No NHL team wants to be forced into moving two of their top four defensemen and a proven goal scorer.
But if the Anaheim Ducks had to move Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson and Rickard Rakell, the timing could not have been better. The Ducks are a team in transition. Younger players Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Jamie Drysdale, Isac Lundestrom and others have already started doing most of the heavy lifting. This may be their team by next season.
Plus, Pat Verbeek is a new general manager and it is likely he will want to do, at the very least, a mini makeover.
Here are six reasons why it isn't catastrophic that the Ducks moved the three aforementioned players before the deadline;
1.The return was strong. In trading those players to the Bruins (Lindholm), Avalanche (Manson) and Penguins (Rakell), the Ducks accumulated one first-round pick, four second-round picks, plus prize Colorado defenseman prospect Drew Helleson, goalie prospect Calle Clang and former Bruins first-round pick Urho Vaakanainen. Helleson could end up a mainstay on Anaheim's defense.
2. Mason McTavish will be a high impact rookie next season. The Zegras-McTavish center combination will serve the Ducks well for years to come. They won't miss Rakell's goals.
3. Cam Fowler, 30, remains to anchor the defense. Kevin Shattenkirk has been a contributor since coming to the Ducks. Drysdale could take a quantum leap next season.
4. John Gibson is still in the net. He's still 28, in his prime.
5. Manson could end up re-signing in Anaheim next summer. It's a plausible scenario.
6. Jacob Perreault, a 2020 first round pick, had a quality AHL season. More help is coming and Max Comtois will have a better season in 2022-23.
The notebook:
2. The Oilers are in a playoff position with just over a month to go in the season. It feels as if the Oilers will hold onto the spot. But what must Connor McDavid be thinking. He's pushing toward 500 NHL games played and it is still anyone's guess whether his team will be in the playoffs. It's not that way for Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin.
3. The Minnesota Wild and Edmonton Oilers are the only two teams currently sitting in a playoff spot who are ranked in the 20-32 range in the NHL for goals-against average. The Wild added future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury at the trade deadline to address that. The Oilers landed defenseman Brett Kulak.
4. Former NHL referee Tim Peel tweeted today: "One year ago today I made a major mistake. I chose the wrong words and paid a severe price. Everything I have is because of the National Hockey League. Gary Bettman and Bill Daly were incredible to me over my career." Always respect people who own their failures and move ahead with dignity.
5.In the 2019 NHL draft, the Los Angeles Kings drafted Alex Turcotte No. 5 and the Anaheim Ducks grabbed Trevor Zegras at No. 9. Both players came out of the U.S. National Team Development Program. Both were considered elite level prospects. Today, Zegras is an NHL Rookie of Year Candidate, a player headed for stardom. Meanwhile, Turcotte is the only player chosen in the top 10 who hasn't yet played in the NHL. He may yet get there. But there's always more uncertainty in drafting 18 year-olds than we care to believe.
6. The Seattle Kraken own 25 draft picks over the next two drafts. It will be interesting to see what percentage of players actually end up being factors in their program. In a salary cap world, you have to draft well. But in a 32-team league, it it hard to find true diamonds in the rough in the draft.
7. Chase Pearson, son of Scott Pearson, will be making his NHL debut tonight for the Detroit Red Wings. That makes about the 1 millionth father-son NHL combinations. Actually, the number is just under 200. But father-son combinations are an NHL tradition like throwing hats on the ice for three goals and booing the commissioner.
8. New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin ranks sixth in the icydata.com stat of goals prevented (40.98) over an average NHL goalie. Despite that distinction, the Islanders are 17 points out of a playoff spot. Meanwhile, Toronto's Jack Campbell ranks 16th in that category. His number is 23.34 goals prevented over the average and yet his Maple Leafs are safely ensconced in the playoff pool.
9. Look for 6-foot-8 wing Elmer Soderblom, 20, to make the Red Wings next season. He has scored 21 goals in the Swedish League this season and has impressed the Red Wings with his stickhandling and skating. There's a 'wow' factor to his offensive game. He has chance to become the best basketball-sized forward in the NHL.
