Picks appear slim, one week before the 2024 NHL trade deadline. The best defenseman on the market, Chris Tanev, The deal has already been done To the smart stars of Dallas.
Between injuries and an already weak right-handed defense corps, the Stars did a great job of addressing their specific and immediate needs right out of the trade deadline gate.
Often times, we look at the post-season trade deadline and see some camps. There is the team that adds the best players available regardless of need (Rangers); There is the team that adds depth beyond the role and makes management look like geniuses (Lightning); There's the team that does 14 random, cheap things (the Hurricanes); There's the team that everyone thought got a no-brainer trade at the deadline that ended up making little impact (Rick Nash to the Bruins immediately comes to mind).
All of these things are interesting in their own right, but there's something extra satisfying about a team simply meeting a pressing need in a straightforward, sensible way. You got that with Mattias Ekholm and the Oilers last season, and there's a good chance the Stars will get that description this time around.
But that's easy to say when they're the only ones who have made a big trade near the deadline so far. Let's take a look at some teams with pressing needs and how they can handle their deadlines.
I don't think the Boston Bruins need (or can) do anything wild for a price that makes sense (either on the ice or financially), but I agree with president Cam Neely, who He told Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic: “Having another strong defender would be good. You can always use help on offense.”
When you evaluate these Bruins, you have to look at what went wrong during their last playoff run above all else. On the list: uncharacteristically weak goalkeeping, a surprisingly good opponent, a painful first-line midfield, turnovers and perhaps some difficulty adapting to adversity.
What do you do about it? You're not automatically trading a goaltender who has a much larger sample size of success than the handful of games he hasn't, but you're also recognizing that he (Linus Ullmark) is one of your most useful assets in having a solid defender or more attacking player. Goaltending is the Bruins' biggest strength because of the Ullmark-Jeremy Swayman tandem, and it's a very difficult task because messing with that means trouble — but Swayman might be fine on his own.
Especially considering what he's gone for, Tanev would have been a great “tough” defensive acquisition, and unless the Bruins come off the board, it's hard to believe anyone considered available — Noah Hanifin, Sean Walker, Matt Dumba — really addresses that. Need.
As for the quarterback position, the Bruins have done surprisingly well after barely replacing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, but you still see some lapses — especially after the All-Star break.
Anyway, the Bruins have less than $1 million in cap space to outsource talent, so they'll have to dramatically improve the pot with an active portion of their roster. Since they're tied for second in the Eastern Conference, I'm not sure messing with the roster is worth it.
Well, after this deadline, I never want to hear another Noah Hanifin trade rumor in my life. It feels like year after year throughout our entire lives we've been on the trading block. I couldn't be more sick of hearing that, and I wonder how sick he is of it.
He's an attacking defenseman who has scored 10 goals three times (including a career-high 11 this season) and has topped 40 points once in his nine-season career, during that full-team career year in Calgary.
He's not a bad player, an interesting hybrid at 6'3″ with the physicality of someone who can score points, but I fear we're over-inflating his impact because he's constantly on the trading block.
Can you tell I really needed to get that off my chest? moving forward. At this point, with Hanifin dangling, and with the Flames making their presence known by trading Tanev, Calgary is looking to sell and look for leverage with Hanifin. Especially after not getting a first-round pick or one of Dallas' top three prospects for Tanev, you'd think Calgary would be looking for Hannifin's first and top prospect. Hopefully, for them, no buyers will read this rant.
Stop me if you've heard this before: The Hurricanes could certainly use more scoring depth at the deadline.
Don “We love our group” Waddell He said Thursday Goalkeeper Freddie Andersen will return and play with the team next week. His health is the main priority, and it's great to see him making a full recovery. This is a huge boost for Kane's side, especially since they won't be relying solely on him with Pyotr Kochetkov returning from injury.
So, for once, it wasn't a case of 'meh' in goal and 'meh' in scoring depth. There is only one monster to tame. And it's not like the Kanes had much trouble scoring this regular season, but they're big now, and their problems with failing to win a single Eastern Conference title the last few years have largely come from a lack of scoring.
They work with approx $1.3 million in projected cap space, Andrei Svechnikov is there again, so I'm not sure if they need to do or can do anything huge. I'll also never understand trading Martin Nečas in an attempt to get scoring depth. Like, it's scoring depth. He has 18 goals and 42 points in 54 games and is worth $3 million and you want to trade him? Not smart!
