NHL Trade Deadline Comes and Goes Without Much Excitement
The NHL trade deadline has now come and gone. The 11th hour trades and deals did not transpire like expected and it can only be described as a big letdown.
Players such as Jonathan Drouin, Dan Hamihuis and Loui Eriksson along with others who had been rumored to be changing uniforms remained where they were.
The New York Islanders hit the February 29 trade deadline by losing to Edmonton, and did little to sooth the Islanders’ fans fears by adding just one player Shane Prince a youngster at wing.
With Kyle Okposo the team’s power forward expected to leave this summer as a free agent, the lack of movement by the Islanders was a huge disappointment for the fans.
Fans of the Minnesota Wild will also be unhappy as the club continues to battle back into the postseason picture. They still are suspect down the middle. The only deal was a last minute one for David Jones, who will also be a free agent at the end of the season.
Don Sweeney the general manager for the Boston Bruins was once again on the hot seat at this trade deadline. The Bruins made two trades for a defender and forward but let go of a large number of their future picks.
St. Louis remained quiet during the trade deadline. The deal has a tough salary cap and injuries to worry about.
Nashville was quiet as well although they did acquire Ryan Johansen during the early part of January.
Washington added Daniel Winnick and Mike Weber in exchange for Brooks Laich.
Tampa Bay could not find any deal that was good for them and that means Jonathan Drouin remained with the Lightning.
Colorado will be under the microscope for its Mikkel Boedker acquisition as their forward corps are already big and fast and rightfully so.
However, the Avalanche needs to be strong along the blue line and Eric Gelinas picked up from the Devils will be a strong addition.
The hottest team in the NHL, the Anaheim Ducks have won eight straight and added Buffalo’s Jamie McGinn. The Ducks have a strong defensive corps, but with McGinn up front, they did not have to trade away any defensive depth.
Anaheim received Brandon Pirri as well from Florida and traded Patrick Maroon to the Oilers.
Los Angeles added Kris Versteeg to add to their offense. The blue line remains a worry for Los Angeles and they are no longer looked at as a lock to win their division.
