Approaching the Trade Deadline, where are they going?

Eastern Conference

Detroit Red Wings: 1st: 41-14-7 - 89pts

Detroit survived really well the departure of several of their key players last summer, call it the Crosby effect if you want, but the Wings are still doing good and with 20 games to go, they have 4 points ahead of Arcesi’s Bruins at the top of the Eastern Conference.  Not scoring much goals but also really tight defensively, they’re usually really good at winning 1 goal games.  Jono Quick is having an amazing year in the net which was the reason why the Wings traded away Cam Talbot to the Habs.  Crosby, Tavares and Hudler are providing the offense they need to win games and they just added Corey Perry to their top 6.  They also acquired Danny DeKerser from the Lightning to solidify their defensive squad. Will Detroit move more players before the trade deadline?  Their Top 6 could certainly be improved on the wings and more experience would help during the playoffs but the recipe’s working right now, a good source close to the team told me they shouldn’t be really active during the trade deadline, but who knows?  Maybe a natural goal scorer for the PP pretty much pathetic at the moment.

Boston Bruins:  2nd: 40-18-5 - 85pts

After a rare slump a few weeks ago, The Bruins are back to their “A” game.  7-1-2 in their last 10 games, they are making a push for the first spot in the Eastern conference and they did put some distance between them and their pursuers.  The Bruins have been quiet on the trade market since the Seguin’s trade, Markus Krugger has joined the team last week.  Will Arcesi be active at the TDL? well there’s no apparent weakness to the Bruins line up.  They get offensive support from guys like Toews, Parise, Seguin. Giroux and Stone and none of their players who’s been there since the beginning of the season shows a negative value under the +/- column, they got the 2^nd best GF/GA differential in the league (+49) behind the Blues.  Playoffs are often about goaltending and special teams, while Brobovsky is playing like a Vezina candidate right now and the Power Play’s doing fairly good, the Bruins are dead last in the league (with Phoenix and Washington) at 75% on the PK.

This is where it gets interesting, there’s only a 9 point gap between the 3^rd and 12^th position, and remember, in the new playoffs format, 5 teams from the same division can get an invite to the spring party.

NY Islanders:  3rd: 35-19-7 - 77 pts

Rebuilding is history… and we were expecting it from GM Jeff (Sletus) Cyr.  We won’t listed all the players that were involved in a trade with the NYI but let just say that since January 1^st, 42 players and 16 draft picks were traded between the Islanders and the other teams in the league… I’m sure there’s a GM in Vancouver who’s really envious right now.  After all this, surprisingly, the Islanders have a pretty solid team on the ice and it now shows when we look at the the standings, New York did catch up on the Jackets and are now 1 point ahead of Columbus and Philadelphia at the top of the Metropolitan division… but don’t blink, that can change really fast.  Little, Stepan, Pavelski, Ribeiro, Streit and Stastny are leading the way offensively.  Will the Islanders be active before the Trade deadline… I won’t even answer that one.

Philadelphia Flyers: 4th: 36-22-4 - 76pts

After a slow start, The Flyers are where they should be.  The Flyers acquired Alex Stalock from the Sabres and veteran forward Radim Vrbata was traded to the Habs in return of Erik Gudbranson. Rumors from Philadelphia are saying several players are on the market, the Flyers are looking for young guns.  That would be something to watch closely at the TDL as it could also affect greatly the team in that run at the metropolitan division championship.  This being said, If the Flyers get in the playoffs with pretty much the same team that won the cup last year, we will have to keep an eye on them.   They are getting offensive support from Hossa, kopitar, Foligno, Spezza and Josi.  GM Jobin might want to fix the issue with his defensive line, Zajac and Zubrus combined for an awful – 39, they’re not getting the job done.

Columbus Blue Jackets:  5th: 34-1-8 - 76pts

After being on top of the Metropolitan division for pretty much the whole season, the Jackets are getting company. Being 4-5-1 at their last 10 games, Columbus will have to start paying attention to the teams below them in the standings as the Panthers (9^th) and the Sens (10^th) are only 6 points behind.  GM Clarke is sticking to his plan and he’s building his team with young players but the lack of depth on the wings might cost them a playoffs spot this year.  The Jackets recently traded for Dylan Larkin, Garret Sparks, Barret Jackman and Jason Garrison.  TJ Oshie and Backes are doing really good with 66 and 62 points but they might be on the market rumors are saying… might be because of their defensive play, a combined -36.  Lance Bouma would certainly appreciate another defensive forward to help him against other teams offensive weapons, Backes used to excel in that department but he’s certainly having a hard time this year.  Does GM Clarke really want to pay the price to make the playoffs this year? that remains unclear.

