With the NHL trade deadline having passed, I thought it would be a fun exercise to look at each team in the North Division’s moves at said deadline and say a few words about how those moves (or lack of) will affect that given team going forward.
Calgary Flames
In – F Emil Heineman, 2022 second-round pick (FLA), 2022 third-round pick (TOR)
Out – F Sam Bennett, G David Rittich, 2022 sixth-round pick
BLH’s Thoughts: Geez, here I thought Sam Bennett was going to be with the Flames longer than Johnny Gaudreau. The Flames did quite well getting a better haul for Bennett than the Sabres did for Taylor Hall. Heineman has the potential to be a middle-six forward who can help out on the penalty kill and contribute to the scoresheet thanks to his elite shot.
I never thought that Rittich would even get into a game for Toronto but alas he was in the net for them last night. I watched a bit of that game and he made some really nice saves in tight but ultimately couldn’t make the last save of the night and ended up the losing goalie. He’ll be a fine no.2 or no.3 but if I were the Maple Leafs, I would hope I didn’t have to use him that much.
Two second round picks in a beauty of a draft in 2022 is real decent business for Flames GM Brad Treliving. Now the Flames have five picks in the first three rounds for that draft.
I’ll give the Flames a pass.
Edmonton Oilers
In – D Dmitry Kulikov
Out – conditional 2022 fourth-round pick
BLH’s Thoughts: The Oilers didn’t get their top-six LW or their 3rd line right-shot faceoff specialist but they did get a very solid left-handed defenseman which I think was the right position to prioritize because of Edmonton’s depth at forward. The Oilers now have five good-to-very good defenseman heading into the post-season and they were already decreasing their 5×5 GA as it was, adding a shutdown blueliner like Kulikov should only help that even more.
The Oilers get a pass (barely).
Montreal Canadiens
In – F Eric Staal, D Jon Merrill, D Erik Gustafsson
Out – F Hayden Verbeek, 2021 third-round pick, two 2021 fifth-round picks, 2022 seventh-round pick
BLH’s Thoughts: Considering the remote chance at making the NHL that the five pieces Montreal traded away to increase its depth, Marc Bergevin did an excellent job of getting value in the form of proper NHL players for his playoff run. That said, I don’t know if any of the players they brought in will move the needle for them in any meaningful way as the success of this team will come down to the health and form of its goaltending.
The Habs get a pass because you can never have enough defensemen in the post-season.
Ottawa Senators
In – F Ryan Dzingel, F Michael Amadio, D Brandon Fortunato, 2022 third-round pick (BOS), 2022 seventh-round pick (NYI), 2023 seventh-round pick (NSH)
Out – D Mike Reilly, D Erik Gudbranson, D Braydon Coburn, F Cedric Paquette, F Alex Galchenyuk, D Christian Wolanin
BLH’s Thoughts: Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of what Ottawa did. The Amadio deal was a decent move and to get that third rounder in 2022 will be handy, but they should’ve started to make some more progress on their rebuild. Picks in the seventh round will most likely never see the NHL and their value really isn’t there for trade. Grabbing Victor Mete on waivers was a very solid move. I can’t believe the Habs couldn’t trade him.
The Senators get a pass simply due to the fact that they moved a number of contracts and thus opened up more cap space.
Toronto Maple Leafs
In – F Nick Foligno, G David Rittich, D Ben Hutton, F Alex Galchenyuk, F Riley Nash, F Stefan Noesen, F Antti Suomela, G Veini Vehvilainen
Out – F Alexander Barabanov, D Mikko Lehtonen, D David Warsofsky, F Yegor Korshkov, 2021 first-round pick, 2022 third-round pick, 2021 fourth-round pick, 2022 fourth-round pick, 2022 fifth-round pick, conditional 2022 seventh-round pick
BLH’s Thoughts: A lot of moves that might ultimately be for naught. Nick Foligno should help the wheels from falling off but Hutton, Rittich, and Nash I don’t see making a dent for this team. Galchenyuk has been a glorious pickup as he’s seemed to have regained some confidence playing alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
The players Dubas traded away were inconsequential. They were never going to make an impact for Toronto and I reckon they were brought in as trade deadline fodder anyhow. Although I did think that Lehtonen would do better than he did and I was a little bit surprised that they traded him for Vehvilainen.
I watched Toronto play the Flames last night and Calgary gave them all they could handle, just as the Sens have done all year. This is a team that’s supposedly been built to be able to handle the rigors of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and I’ve yet to be convinced they can do that.
Toronto gets a fail because I feel like they overspent on fringe NHLers that they didn’t need.
Vancouver Canucks
In – F Matthew Highmore, D Madison Bowey, 2021 fifth-round pick (CHI), 2021 sixth-round pick (WPG)
Out – D Jordie Benn, F Adam Gaudette, 2021 fourth-round pick
BLH’s Thoughts: Either the Canucks were asking too much for their UFAs like Brandon Sutter and Alex Edler or the market cooled on them hard since they were hit hard from COVID. Either way, this team missed out on a massive opportunity to get something for the players that are set to walk for nothing in the off-season. I’d be shocked if Jim Benning was this team’s GM next season because he’s had a horrid time of it recently.
Vancouver gets a fail for over-valuing their UFAs and taking advantage of the opportunity.
Winnipeg Jets
In – D Jordie Benn
Out – 2021 sixth-round pick
BLH’s Thoughts: Good Lord did Winnipeg screw the pooch this year. Oilers fans talk about Holland wasting the prime years of McDavid and Draisaitl this year, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff needed to bring in a top-four defenseman and he failed to do that at a time when his best players’ windows are slowly closing. Blake Wheeler and Paul Stastny aren’t going to play forever…
The big question is, why? My theory is that every GM in the league new what he needed and asked for the moon and he simply couldn’t do it.
Winnipeg gets a big fat FAIL because they shit the bed at the worst time. Jordie Benn isn’t going to cut it. Then again, how good was Luke Schenn when called upon last year for Tampa?…
I might be a homer here but I still think that the Oilers can make it to the conference final. I know Bob Stauffer (630CHED) reckons the Canadiens will beat the Maple Leafs should they meet in the playoffs because Montreal’s goaltending trumps anything Toronto has. I’m just not that impressed with any of the team’s moves that are competing for the crown in the North and Edmonton still has Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The team was 22-9-2 without Dmitri Kulikov, how much better will they be with him?
Now, we wait.
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