Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Who Won Trade Deadline Day?

03/03/2015 at 8:43am EST

from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

The real answer to the perennial question, who won the trade deadline, cannot be fully known for months and, in some cases, years. It will not, however, stop us from at least providing some discussion about which way the scales will tip for teams around the NHL. Here's a look at the buyers and sellers, and which ones might have swung the balance of power in their direction as the 2015 trade-deadline period comes to a close.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks' poor play and the long-term loss of Patrick Kane combined to force a change of thought for GM Stan Bowman, who responded with two bold moves. First, he acquired veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen from the Philadelphia Flyers for a second-round pick and another pick that could become a second-rounder, depending on how far the Blackhawks go in the playoffs. Then, Bowman sent a first-round pick in 2015 and defensive prospect Klas Dahlbeck to the Arizona Coyotes for forward Antoine Vermette. The price for both was high, but Bowman sees a team that came within a goal last May of advancing to a second straight Stanley Cup finals berth and likely back-to-back Stanley Cups, and would not let this period pass without giving this squad all the tools to get back to the promised land....

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Detroit Red Wings

After exploring a deal for Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf, GM Ken Holland went to Plan B and acquired veteran defenseman Marek Zidlicky from the New Jersey Devils for a third-round pick that becomes a second-round pick if the Wings go to the Cup finals. Zidlicky is the right-handed shot the Wings have been looking for the past couple of years and is a good fit because he won't have to do too much to be effective. The Wings already own the league's top power play and Zidlicky will only add to that. The move came less than 24 hours after Holland acquired Erik Cole and a third-round pick from the Dallas Stars for a second-round pick and two prospects. And in doing so, Holland brought in a player who should help spread out the Wings' scoring depth, especially five-on-five. A good Detroit Red Wings team is more fully formed today than it was before the deadline.

more on each conference...

from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

If you evaluate the NHL’s trade deadline simply by the final hours of (in)action, it was a decidedly unsexy day punctuated by mostly minor deals, with no real marquee names changing jerseys.

But history shows the sort of strategic tinkering that took place Monday can sometimes pay larger dividends in a long Stanley Cup run than individual superstar additions. And there were a few deals that made you stop and ponder.

The Anaheim Ducks, for example, added three defencemen – James Wisniewski from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Simon Després from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Korbinian Holzer from the Toronto Maple Leafs, significant turnover for a team sitting first in the Pacific Division standings. But the Ducks wanted to get bigger on defence, and they wanted to do so at a price that made sense.

So Columbus had to accept Rene Bourque’s contract to justify Anaheim taking on the final two years of Wisniewski’s deal, while the Leafs received Eric Brewer in the Holzer deal. The Ducks are now eight deep on the blueline, prepared for the attrition that often accompanies a long playoff run, and in a division, the Pacific, that looks eminently winnable.

The Wisniewski deal nicely bookended the splashiest trade early on, when the Tampa Bay Lightning gave up a decent young defenceman, Radko Gudas, along with first– and third-round picks in the 2015 NHL entry draft to land defenceman Braydon Coburn from the Philadelphia Flyers.

continued

from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

For all of the action, all of the excitement, all of the movement in the hockey world over the past few weeks, one important fact hangs over this NHL season: We still don’t have a Stanley Cup favourite.

You might like Anaheim’s rebuilt blueline with Simon Despres and James Wisniewski, or the way Braydon Coburn fits in with Tampa Bay, or a beefed-up Blackhawks roster that now features Antoine Vermette and Kimmo Timonen.

Perhaps the Montreal Canadiens’ last-minute shopping spree — Jeff Petry, Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn were all added before Monday’s deadline — will help push them over the top. The New York Rangers went all-in by landing Keith Yandle, Detroit added veterans Marek Zidlicky and Erik Cole and Minnesota gained experience with Chris Stewart and Jordan Leopold.

And yet, despite all of that, would any team strike more fear in a playoff opponent this spring than the Los Angeles Kings?

continued

added 9:17am, from Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star,

The run-up to the deadline had eliminated a large group; there were no truly big-time players on the market and easy to move, either. Frenzy? More like planning.

And as a result, you saw a clear split. You saw teams trying to win, yes. The last two champs had already put in their work: Chicago had already paid heavily for forward Antoine Vermette, and quietly added defenceman Kimmo Timonen from Philadelphia, whose recovery from blood clots started in Chicago with practice time on the top power-play unit, and skating with Brent Seabrook. Los Angeles, meanwhile, had added defenceman Andrej Sekera. Unless they’re toppled, they’re the best.

But they’re hardly at their best, and by the end of the day every team within shouting distance of a playoff spot had added something over the past few weeks. But as Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin put it in San Jose, “I don’t think there were first-line players traded today, unless I’m mistaken.”

read on

added 9:29am,

from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

Brian Burke, former general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, the Anaheim Ducks and the Toronto Maple Leafs and now president of the Calgary Flames, always looked at the folly of the wheeling and dealing at the trade deadline with a bemused look to go with the undone tie around his neck and would say “there’s only one team that’s going to have a Stanley Cup parade.”

There’s only one winner, and you can’t tell until late June, and it’s never been more so than right now with no juggernaut teams in the National Hockey League.

It’s a wide-open race this season, and the Stanley Cup contenders were all at the trade table on Monday, betting with both hands, making deals while the pretenders and bottom-feeders were unloading today for tomorrow.

WINNERS

New York Rangers: The Broadway Blueshirts are all-in with defenceman Keith Yandle coming in from the Arizona Coyotes to run their power play. It cost them young forward Anthony Duclair, who shocked people by making their team at camp, only to sent to the world junior hockey championship, in which he starred for gold-winning Canada with now-Coyotes teammate Max Domi. Moved out John Moore (Arizona) and Lee Stempniak (Jets) to clear up money to resign first-line winger Mats Zuccarello, too. James Sheppard, acquired from the San Jose Sharks, can be an able fourth-liner.

continued

from Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun,

To that end, the Coyotes and Sabres deserve the biggest thumbs up for their work in the past few days. From the shores of Lake Erie to the Valley of the Sun, Tank Nations in Arizona and Buffalo are gleefully celebrating the diluted rosters of their respective teams.

Here’s a rundown:

more

added 9:45am, from Helene Elliott of the LA Times,

"Every year it just goes up and up and up," said Ducks General Manager Bob Murray, among the most active executives with four trades that reshaped his defense with muscle, size and power-play oomph. "I remember when it was a single asset for a player. And you got them for third-, fourth-round picks and stuff. Now it's the first and seconds and a prospect on top of it."

Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill, who dealt productive winger Erik Cole to Detroit on Sunday for two prospects, attributed the high asking prices to parity around the league.

"Everybody knows that if you can get into the playoffs you've got a great opportunity to win. Teams are going for it," he said.

more

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]