Buffalo Sabres:  6th: 35-24-4 - 74pts

I guess they were too good to stay out of the playoffs portrait again this year.  GM Blanchard has tried everything to wake his team up. After missing the playoffs last year, the Sabres were once again underachieving early this season.   Wheeler, Plekanec, Markov, Eric Staal, Zuccarello and Vrbata are now in Buffalo but it did cost them Patrice Bergeron, Vanek, Anders Lee, some prospects and draft picks…  it finally worked.  Buffalo still scores a lot of goals and have now improved defensively.  They got plenty of players who can score, Staal, johansen, Steen, wheeler, Johnson, Plekanec and the new comer Vrbata.  After a terrible season last year, Luongo’s back to his game and has made the difference this year being nominated among the game 3 star 17 times in 59 starts.  Do GM Blanchard need to make more moves?  At first sight no, but they got to fix the problem with their special teams, close to be worst in the league in both departments.

NY Rangers 7th: 34-23-5 - 73pts

Difficult decisions in the big apple as they had over $80 M engaged toward their salary cap for next season. GM Emond decided to move Joe Thornton, but he couldn’t get as much as expected for him as Thornton would only accepted to be traded to a short list of teams of his choice.  Corey Perry was sent to Florida before being traded again to Detroit. Coming in are Logan Couture and Carl Soderberg.  The Rangers are currently 7^th in the East and coming off a good sequence of 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.  Hopefully Couture will continue to produce as good as he was doing with the Panthers cause the Rangers are having a hard time scoring goals, Kane (49) and Pacioretty (47) are their best offensive weapons with Couture. In nets, Bishop and Pavelec are sharing the load and are doing pretty good, they are the main reason why the Rangers are in the playoffs portrait as we speak.  Will GM Emond try to get some for his top 6? Or an offensive d-man who could help the forwards offensively?

Tampa Bay Lightning:  8th : 32-21-9 - 73pts

Getting older, getting younger, getting older, getting younger,  collecting 2017 draft picks, not too sure what GM St. Pierre has in mind at the moment. After trading the veterans they just acquired Paul Martin, Dan Hamnius, Nicklas Grossman and Joe Thornton.  The Lightning are 8^th in the Eastern conference and that might be the reason why the team looks like they’re not sure what direction they should take. It looks like only 3 or 4 players are on the no trade list of St. Pierre, everything’s possible and we can expect more trades in Florida.  Turris is having a really good season but several players who helped the Lightning to get them where they are right now are now gone.  Still the Lightning is winning, 6-3-1 at their last 10 but they have 4 teams chasing them so they better keep winning.

Florida Panthers: 9th : 29-21-12 - 70pts

At one point it looked like the Panthers wanted to make a push for a playoff spot but now with the Stastny and Perry trades, GM Dupuis will probably stick to the initial plan and continue stacking  premium prospects.  The Panthers were already loaded with young guns, you can now add Ian McCoshen, Adam Tambellini, Nikolay Goldobin, Mark Scheifele, Alex Mallet to the list.  Henrique and Galchenyuk acquired from the Habs are leading the offensive in Florida.  They don’t seem to be in the chase of a playoffs spot anymore but keep an eye on them, they’re only 3 points behind the Lightning, you never know.  Will GM Dupuis trade again? to make the playoffs? Probably not.  To get another talented prospect?  He’ll certainly keep an eye open on those who will become available.

Ottawa Senators:  10th: 33-26-4 - 70pts

Flirting with the first position of the Eastern conference the first 2 months of the season, the Sens are now trying to avoid missing the playoffs.  The Sens traded for Kyle Quincey, Adam McQuaid and David Desharnais. Ryan Oreilly, Milan Michalek and Jordan Eberle are the main pieces offensively.  The Senators are stuck with a few bad contracts and are also in a middle of a rebuild process, not an easy task for GM Therien who's still not sure about who should stay and who should leave.  Ottawa has one of the best PP of the league, same for the PK so if they find a way to score at even strength they could make their way into the playoffs.

