It was a light night on the NHL schedule with only three games, but the trade deadline that came in the afternoon gave us plenty to talk about and set the table for the run to the Stanley Cup.
Here are five things we learned on Trade Deadline Day, plus some interesting facts and numbers to take away…
JORDYN LEOPOLD WILL MAKE A GREAT GM SOME DAY
Kids make good NHL general managers.
In case you missed it, the best trade of the day was engineered by Jordyn Leopold. That’s right. Jordan Leopold’s daughter. Her letter of plea for the Minnesota Wild to reunite the defenceman with his family was answered as her father was traded from Columbus to Minnesota for Justin Falk and a 2015 fifth-round pick.
In the letter, little Leopold writes that her family, living in Minnesota, missed Father Leopold and that he was lonely without them, too.
“…the Wild have not been winning Games and you lovly (sic) Coaches are most likely mad about that but your team needs some more D men so can you please, please, please ask the Jackets if you Guys can get him!”
If you haven’t seen it yet, you must check it out. This was easily the highlight of a relatively light NHL trade deadline day.
THE DRAFT IS WHERE TRADE ACTION HAPPENS
If you’re looking for one day of fast-paced, high stakes trade action in the NHL, the trade deadline is no longer for you. In the cap era, Draft Day is where the real hard-hitting, landscape-changing trades come in high volume.
Sure, Keith Yandle moved to the New York Rangers for a healthy package of futures a day before the deadline, but the Coyotes were motivated by a unique tank-mode situation. Other players who were rumoured to be on the block, including Dion Phaneuf, Phil Kessel, Jordan Eberle, or dare we say, Patrick Sharp, would have a bigger market for their services – and bigger market = better returns. Hypothetically.
Teams have more of an appetite for roster changeover in the off-season and are able to go over the cap to achieve it. The draft is the first off-season window to start making over or adjusting your roster – every team and just about every asset could be on the table. There is no risk of upsetting chemistry during a stretch run.
This is why big trades like Ryan Kesler to Anaheim, Cory Schneider to New Jersey, James Neal to Nashville, Jordan Staal to Carolina, Brent Burns to San Jose and more happen at the draft.
COYOTES-SABRES TANK BATTLE RAGES ON
It’s no secret the Buffalo Sabres, whether they admit it or not, had their eye on the bottom of this year’s standings and the selection of Connor MacDavid at the 2015 NHL draft. But they’ve been getting some unwanted – and unforeseen – competition lately from the Arizona Coyotes.
After a couple years worth of rumours, the Coyotes finally dealt defenseman Keith Yandle on Sunday – a top-four defender with another season left on his contract. So what did the Sabres do? Why, they traded starting goalie Michal Neuvirth less than a month after they traded their other starting goalie, Jhonas Enroth.
Antoine Vermette. Chris Stewart. Zbynek Michalek. The Coyotes and Sabres did well to acquire draft picks and prospects to one day make them good, but in the meantime, pee-yew.
There’s only one way to take care of the “tanking” issue once and for all if the NHL ever really wanted to curb the practice: give every non-playoff team the same chance to win the draft lottery.
THE MANY FACES OF ERIC BREWER
Monday was not the first time that the newest Toronto Maple Leaf, Eric Brewer, has felt what it’s like to be traded. In fact, the 35-year-old defenceman has now been a part of a deal five times in his career.
Once a highly-regarded defenceman and a valued member of Team Canada when they won the gold medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Brewer, now in his 16th NHL season, has seen his playing time and his value slip dramatically.
From his first trade at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft to Monday, Brewer has been traded for (in order): Roman Hamrlik, Chris Pronger, Brock Beukeboom, a 2015 third-round draft pick, and Korbinian Holzer.
Sure there were more to the trades, but to go from a three-time All-Star and 1998 Olympic gold medalist to an almost sure-fire Hall of Famer to Brock Beukeboom and Korbinian Holzer is a dramatic decline over the past 15 years.
Oh, and to save you a Wikipedia trip; yes, Brock is Jeff Beukeboom’s son.
THE BIGGEST LOSER ON DEADLINE DAY
The trade deadline is the perfect opportunity for teams in the playoffs to bulk up for the final stretch run to the post-season. For many teams making moves Monday these deals greatly helped their chances of a deep playoff run. However, no playoff team’s chances suffered a bigger hit than the Calgary Flames. Despite not making any significant trades on deadline day the Flames are by far the biggest losers on Monday when they announced that captain Mark Giordano is out for the rest of the season with a torn biceps tendon.
Giordano was a legitimate Norris Trophy candidate before the season-ending injury, and his loss is debilitating for a team that is clinging to the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. With 11 goals and 48 points on the season and a team-high 25+ minutes of ice time, the loss of Giordano, as general manager Brad Treliving said “ripped all of our guts right out, that’s what it’s done.”
Treliving is right. No one currently within shouting distance of the playoffs in the Western Conference has a tougher road ahead of them now than the Flames because of Monday’s news.
FACTS AND TIDBITS FROM DEADLINE DAY
There’s no denying that the NHL trade deadline is one of the craziest days in the NHL, and Monday was no different. From the Canucks-Flames first trade in over 20 years, to Garth Snow’s penchant for deadline deals, here’s some of the day’s most fascinating facts:
