NHL Trade Deadline: Was This the Worst Deadline Ever?

With the previous few deadlines proving to be wildly underwhelming and excruciatingly boring to watch, fans this year were finally ready for the deadline to live up to the hype. It's fair to say that this might not be just a disappointing trade deadline, but it could one of the worst ever.

There weren't many huge impact trades, many weren't announced until well after the deadline had passed and the marquee deal, if you can call it that, wasn't announced till nearly an hour after the deadline. But, the worst part was that the biggest trade of the day, never actually happened.

During the weeks leading up to the deadline, you couldn't go to a hockey website without some post about Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets. First it was his list of acceptable teams, then the first round of offers, then teams dropping out, then the second round, then new teams jumping in, all leading up to being the biggest move of not only the deadline, but of the season.

It's a shame that it never happened. For Rick Nash and for us fans. For us, we were forced to endure another boring lacklustre trade deadline, and for some of us, waste another sick day we'll later wish we hadn't. Well, for Rick Nash, he's still playing for Columbus, and that is a punishment in itself.

Instead of having a trade that shocked the hockey world and changed the fortunes of a playoff contender, we have to watch Bob Mckenzie talk about players who won't be traded and Rick Nash, well, he'll be golfing in mid-April.

The one trade that can even be considered substantial was the last trade announced today. In it the Vancouver Canucks shipped top-prospect Cody Hodgson and Alexander Sulzer to the Buffalo Sabres for rugged forward Zack Kassian and Marc-Andre Gragnani. The truly sad thing about this trade is that is considered to be major trade. The two key players of this deal, Kassian and Hodgson, have a combined 40 points in the NHL this season.

Maybe it's just me, but when I think of NHL trade deadline day, I think more along the lines of All-Star players and top draft choices being moved, usually in the same trade. The fact that the Sabres were able to get a first-round pick for a glorified grinder in Paul Gaustad shows how badly this day has declined in recent history.

When I think of big deadline trades, I expect the key player of that deal to have at least 40 points, not the whole trade combined. Obviously NHL general mangers disagree.

For an event that has received so much hype over the past few years, but has continued to under deliver, it's amazing the support it receives year after year.

Regardless of today's events, one thing is certain for next year's deadline. It is going to seem like the greatest deadline ever, as this year's might be the worst.