Canadian teams merely tinker on a sleepy deadline day
The most significant deals were done in the days leading up to NHL's trade moratorium
If you were one of the poor souls who took a sick day to follow the NHL trade deadline proceedings, you likely enjoyed a restful afternoon.
This year's deadline day was a snoozer.
According to the league, 18 trades involving 33 players were consummated. It was the quietest trade deadline day since the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season that saw 17 deals and 30 players moved.
The biggest names to change addresses on Wednesday were Jarome Iginla, Thomas Vanek, Valtteri Filppula and Mark Streit, and the seven Canadian clubs were not involved in any significant moves.
- NHL trade deadline tracker
- Vanek moves to Florida, Streit to Pens
- Kings deal for Iginla
- Curtis Lazar looking forward to fresh start with Flames
The way it worked out this year is that the top teams in the East and West, the Washington Capitals and Minnesota Wild, beat their opponents to the punch when the Wild added Martin Hanzal and Ryan White last weekend and the Capitals landed defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk on Monday.
The defending Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins did well, too, adding defensive depth with Streit and Frank Corrado and, in an earlier deal, Ron Hainsey.
The best of the Canadian teams, the Montreal Canadiens, enhanced their size and toughness and speed with left wing Dwight King from the Los Angeles Kings and Andreas Martinsen from the Colorado Avalanche to go with earlier pickups Steve Ott, Jordie Benn and Brandon Davidson.
The Habs needed size and better penalty killing, but while these additions address those concerns the newcomers are not goal scorers, a glaring weakness with new coach Claude Julien's club.
In the deal for Davidson, the Canadiens sent centre David Desharnais to the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers have struggled this season with faceoffs and if the 30-year-old Desharnais, slotted to centre the third line, can regain his form he will help Edmonton with that concern.
The big question with Edmonton is how much does goalie Cam Talbot have left in the tank after leading the league through the three-quarter pole in games played, shots faced and saves made. Also, can the Oilers' young players continue to shine under the playoff spotlight?
The Calgary Flames have been the best Canadian team lately, reeling off five victories in a row. The move last week to acquire defenceman Michael Stone and pair him with T.J. Brodie already has paid dividends.
The addition of speedy 22-year-old forward Curtis Lazar, who has struggled this season with Ottawa after he was sidelined with mononucleosis in training camp, will fit in with the Flames youthful outfit.
The Senators added depth with forwards Viktor Stalberg and Alex Burrows as well as defenceman Jyrki Jokipaka in the Lazar deal. But are the Senators much better?
Leafs cling to playoff spot
The Toronto Maple Leafs, still clinging to a playoff spot in the East, added Brian Boyle earlier this week and Eric Fehr from the Penguins on Wednesday.
Boyle went to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals with the 2013-14 New York Rangers and 2014-15 Tampa Bay Lightning, while Fehr scored two game-winners in Pittsburgh's championship run last spring.
Fehr's old team, the Winnipeg Jets, did not address their porous defence and goaltending, but were able to get a conditional mid-round selection for veteran forward Drew Stafford, who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer.
The big winner of the Canadian clubs was the Vancouver Canucks. General manager Jim Benning was able to move out veterans Burrows and Jannik Hansen for young stud Dahlen and a possible young stud in Nikolay Goldobin.
Goldobin, 21, has 11 games of NHL experience with the San Jose Sharks and has scored 39 goals and 90 points in 115 AHL games. Dahlen is the 19-year-old son of former NHLer Ulf Dahlen. The younger Dahlen is a gifted goal scorer who needs time to mature physically.