With lots of big names rumored to be on the move by this year’s trade deadline, there was lots of anticipation leading up to 3PM March 5. If you’re a hockey fan that bought into the hype of deadline day, you weren’t disappointed. Here are some of the winners and losers from Wednesday’s transactions:
Winner- Buffalo Sabres: The sudden Pat Lafontaine resignation of head of hockey operations aside, the cellar dwelling Sabres made some great strides towards their rebuilding efforts. A few days prior to the deadline, they pulled off a blockbuster deal sending superstar goaltender and US Olympian Ryan Miller and their captain Steve Ott to the St. Louis Blues in return for goalie Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart, a prospect and 2 draft picks. Halak was then shipped to Washington with a 3rd round pick in 2015 for a good young goaltender in Michael Neuvirth and defenseman Rostislav Klesla. After a few other minor deals, the Sabres end up with Stewart, a guy that has not had a good year but is capable of scoring, a good young goalie in Neuvirth and a boatload of draft picks. With talk of removing the interim tag from Coach Ted Nolan, things should be looking up in Buffalo.
Loser- Washington Capitals: This is a tough call because the Capitals actually made some good moves. They acquired Dustin Penner from Anaheim, a big tough forward that will create traffic in front of the net and probably end up playing on their first forward line with Backstrom and Ovechkin. They also upgraded their goaltending with the trade with Buffalo for Halak. So why am I calling them a deadline loser? Simple, those 2 moves did not do anything to address their biggest weakness: Defense! So what’s really changed at the Verizon Center?
Winner: Philadelphia Flyers: Don’t look now Eastern Conference but the Flyers are red hot and very dangerous. Yesterday near the deadline they sent Center Matt Mangene, a 2014 3rd rounder and 2015, 2nd rounder for defenseman Andrew MacDonald. MacDonald is an excellent and consistent blue line player that blocks a lot of shots and has some offensive value as well. This makes them better, which is the goal this time of year.
Loser: New York Islanders fans: I know that being the general manager of a professional sports team is very difficult but the more I watch Garth Snow do his job, the more I’m convinced an idiot like myself can get up off the couch and do it better. If you’ve been following the drama, you know he got fleeced earlier in the season by trading Matt Moulson and two relatively high picks to Buffalo for scorer Thomas Vanek, who is due to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. Well, not great but if you can sign Vanek long term you’ll live with it right? Wrong! Vanek recently has announced his intention not to sign a long term deal with the Islanders and instead test the free agent market. Doh! So now to save face, Snow had no choice but to shop Vanek at the deadline to at least get something for Moulson and those picks. Enter the Montreal Canadiens and Sebastian Colberg (who?) and a conditional 2014 draft pick, which they don’t get if Montreal doesn’t make the playoffs. Now it’s almost a lock that Montreal will make the playoffs but still! Islanders fans, I hate your team but I feel REALLY sorry for you to have to suffer Garth Snow another day!
Winner(s)- Tampa Bay Lightning/New York Rangers: In the biggest blockbuster deal along with the Ryan Miller trade, the Lightning and Rangers swapped captains yesterday. The Rangers received offensive superstar Martin St. Louis for Ryan Callahan and 2 draft picks. Unlike the Washington Capitals, both teams addressed their biggest weakness with this one deal. The goal starved Rangers get a scoring machine in St. Louis in hopes that he, along with Head Coach Alain Vigneault’s run and gun system can spark their inconsistent offense. In return, the Lightning get in Callahan a gritty, tough, physical proven leader that will bring a work ethic that should help Tampa a lot in the defensive end. The deal is not without risk for both teams though. Martin St. Louis is 38 years old so if you did get the production you need from him now, you probably won’t get it later. Callahan, while 10 years younger has had some durability issues in the past due to his physical style of play and does tend to miss games. Also, he will be a free agent at the end of the season so the Lightning need to sign him and many felt that his contract demands with the Rangers were somewhat unreasonable. CONSPIRACY ALERT: The Rangers have announced that they will not name a captain the rest of the way this season. Do they have a pre-arranged understanding with Callahan that they would trade him at the deadline only to re-sign at something closer to what he wanted during their negotiations? Hmmm
Todd Bascom is a self-admitted competition junkie and has been passionate about all sports since he found himself cheering loudly while watching Aussie Rules Football back in the mid 80’s! Originally from Queens, NY and now living in the DC Metro area, he considers himself the “anti-fan” through his attempts to bring logic and reason to the otherwise unreasonable world of sports fandom. Of all sports, Todd is most passionate about spreading the gospel of hockey and that will be his focus in the Barber Shop. So, if anyone in Barber Shop Sports Nation wants to hop on the hockey train and learn more about that great sport, reach out to Todd and he’ll make you a fan for life!
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