Iginla headed to L.A., Habs stay busy on quiet deadline day
Jarome Iginla was traded to Los Angeles and the Montreal Canadiens stayed busy on an otherwise quiet NHL trade deadline day.
Iginla was the most notable name dealt ahead of Wednesday’s deadline, the aging winger sent to the Kings where he’ll hope to chase his first Stanley Cup.
Montreal made three moves around the edges, meanwhile, injecting size and physicality up front onto their struggling squad.
The Florida Panthers added some offence with Thomas Vanek, the Columbus Blue Jackets picked up Kyle Quincey for depth on defence and the Tampa Bay Lightning continued to pare down, flipping Valtteri Filppula to Philadelphia for the expiring contract of defenceman Mark Streit, who was then dealt to Pittsburgh.
The Calgary Flames took a chance on former Senators first round pick Curtis Lazar and the Nashville Predators dealt for winger P.A. Parenteau. Pittsburgh landed defenceman Frankie Corrado from Toronto for Eric Fehr, Steve Oleksy and a pick.
The Vancouver Canucks sent Jannik Hansen to San Jose in the early morning hours of deadline day.
Much of the action around this year’s deadline came in advance of Wednesday, with playoff contenders sprinkling depth onto their rosters.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins added Ron Hainsey to their back-end. The Washington Capitals, the NHL’s top regular season squad this year and last, scooped up the biggest available fish in defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk. The Rangers added Brendan Smith for depth on defence while the Blackhawks re-acquired Johnny Oduya and traded for Tomas Jurco.
On track for the best season in franchise history, the Minnesota Wild took perhaps the biggest trade swing in landing Martin Hanzal from the Arizona Coyotes. While the Coyotes retained 50 per cent of Hanzal’s salary, the Wild surrendered three draft picks, including a first round selection this June.
The market was driven largely by expiring contracts, at least partly because of the upcoming expansion draft. Teams are limited by the number of players they can protect from the Las Vegas Golden Knights and were therefore reluctant to add players with term on their contracts in trade.
The Montreal Canadiens were among the rare clubs to do so, swinging a trade for defenceman Jordie Benn, who has two more years left on his deal. The Habs also added Brandon Davidson for further depth on defence (he has one year remaining) and an expiring deal in aging winger Steve Ott.
Montreal, which hired Claude Julien to replace Michel Therrien last month, was the most active squad, also plucking Nikita Nesterov from Tampa, Dwight King from Los Angeles and Andreas Martinsen from Colorado for Sven Andrighetto.
Size and physicality seemed to be a priority for the Canadiens: Benn is six foot two, 200 pounds; Davidson is six foot two, 210 pounds; King is six foot four, 229 pounds; Martinsen is six foot three, 220 pounds.
None of the additions addressed the club’s need for offence. The Habs have scored only 21 goals in 13 games this month.
Currently holding down second spot in the Atlantic division (72 points), the Ottawa Senators were also active ahead of Wednesday’s deadline, adding depth forwards in Alex Burrows, Tommy Wingels, and Viktor Stalberg. The Burrows acquisition cost the club Swedish prospect Jonathan Dahlen.
Ottawa then signed the 35-year-old Burrows for two years and US$5 million, trading Lazar, a 2013 first round pick, for a second rounder and defenceman Jyrki Jokipakka. The 22-year-old Lazar has zero goals and only one assist in 33 games this season.
The Maple Leafs made a move for help down the middle on Monday with the acquisition of six foot six centre Brian Boyle from Tampa.
The two biggest names reportedly in play the deadline, Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog, both stayed put with the last-place Colorado Avalanche as did Radim Vrbata with the Arizona Coyotes.
Dealt late on Monday night, Shattenkirk was the most impactful player to move. The 28-year-old enters Wednesday’s action tied for fourth among all defencemen with 42 points in 62 games this season.
Smith, Ott and Vanek were all moved from the suddenly rebuilding Red Wings, who are on track to see their streak of 25 consecutive post-season appearances come to an end this year.
Detroit has piled up 11 picks for the 2017 draft.
In addition to Iginla, the Kings also added 2016 Vezina trophy finalist Ben Bishop from Tampa in an attempt to bolster the crease, which saw Jonathan Quick return last weekend from injury. Iginla has only eight goals this season, on pace to finish with fewer than 20 goals for the first time since 1997-98 when he scored 13 goals as a 20-year-old sophomore for the Calgary Flames.
Iginla is chasing his first Stanley Cup. He got as far as the final with Calgary in 2004, but the Flames fell in seven games to the Lightning. The 39-year-old could help the power play of a club trying to make a deep run in the playoffs.