The 2021 NHL trade deadline has passed, with a flurry of swaps right before the final bell.
Following each major deal, national NHL reporter Emily Kaplan and senior NHL writer Greg Wyshynski graded both GMs involved on the particulars of each swap.
The most recent trade grades are at the top.
Monday, April 12
Capitals send Vrana, Panik, picks to Detroit for Mantha
Washington Capitals get: RW Anthony Mantha
Detroit Red Wings get: LW Jakub Vrana, RW Richard Panik, 2021 first-round pick, 2022 second-round pick
Washington Capitals: B+
Let's be clear: This grade is based on potential, and potential alone. Anthony Mantha is 6-foot-5 and 234 pounds. He's scored 24 goals in a season twice and matched that pace in 43 games last season. He's done this during five full NHL seasons with what has been the worst team in the NHL, during a stripped-down rebuild.
You can see what the Capitals can see here: a 26-year-old power forward signed through 2023-24 at a $5.7 million average annual value. A player with offensive output not dissimilar to that of Vrana, but a player who brings the kind of size and physicality that Vrana does not, in a division that demands it. Mantha is a player who can bang bodies with the Islanders, Penguins and Bruins. Vrana was "Jake the Snake." Anthony is "Mantha the Mammoth."
More importantly: Mantha is under contract for three more seasons after this one. Vrana is a restricted free agent after this season. There's an element of cost certainty here.
But ultimately, this is a heck of a price to be paid for a player who hasn't put it all together yet in the NHL on a consistent basis. There were times when Mantha's effort wasn't always there. There were definitely times when his execution wasn't there. But again, he was playing for an also-ran, and now he's playing for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations, and not just this season.
(How he'll play in the playoffs is anyone's guess, as Mantha has never appeared in them. Vrana, it should be noted, hasn't scored a playoff point in his last 15 postseason games.)
It's still a heavy price to pay for potential, but the potential is there with Mantha, considering his size and age and ability to drive play. If he finds consistency, he's a better player in the long run than Vrana. They weren't alone in coveting him. As one NHL GM told me today after the trade: "Wow ... I wish Stevie would have let us in on that."
Panik was on the taxi squad, and the Capitals made another deal to basically replace him: trading for Michael Raffl, who makes only $1.2 million against the cap because the Philadelphia Flyers retained 25% of his salary. But unlike Panik, he's an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Detroit Red Wings: A+
Another Jedi mind trick from Steve Yzerman. The Red Wings pull a first-rounder, a second-rounder and two NHL players out of Washington for Anthony Mantha.
Again, the Wings used their cap space to their advantage. Panik makes $2.75 million against the cap through 2022-23 and is a serviceable player. Vrana has shown the potential for even more scoring than his 25 goals in 69 games last season, and he'll get a showcase in rebuilding Detroit.
Vrana is 25. He fits the Detroit timeline better than Mantha, as the Red Wings are at a minimum two years away from making any significant progress up the standings.
But as Yzerman has done time and time again, it's the draft capital from the Capitals that's really made this trade a great one for Detroit. They now have two first-rounders, three second-rounders, two third-rounders and two fourth-rounders in this season's draft. Granted, you'd hope it was in a draft with a little more certainty in scouting and player development. But that's a treasure trove, and Yzerman continues to find ways to add to it. -- Wyshynski
Sam Bennett joins the Panthers
Florida Panthers get: C Sam Bennett, 2022 sixth-round pick
Calgary Flames get: F Emil Heineman, 2022 second-round pick
Florida Panthers: B+
Sam Bennett requested a trade from the Flames. He later rescinded that trade request. Then he was traded anyway to the Panthers. Such is business in the NHL.
Bennett is in his seventh NHL season after being selected fourth overall in 2014. He's only 24, and will be a restricted free agent after this season.
His best campaign was his rookie season, when he had 18 goals and 18 assists. The last three seasons, he's averaged under 14 minutes of ice time per game. This season, his point production was up (0.32 points per game), but he skated to a minus-14 and was barely a replacement-level player. He has four goals and eight assists in 38 games this season, and he can help drive offense. But he takes too many penalties: From 2019 to '21, Bennett averaged 1.34 penalties taken per 60 minutes.
From a depth perspective, Bennett can slide into the Panthers' bottom six with centers Noel Acciari and 22-year-old Eetu Luostarinen, but I imagine they're going to give him a glance in the top six as well.
What I like about this move: He adds some "compete level" to the lineup. Bennett is playing for an new contract; he'll be a restricted free agent this summer. For his struggles in the regular season, Bennett has 19 points in 30 career playoff games, and the Panthers project to be in the postseason.
Despite a low cap number ($2.55 million AAV), the price in trade was high. It's on Bennett to prove it was worth it.
Calgary Flames: A-
The Flames essentially get two second-round picks for Bennett, as Heineman was taken No. 43 overall last season by the Panthers. That the second-rounder is in 2022 - when junior hockey, scouting and in-person player evaluation should have some semblance of normalcy - is a bonus.
