Kings into the winner column because they gave up a healthy scratch to grab Gaborik. Though he was excess to the Blue Jackets, which sounds funny to say out loud, the former 40-goal scorer had become surplus to the Columbus needs. He’ll be surrounded by much more talent and another Columbus refugee in Jeff Carter the last time the two teams swapped snipers, the Kings lifted the Stanley Cup.
Losers
Philadelphia Flyers
Added-Andrew MacDonald, D
Lost-Andrej Meszaros, D
Loser seems like such a strong word but what did the Flyers really accomplish with their deadline moves? They got depth on Tuesday, and then traded it away on Wednesday. The Flyers were dark horses in the Kesler sweepstakes but quickly took themselves out of the equation. Their standing in the Eastern Conference is solid, but they basically stepped up to the plate as big shots then looked at all six pitches and walked to first base. They have shown they are good enough to be a playoff team, but standing pat at the deadline shows that they aren’t ready to be a Stanley Cup contender.
Detroit Red Wings
Added-David Legwand, C
Lost-Patrick Eaves, F
The formula to acquire Ryan Kesler was a prospect, a roster player and a high draft pick. Ken Holland applied that formula for a center from Michigan that is four years older and several notches below in the talent department. Legwand is a serviceable center, but hardly fills the void that Detroit has without Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Darren Helm and Stephen Weiss. If Detroit thinks that the team they have now is only a Legwand away from the playoffs they are dead wrong.
New York Islanders
Added: draft picks and zero hope for the future
Lost: Vanek, Moulson (earlier this season in a trade for Vanek), the support of their faithful
If you were an Islander fan, the hope for your season left with John Tavares’ season ending meniscus tear. GM Garth Snow did little to salvage hope for the future by giving away Vanek for virtually nothing, which compounds the pain considering Vanek was swapped for Moulson earlier in the year.
Teams that did just fine doing nothing
Chicago Blackhawks
It’s quite a luxury to look at your roster and make the determination that you don’t have any players you want to trade away. GM Stan Bowman declared just that when asked about why the Hawks chose to stand pat during the player swapping.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks also decided against tinkering with their roster, instead counting on the fact that Logan Couture’s return to the lineup will bring the Sharks back to an elite level. They have all the pieces in place, and with injuries healing up, the Sharks will be major players in the Western Conference.
Anaheim Ducks
It’s no surprise that the Ducks left the best record in the NHL alone. They shipped out Dustin Penner to Washington in a bit of a head scratcher, and flirted with Vancouver about Kesler. I’m thinking that the two moves were related with Penner freeing up the roster spot and cap room for a late swoop on the Vancouver center. It didn’t happen, and the Ducks should fly either way.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs didn’t address their woeful defensive corps, which had the millions of armchair GM’s beside themselves. Two things to consider here: There were no “elite” defensemen out there that would be an upgrade over what the Leafs already have. Second: Toronto has enough talent on the roster to be an elite club, and that includes the underachievers on the blue line. The club looked sharp against an amped up Rangers team in Madison Square Garden pulling out an overtime win against a playoff team.