Unusually quiet trade deadline for the NHL

Posted by Dan Cafiero.

Rick Nash was one of the big names not moved on Monday.

The NHL Trade Deadline is one of the most exciting days for hockey fans. Everyone is sitting at work watching their twitter feeds, refreshing the NHL Trade Tracker on NHL.com or watching NHL Tradecentre on NHL Network and TSN to see who or what their beloved team is going to acquire. The fans’ “wants” may sometimes differ from “needs” of the team” and that is what makes it so exciting. It’s always fun checking the rumor blogs everyday for a month leading up to the deadline, some of the rumors become done deals while others don’t get past the rumor stage. This year, it felt like none of the rumors came true. Which brings us to “the trade” that never happened.

Rick Nash, the most talented player available at this year’s deadline, was involved in all kinds of rumors for about a month. Rumors started gaining some steam in the beginning of February. Some say he was packing his bags and catching a flight to L.A while other sources had Brandon Dubinsky along with several other Rangers heading to Columbus in exchange for Nash. It was later revealed that Nash had asked GM Scott Howson for a trade out of Columbus but he never got one. When the clock hit 3pm ET, Rick Nash remained a Blue Jacket and a frustrated one to say the least. He didn’t want to wait until the summer to be traded but it looks like that is now going to be the case. The 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist told the media after practice on Tuesday that his trade request was for all the right reasons and nothing selfish. He believed the hockey club could bring back several good hockey players along with top draft picks, which would help move the rebuild along in Columbus. The New York Rangers are believed to have been the closest to acquiring Nash on Monday, offering Brandon Dubinsky, J.T Miller, Tim Erixon, Christian Thomas and a 1st round draft pick, Howson declined that offer. Therefore, for the time being, Rick Nash will remain a member and captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets.  However, I do believe he will have played his last game as a Blue Jacket on April 7th when they host the New York Islanders in their final game of the season as a draft-day deal seems imminent. 

Now for the few trades that actually did occur on the February 27th, Cody Hodgson was probably the biggest name dealt. Vancouver sent the young promising forward to Buffalo in exchange for Zack Kassian. Hodgson has played with Buffalo’s Tyler Ennis and Tyler Myers in the past so it shouldn’t take him long to adjust to life in Buffalo. The Sabres also dealt the gritty forward Paul Gaustad to Nashville for a 1st round pick. This deal had many people scratching their heads. I’m not sure if Gaustad is worth a 1st round pick but obviously Nashville’s GM David Poile thought differently. He will add some toughness to the lineup, which will be needed come playoff time. The Predators have had a lot of success over the last few years but have yet to find their way to the finals. The Gaustad deal may just be another attempt to keep pending unrestricted free agent Ryan Suter in Nasvhille. Obviously the deciding factor for Suter come July 1st is not going to be whether or not Paul Gaustad is on the roster. However, it does prove that Poile is doing everything he can to improve this team and make a run at the Stanley Cup. The Predators also acquired Andrei Kostitsyn from Montreal for a 2nd round pick and a conditional 5th round pick. Kostitsyn will join his brother Sergei in Nashville who was also traded from Montreal in June of 2010.

Another fairly big trade involved defenseman Nick Schultz leaving Minnesota with Edmonton’s Tom Gilbert heading the other way. Schultz, a 2nd round draft pick in 2000, has played every game in a Wild uniform. Meanwhile, Gilbert will be returning home to Minnesota where he grew up in Minneapolis. 

In a few minor deals, the New York Islanders sent veterans Mike Mottau and Brian Rolston to Boston for 2 prospects. Tampa Bay’s GM Steve Yzerman sent Long Island native Matt Gilroy to Ottawa for Brian Lee and acquired veteran Mike Commodore from Detroit for a conditional 7th round pick in 2013. 

The biggest trades were made prior to the February 27th deadline with Columbus dealing Jeff Carter to the Kings for Jack Johnson and a conditional 1st round pick. The Rangers sent Wojtek Wolski to Florida for a 3rd round pick and Mike Vernace. The New Jersey Devils acquired Marek Zidlicky from Minnesota in exchange for former Wild players Kurtis Foster and Stephan Veilleux along with Nick Palmieri, a 2nd round pick in 2012 and a conditional 3rd round pick in 2013. With Craig Anderson out for a few weeks due to injury and uncertainty behind him, Ottawa addressed their goaltending needs by adding young Ben Bishop from St.Louis for a 2013 2nd round pick. This was a great trade for both teams with the Blues already having two all-star caliber goalies in Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliot. 

All in all, this was one of the quietest trade deadlines in years. There was nearly double the amount of trades just two years ago with many more high-profile names on the move. However, there was not that big of a difference between this year and last year as far as the number of trades go. Will this trend continue next year and for years to come? There just simply were not as many sellers as we have seen in the past, which would obviously result in fewer trades. With the standings being so tight in both conferences, it seems like every GM in the league feels their team has a chance to make the playoffs. They are not going to trade any valuable pieces away if they feel they are still in the tick of the playoff race. When UFAs hit the open market on July 1st, general managers will certainly be a lot busier than this past weekend. With stars like Ryan Suter, Zack Parise and Alexander Semin set to test the open market, it should be interesting to see where they land.