Unless…a Jake Guentzel trade is in the works. I can see Nečas moving to his natural center position amid the Penguins' semi-rebuilding if the Hurricanes are willing to send huge amounts. But they usually don't want to do that, so I don't see this intra-department trade happening.
Riley Smith also looks like someone who could make an impact in the Hurricanes' lineup, however Hit the $5 million cap It's kind of terrible and not particularly doable for the Canes.
The takeover of Anthony Duclair might succeed if the Keane family surrenders one of their potential clients, who are currently touring the world with There is no AHL affiliate, might I add.
Connor McDavid is in the age of assists, and who are we to deny him another winger to join him? The Edmonton Oilers will receive about $2 million Cover space At the deadline, so they have a few options — especially if they get a trade like Tanev who keeps 75 percent.
Could Jake Guentzel be 50 percent or so on the table? The Oilers would immediately have to give up a first-round pick just to get Guentzel, and that will get even more intense with the retention.
It depends on where the Penguins want to go with all this. It would be too bad if Guentzel was traded to a non-contender, but I guess that's entertainment, baby. And if you're trading one of your best assets, you'll be asking for a wide range of choices and prospects, right?
Anyway, I would love for the Oilers to trade for Guentzel, and how much fun would it be for him to spend his entire career alongside Crosby, then play alongside McDavid or Leon Draisaitl?
Somehow, Pavel Buchnevich only costs $200,000 less than Guentzel, so he's not exactly your second-best value deal. But maybe they can get more player retention and less drama from the Buchnevich deal.
Do we think they will? Do we think the Devils will select Jacob Markstrom or Josi Saros at the deadline?
As it stands, New Jersey is one point and six points behind Tampa with three games in hand for second place in the East. That would be great because I really wouldn't blame management for going either way. Then you have the added wild card of Barry Trotz being the general manager of the Predators – how will he handle the Saros situation?
The problem with the quest to acquire a goaltender at the deadline is that none of the teams selling the top two goaltenders available can use a Tyler Toffoli type. The Bruins' move for Linus Ullmark could be the Devils' only hope of landing the goalie they've been searching for for some time.
Doesn't Frank Vatrano feel like he's just a guy who plays for the Rangers? Don't people need a social media series “The Adventures of Vatrano and Vincent Truschick” where they find the best Italian food in New York City?
Adding Vatrano to the Rangers is an old habit for general manager Chris Drury. They traded for him two years ago, and the 29-year-old has been a good matchup for Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.
Vatrano kind of fits the bill with the Rangers, but you want to make sure you don't expect the career numbers he's putting up now. He's getting more minutes and freedom than he ever did with the Ducks, and the Rangers are too stacked to give him that amount of ice time. I still want it because of the feelings.
Look, how many times have we all immediately exaggerated about the first big move at the trade deadline (or any, really)? I don't want to praise Tanev as the best defenseman to ever live, but he's great, inexpensive and was the best of the few options as far as we know at this deadline.
Let's give Leafs general manager Brad Treliving some credit for handling the situation by landing Ilya Lyubushkin of Ducks As a defensive cover in question. The structure of the deal also gives Treliving some flexibility to add defensive depth. But the numbers aren't promising if you take a look at Boosh's basic stats.
So it's hard to see the Leafs missing Tanev if you're a Toronto fan.
As much as I don't like Hanifin's exaggerations, his specific skills as a hybrid big body and scoring defenseman could fit into the Leafs' system well. I like Sean Walker and Alexandre Carrier a lot as players, but I fear they are both too young for the reasonable resolve the Leafs are aiming to acquire.
It's a moot point, and of course, you can't blame them for John Klingberg's injury, but perhaps the Leafs should have allocated their new resolve more on the back end than the front end when they made their statement last season.
I want to live in a world where Jake Guentzel is the villain. He's known as a nice guy from Minnesota who has done nothing for the Penguins except score goals and be good, and to the untrained eye, he lives in Sidney Crosby's shadow.
Imagine what a chip on the shoulder could do to him. Jake, do I have the team? And the coach for you…
The Golden Knights have enough cap space to acquire Guentzel with Mark Stone on long-term injured reserve due Ruptured spleen. It's Vegas. Why don't you go all in?
Salary cap information via Cap Friendly.
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”