We’re breaking down the new faces coming into each division following the trade deadline. These posts will be updated with new information throughout the day.
Carolina Hurricanes
In a deal that sent Tim Gleason to the Washington Capitals, the ‘Canes grabbed a 4th round pick and defender Jack Hillen in return. Hillen has played 35 games with the Caps this season.
One the ‘Canes big deals was sending defenseman Andrej Sekera to the Los Angeles Kings for a first round pick. They also grabbed Kings prospect Roland McKeown in the process. McKeown is an offensive-capable defender, who has posted five goals and 22 assists this season as the captain of the Kingston Frontenacs in the OHL.
Columbus Blue Jackets
In one of the stranger deals at the deadline, the Blue Jackets acquired David Clarkson and a pretty wretched contract from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for the injured Nathan Horton. The Blue Jackets have budget concerns and with Horton’s contract being uninsured, the team was best off carrying a player who would be on the ice for that money, whether or not they’re all that good.
The Blue Jackets also moved puck-moving defenseman James Wisniewski out at the deadline to the Anaheim Ducks. In exchange they got back 22-year-old center William Karlsson. He showed some big flashes of talent this year — his first year with the NHL Ducks. He’s a great addition for the Blue Jackets who have had a weird year with an insane number of injuries holding back what looked like a playoff team.
They also acquired Rene Bourque in the Wisniewski trade. This was likely to help the Ducks get some cap off the books more than anything. Bourque has one more year left on his contract.
New York Islanders
Looking to make the net a place they don’t have to worry about in the playoffs, the Islanders traded backup goaltender Chad Johnson and a third round pick to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Michal Neuvirth. Despite playing with a tee-ball team, Neuvirth has been solid this season and has been sabotaging the Sabres’ tank job since taking over the starting goaltender job from Jhonas Enroth following his trade to the Dallas Stars. The front office couldn’t stand for that, so, like anyone who is playing well on that team, he’s been silenced via trade.
This is a great move for the Isles and helps to patch one of the few leaky holes their ship has.
The Islanders also grabbed winger Tyler Kennedy from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a conditional pick. Don’t let the Tyler Kennedy of Pittsburgh Penguins playoffs fame trick you, he’s a long way from those days. He’s struggled the last two years with the Sharks. that includes struggles with injuries. He’s missed time with three separate injuries this season. In 92 games with the Sharks he has eight goals and 18 assists.
In a depth move the Isles sent Corey Conacher to Vancouver in exchange for Dustin Jeffrey, a veteran of 24 NHL games. Jeffrey was a part of the Texas Stars’ Calder Cup-winning roster last year and has performed well for the Utica Comets this year. Through 46 games he has 17 goals and 23 assists for the Comets.
New York Rangers
The Rangers made a couple of moves the day before Deadline Day, with the big one being a move that sent lots of pieces back and forth, but the centerpiece of the deal with acquiring underrated defenseman Keith Yandle from the Arizona Coyotes. (The ‘Yotes are said to have retained 50% of Yandle’s salary.) As a part of this deal the Rangers also acquired defenseman Chris Summers, a former first round pick who is now 27 and has spent most of his career bouncing between the AHL and NHL.
The Rangers also acquired struggling Sharks centerman James Sheppard. This makes some sense with former Wild GM Doug Risebrough being a part of the Rangers organization currently. He was GM of the Wild when they took Sheppard in the first round (9th overall) of the 2006 draft.
Their last move (to this point), brought Carl Klingberg into the fold and sent veteran Lee Stempniak to Winnipeg. Klingberg hasn’t managed to find any success at the NHL level in extremely limited time, but has proven to be effective at the AHL level. He posted 22 goals and 20 assists through 60 games last year and this season he has 15 goals and 15 assists through 51 games.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers shipped out a few players at the deadline, acquiring a bunch of draft picks. In the process they also snagged Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Radko Gudas. Gudas is currently out injured, but he has one year left on his deal and will be a RFA at the end of the contract. It’s a great move that continues to help the Flyers make their blue line younger.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins usually make a splash at the deadline. They didn’t this year, but they did earlier in the year when they acquired David Perron from the Edmonton Oilers.
At the deadline they’ve made a move that improves the team greatly, but not inspire analogies about fireworks. In a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Pens acquired possession-star Daniel Winnik. He’ll make this team’s depth forward group better instantly, something the Penguins need desperately heading into the playoffs.
The Penguins also picked up depth defenseman Ian Cole from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Robert Bortuzzo and a 2016 7th round draft pick. Cole is a depth guy, but has some alright possession number, posting a +2% CF%Rel (though he was a negative last season through 46 total games). The Penguins are looking to solidify their depth and make their team a little more resilient to injury than they’ve been this season. It’s an unexciting pickup, but makes the team better right now. Though Penguins fans, as is said every year, ought to be concerned about the number of draft picks that have been traded away in recent years.
One move that didn’t require the team to move any draft picks was acquiring defenseman Ben Lovejoy from the Anaheim Ducks. They sent Simon Despres to Anaheim straight up on this one. Lovejoy has been good in spurts, but has struggled offensively this season after posting career high goal and point totals last year. He has one goal and 10 assists through 40 games this year.
People of Pittsburgh,
We loved everything about our time here. You treated my wife & me as true Yinzers & we will miss it. Thank you!
Ben
— ben lovejoy (@RevLovejoy6) February 7, 2013
Washington Capitals
The Capitals made a couple of moves at the deadline to shore up their depth ahead of the stretch run. The most notable move they made was to acquire veteran winger Curtis Glencross from the Calgary Flames for a couple of picks. Glencross can score and had expressed unhappiness about his usage in Calgary and requested a trade. Common wisdom says that Glencross makes them better now, especially since they don’t send any players to Calgary in return, but I have my doubts about Glencross.
They also acquired defenseman Tim Gleason from the Hurricanes. Gleason is a veteran who has scored four goals since the 2011-12 season. The Caps have depth issues on D. Gleason may be an upgrade, but how big of an upgrade he is remains to be seen.
