Metropolitan race gets shake-up at trade deadline
The Metropolitan Division was already the deepest and most competitive in the NHL.
Now the race to the finish is getting juiced up.
Nearly every Metro contender made a move ahead of Monday’s trade deadline to gear up for the playoff push. The first-place Capitals got it started by acquiring Ilya Kovalchuk, the Penguins answered by getting fellow veteran winger Patrick Marleau from the Sharks and the Islanders got a major reinforcement in the form of center Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who they signed to a six-year, $30 million extension.
And those teams weren’t alone. The Hurricanes got immediate help by trading for forward Vincent Trocheck and defensemen Brady Skjei and Sami Vatanen; the Flyers made two depth forward moves by getting Derek Grant and Nate Thompson; and the Blue Jackets traded oncepromising prospect Sonny Milano to the Ducks for forward Devin Shore.
Even the Rangers, whose recent hot streak put them within striking distance of a playoff position, kept forward Chris Kreider in the fold with a seven-year extension rather than dealing him away.
“Metro was pretty active,” Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said. “It is a tough division. Each team could beat the other team on any given night, you know, given good goaltending and I think every one of these teams thinks that they have a chance to come out of the Metro, which I believe they do.”
With seven teams in contention for four or five playoff spots, the arms race is on.
The Islanders traded conditional firstand third-round picks and a second to the Senators for Pageau, who could be an ideal fit by adding offense.
The Capitals and Penguins each spent only a third-round pick to get a veteran looking to win the Stanley Cup for the first time. Kovalchuk joins a potent attack led by fellow Russians Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Marleau will be a sentimental favorite with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.