Trade Deadline Recap: Winners & Losers

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Once again, another NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone. This year, however was much less active, with only 19 trades being made involving 37 players, down from 24/43 last year. Several of those trades as well involved minor leaguers. One other point of note is that most of the big deals (Laad, Staal, Hudler) went down prior to Monday, which made Monday a little less interesting. We can chalk up the lack of excitement on Trade Deadline day to three issues: A) Too many players dictate where they are allowed to be traded, so GM’s hands are tied B) The contenders are all up against the salary cap. This makes it much harder for them to fit new roster players. C) Teams refusing to trade 1st round picks for rentals. Now that we got the boring analysis out of the way, let’s look at some winners and losers of Trade Deadline day/season.

Winners

Chicago Blackhawks

Acquired F Andrew Laad, F Dale Weise, F Thomas Fleischmann D Christian Ehrhoff

Lost: F Marko Danno, Rob Scuderi

Analysis: Stan Bowman strikes again. He got the party started by bringing back former Blackhawk and 2010 cup winner Andrew Laad. Obviously, giving up the 1st round pick is always difficult, but Laad was one of two highly coveted top-six forwards on the market. This is now two years in a row for Chicago in giving up a 1st rounder (Vermette last year). I love the Weise/Fleischmann trade. As we saw in Montreal, Weise can handle top-six minutes, and will be a great grinder along the boards. Fleischmann is a nice depth acquisition, and can net a few goals in a smaller role. Picking up Ehrhoff is a nice low-risk move for the Blackhawks, considering they gave up only Rob Scuderi, who’s salary they will retain. Ehrhoff obviously isn’t the player he once was, but can be a nice complement on the bottom pairing.

Florida Panthers

Acquired: F Jiri Hudler F Teddy Purcell D Jakub Kindl

Lost: F Brandon Pirri

The orchestrator of the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks team is at it again; this time with Florida. They feel good story of the NHL season is going for it. The acquisition of Jiri Hudler will help their top-six and bring Stanley Cup winning experience to a very young team. Purcell adds nice depth to the bottom-six and his veteran presence will help too.

New York Rangers

Acquired: F Eric Staal

New GM Jeff Gorton did very well in his first major trade. He played his hand very well, atoning for the mistake Glen Sather made two years ago when the player he traded for (St. Louis) had a NMC. It was key for the Rangers that they didn’t give up any major prospect, a 1st round pick or a roster player. Staal’s presence solidifies the Rangers’ Top-nine, which now has the potential to cause opposing coaches matchup nightmares. In his first game on Broadway, Staal showed-off his strength and puck possession skills, as well as a fine showing in the face-off circle. He too, brings veteran leadership and Stanley-Cup winning experience to a locker room that lost two key members from the last two seasons, in Martin St. Louis and Carl Hagelin.

Eric Staal settles in for a faceoff against the Columbus Blue Jackets on February 29, 2016. (Photo Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Eric Staal settles in for a faceoff against the Columbus Blue Jackets on February 29, 2016. (Photo Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Honorable Mention: Anaheim Ducks- Acquired F Brandon Pirri and F Jamie McGinn

Losers

Vancouver Canucks

In all fairness to Jim Benning, his top trade asset, Dan Hamhuis had a NTC. As Benning even explained, the top teams didn’t come calling for Hamhius, so no deal was able to be made. Benning also struggled to find takers from Radim Vrbata, who many thought was a shoe-inn to be traded. Now they’ll most likely lose him on July 1st for nothing. Besides for their inactivity, they also made a head-scratching trade on February 22, when they sent F Hunter Shinkaruk to Calgary in exchange for F Markus Granlund. 

Tampa Bay Lightning

Not trading Jonathan Drouin is a big mistake, and maybe Steven Stamkos too. For a team that is right there in the playoff mix, I find it hard to believe that Yzerman couldn’t find a suitable deal for Drouin. Now the situation lingers at least until the draft.

And finally, although I can’t dub them a winner of the Trade Deadline, I would be remiss if this blog didn’t give proper credit to the Toronto Maple Leafs and the work of their front office. Not only did they get rid of some horrendous contracts, but they also loaded up on draft picks, and will be a team to look out for in the next few years. Although I am a bit disappointed that they didn’t trade their two most tradeable assets in P.A. Parenteau and Michael Grabner, who would’ve fetched some nice returns, they still did a tremendous job overall.

Follow me on twitter: @ekwestel

 

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