Final deadline deal thoughts

[yave1964]

Full of sound and fury signifying nothing comes to mind about this trade deadline, I posted up in my recliner and chased the family away for the most part and settled in to not a lot of anything. Final thoughts on the deadline.

 

The Avalanche held onto both Duchene and Landeskog surely because they knew they could finish last either with or without them so without a return they were happy with they decided to wait until the summer. Now nobody will mention the Avs again this year.

 

 Excepting this-The Kings traded for Iginla to give him a chance to fight one more time for a Stanley Cup-provided they make the playoffs.

 

Parenteau to the Predators for a 6th rounder may have been the steal of the day, he is still sneaky good on offense when used right and the Predators need his middle six ability.

 

Vanek to the Panthers, never saw that one coming and at the cost of only a third rounder too. Everyone healthy and adding Vanek Cats may make some noise.

 

Montreal did not make the big splash but improved their size and bottom six with Dwight King Andreas Martinsen and Steve Ott and the addition of Jordie Benn and Brandon Davidson are depth moves to the back end to help in the playoffs as injuries pile up as teams move on from round to round. Under the radar, not sexy but solid moves when taken as a whole.

 

 Filpulla to the Flyers gets them the 2C they have desperately needed for literally years. Skilled and fast from his days in Detroit I can tell you he can take over a game one night and be invisible for the next two but he can play. It is getting him to that has always been the question.

 

Streit to the Penguins another great depth move with all of the injuries on the back end.

 

None of the teams ISO a backup goalie did anything, Edmonton and Boston come to mind.

 

Lee Stempniak was not traded! After 6 teams in 3 years and being a playoff rental almost every year he will spend the whole year in Carolina. Vrbata remained in Arizona because he had a 'poison pill' clause put in his contract with escalating playoff bonuses with whatever team he would have been dealt to souring other GM's from going after him.

 

Surprised there were not more moves, expansion looming probably has everyone afraid of making that one big mistake.

 

 

[MadDevil]

I was hoping Parenteau would maybe land a 3rd or 4th rounder, but considering the Devils somehow got a 4th from Nashville for Fiddler earlier, I guess it kind of washes out.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

For my impulse deadline day thoughts, I will stick to the tops of each division...here goes...

 

I have been critical of the Habs for a few seasons now (oh who am I kidding, I am STILL gonna give them all kinds of crap.. ), but even I must say I am impressed by their depth moves and the fact they, over the course of the season, made themselves a bit tougher to play against with the moves they made.

 

Does that mean I think they are Stanley Cup bound?

Well, now, I can be a bit nutty, but I am not THAT far gone yet....hehe.

No...ultimately, timely and consistent scoring may still end up being a problem for this team, but with their additions to go along with the players they do have, perhaps winning gritty games by 2-1 or 3-2 counts may just be enough to give them a good run.

 

Staying in the East, the Capitals HAVE to be the odds on favorite to come out of the Conference (if not SC favorites).

IMO, they already were favorites this year, despite their slow start, but they had been playing much, much better getting to this point in the season and by adding a guy of the caliber of Kevin Shattenkirk, they simply added to their arsenal.

 

The team seems to have it all...scoring, defense, goaltending, toughness, speed, and playoff experience. They will be hard to beat.

Of course, judging by their moves, they really DO seem to be "all in" this year...and if they DON'T win it all.....well, then, ouch...dunno what for then in Washington...

 

Still though, that is for a future date, for the here and now, this is a very dangerous team and the road to the SC via the East will have to go through DC.

 

Out West, not as many splashy things going on.

Not surprising as the parity seems to be a bit more pronounced and teams don't want to do anything to upset their team balance too much.

 

Chicago, as always, will be a threat come the post season.

A well playing, talented, experienced and consistent team like them always are.

 

Minnesota seems to have risen from bottom tier playoff team to, gasp, dare I say it, favorites to come out of the West?

Hmm...maybe 'favorites' is too lofty, seeing as how they will have to deal with their own division first (still pretty tough overall, setting aside the putrid Avalanche), and possibly deal with the Cali teams from the Pacific, but the Wild certainly have made moves (and some NON moves) that sets them up pretty well to make a deep run this season.

 

The Pacific may be the most fun to watch as far as who may come out of it because although any of the Cali teams are usually picked to come out there, the Edmonton Oilers may have final say about that.

 

Ana, SJ, LA, and Edm did nothing of humongous impact as far as adding players, but the moves they did make were to help shore up possible weaknesses.

[ezlot76]

 Like what my Cats did. Getting Vanek for the third and a D-man that was never going to see the ice for Rowe again, well worth the risk even if we dont make playoffs(I think we squeek in) I think most teams did well in getting fair return for what they gave up. No real big deals, not surprised Colorado stayed put. Tampa had an interesting way to clear cap space. Dont really think balance of power got shifted really.