All in all it was a pretty quiet deadline for the Pittsburgh Penguins this year. This is appropriate given the balancing act the team needs to take with both its short term and long term scope.
The biggest move that was made was acquiring outcast Justin Schultz from Edmonton for a third round pick.
Today Jim Rutherford made two very minor moves. The first was trading away Sergei Plotnikov to tonight's opponent the Arizona Coyotes. Pittsburgh receives a conditional seventh round pick (if Plotnikov re-signs in Arizona) and Matthias Plachta who is an inconsequential player. Pittsburgh just wanted to move Plotnikov and didn't care much about the return.
#Yotes GM Don Maloney on Plotnikov: "He’s going to get every opportunity with us. I know he’s a hungry player.… #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) February 29, 2016
Former Penguin Dustin Jeffrey was reacquired in a last minute deadline deal for Matia Marcantuoni. He was immediately assigned to WB/S. This is a move where the Penguins know they have depleted the forward ranks of their farm club. Dustin Jeffrey is a good AHL player and this will help the Baby Penguins absorb that loss at the forward rank.
Jeffrey currently tied for 9th in the #AHL with 46 points (13G-33A) in 45 games for Springfield.
— Mike O'Brien (@MikeOBrienWBS) February 29, 2016
David Warsofsky was claimed on waiver by Ray Shero and the New Jersey Devils. Warsofsky would have been a nice player for the Baby Penguins to keep around but didn't end up making it through the waiver wire. Overall this is not going to be a loss the big club will feel.
In addition to BOS, PIT is trying to get in on Hamhuis but we continue to believe, for now, Hamhuis not interested in waiving there.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 29, 2016
Hamhuis had literally no interest in playing for an Eastern Conference team.
Hamhuis could have been moved to Dallas but Jim Benning went all Jim Benning on it
Per Dreger Benning upped price, Dallas matched. Benning went for more at deadline, was rejected. Wow.
— very reliable source (@doomocrat) February 29, 2016
Pittsburgh has been a team on the rise since the coaching change. Their deadline acquisitions will come in the form of healthy forwards (Malkin, Bonino, Bennett, and Fehr).
How close were the Pens to making a move? "I don't think very close," Rutherford said.
— Jonathan Bombulie (@BombulieTrib) February 29, 2016
Rutherford mentioned that prices were high and if that was the case staying away was the prudent move.
Rutherford: "It's time for this team to get some of the younger players in the lineup. These guys have done pretty well."
— Jonathan Bombulie (@BombulieTrib) February 29, 2016
Here is a brief rundown of what the competition did at the deadline:
Washington
Washington spent a 2nd round pick in order to get a mild upgrade from Brooks Laich. Daniel Winnik is the player who will provide that mild upgrade but it was the cap relief from Laich that was the real motivation for this deal. Washington will now have an extra 2M to play around with in the offseason which is important when you look at their pending free agents which include Marcus Johansson and Dmitri Orlov.
Washington was already one of the best teams in the league so them not making any major moves is fine.
New York Rangers
Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton probably realizes that they only have so many kicks at the can left with Lundqvist and decided to make another win now move. They acquired Eric Staal for two second round draft picks. The Rangers don't have the best farm system and have been trading a lot of picks for veteran players the past few years. They traded a first and a second for Martin St. Louis, they moved another first and second round pick plus Anthony Duclair for Keith Yandle, and now the picks for Eric Staal. The Rangers window will close sooner than the Penguins will at this rate, but for now they still have Henrik Lundqvist playing at a high level and don't have to deal with re-signing Keith Yandle until the offseason. They will be a tough out in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
New York Islanders
Fairly quiet deadline for the Islanders up until the last five minutes or so. The Islanders were able to free Shane Prince from Ottawa for a third round pick. Shane Prince has solid underlying numbers on the possession front and has a respectable even-strength scoring rates. Prince was never given any advantageous situations in Ottawa so this is a nice calculated risk for the Islanders.
Florida
Florida was busy this trade deadline. They acquired Jiri Hudler, Teddy Purcell, and Jakub Kindl. All three players should be able to help the Panthers maintain their current playoff spot while giving the team more scoring depth up front. This was important considering their top scoring player this year is 44 years young. Florida also moved Brandon Pirri for a sixth round pick to Anaheim.
Carolina
Carolina was a seller in moving franchise Captain Eric Staal forward Kris Versteeg and defenseman John Michael Liles. Carolina has been an underrated team this year but they aren't quite true contenders and Ron Francis made the wise decision of cashing in on some pending UFA's. Look for them to slip away from wild card contention permanently.
New Jersey
Ray Shero was a seller at the deadline this year. He shipped off Lee Stempniak and Eric Gelinas for draft picks. New Jersey isn't a real threat this year and selling off some spare parts was the right move for the Devils. They should continue to be on the outside looking in on the wild card race
Detroit
Team made no impact moves. They will move ahead with basically the status quo. Jakub Kindl was moved to Florida but they weren't playing him anyways.
Boston
Boston picked up two veteran players to help out on the depth front. They received the underrated Lee Stempniak from New Jersey and landed some defense depth in the form of John Michael Liles from Carolina. Boston ultimately did not find a deal they liked for Louis Eriksson and will keep him for the remainder of the year. There is potential for the team to lose him for nothing.
Tampa Bay
Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Drouin are still with the organization. Steve Yzerman even opened the door for a Jonathan Drouin return this year.
#tblightning Yzerman said door is open for Drouin to return; it's up to him
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) February 29, 2016
Tampa is playing better hockey lately and looks to be regaining the form that made them so successful last year in their run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Overall there weren't any seismic shifts by anybody in the Eastern Conference. Washington remains the favorite with Tampa Bay coming on strong after a slow start this year.
Like it is in any given year who is going to stay healthy?
Thanks for reading!