Approaching the Trade Deadline, where are they going?

Winnipeg Jets: 14^th 24-36-2 – 50pts

Rebuilding process still on his way, the Jets are loaded with talented prospects and GM Forget will have lot of options to build this team.  On top of that, Winnipeg will again draft in the top 3 this year adding another future star to their roster.  The Jets traded David Schlemko to the Lightning against Byron Froese and 4^th rounder in 2016.  While waiting for the top guns to join the big team, Brayden Schenn, Riley Sheahan, Nick Leddy and Charlie Coyle are doing pretty good offensively this year.  Anders Lindback is doing ok considering he’s not getting a lot of support.  Future is definitely bright in Winnipeg but they might need a few more years before they get a playoffs spot.  Will GM forget try to move some players before the trade deadline?  There’s not much left to be moved unless he wants to trade away a few young players who are not playing the way they should be.

Edmonton Oilers: 13^th : 24-33-8 – 56pts

The Oilers did replenish the cupboards last summer with brilliant draft picks and nice UFA signatures.  GM Allain’s team will soon be ready to compete for a playoffs spot but this season’s a long one again for the Oilers and their first pick this summer should be a really good one.  The only major move by the Oilers was to trade Justin Schultz against prospects Julius Honka, Tyler Bertuzzi and Ryan Pilon.  Defensively the Oilers are dead last in the league, but let’s be honest, they don’t really have a #1 goaltender.  Gaudreau, RNH and especially Klingberg are having a good season offensively but combine for an awful – 75 differential. 

Chicago Black Hawks: 12^th:  28-31-5 – 61pts

The Hawks are now managed by the league until at least the next entry draft this summer.Tyler Seguin and Bayden Coburn were traded to the Bruins for Nikita Kucherov, prospect Jakub Zboril, Cody Ceci, Tanner Pearson, Min 1^st 2016 and Ryan Callahan.  Callahan was later traded with Pulkkinen to the Islanders against David Krejci.  The Hawks also added Tyler Myers, Nikita Nestorov, Jayce Hawryluk, 2-2^nd rounders and NYR 1^st pick this year.  Several other players are available and hope to find a new home before the TDL.  The Hawks will draft 4 times in the first round of this summer’s entry draft and hope to find one or 2 elements on the UFA market.

Phoenix Coyotes: 11^th : 28-28-7 - 63pts

GM Ciddio has been really quiet this year, he hasn’t made any modifications to his roster since early in August.  This being said, there’s not much to move away in Arizona as they started a rebuild process last year.  Players like Carter, Spalling, Hansen and Stuart could go before the trade deadline.  Offensively the Coyotes are not that bad getting support form several players, 5 players could get a 60+ points season this season.  GM Ciddio had a good draft year last summer, thanks to this the future is a little bit brighter for the Coyotes, Arizona has 7 draft picks in the first 3 rounds next summer, Ciddio will have to shine again.  Defensively, other than prospect Thomas Chabot, Stuart Percy and maybe Brayden McNabb they don’t have much for the future.  Lot of work ahead!

Minnesota Wild: 8^th: 30-28-6 – 66pts

Wind of change in Minnesota? That’s what rumors are saying!  We were expecting more from the Wild this season after their Stanley Cup appearance last year.  Shea Weber who has been the main man in Minnesota for so many years is not doing the job done anymore, 22 pts in 64 games and – 15… for those who forgot, he got 101 points last year, adding 31 more points in 19 games during their Stanley Cup run!  He makes everybody a better player and it’s not hapenning this year.  Voracek and Jokinen are having a good season offensively but the Wild are allowing too much goals, Crawford doesn’t look like a Vezina trophy winner anymore.  The Wild finnished 2^nd offensively and 3^rd defensively last year. The next two weeks should be really interesting for GM McKenzie.

Colorado Avalanche: 8^th: 29-28-8 – 66pts

We heard Letang was on the market, but of course he had to lift his No Trade Clause.. and he did.  GM Leblanc has traded his star defenseman to the Leafs in return of Jonas Brodin, Callum Booth, Rourke Chartier and Tor 1^st next year.  Leblanc also acquired prospects Mathieu Joseph and Simon Bourque form the NY islanders.  Steven Stamkos is not having a season as strong as last year but he’s still a dominant player in this league, he’s currently 3 points behind Datsyuk in the Art Ross trophy derby.  Dave Bolland and Mikael Backlund are also having a good season with 50 and 48 points.  The Avalanche will draft 6 times in the first 2 rounds of next summer’s draft.  Not sure if GM Leblanc will attempt something to secure a playoffs spot as the Avalanche doesn’t want to waste valuable young players or draft picks for one playoff appearance.

Nashville Preds: 8^th:  30-28-6 – 66pts

That team is slowly emerging from a painful rebuild process caused by a careless GM 4 years ago.  Patience is the key word in Nashville as they now have to wait for the rookies and prospects to take their place in their regular roster.  The Preds should draft early again this year and also have 2 excellent 2^nd rounders to add to the nice pool of young talent they already have.  Chris Kreider, Andre Burakovsky, Alekdsander Barkov, Bo Horvat, Nikita Zadorov, Mitch Marner, Sam Reinhart, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Colton Pareyko, Jacob Larsson, Erik Gustafsson, Vitek Vanecek and Mason McDonald represent the future of this franchise.  GM Gagnon also have many more young elements to make it happen  in the Country Music City.

