Into the Boards: Trade Deadline Frenzy
Hello, hockey fans! Welcome back to Into the Boards for a super special edition. Quick shout out to Vin for covering me (Scott) last week and writing all by himself while I traveled up to Canada for a vacation that involved watching my Islanders get their asses handed to them by the Maple Leafs at ACC.
The NHL trade deadline is fast approaching and the rumors are heating up. Patrick Eaves has already been traded to the Ducks as of this writing, so let’s take a look at what’s been happening in the standings and who else may be on the move.
BIG EAST
Panthers on the Prowl
Everyone’s eyes are currently focused on the epic battle going on in the Eastern conference for the second wild card spot. With the Rangers/Blue Jackets having a monopoly on both the first Wild Card spot and the last spot in the Metro, the Bruins, Islanders, Panthers, and Maple Leafs are fighting hard for one spot. The Islanders are holding onto the second spot for dear life, but the Bruins and the Florida Panthers are right on the doorstep looking to leapfrog them in the rankings. In their last 10 games played, the Panthers have a NHL best going of 8-2-0 (as of this writing). These key victories came mostly while playing on the west coast. The team showed promise when beating the first place San Jose Sharks in overtime and then continued to take down the Ducks, Kings, and Blues.
Many questioned how Florida would respond after a slow start to the season and eventual firing of former head coach Gerard Gallant. At this point, the Panthers are starting to put the pieces to their puzzle together and just in time to make things interesting. Two players come to mind when we looking into the Panthers recent success: Jonathan Huberdeau and James Reimer. Huberdeau suffered a lower-body injury in early October and missed over 50 games. Since his return on February 3rd, the skilled winger has scored 8 points in as many games. Starting goaltender Roberto Luongo has been the workhorse for the Panthers all season, but is showing his age and burning out in the second half of the season, all while trying to shake a lingering lower body injury. Giving Luongo some much needed rest is our second mentioned player, James Reimer. James was undefeated in his last five games before finally falling short to the Oilers on Wednesday. With only six weeks left in the regular season, every game counts moving forward where even a small losing skid can end your chances of a making a playoff run.
Will Lightning Strike?
Will lightning strike down in Tampa Bay just in time to make a run for the Wild Card? While anything is possible, I would say at this point it’s doubtful. The Lightning have been one of the better teams in the east in recent years, making it to the Stanley Cup Final in ‘14-15 and the Eastern Conference finals last year. This season has been a different story though. All season long, Tampa has been plagued with injuries. Superstar Steven Stamkos is still out since November when he suffered a severe lateral meniscus tear, but he has been skating and practicing with the team in full gear, so it’s possible he will return soon. We also learned this week that winger Ryan Callahan will be “out indefinitely” after undergoing his second surgical procedure on his hip this season and it is likely he will miss the remainder of the regular season. And lastly, Jonathan Drouin has been struggling with the flu for a few weeks at this point, and has not been skating with the team in an effort to get back to being healthy.
The Lightning are currently in 7th place and have 62 points and I believe it’s time for the team to cut its losses and make some moves to prepare for the 2017-18 season. It is rumored that Tampa Bay will being moving their starting goaltender in Ben Bishop before the trade deadline. I think it would be smart move on their part to get some prospects for their goaltender before losing him to free agency or in the expansion draft. Obviously we’re expecting some major transactions before the trade deadline, so we’ll be sure to keep you updated on the whereabouts of big Ben Bishop and the other big names that are on the trading block.
OUT WEST
The Matt Duchene Sweepstakes
It’s that special time of year again where our eyes are glued to Twitter to stay up to date on the latest ridiculous trade rumors. The trade deadline is this Wednesday, March 1st at 3:00pm, and with that timetable looming, we can expect to see all 30 teams start to make some moves. While there aren’t a tremendous amount of names floating around, there is one that has been making quite a splash: Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene.
Let’s face it Avalanche fans- times are tough. The Avalanche stink worse than any team I can remember in the last decade, so at this point have to be sellers at the deadline. Despite their dismal performance, the Avs do a have a few offensive weapons, and the name on the hot seat has been none other than 2009 3rd overall pick Matt Duchene. Duchene carries a $6 million cap hit and is signed through the 2018-19 season, making him a hell of a hot commodity. So who is involved?
