Tag Archives: nhl trade deadline

NHL trade deadline update

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roberto_luongo.jpg.size.xxlarge.originalWell if you didn’t know any better, you would probably think that today was the NHL’s trade deadline based on the number of moves that have been made. However, the deadline isn’t until tomorrow afternoon. With so many teams currently in a possible or definite playoff spot, over half the league is looking to make themselves better heading into the home stretch of the season. At the same time, because so many teams are battling for a playoff spot, that lowers the number of “sellers” at this year’s deadline.

We all know by now that the Blues got Ryan Miller and Steve Ott from Buffalo in exchange for Christ Stewart and Jaroslav Halak. This trade basically lit the fuse for the rest of the NHL, and now that fuse is reaching, or has reached its end. Here are some of the more notable acquisitions that have been made in advance of tomorrow’s deadline:

  • St. Louis: Ryan Miller and Steve Ott
  • Buffalo: Chris Stewart and Jaroslav Halak
  • Minnesota: Ilya Bryzgalov
  • Washington: Dustin Penner
  • Anaheim: Stephane Robidas
  • Edmonton: Viktor Fasth
  • Philadelphia: Andrew MacDonald
  • Florida: Roberto Luongo
  • Vancouver: Jacob Markstrom
  • Chicago: David Rundblad

Lots of names already on the move, and some of them big names. One move that has me intrigued is Dustin Penner leaving the Ducks. In return from Washington, the Ducks got a 4th round pick that they in turn used to acquire Stephane Robidas. I am left wondering though if they are done making deals. Penner was a useful winger for Anaheim, and they dLxi8wStraded him essentially for a defenseman. Are they in the process of trading for a winger to replace Penner? The name Thomas Vanek has been linked to Anaheim quite often today, so it will be interesting to see if anything transpires there. If the Ducks do get Vanek, then that may put them above and beyond the rest of the NHL.

Mike Gillis, Vancouver’s general manager, may be the biggest idiot in any NHL front office. Last year at this time, he had Corey Schneider and Roberto Luongo as the two goalies for the Canucks. After today’s deal with Florida, Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom are Vancouver’s number one and two goalies. Essentially, Gillis traded Schneider and Luongo, two number one goalies, for a first round pick, Jacob Markstrom, and a prospect. What is he trying to do? Why trade Schneider last summer if you weren’t going to keep Luongo as your number one? Now all Gillis has done is weaken his team substantially without really gaining much of an asset in return.

All eyes are now on players such as Vanek, Marian Gaborik, and Canucks’ center, Ryan Kesler. If Mike Gillis trades Kesler, I think its safe to say the Canucks are attempting a “rebuild.” If he doesn’t trade Kesler, well then I don’t know what Gillis is trying to do up there. The Penguins and Flyers are being mentioned as the two teams heavily pursuing Ryan Kesler, although some reports are indicating that Philadelphia is involved only to raise Kesler’s price for Pittsburgh.

Blackhawks update

7327531The Blackhawks have also come up in rumors regarding Ryan Kesler. This one puzzles me. The Blackhawks have about $52,000 in cap space right now according to Capgeek. Ryan Kesler is getting paid $5 million/year all the way through the 2015-2016 season. Currently, the Blackhawks do not have anywhere near the amount of money they would need in order to get Kesler, unless they trade someone like Bryan Bickell and someone else with a smaller contract. Plus, you add in the fact that the Hawks will be looking to extend Kane and Toews this summer (those will be significant pay raises), and they simply will have very little money to play with. Unless of course they trade some of their bigger contracts, which I don’t see them doing. Everyone wants to say “Chicago is in on Kesler,” only because the Hawks could use a true number two center at the moment. People forget about the money situation and the fact that Teuvo Teravainen could very well enter the NHL next season and be that long-lost number two center for the Hawks.

As I began writing this, the Hawks traded this year’s second round pick to Phoenix for David Rundblad and Mathieu Brisebois. Both are defensemen. Rundblad (23 years old) will join the Blackhawks, giving them eight defensemen on the roster, and Brisebois will david_rundblad_phx_030512head to Rockford. David Rundblad was the Blues’ first round pick in 2009 before being dealt to Phoenix. He has only appeared in 50 NHL games. Rundblad is more of an offensive-defenseman and has some decent potential upside. The problem he has faced up to this point is lack of playing time. In Phoenix, Dave Tippett likes his d-men to be defensive-minded. That didn’t bode well for Rundblad. Also, he was never really given a good chance in the NHL. I don’t know what will happen now that Rundblad is in Chicago, but my guess is he will be given a better opportunity to prove himself. Just look at how the Hawks handled Nick Leddy.

A lot has happened over the last 12 hours or so, and a lot more may still happen. In fact, it was literally just announced that Thomas Vanek is not dressing for tonight’s game in Winnipeg. Clearly, the Islanders are trying to trade him. Whether or not a deal gets done, we shall see.

I’ll try to add more as it happens.

 

 

Blues acquire Miller, Ott; Pressure on West’s best

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Philadelphia Flyers v Buffalo SabresYesterday the St. Louis Blue traded Jaroslav Halak and Chris Stewart to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Ryan Miller and Steve Ott. It had been rumored for quite a while that Miller was on the trade block and that St. Louis seemed to be his likely destination. Steve Ott and Chris Stewart appear to have been an “add-ons” during the trade discussions yesterday. Many believed that if the Blues could acquire Miller or any high-end goalie that they would put themselves in a great position to win the Cup. Well, now they have Miller and most analysts believe the Blues are the team to beat in the NHL. I’m not so sure that I agree 100 percent with that, but they definitely are one of the top 3 teams in the league.

With St. Louis trading for Miller, they also put the pressure on the rest of the top teams in the Western Conference to get better prior to the passing of the March 5th trade deadline. Teams like Chicago, Anaheim, L.A., and San Jose now need to take a good look at themselves and ask the question, “Are we good enough to come out of the West and reach the Stanley Cup Final?” St. Louis put themselves in a spot where they now believe they are good enough, and it’s up to the other top teams to respond.

Stan Bowman, Chicago’s GM, was asked last night while on the NHL Network if he is planning on making any moves at the deadline. To sum up his response, he said that he is confident in the team that the Blackhawks have, and brought up the facts that this is basically the same team that won last year’s Cup, and they already went out and traded for Kris Versteeg earlier this year and acquired Peter Regin and Pierre Marc-Bouchard right before the Olympic break.

Because I live in Chicago, I hear mostly everything that Bowman says regarding the Blackhawks. I cannot say the same for the teams out west, so I don’t know what those GM’s have said over the past few days regarding the trade deadline. However, let’s look at what those teams, along with the Blackhawks, may try and look for at the deadline.

L.A. Kings

Drew+Doughty+Jonathan+Quick+MJL-W9uwx26mThe Kings currently find themselves sitting in third place in the Pacific division. Many believed they would finish no lower than second in the division coming into this season. Unfortunately for them, they once again are putting together a somewhat disappointing season. They are second to last in the West in goals-scored this year, which has been a problem for this team over the past few seasons. Looking ahead to the trade deadline, the Kings may want to try and upgrade their depth at left wing, and they may want to add another top three center. Their defense is among the best in the league, as the Kings as a team have allowed the second fewest goals in the NHL. It goes without saying that they’re just fine in net.

San Jose Sharks

San Jose is second in the Pacific at the moment with a 12 point lead over L.A. They are 940-couture-logangetting a healthy Logan Couture back now that the Olympics are over with. He will most likely slide right back into one of the top two center positions, bumping Joe Pavelski back out to the wing where he has played much of this season and on and off throughout his career. Looking at the Sharks depth chart, it couldn’t hurt them to add a skilled winger to the team, but I believe their biggest need is another defenseman. They don’t have a bad defense right now by any means, but their age is what could hurt them if they get deep into the playoffs. They are one of the older blue lines in the west.

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks are the league’s leading team in points right now, so you wouldn’t really think they need to do a whole lot with their team moving forward. And truthfully, they don’t. If they can go out and somehow trade for a solid top 5 d-man, they would really have themselves img24461606set for a deep, deep playoff run. Jonas Hiller is having a great season so far. He was arguably the best goalie at the Olympics with 2 shutouts there, and he added a league-leading 5th shutout last night against the Blues.

Chicago Blackhawks

The never ending storyline in Chicago isn’t going to end anytime soon. Who can be their number two center? So far this year, Joel Quenneville has tried Michal Handzus, Brandon Pirri, Andrew Shaw, Marcus Kruger, and now Peter Regin 139990-330-0in that position. No one seems to be the right fit. It makes it hard for a guy like Patrick Kane who keeps having to adjust to a new center on his line. At the same time, however, this was the same issue facing the Hawks just a year ago, and we all know how last season turned out. I don’t think they will be trading for another center at the deadline. If they do make a trade, it will almost positively be for a depth defenseman. Right now Sheldon Brookbank is their 7th d-man, and the thought of him having to be the guy to step up if one of their top 6 defensmen goes down is scary. Adding a proven guy to their blue line depth would be quietly very important for this team.

You could even throw the Avalanche into this discussion if you wanted to, but I don’t think they will get a top two seed in the Central.

Looking at the West’s top teams right now with Miller and Ott now on the Blues, I think that they are the team to watch out for. Anaheim leads the league in points, but for whatever I’m just not sold on them. Maybe it’s because I don’t get to watch them as often as I do Chicago and St. Louis. The Blues are a rough, physical and big team that can also put the puck in the back of the net just as well as almost any team in the league. Not to mention that they are third in the NHL in fewest goals against.

I would not expect any of the other top teams in the West to make a huge move like the Blues did. For one, those are not easy trades to make. Secondly, I don’t think any top team wants to trade a significant piece of their NHL team (along with prospects) to land a big name player, which is what it would take to do so. Ryan Kesler’s name has come up in trade rumors, but I don’t think he’s going anywhere until this summer, and that’s if he even does get traded.

This should be an interesting deadline in seeing what moves certain teams do and/or don’t make.

Blackhawks stand pat at the deadline

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ct-spt-0113-haugh-blackhawks-chicago--20130113-001Well, the NHL trade deadline has come and gone, and the Blackhawks’ only move of significance (if you want to call it that..) was acquiring Michal Handzus from the San Jose Sharks on Monday. Other than that, they made a couple of small deals involving some minor league prospects. The rest of the contenders in the NHL, however, were rather active.

Let’s start by listing some of the players acquired by contending teams at, or before this year’s trade deadline:

  • Pittsburgh Penguins: Jarome Iginla, Brendan Morrow, Jussi Jokinen, and Douglas Murray.
  • Boston Bruins: Jaromir Jagr and Wade Redden.
  • Vancouver Canucks: Derek Roy
  • Columbus Blue Jackets: Marian Gaborik
  • Minnesota Wild: Jason Pominville
  • New York Rangers: Ryan Clowe, Derick Brassard, and Derek Dorsett.
  • Anaheim Ducks: Matthew Lombardi

Those are not all the deals that were made, but the significant ones. As you can see, most contenders made some bold moves to strengthen their teams in the last few days, especially Pittsburgh and Boston.

Meanwhile, Stan Bowman went out and got Michal Handzus, who was a healthy scratch for San Jose the last 6 games before being traded. I hate to rip on Handzus, but the guy is really not going to make a big difference for the Hawks. Other than his ability to win faceoffs, he provides little else to the team. If you compare that acquisition to any of the ones I listed above, it seems very insignificant.

Teams like Anaheim, who have proven that they will give the Hawks all kinds of problems if they meet in the playoffs, legitimately got better. The Ducks traded for center Matthew Lombardi today who was with the Coyotes. Lombardi is not a big name or an elite player in the league, but he is a guy who when placed on a team with a lot of talent (like the Ducks) can be an effective depth player.

