|
Lightning and Islanders make biggest splashes leading up to deadline |
|
|
|
|
|
You don’t get to run an NHL organization at age 76 by sitting on your hands. Lou Lamoriello is still among the league’s most respected general managers because he is aggressive.
When the New York Islanders general manager addressed his team’s most pressing needs by prying consistent scorer Kyle Palmieri and savvy veteran Travis Zajac out of New Jersey, it seemed like Lamoriello might be the big deadline winner.
But Tampa Bay’s Julien BriseBois, who was 10 when Lamoriello landed his first GM job, stole the show with a slick maneuver to land coveted defenseman David Savard. Here is my ranking of the earliest trade deadline success stories:
1.Tampa Bay Lightning: Some may have thought BriseBois was lucky when he came up with a creative way to avoid gutting his depth to solve his salary cap problem this offseason. But now that he involved a third team to make it possible to add a strong defenseman to his roster for the playoffs, it is clear that he is a sharp manager. He’s willing to color outside the lines to make his team stronger. Savard doesn’t assure the Lightning will repeat, but it most assuredly gives them a better chance. The Lightning desperately needed a right-shot defenseman. Right now, Luke Schenn and Cal Foote are their only healthy right-shot D men. And no one thought the Lightning had the available cap space to make anything major happen.
2. New York Islanders: The Islanders needed goals to help reduce the sting of losing Anders Lee to injury. Palmieri's arrival helps. The Zajac addition is bonus. He has played more than 1,000 games in this league and is a 53% faceoff guy. He is a poised performer.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs: Word around the NHL was that Dubas had talked to everyone before settling on Foligno as his forward addition. Foligno can contribute offensively, but he also is a character player, the kind of natural leader who want in the room if there is adversity. More importantly, he will push back. The Maple Leafs need that. Like the Riley Nash (for a seventh) move. Luke warm on David Rittich. Would have preferred Jonathan Bernier
4. Pittsburgh Penguins: If you are the Penguins organization, you aren't satisfied with adding a depth defenseman for a fourth round pick. You go big or you don't go at all. Whether you are Jim Rutherford or Ron Hextall, the fan base demands an "all-in" attitude. They got that from Hextall who landed Jeff Carter from Los Angeles for third and fourth round picks. He adds some oomph to to their top six. They may not be done. A defenseman may be coming.
5. Montreal Canadiens: The early acquisition of Eric Staal for a third and a fifth may end up being one of the better bargain acquisitions. Jon Merrill improves defensive depth.
6. Boston Bruins: Is the MVP Taylor Hall still around? Or, will we see the Hall of the past two seasons? The Bruins should be lauded for holding their ground on a second-round pick. If Hall takes off, it's a steal. If he doesn't, it was a nice try. The Bruins need a spark because they are sluggish.
7. Bill Zito has had an impressive rookie season as Florida’s general manager. First, he dramatically altered the Panthers roster to help them become a legitimate contender. Now at the trade deadline, he clears out considerable cap space ($3.5 million) with a multi-player swap with Chicago and then lands desirable defenseman Brandon Montour (5-9--14) to help offset the injury loss of Aaron Ekblad The signing of Sergei Gusev could turn out to be beneficial.
8. Columbus Blue Jackets: Considering that general managers were saying privately that they weren't going to give up their first-round picks, give the Blue Jackets credit for getting a first-round pick out of both Foligno and Savard. But mostly it's a sad situation in Columbus these days.
9. Colorado Avalanche: The Patrick Nemeth acquisition is decent for a team that didn't have to do much, but that Devan Dubnyk grab is underwhelming.
10. Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings objective at this deadline was to stockpile draft picks, and they have already added two fourth-round picks for Nemeth and being the third team in the Panthers-Blue Jackets swap. They also added a fifth for Jon Merrill. They still have several other players to move. Steve Yzerman could end up with six new picks. That's an entire new draft.
Blogger •HHOF Writer's column on the NHL • 
Join the Discussion:
»