To Washington: Anthony Mantha (RW)
To Detroit: Jakub Vrana (LW), Richard Panik (LW), 2021 first-round pick and 2022 second-round pick
Grades: Washington C+, Detroit: A+
On the surface this looks like an absolute steal for Detroit. Give Yzerman his due, he definitely made out extremely well on this one. Detroit is going nowhere, so acquiring draft capital and young assets (Richard Panik notwithstanding) in exchange for a mid-level NHL player will serve them well down the line. Stevie Y built Tampa Bay into the juggernaut they are today, and if he keeps making deals like this in Detroit’s rebuild then fans of the winged wheel will be purchasing playoff tickets once more in the not so distant future.
The knee jerk reaction when you first see this deal is to assume that Yzerman has incriminating photos of the Washington brass. It looks like a classic overpay which will haunt the Caps sooner rather than later. But when you dig a bit deeper, it starts to make more sense. Washington knows their window to compete is starting to close (in spite of Ovechkin defying the laws of aging, their core of Backstrom, Ovie, Carlson et. al. are now on the wrong side of 30) so their rebuild isn’t too far from now. But is it in the next two seasons? Likely not, meaning they gave up a late round 1st, and a pick likely to be in the high 50’s for a 26 year old former first round pick under team control for the next two years.
Unless Washington was to somehow land an NHL ready 18 year old in the next two drafts, then they’re giving up assets which can’t help them in their current championship journey anyways. Couple this with the fact that when they do tear it down, they’ll be able to recoup that 1st/2nd and then some when they ship off their existing core and you begin to see the rationale behind the deal. Is it an overpay as it stands today? Yes. But if it gets them closer to winning a 2nd cup then it will all be worth it in the end. The real question though, is whether Mantha’s stats are down this year because he’s playing with a bad team, or whether he’s lost a step in his 6th NHL campaign.
To Pittsburgh: Jeff Carter (C, LAK retains 50 percent)
To Los Angeles: 2022 third-round pick and 2023 fourth-round pick (both conditional)
Grades: Los Angeles B-, Pittsburgh A-
You can essentially take the rationale for Washington acquiring Mantha and replace the names “Backstrom, Ovie and Carlson” with “Crosby, Malkin and Letang” and the logic holds up. The key difference here being that Pittsburgh didn’t need to give up much in terms of value to bring Carter into the fold. Jeff is a former Stanley Cup champion, has the pedigree to get it done in the playoffs, and won’t be expected to play top line minutes in Pittsburgh. Win, win, win. The main concern however is whether Carter will be able to keep up to the increased pace of play come playoff time. He’s looked slow out there the last few years, and his point totals have dipped to 33, 27 and 19 over the past 3 campaigns. You’re not getting the 2010 version of Jeff Carter here and the price tag reflects that. He adds depth, and might see some powerplay time in the postseason but don’t hold your breath on him piling up the points in the homestretch if you’re a Pens fan.
That being said, you would have liked to have at least gotten something a little more tangible in return for Carter if you were the Kings. Conditional 3rd/4th round picks aren’t anything to get excited about. But the lack of a 1st/2nd/prospect is quite telling that other teams have taken notice of the drop in footspeed from Carter the last few years. This was likely the best deal out there which is why the Kings took it, but one has to assume that packaging him with another player could have yielded something more substantial in return. The one piece of good news for Kings fans however is this means that Carter is off the books for next season as well, so the front office has a bit more wiggle room to acquire another piece in their rebuild this summer.
To Boston: Taylor Hall (RW), Curtis Lazar (C)
To Buffalo: Anders Bjork (LW), second-round pick
Grades: Boston A, Buffalo F
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Just a few years removed from his Hart Trophy win, Taylor Hall was traded for scrap metal on deadline day. The Buffalo Sabres essentially just paid $8M for the right to get Boston’s 2nd round draft pick this year. Maybe Eugene Melnyk should call up the Pegulas and see if he can sell off some of his draft capital for cash.
In an ironic twist, Boston (who was on the “Tyler” side of the “Taylor or Tyler” draft night conundrum years ago) now gets to experience the other side of the equation, albeit several years later. It’s hard to say what version of Hall the Bruins are getting. On the one hand, he’s been a disaster offensively this year. On the other, Buffalo gave their best effort to squash what little joy Jack Eichel has left for hockey out of him by scuffling through one of the worst seasons in recent memory. The Bruins get themselves two reclamation projects in Hall and Lazar, both former first round draft picks who’ve fallen on tough times of late. Yet, if either is able to recapture even half their pre-Buffalo magic, then this is a major addition to an already strong Bruins team at a rock bottom price.