Dallas Stars: 5^th :  32-28-5 – 69pts

Even if they almost didn’t have any draft picks left toward the next entry draft GM Rockett decided it was time to rebuild… or maybe not.  After trading Brouwer, Johnson, Fehr, Malhotra, Zuccarello, Williams, Martin and Ribeiro, they just traded for  Craig Anderson and Teddy Purcell and rumors are saying Rockett is looking for more.    One of the best offensive and worst defensive of the league, a Dallas Star game’s usually never boring.  This being said, many players who contributed offensively are now gone, will they be able to keep scoring goals and keep their playoffs spot?     Hopefully for the Stars, Anderson will do a better job than Lehtonen at stopping the pucks.   Cody Eakins is having the best season of his young career, the acquisition of Purcell might help him finishing the season on a high note.

Vancouver Canucks:  5^th:  31-24-7 – 69pts

GM Hondronikolis who once was the most active GM in the league is now waiting for his young players to take over.  But the Canucks are getting good season from Sean Couturier, Matt Read, Patrik Elias, Brian Flynn and 3 defenseman have more than 20 points.  Ramo and Neuvirth are having a fairly good season and that explains why the Nucks are in the playoffs portrait as we speak.  Elias might be a nice addition for the playoffs for a team that has a lot of cap space, Schultz and Brewer could be on the move too.  Will GM Hondronikolis be active on the trade market before the TDL? They traded for Dustin Brown back in November, since then… nothing.

San Jose Sharks : 5^th:  31-24-7 – 69pts

 A roller coaster ride  is what describes the best the Sharks’ season.  After a terrible start, they came back and climbed up to the 4^th spot in the Western Conference, then it happened again, a losing streak and down to the 11^th place.  Last year the Sharks got strong seasons from Wisniewski, Nash and Schwartz, even if Jaden is the second scorer with the Sharks he won’t be close to last year’s numbers. After a first playoffs appearance for the Sharks last year, we were expecting them to get even better this season. King, Grabovski and Eller combined for only 24 points and a differential of -34, GM Clost might want to look for more depth for his bottom 6, players who can stop the opponents from scoring.  Clost might be active before the TDL but don’t expect him to give away the brilliant young players they have acquired the past 3 years when they were rebuilding this team.

Calgary Flames : 4^th:  32-24-7 – 71pts

The Flames are going through difficult times for the past 2 months, lack of depth is catching up with them.  Comfortably installed at the 3^rd position of the Western Conference since the beginning of the season they are now only 5 points ahead of the Wild, Avalanche and Preds and the 9^th and even 10^th position.  Schneider and his defensive squad are definitely keeping this team alive, Abdelkader and Brassard combine for 47 goals and Kuznetsov is having a good rookie season.

GM Michaud wants to keep his young players so he might not be active before the TDL, but if the Flames are making the playoffs don’t expect them to make a long run after reaching the final 4 last year.  The Flames are 2-7-1 in their past 10 games and the 6 teams following them in the standing are playing for 500 or better in the last 10 games.

Anaheim Ducks:  3^rd: 37-21-5 – 79pts

After a slow start again this season, the Ducks are back to their game but not before GM Leger shook up his team with a huge trade.  Tomas Plekanec and Blake Wheeler were traded to Buffalo for Patrice Bergeron, Thomas Vanek, Theodor Blueger and a 2^nd draft pick in 2016.  A well balanced offense, other than Bergeron who has 66 points in 66 games, the Duck are getting offense from numerous players.  Wideman won’t get as much points as last year but he’s having another terrific season at the blue line.  Tuukka Rask is on his way to his best season ever with a 2.22 GAA and .926 save %.  Can the Ducks compete with the Blues and the Kings?  Will see what GM Leger thinks about this in the next 2 weeks.

Los Angeles Kings: 2^nd : 42-5-5 – 89pts

The Kings don’t have many weaknesses and look to be built for the playoffs with proven playoffs performers like Zetterbeg, Datsyuk, Iginla, St. Louis, Malkin, Orpik and Seidenberg.  The kings completed their defensive squad by acquiring Jack Johnson from the Stars, they also traded Ondrej Palat for Patrick Dwyer and prospects Gabriel Carlsson and Colin White.  Datsyuk with 79 points is leading the league at that chapter and has a nice +21 differential.  Malkin is also having a strong season offensively with 61 points.  We could expect more offense (ranked 8^th) from these guys but they are really strong defensively, the Kings are ranked 4th in the goals against column.  The power Play currently at a  18% success rate could be improved.

St. Louis Blues: 1^st: 45-14-7- 97pts

With the best offensive team of the league and the 3rs best defensive, the Blues are dominating.  After an early exit last year in playoffs, GM Peralta acquired Zdeno Chara and Dallas Jackson during the off season and he’s now sticking to his guns.  Tarasenko, Nyquist, Giordano and Nielsen are terrorizing their opponent. Fedor  Tyutin is leading the league with a +40 differential, Nielsen, Gaborik and Nyquist are 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th in that department.  Varlamov will definitely be a Vezina candidate, he currently has 39 wins (tie 1^st), 2.09 GAA and a .927 save %. Are the numbers affected by the quality of their opponents in the Western Conference?  Who knows, I guess we’ll have to wait for the playoffs to get an answer to this.  There’s no doubt their defensive squad can face playoffs adversity, but can we say the same about their inexperienced forwards?