Well, just about every team that can afford him. The names I’ve heard thrown around the most though are Ottawa, Montreal, and the New York Islanders, all of whom could certainly use a boost at the center position, and why not pay out for Duchene? He isn’t a rental and will give you 2 full seasons plus the rest of this season with the chance to negotiate further, so it honestly makes a whole lot of sense for just about any team to perhaps overpay a bit for him because of the chance to re-sign him through the rest of his prime. While historically the Islanders have never been the type of team to make a splash for a big name like their crosstown rivals, their new owners have made it clear that they intend to spend big and put the Isles back on the map. The idea of having Tavares/Duchene down the middle as the top two centers is certainly enticing and would likely help the Islanders case in re-signing Tavares. That being said, this all rides on the fact that Joe Sakic won’t tell every team to kick rocks and instead hold onto Duchene until the offseason. Beware though Mr. Sakic- every passing day could see Duchene’s value creep down with less and less term left on his contract.
The West is Wide Open
Instead of zeroing in on a specific team, I (Scott) wanted to stick to the trade deadline theme here in relation to the parity of the Western Conference (and really the entire NHL). The deadline often has fans scratching their heads about whether their favorite teams will be buyers or sellers, but the lack of a pull-away team in the west this year has made the deadline all the more interesting.
This season has seen two teams trending in opposite directions to create an interesting dynamic, particularly in the Central Division. The ever-dominant Chicago Blackhawks are showing signs weakness, implying that perhaps they aren’t the powerhouse that they once were. On the opposite hand is the resurgence of the Minnesota Wild under new head coach Bruce Boudreau. This has created a competitive situation in the Central and makes it so no one team is absolutely dominating.
An even tighter situation exists in the Pacific as the top 3 spots are separated by only 3 points as of this writing, so it leads me to think that most of these teams currently occupying a divisional playoff spot may want to be buyers because a few small additions could be enough to push your team from a fringe team to one that could win a round, two rounds, or even further. Now, that’s not to say that I think that the Calgary Flames should go balls-in as buyers just to narrowly make the playoffs and get bounced in the first round, but teams like Edmonton may want to take a look at the market to bolster up on defense and be a more effective squad for playoff style hockey.
On the outside looking in are the Vancouver Canucks who have won enough to make their season interesting, but it will almost definitely be too little too late. The Canucks should certainly be sellers and see if the Sedin’s will waive their no-move clauses (even if a deal cannot get done until the offseason) and see if they can muster up a respectable return. Sorry to our Vancouver readers, but unfortunately the Sedin window has long since closed and it’s time to tear it down fast so the rebuild can go into effect as soon as possible.
Top Stars:
V: Captain John Tavares is getting my Top Star for this week. Johnny Christ Superstar went off this last week and has the praise of his fantasy owners all around the world. John lit up the stat sheet this week with 2 goals, 2 assists, a +4 ranking, and power play and short handed point, and a game winning goal against the New Jersey Devils. The Islanders first line has been hot since the new year started and JT has been leading the way.
S: As the Calder Trophy race is heating up, I got to give this week’s Player of the Week to Patrik Laine. Laine has put up 7 goals and 3 assists for 10 points in his last 5 games. Laine is the best pure goal scorer I have seen enter the league since Alexander Ovechkin, and if he keeps up this pace, it’ll be tough for Auston Matthews to catch him in the Calder race.
Top Plays:
V: My top play goes to Freddie Andersen of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Even though the Leafs lost to the Rangers in the shootout, he gave a solid effort, shutting out the Rangers until late in the 3rd period. Check out this killer save as Andersen robs Grabner of a wide open net with just the tip of his toe. Freddie has a very bright future playing under Coach Babcock in Toronto and this is just a taste of what he can do between the pipes.
S: I’m going to go with a never-give-up shift by Jonathan Drouin that resulted in a game winning OT goal. Unfortunately, the NHL’s video archive doesn’t have the entire shift, but watch here as Drouin tries to make a move around Nieto only to lose the puck, but he sticks with it to strip Nieto to once again regain control of the puck and make several dazzling moves before backhanding it past Calvin Pickard and winning the game for Tampa. Unbelievably talented kid.
***Hey ITB readers, Scott here. Just dropping a note to tell you all that Cryptodira will be playing this year’s New England Metal and Hardcore Fest on Friday, April 21st at The Palladium in Worcester, MA. Come hang out and talk to me about playoff hockey to get a break from all the loud music. Flier is below!