10.Keep an eye on forward Bobby Trivigno, 23, of Massachusetts-Amherst who was Hockey East Player of the Year for the past two season. He's only 5-foot-8, 170 pounds but he is perpetual motion personified. He has produced 82 points in his past 65 games. He is a free agent and several teams are interested.
11. The sleeper in the Calder Trophy race is Matt Boldy. He has played less than half the games the rookie scoring leaders have played and yet he's 12th in scoring with 24 points in 30 games. He's also +9.
12. Another eye-catching rookie statistic. Florida's Anton Lundell is +30 in his first 52 games in the NHL this season.
13. Take a look at even-strength points and you will see what kind of superb season that Clayton Keller is having with the Arizona Coyotes. His team ranks 29th in the NHL in offense. But somehow Keller ranks 12th in the NHL with 50 even-strength points.
14. The Predators took a chance by not trading potential UFA Filip Forsberg when they couldn't get a contract done with him. Twelve years ago they did that with Ryan Suter and he left and signed with Minnesota. Forsberg seems like he wants to stay in Nashville, but that doesn't mean he won't push the Predators on the dollars. The pressure is all on the Predators in this situation.
15. On this date, March 24, 40 years ago, Rick Vaive became the first 50-goal scorer in Maple Leafs' history. He finished with 54 that season. He turns 63 on May 14.
16. Last weekend, the Los Angeles Kings signed Taylor Ward who is the son of former NHL player Dixon Ward. The young Ward scored 57 goals in four seasons of college hockey at Nebraska-Omaha and has put up three assists in his first two games with the Kings' farm team in Ontario (Calif.). Dixon Ward had 95 goals in 537 NHL game.
17. Can't imagine Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley is going to be overly forgiving if the Golden Knights miss the playoffs. This franchise seems to have way too much drama when it comes roster changes and cap management.
18. Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of Darren McCarty's pummeling of Colorado Avalanche player Claude Lemieux in retaliation for his hit against Kris Draper. That fight is credited with being the turning point in the Detroit Red Wings' rise to win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997-98. There will be a watch party in Royal Oak, Michigan and McCarty and Lemieux will be on hand to answer questions. These are two guys who understand marketing.
19. Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle continues to keep his consecutive games played streak alive, while owning the distinction of having the NHL's worst plus-minus (-35). He's -13 in his past 21 games while playing between 10 and 14 minutes.
20. Veteran Buffalo writer Bill Hoppe quoted Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin as saying this about Mattias Samuelsson: "Have you seen his stick, it's like a cobra."
21. General managers are expected to talk about changing the LTIR rules in their next meeting. Not everyone appreciates the work some GMs put into using the LTIR as part of their cap management strategy. Some think the easiest change would be making teams live with salary cap restraints in the postseason and regular-season. Keep in mind that the NHL Players Association will also have a say if changes are proposed.
22. According to Sportsbettingdime.com, Colorado's Cale Makar is now the runaway favorite to win the Norris Trophy. He is a -305 favorite, followed by Victor Hedman (+410) and Adam Fox (+725). Makar has 22 goals, 70 points and is +38.
23. Claude Giroux will play with Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe in Florida. Giroux wasn't thrilled to leave Philadelphia, but this gives him a legitimate shot at winning a Stanley Cup. Staying in Philadelphia would just give him more frustrations.
24. GM Steve Yzerman was asked about coach Jeff Blashill's future on trade deadline day, and declined to discuss his status. He said he will talk to Blashill about the team and his future at a later date.
25. On March 24, in 1936, Modere "Mud" Bruneteau made his name synonimous with NHL playoff hockey by scoring the overtime winner to end the longest game in NHL history. His tally came at 16:30 of the sixth overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 1-0 win against the Montreal Maroons. He was an unlikely hero. He was a 22-year-old rookie and had only scored two goals in 22 regular-season games. Today, any time a game goes well into the night, broadcasters often bring up the name of "Mud" Bruneteau.