Heineman was taken at No. 43 after he had a spike in offensive output (41 points in 29 games) with a very good Leksands IF J20 team. His production fell off a cliff this season after moving up to the SHL, with 13 points in 43 games. He plays with effort, and he's a powerful skater. He can put the puck in the net, but there were some questions about how high his offensive ceiling in the NHL could get. Clearly, the Panthers were fine moving on from a player they had yet to sign. -- Wyshynski
Golden Knights land Janmark from the Blackhawks
Vegas Golden Knights get: C Mattias Janmark, 2022 fifth-round pick
Chicago Blackhawks get: 2021 second-round pick, 2022 third-round pick
San Jose Sharks get: 2022 fifth-round pick (VGS)
Vegas Golden Knights: B
The Golden Knights had been lurking on a few deals this week. They were in on Taylor Hall. They were in on Nick Foligno. Both of those trades were going to be complicated to pull off considering Vegas' cap space limitations. (As a refresher: the Golden Knights played games recently with 16 and 17 skaters to stay cap-compliant). However, we definitely got the sense that GM Kelly McCrimmon was trying to add a jolt to his team -- especially with the division rival Colorado Avalanche looking so dangerous lately. More importantly, the Golden Knights felt they needed depth at the center position.
And so the Golden Knights went for Janmark, a player one source told me earlier in the week "could be the sneaky-best pickup of the deadline." If this looks like the rich just wanting to get richer, well, it is. This is how aggressive the Golden Knights have been lately. They may only be in their fourth NHL season, but they feel their time is now. They've seen how rough things could look if one of their regular centers gets hurt, like Chandler Stephenson.
In Janmark, the Golden Knights get a speedy player who should fit into the team identity. He can play a bottom-six grinder role, but has also been featured on top lines in Chicago along Patrick Kane & Co. He plays center or wing, so Vegas will love his versatility. Janmark has been cold in the goals department lately, but hey, so are the slumping Blackhawks. Overall, Janmark is off to his best campaign, production-wise, of his five-season NHL career. He's averaging a career high in goals per game (0.24) and points per game (0.46). He had seven points on the power play, which ranked fifth for Chicago.
The trade package, however, is rich. Janmark is a valuable player, but he's no Nick Foligno or Taylor Hall. He's also battled some long-term injuries, which have affected his career trajectory. There's no question he makes Vegas an even deeper team and hopefully should adjust quickly.
Only reason the Golden Knights get points taken off is that they had to pay a premium for having San Jose broker the deal to alleviate the cap issues. (Janmark makes $2.25 million, but they needed help to fit him in under the cap). Vegas did have an extra second-round pick from their swap of Nikita Gusev to the Devils back in 2019.
Chicago Blackhawks: A-
For the second straight season, Chicago strikes a deal with Vegas at the deadline with the future in mind. One year after sending Robin Lehner to the Golden Knights for a draft pick, a prospect, and a younger, less experienced goalie in Malcolm Subban, the Blackhawks say goodbye to a veteran forward who played well for them. And once again, Chicago management is announcing: It doesn't view the Blackhawks as a team that can contend for a Stanley Cup, yet.
It has to be frustrating for the Blackhawks players, who competed so hard to start the 2021 season despite some adversity. But the team began to tail off over the past month, falling out of a playoff spot. Janmark's individual production tailed off too; he had no goals in his past 10 games.
That didn't diminish his trade value too much, as the Blackhawks got a decent return considering players with expiring deals weren't supposed to yield much this year.
Although it's dispiriting to players to see teammates like Janmark -- as well as Carl Soderberg, who was sent to Colorado -- leave, Chicago players know management is focusing on the long term. They also know their recent play didn't necessarily justify going for it this season.
San Jose Sharks: A
The Sharks have weaponized their cap space this trade deadline. They essentially bought a draft pick -- and they got their bitter division rivals, Vegas, to pay up. For a team that badly needs to infuse some younger players, what's not to like? -- Kaplan
Sunday, April 11
Bruins land Taylor Hall from Sabres
Boston Bruins get: LW Taylor Hall and C/LW Curtis Lazar
Buffalo Sabres get: LW Anders Bjork and 2021 second-round pick
Boston Bruins: A-
They got Taylor Hall for a second-round draft pick and Anders Bjork.
That's it.
Thanks for reading ...
OK, perhaps a little more context is needed here. Hall, 29, will be the latest in a parade of players the Bruins have used as their second-line left wing next to center David Krejci. Players like Loui Eriksson, David Backes, Rick Nash, Jake DeBrusk and Ondrej Kase have filled the role with varying degrees of success and failure. Now Hall will get his shot.
Speaking of shooting: Hall's not all that great at it.
