Though other possibilities certainly existed, the most likely outcome from the 2019 trade deadline has been ‘mostly nothing’ for some time now since the team climbed up into playoff position.
Theoretically, the biggest decision was whether to keep or trade impending free agent Micheal Ferland. But with the team playing well and in the thick of the playoff hunt, the probability of him being traded has been diminishing for a couple weeks now. The possibility also existed for the Hurricanes to pull off one last big trade that brought forward scoring help in return for a top 4 defenseman. Though that still might occur, it makes sense to ride current chemistry, roster and rhythm through the end of the season and then reevaluate during the off-season.
My 2 cents on doing nothing
While it does concern me that some of the teams that the Hurricanes are battling for playoff position with added reinforcements, I am fine with the Hurricanes standing pat. First, I do not think the time is now to go all in. Second, I do not think the Hurricanes would really benefit from adding depth for inexpensive trade costs. Third, the team is playing well right now such that not messing with the chemistry and mojo is a legitimate strategy not just an excuse.
A minor (league) move
The Hurricanes did make two separate 1 for 0 moves with the Florida Panthers. The Hurricanes traded Cliff Pu of Jeff Skinner trade notoriety to Florida for future considerations. Pu got off to a slow start in Charlotte and was eventually sent to the ECHL. For whatever reason, he failed to launch in the Hurricanes organization, and for whatever other reason, the team made a quick decision to move on basically giving him away for nothing.
In a separate move (which seems odd), the Hurricanes did another deal with Florida receiving 26-year old AHL forward Tomas Jurco in return for future considerations. The move belatedly back fills the slot vacated when Greg McKegg moved up to the NHL level. The move is intended to add veteran AHL help at center for the Checkers stretch run and playoffs. Ironically, Greg McKegg was acquired in a very similar deal last year at the trade deadline. Fast forward a year and the AHL addition is contributing at the NHL level.
Deals I might steal
The one thing that jumps out to me from the recent activity is pretty reasonable prices for second tier players who would definitely improve the Hurricanes’ forward ranks and potentially boost scoring.
Versatile two-way forward Marcus Johansson cost the Bruins only second and fourth round picks.
Scoring wing Gustav Nyquist cost the Sharks only a second round pick plus a third round pick that becomes a second-rounder if the Sharks reach the Stanley Cup Finals.
Mats Zuccarello cost the Stars a second round pick and a third round pick. (Both could become first-round picks, the first if the Stars win two rounds in the playoffs and the second if the Stars re-sign him.)
And from the bargain bin, Derick Brassard cost the Avalanche only a third round pick.
To be clear, the Hurricanes might not have had an option on any of these deals, but they do illustrate that good second-line-ish type help was available for a pretty reasonable price.
I really like Zuccarello at that price. I think he could be a Mark Recchi type add that scores, makes the middle of the forward group better and just makes any team harder to play against. Nyquist could have been a nice scoring addition. And Brassard is probably the biggest wild card of the group after having a ‘meh’ 2018-19 season so far, but for a mere third round pick the cost and risk were low.
The Blue Jackets
For me, the single biggest impact on the Hurricanes playoff chances was the activity and lack of activity for the Blue Jackets. Only a couple weeks ago, one line of thought that the Blue Jackets mostly blowing things up early and collecting a good return on Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin. Instead, Columbus did exactly the opposite. The more or less cleaned the cupboard on 2019 draft picks and went all in on the 2018-19 season. Matt Duchene could arguably be the biggest trade deadline addition this year, and he is a very good upgrade for a Columbus team that has good depth but is light on true top-end scorers. Ryan Dzingel is another quality addition, and the Blue Jackets added depth in goalie Keith Kinkaid and Adam McQuaid. A couple weeks ago, my hope was that the Blue Jackets would trade their two stars and then fade down the stretch. At least in terms of personnel, Columbus added a huge boost for the stretch run.
The rest of the competition
The rest of the wild card competition was somewhat quieter but did add. Pittsburgh made its big move awhile back adding Nick Bugstad. Today the Pens also added depth for the blue line in Erik Gudbranson and Chris Wideman.
Similarly, Montreal added depth in the form of Dale Weise, Jordan Weal and Nate Thompson.
The Hurricanes internal additions
As I said previously, the big Hurricanes addition is Jordan Staal who just returned from injury. Injected into a lineup that was already winning, hopefully he fits back in neatly and makes the team even better. The decision to keep Micheal Ferland also makes the team deeper especially scoring-wise. Finally and most significantly, though it technically does not really fit in the trade deadline window, the team did make a huge and so far incredibly successful trade when adding Nino Niederreiter for Victor Rask. So despite being quiet on February 25, the team has improved on multiple fronts in recent times.
Back to business
Personnel obviously matters, but at the end of the day the results, especially this time of year, come from on-ice results. The Hurricanes have been stellar in that regard for some time now and significantly have been better than each of the competitors profiled above. With the whirlwind of trades over, the team returns to the ice on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings.
What say you fellow Caniacs?
1) Were you disappointed that the team did not make an NHL-level trade on Monday? Or were you content to ride the winning group from January and February?
2) Of the deals that happened including those that I noted above, which would you steal if you could?
3) What do you make of the competition’s moves, especially the aggressive all-in play by Columbus?
Go Canes!
