NHL Trade Deadline Winners And Losers

Here we are again. It's the beginning of March and teams around the National Hockey League are gearing their lineups for the playoff push. There have been years past where we have seen bigger names moved. We've also seen years where there have been a number of trades made on the same day, some of which have involved big names being moved. This year's trade deadline around the league was a little bit light. Eric Staal got moved to Broadway. Chicago and Florida made a flurry of moves. Montreal and Toronto are basically throwing in the towel on the year. Most of the major deals were done the day before the deadline. Still there was enough to keep an eye on. There was way too much that happened to list here. So instead, we are going to go with some of the winners and losers that came out of the deadline.

Winners:

Chicago Blackhawks
Here's a team that has won three Cups in the last six years, they are the defending champions and look to be poised to take the title again this year. Going into the deadline, they were a point behind Dallas for the lead in the division. Now, they've added more pieces to the puzzle to help them get better. When the Blackhawks added Andrew Ladd, Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann over the weekend, it was christmas way early for Hawks fans. The NHL’s most accomplished playoff team landed two players who will make it even stronger in the postseason. Ladd, who by the way has that winning feeling with this team (being on the 2010 championship club) will play on the Blackhawks’ top line eventually with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa. Meanwhile, Weise and Fleischmann will be secondary scorers. Ladd and Weise were among the most committed hitters on their previous teams, meaning they can provide the snarl that the Blackhawks have been lacking. It doesn’t matter that the Blackhawks gave up a first-round pick and a good young player (Marko Dano) to land Ladd, and a second-round pick and Phillip Danault to acquire Weise. With three Stanley Cup titles on his resume, general manager Stan Bowman is playing with house money. You don’t have to sweat the future when you are winning today.

Florida Panthers
This team has been surprising a lot of people this season. They are tied for the lead in the division (with Tampa Bay at the time of this writing) and have been playing great hockey. Florida has been looking to win the division for the 2nd time ever and is looking for getting out of the 1st round of the playoffs for only the 2nd time ever (last time was in 1996 when they went all the way to the Finals). So its been no secret that the Cats have been good this year. General manager Dale Tallon knew what he had to do and he went out and did it. Gerard Gallant’s boys had strong goaltending and solid defensive play. What it lacked was secondary scoring. That was addressed and then some. Florida went out and adeed Jiri Hudler and Teddy Purcell up front. Hudler adds flash and Purcell gives them a steady contributor. Tallon paid a reasonable price in both trades. They also went out and bulked up on the blue line by adding Jakub Kindl from Detroit. The moves sent an important message to the players and to the team’s fan base.

Anaheim Ducks
Here come those Ducks. For a team that was the best in the West last year, but they got off to a slow start to this season. Now, its not the case. No NHL team has been hotter over the past month, and the Ducks paid relatively little to further bolster their top-nine forward group. Getting Brandon Pirri from the Panthers cost them a mere sixth-rounder, and picking up Jamie McGinn from Buffalo cost them a 2016 third-round pick that becomes at 2017 second-rounder should the Ducks reach the conference final and if McGinn plays in more than half the Anaheim playoff games. Now, throw in the move they made in January, the team picking up David Perron from the Pens. Its a trade that really reinvigorated Anaheim. Pirri and McGinn are the kinds of players who occasionally flirt with top-six duty on mediocre teams but could be championship-caliber third- or fourth-liners. Best of all for GM Bob Murray, he avoided selling off one of his key restricted free agent defensemen. Yes, it will be hard to pay Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen this summer, but that’s a problem for another day. The Ducks can contend for the Cup right now and need all their good young D-men. It would’ve been nice to make room for Shea Theodore in the lineup, as he’s ready, but defensive depth is a nice luxury in the post-season anyway. Maybe an injury forces him back up to the big club at some point. Anaheim is a good team that has gotten a little bit better.

Boston Bruins
Here's a team that's sitting comfortable in a wild card spot right now. Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make. That is probably true for the Bruins, who decided not to trade Loui Eriksson, an unrestricted free agent this summer. They also acquired veteran defenseman John-Michael Liles (from the Carolina Hurricanes) and versatile forward Lee Stempniak (from the New Jersey Devils). The Bruins’ most pressing need was an all-around defenseman, and picking up Liles fits that description quite nicely. He also has played in more than 800 games, so he brings plenty of experience to the table, which could help the B's come the playoffs. General manager Don Sweeney gave up a third- and fifth-round pick plus prospect Anthony Camara. It’s a modest payment, considering what the Stars paid for Russell. Stempniak, meanwhile, can play a variety of roles. He is highly-competitive, and he should be a solid complementary player. Boston is going to be a team to watch out for come the end of the season and the playoffs.

Losers:

Brooks Laich (Toronto Maple Leafs)
I almost feel bad for the poor guy. You go from being a solid role player on the best team in the entire NHL, to being a big name on a crappy team in Toronto that's going to rebuild. He had been high-character leader on the Washington Capitals through lean times. He was there for 12 seasons. Then, with their best opportunity to win a Stanley Cup, he is traded to a rebuilding team in Toronto. It’s bad luck for a player with a reputation for being a good man. Sorry Brooks I really feel bad for you my man.

Jonathan Drouin (Tampa Bay Lightning)
He's been having a bit of a tough year. Drouin wasn't happy with the way things were looking in Tampa, so he decides to take a calculated risk. He goes and asks for a trade earlier in the season, and then decided to go home after playing a few games with Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League. General manager Steve Yzerman looked at his options, but he didn’t like the offers. Because Drouin is under contract through next season, Yzerman had the leverage and he used it. Now Drouin sits at home looking at the possibility that he won’t play the rest of the season. Had he played in Syracuse, Drouin would have had 20 scouts watching him every game. So basically by complaining about the way things have gone he has shot himself in the foot in regards to finding a potential buyer to take his services and will now sit in the minors doing nothing but watching.

Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver's out of playoff contention and had a chance to possibly try and make moves to build for the future. Look at what happened in Calgary. The Flames, like the Canucks, are out of the playoffs. Calgary traded Kris Russell, their best defenseman. He was sent to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Jyrki Jokipakka, Brett Pollock, and a conditional second round pick in the 2016 draft. If Calgary was able to get value for a guy like Russell, why couldn't Vancouver? Vancouver fans have to be disappointed that Canucks general manager Jim Benning couldn’t, or didn’t, move defenseman Dan Hamhuis. He is considered a better player than Russell. In fairness, Hamhuis held the cards because he had a no-trade clause. He didn’t want to go to the Eastern Conference, but he was OK with trades to the Stars or Blackhawks. Why couldn't a trade get done with them? The Canucks also didn’t move Radim Vrbata, who will also be an unrestricted free agent. The Canucks are eight points out of a playoff spot, and they are not considered close to being a contender. They added nothing for the future.

New York Islanders
This one pains me a little to put here on this list. But look at what's at stake here. This team is set to make the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row. They haven't won a round in the post season since 1993. Something has to change, but GM Garth Snow didn't see it that way. Don't get me wrong Snow has built a quality team, but it feels as if the Islanders could use a boost heading into the playoffs. No one wanted them to move their potential free agents, such as Kyle Okposo or Frans Nielsen. There was no consensus from their fan base about what the Islanders should do, but everyone wanted them to do something. They elected to only to make a minor deal by adding Shane Prince from the Ottawa Senators. The Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning were the only prime contenders in the Eastern Conference that didn't make a significant addition. They could have done so much to improve this team yet they didn't do a damn thing.