With February swiftly drawing to a close, the 30 NHL teams are beginning to look ahead to the Stanley Cup playoffs just six weeks away. For some teams, this is an exciting time, as players and coaches prepare to make a final push toward a playoff berth and a shot at the most famous trophy in sport. For others, it's a time of uncomfortable realization — the bitter moment of truth when an organization must concede that this is not, in fact, their year.
This separation — into Cup contenders and also-rans, playoff and non-playoff teams — will be most deeply felt this coming Monday. The NHL trade deadline will freeze rosters for the remainder of the year, giving general managers a chance to tweak their personnel one last time. Whether for an epic playoff push or a rebuilding year, this is the time when the trade rumors are most compelling.
Who's buying and selling at the trade deadline? As a rule of thumb, the franchises best positioned to make a long playoff run might not be too quick to start tinkering with their roster. After all, don't fix what's not broken.
But some teams will be looking to further bolster their ranks with a boost of energy from outside — whether it's adding an extra stay-at-home defenseman, bringing in a center to complement a high-scoring winger or even shaking up the goaltending situation in search of the "hot hand" that can carry a team deep into the playoffs.
In the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia Flyers are looking down at the competition, in first place by nine points. The addition of Kris Versteeg on Feb. 14 was a big acquisition for the club. But they also sit uncomfortably close to the salary cap — too close to consider adding another player, although they did make room by releasing winger Nikolai Zherdev yesterday.
Big moves are already taking place in advance of Monday's deadline madness. The Boston Bruins acquired Tomas Kaberle from the Toronto Maple Leafs in perhaps the biggest trade so far. But to get Kaberle's salary under the cap, they had to move Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart to the Atlanta Thrashers for Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik.
In another high-profile move, the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired wingers James Neal and Matt Niskanen from the Dallas Stars at the cost of defenseman Alex Goligoski. Other teams, like the Washington Capitals, appear to be standing pat, seemingly comfortable that their current roster will make it in the playoffs.
The Western Conference is a picture of parity, with the seven teams between fifth and 11th place all within an incredible two points of each other. This will undoubtedly make for a thrilling finish to the season, but it also heightens the implications of any deadline moves. With few Western teams definitively out of the playoff picture, there will be fewer willing "sellers" from the West at the deadline. Few clubs are prepared to throw in the towel on this season.
The same cannot be said for the Florida Panthers. Eight points out of the eighth seed in the East, with high-profile players out of contract next year, a fire sale is impending in the Sunshine State.
The organization knows that they can get more in return for their players now, rather than in the the off-season. They have already unloaded Michael Frolik to the Chicago Blackhawks, but All-Star goaltender Tomas Vokoun could be a huge asset to a playoff team trying to shore up its defenses.
Veteran unrestricted free agents with past playoff experience and a reputation for reliability are exactly what every "buying" team looks for at the deadline, and Florida has no shortage. Besides Vokoun, forwards Marty Reasoner, Cory Stillman and Radek Dvorak all fit that category, as does defenseman and captain Bryan McCabe. All could make for great "rentals" — players that join a roster for a playoff run with the expectation that they might move on in the off-season.
The Stars' Brad Richards, the Capitals' Alexander Semin and the Colorado Avalanche's Milan Hejduk would all make for high-priced but potentially high-impact rentals. But any GM considering picking up one of those players would have to also consider what they'd give up in return.
While the pressure to win now is immense, especially for teams with a core group of players in their primes, general managers must weigh the present against the future. Trading away draft picks or young prospects in exchange for aging veterans is a gamble that risks gutting the organization of future talent.
After next Monday, we'll likely be looking at a couple of new-look teams and an instantly redefined playoff picture. In an environment this competitive, a skillfully managed trade deadline can turn a mere playoff team into a Cup contender, while a botched one can have disastrous implications for the remainder of this season and beyond.
