There's been a lot of movement on the trade front and the most recent involves the Rangers as they have acquired defenseman Brendan Smith from Detroit. I will have more on Smith in a separate post. First we will take a look at deals involving Eastern Conference teams that will have a major impact on the Blueshirts post-season prospects. Perhaps the biggest move so far was the Washington Capitals acquiring Kevin Shattenkirk from the St. Louis Blues. Let's look at the deals.
Shattenkirk to Washington is the biggest deal so far. There has been some speculation about why the Capitals added him, giving them a surplus of righthanded defensemen. I have to believe that there were several teams in on the Shattenkirk sweepstakes and one of them had to be New York. By acquiring him, the biggest future impact will be on the teams that DIDN'T get him. There's no doubt that if the Rangers had been able to acquire him, he could have been a major piece of the puzzle that Jeff Gorton is putting together this season and would have made the Rangers a team to be feared in the playoffs. When Shattenkirk turned down a sign and trade with Tampa, it was clear that he was determined to test free agency...so the Blues had no choice but to make deal him. The theory that all Ranger fans are ascribing to is that Shattenkirk, a Westchester County native and lifelong Ranger fan, was not just determined to become a free agent, but is also destined to sign with New York, hopefully at a modest discount. But that is about 2017-18...not this season. The odd thing is what Washington gave up. They surrendered a first round pick this year, a conditional #2 pick next year, a so-so prospect and a career minor league forward. The draft picks are obviously the key to the deal, but they are going to be pretty low in the order due to the Caps league best record. As for the goalie acquired by the Capitals, other than the fact that he spells his name strangely (Pheonix) and that he was born in North Pole, Alaska, he is strictly a depth acquisition. As I said, it was keeping Shattenkirk away from NY, Boston or Pittsburgh that was key for Washington.
Alex Burrows was traded from Vancouver to Ottawa as the Senators look for more grit. Ranger fans are breathing a sigh of relief as there was fear that the Blueshirts would try to acquire Burrows, a favorite of Alain Vigneault from his days as Canucks coach. Ottawa fans are apoplectic over this deal a they gave up a Swedish prospect who has been compared to Filip Forsberg. To make matters worse for them, the Sens promptly signed the 35 year old Burrows to a two year contract extension. Chalk this one up to common sense by Jeff Gorton to NOT do this deal.
Montreal and Dallas exchanged defensemen. Montreal got Jordie Benn (Jamie's older brother) in exchange for Greg Pateryn, a third pair defenseman and a 4th round pick. Not much to say about this deal except that Montreal got a little better on the backline with Benn, who is not a UFA after the season.
The Maple Leafs showed that they are all-in on the post season with their acquisition of Brian Boyle from Tampa. The former Ranger is an UFA after the season, so Tampa was fortunate to get a second round pick and a minor league forward for a versatile center who is defensively responsible, good at faceoffs and playoff experienced. He's just what Toronto needs.
Minnesota and Arizona made two deals with one of the bigger names going east to the Wild in Martin Hanzal. The future UFA was probably the best center available and he really solidifies the Wild as they make a big move. They also acquired center Ryan White giving the Wild four lines comparable to any in the league. They gave up a slews of draft picks (#1, #2, #4) and minor league forward Grayson Downing, who will probably play in Arizona this season.
The Kings acquisition of Ben Bishop is a curious one. First, with Jonathan Quick back in action, do they really need another #1 goalie? Second, Peter Budaj, who went to Tampa, was having an excellent season filling in for Quick. Tampa had to deal Bishop or lose him as a UFA, but they got an awful lot in exchange for him. Weird.
The Patrick Eaves trade from Dallas to Anaheim was notable to Ranger fans as it filled a need for Anaheim that the Rangers could have filled in exchange for one of Anaheim's young defensemen. They still have an expansion draft issue so there could be a deal in the off season.
The Michael Stone acquisition by Calgary took a defenseman off the available list, someone the Blueshirts could have used for depth.
Two other deals made conference rivals stronger as the Penguins picked up Ron Hainsey to bolster their defense and Montreal got defenseman Tom Gilbert from Los Angeles.
Doubtless there will be more transactions with about 24 hours left until the trade deadline...and I was in the middle of writing this one when the Brendan Smith deal went down. Stay tuned.
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