The NHL trade deadline is about 24 hours away and the ball has started rolling.
Of course, there was the Ryan Miller trade over the weekend that saw Buffalo’s franchise goalie head to St. Louis. It’s always kind of exciting when teams start loading up for a playoff run because it provides fans with insight into the management of the team. Sure, the Entry Draft is a place where contenders are built, but it’s tough to quantify the success of drafts because players can take up to a decade to materialize.
The trade deadline does give fans an idea of what their management thinks of their favorite team and what management thinks of certain players. Let’s start with one of the greatest goaltenders to ever put on a pair of pads.
Martin Brodeur (G) – New Jersey Devils
The writing was on the wall before the season started but things were muddled a bit when Brodeur was getting about half the starts from Cory Schneider. This was a little confounding as Brodeur’s save percentage was the third-worst in the NHL from 2010-2013 among regular goalies at .905.
Reports last night and earlier today indicated that Brodeur may be on his way to Minnesota. The deal is apparently on hold because Brodeur is expected to play tonight in New Jersey which may very well be his last game in a Devils uniform.
The deal for Brodeur makes sense because, without Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom, the goaltending duties are left to unproven Darcy Kuemper. Kuemper has played well lately but whoever is in net for them is expected to help them to the playoffs. We’ll see which goalie the Wild decide can get them there.
Mike Weaver (D)
Earlier today, the Montreal Canadiens acquired 35-year-old defenseman Mike Weaver from Florida in exchange for a fifth round pick in 2015. This is to bolster a playoff-bound defense corps that featured Douglas Murray for over 20 minutes on Monday night.
This deal is a little strange because Weaver is a 5-foot-9, 35-year-old defenseman with an expiring contract. Earlier this season, the Habs traded away Raphael Diaz to Vancouver and there’s little doubt that Diaz is the superior defenseman. If you look at Weaver’s With You/Without You numbers, Weaver was carried by Dmitry Kulikov and Jason Garrison over the years. Diaz would seem to do what Weaver can do but only better and much, much younger.
We’ll see how things work out for Weaver, but unless he’s a direct supplant of Murray, it doesn’t do much to improve the Canadiens. The price isn’t much and that’s the only positive out of this.
Dustin Penner (F)
On ‘National Pancake Day,’ the pancake injury-prone Dustin Penner was traded to the Washington Capitals for a fourth round pick:
WSH gives up 4th-round pick to ANA for Dustin Penner. #TSN #Tradecentre
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) March 4, 2014
The Penner move is curious because he had played well this year for the Ducks. That said, he has just 11 points in his last 27 games for the Ducks. They also have Kyle Palmieri who could slot in pretty easily in Penner’s absence.
This move for the Capitals is for a playoff run and we saw this from them last year with the Martin Erat trade. The problem is still team defense though and Penner doesn’t do much to help in that regard. With that said, it’s another big body on the wing that can help in the playoffs.
Ilya Bryzgalov (G)
As mentioned in the Brodeur section, Bryzgalov was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a fourth round draft pick in 2014:
#Oilers have acquired a 2014 fourth-round draft pick from the @mnwild in exchange for goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 4, 2014
This would seemingly end the Brodeur-to-Minnesota rumours.
Bryzgalov has had a sneaky okay season so far; his .919 even-strength save percentage is ahead of regulars like Marc-Andre Fleury, Antti Niemi, and Ondrej Pavelec. Whether he succeeds or not in Minnesota is another story.
Viktor Fasth (G)
The Ducks goaltender that was so good for them last year has only had five games this year. That said, he still has value and with the logjam in goal between Fasth, Jonas Hiller, and Frederik Andersen, he was traded earlier today to Edmonton:
Viktor Fasth to Edmonton also a done deal.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 4, 2014
That would mean there will be a goaltender battle between Fasth (who is signed through next year) and Ben Scrivens (who signed a two-year deal earlier this week).
This is a move for Edmonton that says to their two goalies “you have one year for either of you to prove who is the number one goalie.” Not a bad deal for the Oilers.
Stephane Robidas (D)
The criminally underrated Robidas has been injured for most of the year and still has not returned. Even with that, this happened not long ago:
Anaheim sends the fourth-round pick they acquire from WSH in Penner deal to DAL for Robidas. So, essentially Penner-for-Robidas
— Katie Strang (@KatieJStrang) March 4, 2014
This is a significant move for the Ducks as Robidas has been a great defenseman for the Stars even though he doesn’t rack the point totals. With Cam Fowler turning into a star and Hampus Lindholm breaking out, the Ducks are poising themselves for a run at the Cup.
Keep it locked to XNSports for breaking trade news and analysis as it happens!