He shot 14% in his Hart Trophy-winning season with the New Jersey Devils in 2017-18, which increasingly appears to have been the aberrational apex of his career. He's shot less than 10% in six of his last seven seasons, including 6.9% in scoring 16 goals in 65 games last season for the Devils and Coyotes, and a pathetic 2.3% in scoring two goals in 37 games this season for the Sabres. For those scoring at home, that's 18 goals in 102 games for three different franchises, and now a fourth in the Bruins.
If the hope here is "regression to the mean" from that 2.3%, then please keep in mind that the mean has been a sub-10% shooting percentage for several seasons.
Hall can help drive offense for his line at 5-on-5, but his defensive game is below average. His power-play numbers in his last 102 games: five goals and 19 assists. From 2018 to the present, Hall has a rate of zero expected goals scored above average. Which means he's been entirely average.
All of these numbers come with a huge caveat: He played for few bad Devils teams, an Arizona team not exactly known for offensive fireworks, and the 2020-21 Buffalo Sabres, who are one of the worst teams in recent memory. It is entirely reasonable to wonder if a change in scenery to an expected playoff team reignites his moribund game. And hey, if it doesn't and the Bruins somehow miss the playoffs, at least the Bruins have draft lottery good luck charm Taylor Hall around.
Lazar, 26, is a fine bottom-six forward who is currently out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. He's signed through next season with a $800,000 cap hit before unrestricted free agency. He could be more than a throw-in to this deal.
This isn't a slam dunk for the Bruins. Hall has been T.H.I.N.O. (Taylor Hall In Name Only) for the better part of three seasons. What this is: an extremely low-cost investment. A second-round pick and Bjork, who was likely Seattle Kraken-bound anyway, for a former MVP with an expiring contract, with the Sabres picking up 50% of the cap hit.
Meanwhile, if you had told me at the 2010 draft that in 11 years we'd have Taylor Hall playing for the Boston Bruins and Tyler Seguin playing for the Dallas Stars ...
Buffalo Sabres: C-
I spoke with two NHL general managers this weekend who told me the same thing: They wouldn't want Taylor Hall.
Which is wild, because he's, you know, Taylor Hall. But both pointed to his incredibly bad offensive production this season, fearing that it's more systemic than a case of Sabres funk covering him. One was also hesitant about all the baggage Hall carries: His cap hit, even with Buffalo picking up half his salary; and the fact that Hall was reportedly seeking a long-term deal from a team seeking to have him waive his no-movement clause.
This is the market in which Sabres GM Kevyn Adams was seeking to move Hall. It's easy to look at players like Kyle Palmieri and Nick Foligno being traded for first-round picks at the deadline and wonder how Taylor Hall couldn't fetch the same. In Foligno's case, that means completely ignoring the contextual reasons the Maple Leafs traded for him and assuming Hall could fill those needs, which is a myopic approach to player transactions that treats them like they're made in the vacuum of an EA Sports trade modulator.
But in both cases, the comparison of the returns shows how diminished Hall had become: a right wing with fewer points than Hall and defensive winger who is a "character guy" both earned a bigger return than a former league MVP.
While the assumption was that Hall would pretty much go anywhere to escape Buffalo, he did wield a full no-movement clause, which could have complicated things. He's always wanted to play in Boston. Now he's with the Bruins. When you have trade protection, you can help will that into existence.
That's the context, and perhaps the justification, for the return. It doesn't make it any less rough for Buffalo. There was always that chance that the Sabres were going to turn around and trade Hall if things didn't work out this season after he signed a one-year, $8 million free-agent deal. Maybe for a first-rounder. Maybe for a prospect. He didn't return either in this trade. There's no bigger indictment of the Sabres' brutal season than the fact that it managed to drain the trade value out of Taylor Hall.
Bjork, 24, has 39 points in 138 NHL games over three seasons. However, the Sabres have some cap certainty here, since he is signed through 2022-23 with a $1.6 million cap hit before reaching RFA status.
Keeping 50% of Hall's salary and trading away Lazar for Bjork and a second-rounder may have been the best Adams could do given the circumstances. But it's impossible to sell that to Sabres fans who saw Eric Staal, Taylor Hall and Brandon Montour traded for a second, two thirds, a fifth and Anders Bjork. And it's impossible, for the moment, for them to have faith that Adams could deliver the best return should the team have to trade Jack Eichel in the near future. He hasn't earned that confidence, at all. -- Wyshynski
Jeff Carter joins the Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins get: C Jeff Carter
Los Angeles Kings get: 2022 conditional third-round pick, 2023 conditional fourth-round pick
Pittsburgh Penguins: B
One of my favorite things about former Penguins GM Jim Rutherford was the way he would constantly reacquire his former players. There was a defenseman named Joe Corvo who had no fewer than three different stints with Rutherford in Carolina, for example. He'd go with whom he knew.
