By JOSH HELLER
Staff Writer
It is like Christmastime for hockey fans: the NHL trade deadline. Tanking teams look to unload pieces of their team for future assets, while contenders try to bolster their team for the playoffs. So, let’s take a look at the biggest trades from Deadline Day and the weeks prior.
1. Yandle Dealt to Rangers for Picks, Young D-Man, and
Top Prospect
If he was not before, Glen Sather has officially gone all-in with the New York Rangers.
In a stunning move for both teams, the Rangers acquired defensemen Keith Yandle and Chris Summers, along with a 2017 fourth-round pick for prospect forward Anthony Duclair, defenseman John Moore, a 2015 second-round pick, and a 2016 first-round pick. This trade means that the Rangers will be without a first round pick all the way up until 2019. Meanwhile, this trade leaves Arizona with two first-round picks and two second-round picks for the stacked upcoming draft.
For the past two seasons, NHL experts and bloggers alike have been saying that the Rangers were just an offensive, puck-moving defenseman away from being legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. Enter Keith Yandle.
In Yandle’s first 65 games this season, he has totaled four goals and 37 assists, while also managing to allocate 24 assists on the power play, which is the best in the league. He has, however, the worst plus/minus ratio in the entire league at a -33, but that is bound to happen when playing for one of the worst teams in the league.
Yandle’s price wasn’t exactly cheap, though. The Rangers not only had to part with two high-draft picks, but they also had to give up two young players, Moore and Duclair. Moore is only 24 years old and only totaled six points with the Rangers in 38 games played. However, Moore had a tough time cracking the daily lineup after competing for the sixth spot all season with Matt Hunwick. Moore had been playing better before the deadline, and was able to beat out Hunwick for a few games in a row.
Duclair, on the other hand, is just 19 years old, and he got seven points in just 18 NHL games, and was recently named one of the best prospects in the NHL by ESPN. After also struggling to beat out players like Tanner Glass in the daily lineup, Duclair was sent back to the Quebec Remparts. In just 20 games with the Remparts, Duclair got 25 points, but stats like these would be expected for one of the oldest players in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
With his embarking to Arizona due to the trade, Duclair will be reunited with his line-mate from the World Junior Championships, Max Domi. The two are members of one of the most dominating lines from the tournament.
Yandle brings not only a booming slap shot from the point to the Rangers, but he is most well-known for his vision and crisp passing. Yandle is signed through 2015-16, so this could be more than a rental move. The Rangers now have one of the best power-play quarterbacks in the entire league, and Glen Sather and company have officially gone Cup-or-bust.
2. Antoine Vermette to Blackhawks for First Rounder, Prospect
One of the best upcoming unrestricted free agents has been dealt to a team that just had its superstar go down with a major injury.
Center Antoine Vermette was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for prospect Klas Dahlbeck and a 2015 first-round pick. In his 63 games as a Coyote this year, Vermette totaled 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points. This trade is another part of Arizona throwing in the towel on this season, similar to the Buffalo Sabres, and trying to acquire as many future assets as possible.
Dahlbeck is a 2011 third-round pick who still has the potential to develop into an NHL defenseman, after spending all but four games from 2012-2015 in the American Hockey League. Dahlbeck is best known for his defensive ability and nice skating ability.
The Blackhawks felt the need to make a deal like this after a major injury to the team. Superstar forward Patrick Kane was hit hard into the boards by Florida’s Alex Petrovic on a clean check back in late February. Kane stayed down for a while, and had to be helped off the ice. It was later known that Kane had broken his collarbone and would miss anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks.
With such a loss, Chicago needed to bolster their forward core in order to return to the late playoffs, a stage which Chicago has become well familiar with in the past five-plus years. Meanwhile, Arizona acquires more assets to help them succeed in the future, so it’s a fair deal for both sides.
3. Andrej Sekera Sent to L.A. for First Rounder and
High-End Prospect
In an unsurprising move, the Hurricanes sent upcoming UFA to Los Angeles. However, the high price was something that not many people expected.
Carolina sent Sekera to Los Angeles in exchange for a 2015 first-round pick and prospect Roland McKeown.
In 57 games played for the Hurricanes this year, Sekera has two goals and 17 assists. Meanwhile, playing for the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League, McKeown totaled five goals and 22 assists in his first 56 games played. McKeown was picked by Los Angeles back in the second round in the 2014 draft. McKewon is best known for his all-around ability and nice passing skills, while Sekera is thought of as an older, shutdown defenseman.
L.A. felt the need for this move due to the hole voided by Slava Voynov, and the fact that L.A. is currently out of the playoff picture. A guy like Sekera is sure to bolster a team’s top six defensemen, and hopefully, for L.A.’s sake, he has the skill to help push the Kings into the playoffs.
