The trade deadline is a glorious few hours where the hopes and dreams of hockey fans can be uplifted with acquisitions that inspire playoff success. On the other hand, it can be a dreadful chunk of time where an under-performing team sells off its assets or an anxious GM can't pull the trigger on any potential deals.
This season's trade deadline was one of the more hectic ones of the past few seasons. Trades clouded up the Twitter feed throughout Monday morning all the way up to the 3 p.m. stop, with a few backlogged deals breaking after the deadline. And while it didn't have that major blockbuster player heading from the bottom of the standings to the top, there's plenty of trades that could make or break teams sprinting towards the playoffs.
Winners
Carolina Hurricanes
Aquisitions
-F Vincent Trocheck
-D Brady Skjei
-D Sami Vatanen
The Hurricanes made a number of deals throughout the day starting with arguably the biggest one around the league. The Canes snagged Vincent Trocheck from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Erik Haula, Lucas Wallmark, two prospects and a 2022 third round pick.
While Trocheck hasn't had his best first half of the season, placing his speed and skill with the rest of the Carolina top six seems like a match made in heaven. Just two seasons ago, Trocheck was able to amass 75 points proving he has the ability to provide some serious top six offense. Now it all comes down to where he fits in the lineup. With the Hurricane's lengthy list of injuries, Trocheck has some time to prove himself to be a serviceable second line centerman in between Nino Niederreiter and Marty Necas. Trocheck's services will also be an added bonus to the eighth best power-play in the NHL.
The Hurricanes kept their foot on the gas pedal by adding two D-men in Brady Skjei for a 2020 first round pick and Sami Vatanen for Janne Kuokkanan, Frederik Claesson and a conditional 2020 fourth round pick.
These moves bolster the Hurricanes already solid Defense corps and provides some depth while the Canes wait for players to come back from injuries. Both Vatanen and Skjei have struggled most of the season but were playing on struggling or rebuilding teams.
Vatanen Started his career with the Ducks and posted solid offensive numbers while proving to be reliable in his own end. Vatanen was traded to the Devils in 2017 to help them with their playoff push but has struggled along with the team since.
Skjei is a younger blueliner at the age of 25 and posted an impressive 39 points in his rookie year with the Rangers. Since then, his offensive numbers have regressed, having only 25 points in the last two seasons. What Skjei brings to the table is a lot of offensive potential along with a large frame and a left-handed shot. All three put together can prove to be extremely valuable. Check out what Ryan Graves has done with Colorado; sometimes a change in scenery is all a player needs to come out of their shell.
Vegas Golden Knights
Aqusitions
-G Robin Lehner
-F Nick Cousins
-D Alec Martinez
What the Vegas Golden Knights have done is just three seasons is actually laughable. They have been a serious postseason contender in all three seasons with their ragtag group of misfits. That includes a Stanley Cup Finals appearance and an unfortunate bad call in round one last season that haulted another possible cup run. Part of the reason they've been able to maintain their relevancy is their activity at the deadline and this season proves to be no different.
The Golden Knights worked out a complicated three way deal with Toronto and Chicago to bring Robin Lehner to Sin City for Malcolm Subban, Slava Demin and a 2020 second round pick. Lehner fills a much needed spot in the Knight's goalie rotation as Malcolm Subban was struggling mightily between the pipes. A .890 save percentage along with a 3.18 goals against average are not numbers you want to put confidence in. (unless you're the Sharks, of course.) The best part about this move is the caliber of goalie Lehner is. He's not just some serviceable back-up who has bounced around the league. He was a key piece to the Islanders success in both the regular and post seasons last year. While Lehner's play this season has seen a slight decline, playing for a struggling Blackhawks team surely hasn't helped. The Knights now have a very solid goal-tending rotation with an option to turn to Lehner as the future for the Knights with an aging Marc-Andre Fleury.
In a deal that was reported after the deadline had closed, the Knights snagged Nick Cousins for a 2021 fourth round pick. Cousins provides a solid depth forward who can kill penalties and help out the bottom six. While Cousins has only scored more than 10 goals once in his career, the trade comes at a decent value for Vegas.
In a move that came before a few days before the deadline, the Golden Knights gave their rival L.A. Kings two second round picks for D-man Alec Martinez. Having already scored two goals with the Knights, Martinez seems to be fitting in perfectly with their system. The best part about the move for the knights is Martinez's extra year left on his deal, making him an option for next season too.
New York Islanders
Acquisitions
-F JG Pageau
-D Andy Greene
-D Jordan Schmaltz
The New York Islanders traded for my favorite available player at the deadline. JG Pageau is one of those guys you hate to play against but would love to have on your team. He seems to always be in the perfect spot at the perfect time. What always comes to mind for me was how pivotal he was for the Sens in their cup run back in 2017 where he had 10 points in 18 games as a third line guy. If the Islanders can get that kind of offensive production with their rigid defensive system put in place by head coach Barry Trotz, they could easily become a dangerous match-up for anybody in the postseason. Even while playing on a pretty bad Senators team, Pageau has earned himself 40 points in 60 games, only three off from his career high.
The trade for D-men Andy Greene and Jordan Schmaltz are simply just depth moves which has never hurt anybody especially in the playoffs. All in all, a solid day for GM Lou Lamoriello and the New York Islanders.
Edmonton Oilers
Acquisitions
-F Andreas Anthanasiou
-F Tyler Ennis
-F Ryan Kuffner
-D Mike Green
I'm trying really hard not to make a joke about how the Oilers always make terrible moves and sign terrible players and thankfully their moves today have really helped me out.
Perhaps the biggest move was for former Red Wings forward Andreas Anthanasiou. The dude has some serious wheels along with a wicked shot which provides the Oilers a dangerous winger to pair with either Mcdavid or Draisaitl. I personally believe if you throw them all on a line together the Earth might just explode.
The underrated move here is the acquisition of D-man Mike Green from Detroit. People seem to forget that Green once posted back to back 70 point seasons back in Washington. And while those days are behind him, he can still become a reliable depth defensive option with some offensive ability for the Oilers.
With the Oilers only three points out of first place in the pacific, adding solid depth options in Ennis and Green along with a 30 goal scoring winger in Anthanasiou should help their chances of winning the division and making the playoffs. If there's one thing i think most hockey fans can get behind, it's getting to see more Mcdavid in late April.
Losers
Buffalo Sabres
Acquisitions
-F Dominik Kahun
-F Wayne Simmonds
-F Michael Frolik
The Buffalo Sabres need to get things figured out and fast. Each passing day the body language of star Jack Eichel is only getting worse, along with the team's record. At this point, in order to show your star you've got a plan for the future, it would have been a good idea to go out and get a solid return on your valuable players who could potentially walk out the door on July 1. Instead, GM Jason Boterill went out and put duct tape over a gaping hole by adding Kahun, Simmonds and Frolik. The part that bothers me the most was trading for Wayne Simmonds, who was looking to go to a contender. Maybe his definition of the word is different, but i can assure you, unless the Sabres figure out how to clone Captain Jack, there's no contending going on in Buffalo.
Florida Panthers
Acquisitions
-D Emil Djuse
-F Erik Haula
-F Lucas Wallmark
Before the season started, the Florida Panthers were believed by many to be a serious cup contender; And for good reason. They had seemingly just fixed their problems in net by signing Sergei Bobrovsky to a 7 year deal and bolstered their depth with multiple veteran signings to compliment the lethal top six. Their hype has slowly faded throughout the season, mostly due to Bobrovsky's lack of, well, playing good. Their goalie situation hasn't changed despite the 70 million dollar investment. The good news for the Panthers is they are only six points out from a playoff spot. With their dynamic offensive weapons in Barkov and Huberdeau, anything is possible. But after today, their chances seem much more far fetched.
For starters, The Hurricanes and Islanders got much better today. Both teams are fighting for those final few playoff spots along with the Panthers, who traded away one of their better forwards in Vincent Trocheck. The Panthers got a solid return for Trocheck, but no moves of any significance were made after. This leaves the Panthers in the same if not worse spot than before the deadline while their competition got stronger.
Dallas Stars
Acquisitions
-2020 6th round pick
This one may confuse some of you because Dallas is an absolute wagon with legitimate playoff ambitions. With all of that said, i think the Stars could have really benefited from another fringe top six option. There were rumblings that Joe Thornton might be on his way to the Lonestar State, but the trade fell through. The Stars could easily prove me wrong and dominate in the postseason, but with their recent blowout loss to the Blues, i thought they would have tried to find someone to help them compete with St. Louis.
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