Ron Hextall replaced Rutherford in Pittsburgh this season, but that spirit lives on. Hextall was part of the Philadelphia Flyers brain trust that drafted Carter in 2003. Hextall was an assistant general manager in Los Angeles, where Carter played an integral part on their 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup championship teams. Now he's acquired Carter as another offensive option for the Penguins. The question is how much offense the veteran has left.
There's a lot to like here on paper. Carter fits the bill of the big-bodied forward Hextall was seeking at the deadline. He could play in the Penguins' top six or slide into a third-line center role when Evgeni Malkin returns. Pittsburgh had few picks or prospects to trade, and it wasn't looking to part with any of the significant ones for deadline help: Two conditional picks in future drafts were easily sacrificed. Carter is a veteran champion joining a team with a few of them making up its core -- he was also a Team Canada teammate of Sidney Crosby at the 2014 Olympics.
His points-per-game rate (0.48) is up a tick from last season. He skated 16:27 per game for the Kings, generating 2.93 shots per game. He played on the power play. He ceded faceoff duties to his linemates this season, but was over 50% in the dot in the three previous seasons. His expected goals percentage (48.65) was better than that of many of his teammates this season.
Carter has lost a step and is below average defensively, but he still has a scorer's touch at 36 years old. The bottom line is that the Penguins are getting a veteran forward for $2,636,363 against the cap, after the Kings' salary retention, in exchange for two conditional picks.
Would this be better if Carter were on an expiring contract? Perhaps. If he plans to play through 2021-22, the Penguins can expose him in the expansion draft. They also get a nice real dollars benefit from his contact: The last two seasons of Carter's 11-year, $58-million deal he signed with the Flyers way back in 2010 carry only a $2 million base salary. Given the current economics of the league through the pandemic, that's a bargain.
There's also an interesting wrinkle here that actually bumped up their grade. If Carter retires after this season, the Penguins actually get a $381,000 salary cap benefit due to cap recapture rules.
For the financial aspects, the low draft capital cost and the role they'll likely cast him in, we'll give this Hextall/Carter reunion a B.
Los Angeles Kings: A-
I was convinced Jeff Carter was going to retire as a member of the Los Angeles Kings. It's where he put his roots down after arriving in 2011-12. He didn't seem to have a desire to leave, and the team seemed happy to have him around as a veteran leader keeping a roster spot warm until one of their prospects was willing to fill it. There didn't really seem to be a market for him, either, given his cap hit.
But with a low base salary and the chance to retain 50% of his cap number, the Kings were able to make something work with the Penguins. A condition on the third-rounder is that it can become a second-round pick if Pittsburgh makes the Stanley Cup Final this season and Carter plays at least 50% of their games the rest of the way. There's a good chance one of those things happens; the other, no so much.
It'll be interesting to see what happens beyond this season, as Carter has another year on his deal. There's been speculation he could retire after one last kick at the Stanley Cup. If he does, the Kings get hit with a $3.1 million cap recapture penalty next season, which isn't ideal.
If he does play, the Kings just opened up a spot for a young player in their lineup in the short term and cleared $2,636,363 from next season's cap in the long term -- which might come in handy if there's ever a Jack Eichel-sized contract they need to take on, for instance.
GM Rob Blake said recently that his veteran core players had earned the right to have a conversation about their future with the Kings and in the NHL. The time was apparently right for Carter to move on, and there's a comfort level in Pittsburgh for him with Hextall there. -- Wyshynski
Maple Leafs land important goalie insurance in David Rittich
Toronto Maple Leafs get: G David Rittich
Calgary Flames get: 2022 third-round pick
Toronto Maple Leafs: B+
The Maple Leafs are all-in on winning the Stanley Cup this season and leaving nothing to chance. That includes their goaltending.
With starter Freddie Andersen out with an injury, they're getting ridiculously good goaltending from Jack Campbell, who is 11-0-0 with a .934 save percentage and a 1.88 goals-against average. Behind Campbell is Michael Hutchinson; and as the Colorado Avalanche found out last postseason, Michael Hutchinson is only getting you so far in an emergency capacity.
Rittich, 28, arrives having gone 4-7-1 with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage this season. He's been a replacement-level goalie this season, after going 51-26-11 over the previous two seasons with a combined 23.3 goals saved above average. He's a pending unrestricted free agent.
Obviously, the Leafs hope that Andersen can bounce back from his lower-body injury, although coach Sheldon Keefe recently said "there's no timeline" for his return.
Rittich is an upgrade as an insurance policy behind Campbell but shares the same problem as the current starter: a lack of playoff experience. Rittich played 16:35 in a playoff loss to the Dallas Stars last season, and that's it. Say what you will about Devan Dubnyk, whom the Avalanche acquired from the Sharks on Saturday, but he does have 26 playoff starts.
But given the goalies available at this trade deadline, and the fact that Calgary picked up 50% of the salary for him, Rittich isn't a bad addition even if he isn't an ideal one.
