March 3 was the last day NHL clubs could either bolster their team for a playoff push, or clear the decks of big contracts and get some return for impending free agents. It was a hot topic before the Olympic break, especially with Toronto and New Jersey being involved in trades for high-profile players.
There were a record 31 trades made on deadline day, with 55 players being moved and 25 draft picks changing hands. There has never been so much activity on a deadline day, yet there has never been so little to talk about. “Lots of activity, but it’s a low hum […] no big thunderclaps,” Leafs general manager Brian Burke told the media after the deadline.
The deadline saw a huge number of fringe players swap jerseys, mostly third- or fourth-line players and spare defencemen. Analysts all over the country had a hard time picking just a few significant trades that would pay immediate dividends.
Ottawa didn’t make any moves on Wednesday, but acquired defenceman Andy Sutton and forward Matt Cullen for picks and a prospect before deadline day, implying that GM Bryan Murray is confident in the team he has going into the playoffs. He does have a point, since the Senators have 30 points since Jan. 1, the third most in the NHL, behind only Washington and Carolina. Goalie Brian Elliott has been solid between the pipes, and with forwards Alexei Kovalev and Jason Spezza finally scoring, the Sens look to be peaking at just the right time.
Montreal was expected to be active at the deadline and settle their goaltending dilemma by moving either Carey Price or Jaroslav Halak, but their only move was a minor one, sending forward Matt D’Agostini to St. Louis for Aaron Palushaj, who has never played an NHL game. The Canadiens are outside the playoff picture at the moment, and with forward Mike Cammalleri out for a few more weeks, it’s hard to believe they will find themselves in the postseason.
Vancouver took part in three trades, picking up defencemen Sean Zimmerman and Andrew Alberts and forward Yan Stastny in exchange for sparsely-used defenceman Mathieu Schneider, a pick, and a prospect, respectively. None of these moves improve by that much the Canucks, who needed a solid defence to hold the fort until Kevin Bieksa returns. The only positive coming out of the deadline is the shedding of Schneider’s contract.
Calgary was fairly busy, exchanging goalies with Anaheim by acquiring Vesa Toskala for Curtis McElhinney, giving them a much needed quality backup. With the Dion Phaneuf trade before the Olympics, the Flames found themselves with too many forwards and a weaker defence core. Calgary shored up their defence by picking up Steve Staios from the Oilers and Andy Delmore from the Red Wings, and sent forwards Dustin Boyd and Riley Armstrong packing. The trades give Calgary a good shot at making the playoffs as they sit outside the top eight at the moment, but may not provide enough punch to go deep and beat possible first-round opponents San Jose or Chicago.
Edmonton was in sell mode, and after sending Denis Grebeshkov to Nashville earlier in the week and Staios to Calgary for Aaron Johnson and a conditional pick, they made what is arguably the biggest trade of the day, acquiring Ryan Whitney and a sixth-round pick from the Ducks for Lubomir Visnovsky, both of whom participated in the Olympics. GM Kevin Lowe now has $10 million in extra cap space to help the last-place Oilers next season.
Toronto was the busiest of the Canadian teams, clearing house and stocking up on draft picks. At the beginning of the season the Leafs’ top seven forwards were Phil Kessel, Mikhail Grabovski, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Matt Stajan, Jason Blake, Niklas Hagman, and Lee Stempniak. As of Wednesday night, only Kessel and Grabovski remained, and the Leafs netted three draft picks, two prospects, and forward Luca Caputi from deadline day deals. This gives the Leafs lots of cap space and young players for next season, where they hope to finally build a playoff-bound team, and not be on the golf course come mid-April.
Washington is the winner of the trade deadline sweepstakes, acquiring a good puck-handling defenceman in Joe Corvo, and solidifying their bench depth by picking up Milan Jurcina and forwards Scott Walker and Eric Belanger. These lower-line players will prove crucial in the late stages of the playoffs, where the top lines will be worn down and need some help to carry the load as the competition gets tougher.
Phoenix made a fairly big pickup by acquiring forward Wojtek Wolski from Colorado, for forwards Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter. They also grabbed Stempniak from the Leafs, and for some reason thought that Mathieu Schneider would be a good pickup. Though he may be an experienced leader in the dressing room, his production on the ice may be minimal as he has only five points in 17 games.
Pittsburgh’s only significant move was acquiring Toronto’s Ponikarovsky, who may crack the second line but will likely play on the third line. Buffalo acquired Raffi Torres from Columbus, and is in the same scenario as Ponikarovsky. Both teams didn’t need to do too much to improve their rosters, and are expected to make a lot of noise in the playoffs.
The Devils made their important deal prior to the Olympic break, acquiring Ilya Kovalchuk, and on Wednesday snatched defenceman Martin Skoula from the Leafs for a fifth-round pick. New Jersey is sitting in fourth place at the moment, and if Kovalchuk can start scoring, they will have a good shot at overtaking Pittsburgh for the division lead.
Boston, the NHL’s lowest-scoring team, did not address that need in any way. Instead, they picked up a pair in defence to help them improve on preventing opposition scoring, where they are ranked third-best in the Eastern Conference. Apparently, GM Peter Chiarelli thinks that keeping other teams from scoring is equal to the Bruins actually scoring goals themselves.
The San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks sit in the top two positions in the Western Conference, and both teams stood pat on deadline day. Both teams are playing excellent hockey, but many thought that Chicago would be making a move for a solid goaltender. Instead, GM Stan Bowman felt that both Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi were capable of backstopping the Blackhawks to a late postseason run.
The biggest surprise of the day was a non-trade. Philadelphia did not make a move for a starting goalie, despite losing Ray Emery for the remainder of the season. GM Paul Holmgren believes that Michael Leighton is good enough for the job, even though the 51 games he has played thus far is the most he has played in any level of his hockey career. Regardless, the Flyers are playing their best hockey right now and are hoping the play will carry over into the postseason.
There were plenty of high-profile players on the market, including forward Ray Whitney, defenceman Tomas Kaberle, and goalies Marty Turco, Tomas Vokoun, and Martin Biron. The fact that big-name players weren’t moved has less to do with teams being confident with what they have and more to do with salary cap issues. Vancouver is over the salary cap and Chicago, San Jose, and Ottawa are all within $1 million of it and simply couldn’t afford to trade for a high-calibre player without disrupting the entire make-up of the team. These cap restrictions make it near impossible for teams to rent players like they could in the past, and require a more in-depth thought process and analysis by the general managers on how to improve their team without overspending or dismantling what they have. Deadline days used to be about which team would make the biggest splash by acquiring the biggest players. Now it is about fine-tuning rosters that have been set from the opening day of the season.
