There is always a lot of buzz at this time of year, at least if you are a National Hockey League fan.
While I am not sure there is the fanaticism surrounding the sport that there was when I was younger, I am back engaged with hockey.
So I listened with interest to the plethora of trade rumours leading up to Monday’s league deadline.
This year, the time leading up to the deadline kept one busy trying to keep up with what might happen.
For the first time in a long while, several teams made it clear they were headed down the road of renewal, with the New York Rangers leading that parade.
But it was also clear Ottawa was going to shuffle their deck, Montreal was in the same mood, and, of course, perennial doormat teams in Buffalo and Arizona were expected to make moves, although there was very little cream to skim off the bottom teams in hockey.
Of course not all the rumoured deals happened, but it takes two to make a trade.
Still, this year, there seemed to be a number of eager buyers, as most teams you would consider serious Stanley Cup contenders got better, and a couple of teams made moves to at least get themselves in the Cup conversation.
The NHL is in a definite era of parity and that means there are a number of teams you can make reasonable arguments are capable of going the distance to a Stanley Cup win.
With a lot of teams legitimately in the hunt, adding a piece at the deadline made sense if it was the addition to help a team separate itself from the contending pack.
The notable deals actually started in mid-February when Ottawa sent defenceman Dion Phaneuf to the Los Angeles Kings. Phaneuf, once a top blueliner, is now solid veteran depth with some grit and some offence who fits in nicely in LA.
Philadelphia was in goaltender trouble due to injuries and they plucked Petr Mrazek from Detroit, a nice stop gap measure for a Flyer team actually making a move for a playoff spot.
The upstart New Jersey Devils, back in the hunt earlier than most would have expected, in part because of the play of Taylor Hall, who they picked Edmonton’s pocket to get, added a nice piece in Michael Grabner from the Rangers, and then added Patrick Maroon from Edmonton, making the Devils a pesky-to-play dark horse in the east.
Pittsburgh showed they want a third straight Cup as the grabbed Derick Brassard from Ottawa, a near perfect fit for the talented Penguin forward corps.
Boston has been incredibly hot, emerging as a real contender, so they sent a package of five players and draft choices to the Rangers for Rick Nash, arguably the player with the greatest upside. However, five players for a player who might not wear a Bruin jersey farther than round on of the playoffs may prove steep.
Upstart Las Vegas added Tomas Tatar from Detroit, a nice veteran pick-up.
San Jose grabbed Evander Kane who could be a help, or a distraction, depending on how things go for the now former Sabre.
Nashville tinkered by adding, most notably, Mark Letestu from Edmonton.
Toronto has been in need of defence all year, and they got a bit of an upgrade in the sense of a forward who is solid on the defender side of the game in picking up Tomas Plekanec from Montreal. As a Leaf fan, I don’t mind this move, especially with Auston Matthews having a shoulder issue. However, failing to acquire a rearguard is unforgiveable, especially when the Rangers had defenceman Ryan McDonagh available. That McDonagh ended up on TO’s rival
Tampa Bay makes the Leafs non-move even worse.
Winnipeg, my number one favourite team these days, made maybe the most startling move getting Paul Stastny out of St. Louis. Adding defenceman Joe Morrow from Montreal gives them some security on the blueline. Stastny is a rental, but he should fit in with Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers to create a dynamic offensive trio into the playoffs.
So the winners as the deadline passed have to be Tampa and Boston out east, favoured before the deadline, with the Devils intriguing now, too.
The Jets may have pulled ahead in the west, although Vegas and Nashville are certainly still in the mix.