Calgary Flames: A
Getting a third-round pick in the 2022 draft -- when junior hockey and scouting prospects should both return to some semblance of normalcy -- is solid return for a pending free agent who's no longer in the Flames' plans. That gives them two thirds this season and next season. Obviously, retaining 50% of his salary -- leaving the Leafs with a $1.375 million cap hit -- allowed this happen and maximized the return. -- Wyshynski
Maple Leafs trade for veteran forward Nick Foligno
Toronto Maple Leafs get: LW Nick Foligno, RW Stefan Noesen
Columbus Blue Jackets get: 2021 first-round pick (TOR), 2022 fourth-round pick (TOR)
San Jose Sharks get: 2021 fourth-round pick (TOR)
Toronto Maple Leafs: A-
For being the clean-shaven face of the analytics movement, Toronto GM Kyle Dubas sure does make a lot of "hockey culture" moves. Players such as Wayne Simmonds and Zach Bogosian aren't exactly paragons of fancy stats. Neither is Foligno.
This season, the outgoing Blue Jackets captain is under 50% in puck possession (46.2% in Corsi for percentage) and expected goals percentage (45.16%). He has a minus-2 goals scored above average. From a traditional stats perspective, Foligno is having a better shooting season (9.6%) than he did last season (7.6%), but neither is up to established standards (11.6% for his career). He has seven goals and nine assists in 42 games this season.
He might not be the same offensive force he was in his late 20s, but Foligno is going to be valuable as a winger who creates space for players such as John Tavares and Mitchell Marner. His net-front presence could also make a pretty good Leafs power play (23.3%, 10th in the NHL) even better.
But what Foligno really gives the Leafs -- and why Dubas added him to this collection of acquisitions that are seemingly antithetical to analytics -- is defensive prowess and those unquantifiable "intangibles."
He's an extremely good defensive winger, one who finally started to get some Selke Trophy buzz last season. Over the past three seasons, he's second among Jackets forwards in takeaways (87) and blocked shots (136). He does the dirty work in the corners in both zones. The Maple Leafs have been accused of being too easy to play against in the past, especially in the postseason; Nick Foligno is anything but that.
That's part of the intangible story with Foligno, but there's more than that. He's 33 years old with 51 playoff games to his credit, including 20 in the past two seasons with the Blue Jackets. He has captained Columbus since 2015-16. He's a high-character player, on and off the ice.
There were only two things standing in the way of the Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup this season. One was the Boston Bruins, against whom the Leafs turn to jelly in the playoffs. Thanks to realignment, they won't see them until the NHL's final four, if at all. The second was themselves. This is a team that hasn't shown it knows how to pay the price to win in the playoffs, especially in the defensive end. Dubas is betting a rather large wager -- on a pending free agent, no less -- that Foligno is the type of player who can give them that education and that element.
I like the bet.
(Noesen, for what it's worth, is a taxi squad player who is a restricted free agent this offseason.)
Columbus Blue Jackets: A+
GM Jarmo Kekalainen is having himself a deadline. On Saturday, he acquired the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2021 first-round pick and their 2022 third-round pick for defenseman David Savard, a pending unrestricted free agent. On Sunday, he acquired the Maple Leafs' 2021 first-round pick and their 2022 fourth-round pick for winger Nick Foligno, another pending unrestricted free agent.
It's true that the value of a first-rounder in the 2021 draft is somewhat diminished thanks to the interruptions in scouting and player evaluation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but getting them for two "rentals" is still impressive.
Just like with Savard, the Jackets are retaining some of Foligno's salary, holding on to 50% of his $5.5 million cap hit. And just like with Savard, the Jackets used a third team -- this time the Sharks -- to gobble up even more of that contract before Foligno ended up with the Maple Leafs.
There's every chance that Foligno returns to Columbus as a free agent this offseason, having put roots down in the past nine seasons and becoming a fixture in the community. The chance that he boomerangs back to help the Jackets next season makes the deal all that better for Kekalainen.
San Jose Sharks: B+
As if Steve Yzerman didn't torment the Sharks enough during his career, his Detroit Red Wings established the going rate for laundering a cap hit as the third team in a trade: a 2021 fourth-round pick, which they received from the Lightning in the Savard deal. So the Sharks received a fourth-rounder for retaining Foligno's salary, moving out Noesen in the process. We'll give them a B-plus here because that 2022 pick the Jackets got out of Toronto is a better one than what the Sharks received, given the nature of this year's draft. -- Wyshynski
Saturday, April 10
David Savard traded to the Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning get: D David Savard, D Brian Lashoff
Columbus Blue Jackets get: 2021 first-round pick, 2022 third-round pick
Detroit Red Wings get: 2021 fourth-round pick
Tampa Bay Lightning: B+
If you've heard GM Julien BriseBois talk over the past few weeks, he has been stressing that it's going to be very hard for the Lightning to do anything at the deadline, because of their lack of cap space. Lo and behold, he found a way.