It would appear that the biggest reasons the Hawks did not make any significant trades were because Bowman did not want to break up the team chemistry, and he didn’t want to trade away any “decent” prospects.

How long is it going to take Bowman to realize that you need to be willing to trade away some prospects to get a good player in return? He has overvalued his “prospects” since the day he took over as GM of the Blackhawks, and it is going to come back to haunt him come playoff time, again. You, Bowman, cannot sit there and tell me that you could not have gotten Derek Roy or Jaromir Jagr.

The Canucks got Roy in exchange for a prospect and second round pick. The Bruins got Jagr for 2 prospects and a conditional second round pick. If Bowman is not willing to give up a prospect and draft pick in an attempt to really make his team better, than what good is he doing? If his plan is to wait 3-5 years for all of his “prospects” and draft picks to blossom into their full potential, then that plan better work, or else he just possibly blew away another chance at making a Cup run. Instead of going for it this year and adding a quality player/center to a team that could really use one, he is banking on the potential of his prospects 3 years down the road. At some point, Stan, you have to look at here and now and make a move accordingly.

The Blackhawks have some noticeable holes in their lineup, and only one was slightly covered up (faceoffs). I still think that they should make it to at least the second round this year in the playoffs, but the postseason is a whole different animal compared to the regular season. Teams are going to take advantage of the Hawks’ lack of size and potential weaknesses on the back end.

I guess the bottom line here is that Bowman could have improved his team, but instead chose to overvalue and hang on to any decent prospect in the organization, which is what it takes in this league to complete a trade…

The next Hawks’ game is tomorrow night at home against the Blues. Hossa is expected back in the lineup, but Sharp is still doubtful.

Hours from the NHL trade deadline

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We are 5 hours from the NHL trade deadline, but most of the big trades have already happened (Morrow, Iginla, Roy, Jagr). All eyes will be on Mikka Kiprusoff and Roberto Luongo today, as it is believed the Maple Leafs are pushing hard to acquire one of them.

The Blackhawks may not make anymore moves after trading for Handzus. They did make a minor deal involving Philippe Paradis going to the Lightining’s minor league team, which opens up a roster spot in the organization. This could mean that the Hawks might make a move today, but no one really seems to know for sure.

I will try to write an updated post after the deadline. Check back.

Blackhawks down Wings; Trade deadline nears

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165122333_slideSunday afternoon, the Blackhawks absolutely obliterated the Detroit Red Wings at the Joe Louis Arena by a final of 7-1. The Hawks are now 9-0-1 in their last 10 games in Detroit. After a tough 3-game homestand that saw the Blackhawks take just 2 of a possible 6 points, one could say that the Hawks were due for a game like this. They needed a non-stressful game too.

Rookie call-up Jeremy Morin started the scoring early in the first period by notching his third career NHL goal. Shortly after, Brandon Saad and Dave Bolland both scored to make it 3-0.

In the second period, Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad scored just seconds apart to improve their lead to 5-0 over Detroit. It was Saad’s second goal of the game, and third point of the day.

The third period saw two more Blackhawk goals; one by Bolland (his second of the game), and another by Nick Leddy. The Red Wings Cory Emmerton also scored with under a minute left in the game to break up Corey Crawford’s shutout. Crawford ended the day making 33 saves on 34 shots.

This was a good win for a still shorthanded Blackhawks team. Both Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp were once again absent from the lineup. Like I said before, the Blackhawks needed a game like this after not playing well at all in either of their last 3 games, all at home. Yes, they beat Calgary 2-0 on Tuesday, but that was not a great game for the Hawks.

This week, they will play the Predators 3 times (twice at home, once on the road), as well as one game with the Blues at the United Center. Playing a team 3 times in such a short period always makes for some intense and physical games. Nashville has not been playing great as of late, but Pekka Rinne always has the ability to win a game on his own.