We’re less than 2 years away from Hall being flipped to Arizona for a 1st, a 3rd and three prospects, so to acquire two NHL bodies for Anders Bjork (39pts in 138 NHL games) and a 2nd is ludicrous. Buffalo is a dumpster fire at the moment, and if this is the best they could muster at the deadline this year, then get ready to see some pink slips handed out this offseason.
To Tampa Bay: David Savard, Brian Lashoff (D)
To Columbus: 2021 first-round pick, 2022 third-round pick
To Detroit: 2021 fourth-round pick
Grades: Columbus A, Detroit A+, Tampa Bay B+
Detroit’s strong trade deadline continued with the Savard deal. What did Yzerman have to do to acquire a 4th round pick? Spend his owner’s money! Zero assets moved, just the writing of a cheque from an owner who gets it, and elected to weaponize his cap space. Detroit gets additional draft capital, and the rebuild takes another step forward. A+ no questions asked.
Columbus similarly took advantage of a unique trade deadline where there was a massive void of available big names on the trade block. No disrespect to David Savard, he’s a perfectly serviceable NHL defenseman who eats up minutes and is a good addition to a cup contender, but if he’s the biggest name on trade boards across the league, it’s going to be a quiet day. It’s a far cry from the Brett Hull, Ron Francis, Markus Naslund etc. deadline deals we’ve seen in the past. But everyday can’t be Christmas, and Columbus took full advantage of the lack of big names out there to the tune of a 1st and a 3rd round draft pick. A tidy piece of work for the Blue Jackets which will help them get back on track next season.
Tampa Bay gets full marks for effort. Already in salary cap hell, they got creative and involved a 3rd team to retain salary to make the financials work. Is it a bit of an overpay for a steady if unspectacular NHL blue liner? Sure, but when you’re leading your division without the use of an all world talent like Kucherov, there’s no reason to think the Lightning can’t make a repeat run to the cup finals this year. And if that’s the price you need to pay to give your team another crack at the title then you make that move 100 times out of 100.
To Toronto: Nick Foligno (LW, CBJ/SJ each retain 50 percent), Stefan Noesen (RW)
To Columbus: 2021 first-round pick (TOR), 2022 fourth-round pick (TOR)
To San Jose: 2021 fourth-round pick (TOR)
Grades: San Jose C+, Columbus A, Toronto B-
San Jose recovering something for a distressed asset like Noesen (currently on his 5th team since the 2016-17 season, 54pts in 204 NHL games) gets them an average mark. A mid round pick is better than letting him walk for nothing after the season as they were likely to do.
Columbus continued their impressive trade deadline by offloading team captain Nick Foligno to Toronto for a first rounder and a future fourth which is a great haul for a player who hasn’t eclipsed the 35pt plateau since 2016. The final piece of the Columbus retool now likely comes down to the organization parting ways with fiery head coach John Tortorella after the final game of the season. His clashes with Dubois, Laine, and other young talent has made the situation in Columbus untenable moving forward, so a changing of “organizational philosophy” is likely in the cards.
Toronto allegedly gets “their man” depending on who you believe. Bob McKenzie claimed that Toronto was never really interested in Taylor Hall, while other sources claim the Leafs were in on the bidding for his services until the final moments of deadline day. Foligno is a nice depth piece for the team, and will likely be even more effective come playoff time. But a 1st and two 4ths leave the Leafs with little draft capital over the next two years (7 picks total over the next two drafts) meaning that they’re pushing their chips to the middle of the table and going for it all this season. And when you look at what Taylor Hall was ultimately traded for, one has to look at this Foligno deal as an overpay. Do they get a usable piece for a playoff run? Sure, but if the buds have another first round flame out, then what? It’s a big gamble on a player on the back nine of his career who isn’t signed beyond this season and has no real track record of playoff success. Time will tell, but if the Leafs aren’t able to come out of the North this year (which appears to be the weakest division in hockey at the moment), then there’ll be some tough decisions to make in Toronto in the offseason.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @dynessports