For the second straight trade deadline, Tampa Bay was aggressive. But unlike last season, the Lightning moved a first-round pick for a player (Savard) whose contract expires this summer. That typically goes against the front office's philosophy on "rental players," but it also shows that Tampa Bay really thinks it has a chance to repeat as Stanley Cup champs.
The cap gymnastics are complicated. BriseBois essentially asked his peers to absorb some salary: Columbus retained 50% of Savard's cap hit to trade him to Detroit; Detroit retained 50% of the remainder to trade him to the Lightning, meaning Tampa Bay added $1,062,500 to its cap. The Lightning are not in the clear yet. Jan Rutta was put on long-term injured reserve, but he is expected back by the end of the season. That's a later problem.
For now, Savard is a prototypical deadline addition because he is experienced and a tough competitor, and he is going to do all the small things right. The 30-year-old has 38 games of playoff experience, including averaging 25:42 minutes per game in 10 contests during the 2020 postseason bubble. The right-handed defenseman is big (6-foot-2, 229 pounds) and plays a physical game; he has 89 blocked shots in just 40 games this season.
Savard's individual metrics on the Blue Jackets weren't great, but put him on a winning team, and in the Lightning's structure, and he is a great cultural fit. The Lightning have been looking for defensive reinforcements, as they never really replaced Zach Bogosian and Kevin Shattenkirk, both of whom left in free agency. The Lightning also have been trying to shelter the minutes of rookie Cal Foote, easing his development.
The Central Division has three elite teams in the Lightning, Hurricanes and Panthers, and one dangerous challenger in whomever snags the fourth playoff spot. Seeing that the first two playoff rounds are intradivisional, BriseBois likely saw this as a necessary move to stay ahead of the Joneses.
Giving up three draft picks is a bit rich. However, Tampa Bay is banking on another long run, so the first-round pick should be a late one. The Lightning now have a third-, fifth- and sixth-round pick and two seventh-round picks in 2021; in 2022, they'll be without a second- and third-rounder. But win the Stanley Cup again and no one will be complaining.
Columbus Blue Jackets: A-
Savard was respected to an tremendous degree within the Blue Jackets organization. He had played his entire 10-year career in Columbus, did everything asked of him and showed up to an optional practice on his very last day, fully aware he was going to be traded. It's not easy to lose someone like that.
But the Blue Jackets -- who have four straight playoff berths and have kept overachieving despite losing big names in free agency -- have fallen back to earth this season. Columbus has gone 15-19-8 through 42 games; only the Red Wings have fewer points in the Central Division. It's clear this team needs some retooling, which made Savard, on an expiring contract, an obvious player to trade. There's been a lot of speculation and chatter among NHL evaluators that "rental players" wouldn't yield big returns this year, in part because of an imbalance of teams looking to add and subtract. That Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen was able to hold Savard until two days before the trade deadline and yield this return is strong management. It also is helpful that ownership was willing to absorb some of the cap hit, which upped the return.
The first-round pick will be a low one, but Columbus could use more young players; drafting and developing has been the model Kekalainen prefers best.
Now, he faces more tough decisions. Will Kekalainen move his captain, Nick Foligno? What about defenseman Michael Del Zotto? How about players with more than one year left on their contract? Those latter deals are probably best saved for summer.
Detroit Red Wings: A
What does Detroit GM Steve Yzerman want more than anything right now? Draft picks. And so he went out and bought one. What's more, Detroit trades away the captain of its AHL team ... only to ensure that that player remains with the Grand Rapids Griffins for the rest of the season. Genius. -- Kaplan
Avalanche bolster goaltending depth, deal for Devan Dubnyk
Colorado Avalanche get: G Devan Dubnyk
San Jose Sharks get: D Greg Pateryn, 2021 fifth-round pick
Colorado Avalanche: B+
The Avalanche are firing on all cylinders. Over the past month, they have lost just once in 17 games. No team has accumulated more points or scored more goals per game than the Avs in that span. Only two teams have recorded fewer goals against per game. A big part of that success has been Philipp Grubauer, who is having a Vezina Trophy-caliber season. Through 33 games, he has 24 wins and a .919 save percentage.
However, the Avs also know this: They are just one Grubauer injury away from disaster.
The team saw this unfold in last year's postseason bubble. I've talked to members of the Avalanche about it; if they weren't down to their third-string goalie in the second-round series against the Stars, they really believe they would have moved on to the Western Conference finals. Instead, Colorado was sent home, disappointed, but knowing the team had as good of a chance to win the Cup in 2021.
With Pavel Francouz sidelined due to a lower-body injury, the Avs have worked Grubauer hard. And it has become apparent that their Achilles' heel could be exposed again unless GM Joe Sakic did something about it. Sakic acquired Jonas Johansson from the Sabres last month, and it's never a bad idea to have more goaltending depth. But what the Avs really needed was a veteran for insurance. That's Dubnyk.
