Winners, Losers From NHL Trade Deadline

The day has come and gone. Trade deadline time in the National Hockey League has come to pass. There have been other trade deadline days where some big names have been moved at the deadline. Last year we saw Roberto Luongo and Martin St. Louis get traded. So there is a chance where a big name could get moved on deadline day, it has happened before. This year was a little bit different. This year it was quantity over quality on deadline day. There were 24 trades made with 42 players moved, along with 21 picks. That’s ahead of last year’s total, but most of the big moves were made leading up to the March 2 deadline day. So with all that being said, lets see who won and lost on deadline day this year.

Winners:
Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim has the 2nd best record in the Western Conference, and are tied for the 2nd most points in the league for that matter. Going into the deadline, they were looking really for one thing, that being a veteran presence on the blueline. GM Bob Murray plucked a gem by bringing in a guy the talent of James Wisniewski. This deal addresses a need for winning now, and it also brings a known quantity who can help the power play. Simon Despres for Ben Lovejoy was a nice steal of a trade. Adding a guy the talent of Tomas Fleischmann is a depth offensive player that Boudreau knows well. These moves, in theory, can really help the Ducks out. It could all be for nothing though if Anaheim falls flat on their face again in the playoffs.

Montreal Canadiens
General Manager Marc Bergevin actually made the Habs deeper. Montreal is the best team in the eastern Conference, points wise. They just got better thanks to the sly moves. Jeff Petry is a huge addition to the defense for minimal return. He was developed in Edmonton and looked to be poised for a breakout, now he has that chance. He added to a solid blueline that already has Andrei Markov, Sergei Gonchar and P.K. Subban. This standing in front of a good netminder in Carey Price. The forward depth was added with the likes of Brian Flynn, Torrey Mitchell and Devante-Smith Pelly. All that it really cost was Jiri Sekac off of the NHL roster to make it happen. Good moves for Montreal.

Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg is right now sitting in the 1st wild card spot in the Western Conference. They are looking good right now to make the post season this year, something they have yet to do since they moved from Atlanta in 2011. Yes I know they got rid of Evander Kane, when they shipped him and Zach Bogosian to Buffalo a few weeks ago. Now they have gotten a bit deeper in the forward department by adding role players like Jiri Tlusty and Lee Stempniak. With Tlusty, Winnipeg gets a solid second or third line role player from Carolina who can add scoring punch. Stempniak, a solid pickup from the Rangers, can add some depth scoring, take on tough defensive assignments and add valuable playoff experience to a young team. The Jets made good moves to try and hold on to that Wild Card spot out West.

Losers:
San Jose Sharks
Its been a long time since San Jose has missed out on the playoffs. During the 2002-03 season was the last time that the Sharks failed to make the playoffs (that's not including the lockout of 04-05). Sure they are tied right now in points win Calgary for the final spot but have less wins, which means they sit on the outside looking in. Despite that fact, the Sharks did nothing to improve their roster for a playoff run. This comes as a bit of a surprise because some of their best players, including Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, don’t have many prime years left, if any. The Sharks also didn’t go into sell mode and move any impact players, so overall it was a lackluster deadline for the them.

Edmonton Oilers
Misery never ends with the Oilers. This was once a team with pride and a tradition of winning. Those days are long gone right now. It's the same thing over and over again with Edmonton. They start the year with new fresh faces and new look roster. Then it all falls apart. One of the big points of interest for Edmonton is defense. They had one guy on the roster that they drafted, developed and turned into an NHL caliber defender and that was Jeff Petry. Then they pissed him away for nothing. I almost feel bad for Oilers fans because they get to watch nearly every player Edmonton has given up on star for another team this season.

Detroit Red Wings
It kind of bothers me that I have to say this but I have to say it. Yes I know Detroit is sitting pretty in a playoff spot right now and good for them. But it's coming at a price, in the sense of the long term success of the franchise. I know they picked up Erik Cole and Marek Zidlicky to help add depth to the team. But news flash neither guy is as young as a spring chicken anymore. I know they want to bring the Cup back to Hockey town but Cole hasn't scored a goal in his last 34 playoff games. Plus Detroit paid a bit of a steep price to pick those guys up. They gave up two young prospects and a couple of draft picks, which could hurt them a little bit in their future. Sure they got a little better, but not much better than they were a week ago.

Local Teams
New Jersey Devils
This is a team that's in a possible rebuild mode. The fact that they were able to grab draft picks for Marek Zidlicky from Detroit and picks from the Florida Panthers for Jaromir Jagr was pretty good. But that was about it. New Jersey is getting old, they have paid too much for those aging stars. The Devils, sad to say it, aren't contenders and don't look to be for quite a while.

New York Rangers
From a short term perspective I like what the Rangers did at the deadline. They went all in when it came to picking up Keith Yandle. He gives them one of the deepest defense corps in the entire league, not just the Eastern Conference. Yandle can play 20-plus minutes per game and provide scoring in a top-four role. This adds to an offensive upside to a blueline that already ranks third in goals scored per game and 11th in power-play percentage. Yandle, Dan Girardi and Dan Boyle are three of New York’s four best defensemen, which means they have talne to go deep again in the playoffs.

At the same time the Rangers, from a long term perspective, may have shot themselves in the foot. This deal also leaves the Rangers without a first-round pick in 2015 and 2016 after not having one in 2013 and 2014, too. Four consecutive years without a first-rounder could prove costly in a few seasons, especially if the team’s current group of prospects doesn’t meet expectations. The Rangers are also getting a bit older, something that isn't going to be good come long term, they won't be able to hang with some of the younger, and quicker teams. New York also doesn’t have a first- or second-round selection in the talent-rich 2015 draft. As if that wasn’t enough, giving up on a top prospect in Duclair could turn into a horrendous mistake. We will see how things play out for the Blueshirts.

New York Islanders
Not a bad day on deadline day for Garth Snow. It's nowhere near an impact day as it was before the season when he added Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy. Still a solid day for the Islanders General Manager. The team got a little deeper up front by adding Tyler Kennedy. He isn't the flashiest player in the world, but he does have playoff experience, going in two deep playoff runs with the Pittsburgh Penguins. So by adding him, they bolster their playoff depth in this team and have talent now with guys like Kyle Okposo, Mikhail Grabovski and Casey Cizikas alol out hurt. So not only did they address the forward injuries right now, they also addressed the issue of possible backup goalie. Chad Johnson hadn't been putting up that great a numbers in his first year on the Island. So the team shipped him off to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Michal Neuvirth, who was putting up decent numbers on a bad Buffalo team. It looks like Halak is still the #1 goalie on Long Island, but depending on how well Neuvirth plays when he starts, that could be up for grabs. Either way a solid trade deadline day for the Islanders.