TRADE DEADLINE

With the trade deadline now just a few days away, more and more rumors are beginning to surface regarding the Blackhawks. It was reported in the Daily Herald on Sunday that the Hawks are talking with the New York Islanders about Frans Nielsen and possibly Mark Streit. Nielsen is a 28 year old center currently under contract through the 2015-2016 season. He has a cap hit of $2.5 million this year and next year, and then that increases to $3.5 million for the last 2 seasons of his contract. Mark Streit is a 35 year old defenseman in the last year of his contract.

Obviously the Hawks are looking at Nielsen because he is a center. In 35 games this year, he has registered 18 points (3G, 15A). While those numbers aren’t necessarily bad nor good, they are not the biggest thing that jumps out at me when analyzing this potential acquisition. He is 45.2% at the faceoff circle, and that is what catches my eye. The Blackhawks desperately need a number 2 center who can consistently win faceoffs (Dave Bolland is not the guy). A guy who wins 45% of his draws is not really a “good” faceoff man, which is why I am a bit confused as to why the Hawks are targeting Nielsen.

As for Mark Streit, I don’t really understand this one either. Streit is listed as being 5’11” and weighs 191 lbs. Bottom line, he is not a big dude. While he does have a history of producing a good amount of points (47 last year), I don’t think those attributes will help the Blackhawks. The Hawks need a big, physical, defensive defensman. Not a small offensive defenseman. It is odd that this is even up for discussion considering how well the Hawks’ D-men were playing just a month ago, but things have changed lately.

Johnny Oduya was a -8 over his last 4 games heading into today, and according to Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald, the Blackhawks front office does not feel confident with Oduya as the number 4 defenseman heading into the playoffs. Hence the reason they might be looking at Mark Streit.

If I were Stan Bowman, I would not make either of those deals with the Islanders. Instead, I would focus on guys like Brian Boyle of the Rangers (center), Derek Roy of the Stars (center), and maybe a guy like Lars Eller of the Canadiens (center). I have seen those names linked to the Hawks in more than one place on the internet, as well as on TV.

Boyle_B_0123_Ins1Brian Boyle would be a nice fit with the Hawks I think. He is 6’7″, 244 lbs, and has a faceoff percentage of 57.8% this year as the Rangers number 3 centerman. His numbers (1G, 1A) are not great, but no one on the Rangers is playing that well this year. A change in scenery and line mates may be what Boyle needs. The Hawks could really use is faceoff skills as well as his size in what is one of the lightest lineups in the league, weight-wise.

NHL: Phoenix Coyotes at Dallas StarsDerek Roy is more of a skilled center than Boyle. While Roy has won just 46.8% of his faceoffs, he provides more of a true number 2 center’s skill-set. This year, he has 22 points in 29 games (4G, 18A). However, in the 2007-2008 season, Roy recorded 81 points (32G, 49A), and in the ’08-’09 season he recorded 70 points (28G, 42A). I’m not saying that he would return to putting up those numbers with the Hawks, but playing on a line with Kane and Sharp wouldn’t hurt…

Lars Eller is another center that the Hawks could ask about. He is 6’2″ and weighs 209 lbs. This season he has 17 points (4G, 13A) in 32 games and has won 49% of his faceoffs. Ideally, you’d want a guy who wins over 50%, but 49% isn’t bad (nor great). I feel like Eller is more of a true number 3 center (like Bolland), but he could be useful in the Hawks lineup. Again, they need anyone who can consistently win faceoffs.

As for the Blackhawks’ potential need on defense, I am really not sure what they might do there. They are already carrying 7 defenseman on their current roster, and they have played pretty well as a unit most of the season. Oduya has shown some signs that he can be a very good defenseman in this league, but he has also shown the opposite as of late and in last year’s playoffs. I can understand the management’s concerns about him moving forward, but I don’t know what they think they can do to upgrade. I guess we’ll have to wait and see on that one.

Keep checking back throughout the week for updates on possible trades that may take place.

Thanks for reading.