Dubnyk is in his 12th NHL season and is a consummate professional. While he is only four years removed from finishing fifth in Vezina voting, he has been a sub-.900 save percentage goalie in each of the past two seasons. The 34-year-old should improve while playing under Colorado's much better defensive structure, but it's fair to wonder if Sakic could have found a more exciting option out there. Then again, while the Avs are trying to win now, they are conscious of the future too. And before this trade, Colorado was already without a second-, fourth- and sixth-round pick in the 2021 draft. They don't want to jeopardize too much, but they also might not be done yet.
As for Pateryn: He played only eight games for Colorado this season. With Friday's addition of Patrik Nemeth -- who plays a similar role -- Pateryn was viewed as a player who could be traded away, and Colorado is happy to clear his cap space, which is a shade over $2 million.
San Jose Sharks: B+
San Jose GM Doug Wilson wished Devan Dubnyk well on Saturday, saying he "brought the element of consummate professionalism and class" while mentoring a lot of younger players. That's shorthand for: We really respect the guy, but we don't need him anymore.
The Sharks are making a surprising run at the fourth playoff spot in the West Division, but they know no matter how the season finishes, they need to focus on long-term planning. The Sharks have put off a rebuild (or at the very least a retool), and it's coming back to haunt them. There's an urgency to get younger players into the lineup and stockpile draft picks or else things could really get dire.
Martin Jones is having a resurgence, and the Sharks obviously want to ride that out, considering their financial commitment to the player. (He is making $5.75 million per season through 2023-24.) The Sharks also want to give two of their young goalies in the organization -- 22-year-old Alexei Melnichuk and 23-year-old Josef Korenar -- an opportunity to get some starts. That meant that they could trade Dubnyk.
In Pateryn, the Sharks get a pending free agent who is a serviceable NHL defenseman and offers some insurance on the blue line for this surprising playoff push, if nothing else.
That they were able to recoup a fifth-rounder for Dubnyk feels about right. Overall a solid, if unexciting, transaction for Wilson. -- Kaplan
Brandon Montour to the Panthers
Florida Panthers get: D Brandon Montour
Buffalo Sabres get: 2021 third-round pick
Florida Panthers: B
Are the Panthers getting the Brandon Montour whom Buffalo traded for in 2019 or the Brandon Montour who is leaving the Sabres after 112 underwhelming games?
When the Sabres acquired him, Montour was seen as a solid, young defenseman with an even higher ceiling. He had 63 points in 169 games in Anaheim, skating 20:47 on average. He blocked shots and delivered hits. Buffalo saw that promise, traded a conditional first-round pick for him and ... watched Montour become one of the NHL's most ineffective defensemen on the defensive side of the puck.
Montour had an expected goals percentage of 46.12% during his three seasons in Buffalo, including 44.67% this season through 38 games. He has averaged 0.38 points per game offensively but has been an absolute drag defensively on the Sabres. In three seasons, Montour has a minus-12.5 goals scored above average and has cost his team 2.3 wins in the standings. He has been sub-replacement level for the Sabres.
The operative phrase here: "for the Sabres." The majority of his time in Buffalo was spent under the ultimately ineffective coaching of Ralph Krueger, on a porous defensive team. Montour has seven points in 12 games under new interim coach Don Granato, skating to a plus-1 rating. He played on the penalty kill, and he saw power-play time in Buffalo, as well.
The Panthers made two trades with the Chicago Blackhawks recently to open up some cap space, the majority of it leaving with forward Brett Connolly ($3.5 million average annual value). With Aaron Ekblad done for at least the regular season after fracturing his left leg, the Panthers prioritized adding a defenseman at the deadline, and Montour could slide in on a pairing with MacKenzie Weegar.
If a change in scenery does the trick and Montour rediscovers his defensive game -- that is, if the "Buffalo effect" is real -- this could be a very good stopgap move, as Montour is a pending unrestricted free agent. Either way, the risk was only a third-round pick for a team with eyes on the postseason.
Buffalo Sabres: C+
First, a little history lesson.
In February 2019, the Sabres acquired Montour for defenseman Brendan Guhle, who is currently in the AHL and a conditional first-round pick. The pick the Sabres ended up sending to Anaheim was acquired from the San Jose Sharks in the Evander Kane trade, on the condition that he re-signed with San Jose and that the Sharks made the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Before that second condition was met, the Sabres traded a conditional first to Anaheim for Montour. The condition: That the Ducks would receive either the Sharks' first-rounder in 2019 or the St. Louis Blues' first-rounder in 2019, which Buffalo acquired in the Ryan O'Reilly trade. If the Blues' pick was between Nos. 20 and 31 (it was), then Anaheim had the option to take either the Blues' or the Sharks' first-rounder from Buffalo. The Sharks and the Blues actually met in the Western Conference finals with the fate of the Ducks' conditional first-rounder on the line. The Blues won the West, and Anaheim used the Sharks' pick to draft winger Brayden Tracey at No. 29 overall, courtesy of the Sabres.