1. I would only be disappointed if there was an offer on the table that would have improved our top 6 and/or solidified goaltending the next 3-4 years but was not accepted based on the team’s recent stretch. Riding the existing group can get the team to the playoffs, but it will be tough.
2. Nyquist maybe, but overall not thrilled with any of the above deals. I think Boston overpaid for Johansson. PIT added slow depth defenseman. And Zuccarello was hurt 1st game as a Star (though would have been a good pickup).
3. CBJ are boldly nuts. I can understand going for it before Panarin and Bobo hit UFA. Even if they extend Duchene or Dzingel, not having Panarin and Bobo next year will prove difficult. And with a cupboard of few picks to show.
1. I am pretty content with sitting tight, but I would have liked to add one more scoring forward.
2. If I were to pick a deal it would be Nyquist, I think he suffered from being on a bad team and could turn out to be an absolute bargain. Ideally the CAnes would’ve made a play for stone, Vegas had to give up a good deal of prospects and picks to get him but they have a top tier winger for years to come now and I think the cAnes could’ve matched their offer (of course, assuming Stone would’ve been interested in playing in Carolina, which is never a given). I’ve always been a fan of MZ, ever since I saw Norway play at the winter Olympics. I told my wife that an NHL team would be smart and take a chance on this kid, it turned out to be the Rangers. Too bad he got injured in his first game with dallas and is potentially out for the rest of the year.
3. Columbus are going all in. I like seeing that, the NHL is about winning, it’s not about making the playoffs year after year or stockpiling prospects for future. People remember who won the cup, everything else is unimportant. Columbus has been close for years and given their crop of UFA players this is their one chance to go all in. If the canes don’t make the playoffs I will be cheering for Columbus.
Pit keeps making questionable decisions by signing subpar D men on expensive contracts. JR is busy ruining a team (or maybe it’s just the natural progress from winning, in a salary capped league all teams have their natural ups and downs, but JR’s decisions e.g. to sign Jack Johnson to a fairly pricy contract makes no sense to most people). The Canes have two games against the Pens, they can easily jump above them in the standings and thus earn a playoff birth.
1. I was a little surprised and a bit disappointed that we did not make a hockey trade to transform our surplus in D to some additional scoring. Going forward Faulk is, at best, an extended rental (a la Skinner) in the trade market. I would have thought we could have picked up with equivalent term – or some additional term by adding a prospect/pick. I really thought that was how we were going to do it.
2. Just in general I was struck by the quality of player that could be had for a 2nd or 3rd rounder. I suppose Ferland was being overvalued for a 1st-round pick and a prospect although Waddell acknowledged that comversations for Ferland continued until about 10 minutes before the deadline.
3. A bold move by CBJ – and the right move for the fanbase, who are playoff and playoff success (even just one round!), and probably players down the road who saw CBJ O/M make a play like this. They will sort out next year when next year nut they will have a lot of salary cap to work with. With Panarin and Bob set to go, if they were ever going to roll the dice this is it. Everything else in the east looked pretty minor – although runnin Mantour with Dahlin on the blue line is interesting for BUF.
Yeah, I forgot trading for Hoffman, that’ hopefully something the Canes at least tried to do.
I think he would have presented a scoring upgrade and his style of play meshes with the team.
We’ll have to see what the summer brings. This is the best season in 10 years, I am really happy about that, this squad is up and coming, but I think to win it all they have to make minor adjustments to balance the D and forwards over the offseason.
I think Canes made the smart move – especially if this means a summer trade to bring in a top-6 forward who can score goals (esp looking at Toronto).
I’m very curious to see how things turn out in Columbus. I’m surprised by all the people praising the moves, because this could be absolutely devastating to the franchise for years to come. If they win the Cup or get to the finals, then arguably this a gamble that pays off in the short run. Maybe they get Duchene to re-sign and can pick up some draft picks by trading away rights to Bob and Panarin before trade deadline. But what if they lose in 1st or 2nd rd? Hell, anything but a Cup Final appearance would be disappointing. AND they’re still on the playoff bubble.
I was relieved we didn’t make any moves yesterday if they would have resembled any of the moves made by any of the others. We aren’t ready to move all-in and almost all the deals wouldn’t have moved the needle much for us. There really weren’t any deals I would have stolen.
The Granlund-Fiala trade is interesting only because it was a real hockey trade; we tried to do something like that – GMDW said they made an offer that included a top prospect that was turned down – but these things are tough to do.
I admire what CBJ did. Counter-intuitive. In fact, it gives them more time to sell Panarin and Bobs on why they should consider sticking around: they now have what appears to be an elite team. I think we’re now really playing beat out either MTL or PIT for one of the two Wild Card spots.
I know they are PIT and seem to rally every year, but I really think they are in real trouble.
1. Complainiacs: We did nothing to improve our team!
Me: We turned Victor Rask into Nino Niderreiter, and the team went on a tear.
2. I would steal an uninjured Zuc.
3. Pitt got worse. Columbus is all in on this year. Next year they have a 3rd and 7th in the draft, and Bob, the Breadman,Duchene, and Dzingel may walk , so they better win The Cup this year.
Insaniacs – we should’ve traded for Stone 😉
Maintainiacs – we should’ve traded Ferland for picks
In the enjoying the moment category. The Canes currently sit in a playoff position with the chance to improve their positioning tonight. My superstitiousness prevents me from saying any more other than, “Go Jerks Go!!!”