Washington Capitals:  11th: 30-24-9 - 69pts

Looks like the Caps just can't find a way to win regularly, after finishing 6th overall last year, they're about to miss the playoffs this year with pretty much the same roster.  The Caps got amazing seasons last year from players like Pietrangelo, Fisher and Simmonds, Getzlaf is the only one who's has not drastically dropped his numbers this year.  GM Vaillancourt can't find a way to make Ovechkin fully reach his potential, after a 42 goal season in 2011-12, Alexander the great hasn't break the 30 goal mark since then... timing might be good to see what the Caps could get for him.  The Caps picked up Ondrej Palat from the Kings 2 months ago but that didn't change much offensively for them.  Carey Price can't do everything by himself.

New Jersey Devils: 12th : 30-25-8 - 68pts

Idle is the name of the game in New Jersey this year, GM Roussel haven't made a trade since sending Semin to the Lightning in July.  The Devils still have a shot at the playoffs but just like the Sens, it might be wise to get rid of the old legs while they still worth something.  In the past 2-3 years GM Roussel has done a good job replenishing the cupboards but this year the Devils are just sitting there looking at the parade.  Koivu and Ladd are once again leading the offense and Victor Hedman is still showing he's one at the best at the blue line even if he's not doing as good as last year.  Ryan Miller's having serious difficulties his year while Jake Allen is 10-1 with a GAA of 1.92 and a save % of .934... still, Miller continues to get pretty much all the starts in the Devils' net.

.... and we have the rest....

Montreal Canadiens: 13th : 24-31-7 - 55pts

Would  draft 2nd, 6th and 14th overall if the season was ending today which is probably the best news for the Habs this season.  The Habs traded Gudbranson and prospect Colton White, out of this they acquired Colton Sissons, Dalton Thrower, Connor Hobbs and 4 draft picks.  They also got Cam Talbot from Detroit.  Galchenyuk, Beaulieu, Graovac and Provorov were traded for 2 excellent first rounders, Chris Tierny, Derrick Pouliot and Matt Dumba.  Silfverberg and Raffl are doing what they can to keep the Habs offensive alive.  One more long season in Montreal, but with a breath of fresh air, GM Pawlust.

Toronto Maple Leafs: 14th : 25-33-2 - 52pts

Free falling describes the best what happened to the Leafs this year, after a good start there's already no playoffs hopes in Toronto.  Jamie Benn and the new acquisition, Kris Letang are doing really good and Lundqvist is still doing good considering the terrible season they're having but he just can't do all by himself.  The leafs were well know for their tight defensive play, that's not the case anymore.  Dan Hamhuis was traded to Tampa Bay and more could follow in the next 2 weeks.  GM MacLoed is on his way to do the transition between the old and new guard... don't expect the Leafs to stay in the basement of the league for a long time.  With the Leafs out of the playoffs, Blanchard's Sabres might finally win a few rounds this spring.

Pittsburg Penguins: 15th : 22-31-8 - 52pts

Backstrom and Duchene are getting the season expected from them... that's about it. The Pens just can't score goals, they are dead last in the league offensively.  When you can't score you better be damn good defensively and that's not the case here.  Even if they aren't terrible in that department, the job isn't done and Fleury can't find a way to stop the pucks and win some games.  The Pens would draft 3rd overall if the season was ending today.  They have a better team than what we see in the standings this year, GM Buitenhuis will have to find to right recipe to make these players produce next year.   Will they trade before the TDL? If Buitenhuis decides he has the right elements and this year was just badluck he might hold on and keep his roster intact. The Pens have a fairly young line up and they can grow together, might be the right time for Chris Higgins to go though.

Carolina Hurricanes: 16th: 22-35-7 - 51pts

A weird season for the Canes who just can't find a way to win games at home. The 3rd worst defensive in the league after Edmonton and Winnipeg.  Unexpectedly, Stephen Weiss  is leading the offense for the Canes and he's on his way to a 70+ point season.  GM Smith traded for Ivan Provorov, Barclay Goodrow, Antoine Roussel, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Mangiapane and Parker Wotherspoon.  The Canes are loaded with talented prospects, lets see how Smith will manage these young guns. There's  not much left to be traded in Carolina, the kids will have to grow up.

Jean-Francois Cyr

Very nice steeve ...

Approaching the Trade Deadline, where are they going?
Eastern Conference Edition

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