History lesson over. Pencils down.
At the time, the acquisition of Montour was praised. He was young. He was under contract beyond that season, and the Sabres would control his rights after that. But like ... well, pretty much everything under the previous regime, good intentions don't ensure good results, and Montour languished on the Sabres' blue line.
Given that -- and the fact that Montour is a pending free agent -- a third-round pick seemed like the ceiling for GM Kevyn Adams, especially since the Sabres didn't retain any salary to make the deal work. A frustrating erosion of value for a 26-year-old defenseman, but that's reality for Buffalo in this trade market. -- Wyshynski
Wednesday, April 7
Islanders add Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac from Devils
New York Islanders get: RW Kyle Palmieri, C Travis Zajac
New Jersey Devils get: F A.J. Greer, F Mason Jobst, 2021 first-round pick, conditional 2022 fourth-round pick
New York Islanders: A-
GM Lou Lamoriello said it best when explaining the Islanders' trade for Palmieri and Zajac: There are no surprises with these two. "I know what they bring on the ice. I also know what kind of people they are and what they bring to the locker room. Chemistry is very important for me," he said.
They've played against these Islanders with frequency. They've played with New York defenseman Andy Greene, who was a career Devils defenseman before Lamoriello reached over to Jersey and added him for the Islanders at last season's trade deadline. For better or for worse, there are no surprises here about the players the Islanders acquired.
It'll mostly be for the better.
Palmieri is having a down year -- there's no getting around that. The question is whether a short-term change in scenery can reignite his offense. He's been better than 0.33 goals per game since 2015-16; this season, he's at 0.24, with eight goals in 34 games. He has not been lower than 0.66 points per game during that span; this season, he's at 0.50. Palmieri has some encouraging underlying numbers (51.41 expected goals percentage). This isn't a case of his production hitting some kind of sudden, steep decline. Whether they deploy him on the left of Mathew Barzal or on the right of Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Palmieri is going to help fill the offensive void left by the loss of Anders Lee for the season.
Zajac was an interesting addition to the deal. His best days are behind him, and he has managed a 46.88 expected goals percentage at 5-on-5. Like Palmieri, he's been a sub-replacement-level player for the Devils this season. His calling card used to be as a penalty killer, but he has been ineffective there, too.
What he is at age 35 is a strong character player who can chip in on offense (18 points in 33 games) while playing a bottom-six role. It also gives the Islanders considerable experience and depth at the center spot: Barzal, Brock Nelson, Pageau, Casey Cizikas and now Zajac. Lamoriello drafted him. Lamoriello knows him. He'll be properly cast by Barry Trotz.
This isn't the kind of trade that secures a Stanley Cup for the Islanders. But it is the kind of trade that, if they're so blessed to hoist the chalice at the end of the season, they'll look back on as having added vital pieces to complete the puzzle. And it didn't cost them much at all, given that the return didn't include an upper-tier prospect and did include a first-round pick in a very mysterious draft.
New Jersey Devils: B
If the market for Palmieri was as robust as it appeared to be -- the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins were among the reportedly interested teams -- then one wonders if the Devils couldn't have acquired a prospect, rather than a low first-round pick in a draft that many general managers admit is a complete crapshoot thanks to the lack of in-person scouting and other COVID-19-related impacts.
Essentially, that's what the trade was: Palmieri for a first-rounder. Greer and Jobst are depth talents on expiring contracts, although Greer has the potential to contribute. Zajac's trade value was extremely limited due to his age, effectiveness and full no-trade clause. It was likely going to be a team in the New York metropolitan area or back home in Winnipeg, or it was nothing. So the conditional fourth-rounder for Zajac is what it is.
As I've written about before, it's a weird NHL trade deadline. Maybe given all the odd forces affecting teams, this was the best return that GM Tom Fitzgerald could get for Palmieri in a down season. That's something we'll know for sure when the dust settles after Monday's deadline.
And it's not out of the question that the Devils have gotten a first-round pick for a player who's back on their roster next season via unrestricted free agency. Fitzgerald called trading Palmieri "a business decision between Kyle and this organization at this moment." I asked Fitzgerald about that possibility; he shut it down by saying Palmieri is now on another team and he can't comment. Which wasn't a "no."
Still, the value coming back to New Jersey for having retained 50% of both players' salaries should have been a bit more than a low first-rounder, two depth players and a fourth-round pick that becomes a third if the Islanders make the Stanley Cup Final.
Now they're left hoping that the Islanders stumble a bit to make that first-rounder a higher one. Well, everyone but their GM is hoping that, apparently.
"I hope the pick we get is the 32nd pick. I hope both of these gentlemen win the Cup," said Fitzgerald. -- Wyshynski