NHL Trade Deadline 2015: Grades for Every NHL Team
After a busy few days, the annual frenzy that is the NHL's trade-deadline week has finally come to an end. Teams without playoff hopes looked to secure their futures, teams that see themselves as contenders looked to secure the present, and teams in the middle did a little bit of both. We did not see many big moves, though there was clearly a premium on defencemen such as new Ranger Keith Yandle.
Which teams did the best and the worst, relative to their needs? That's the question we'll strive to answer in the following slideshow. For each team, we look at all of this week's arrivals and departures, briefly summarize the net shift in talent and offer a letter grade.
Read on to see how your team did. As always, let us know in the comments section what you think.
Anaheim Ducks
1 of 30
Arrival(s): James Wisniewski, Tomas Fleischmann, Simon Despres, Jiri Sekac, Korbinian Holzer, Michael Sgarbossa and a third-round pick.
Departure(s): Devante Smith-Pelly, William Karlsson, Ben Lovejoy, Eric Brewer, Rene Bourque, Dany Heatley, Mat Clark, and second-, third- and fifth-round picks.
Synopsis: The Ducks are almost certainly going to win the Pacific Division, so their eye had to be on the larger prize of contending for the Stanley Cup. General manager Bob Murray delivered, adding four significant pieces to the team, including a cheap winger who has history with head coach Bruce Boudreau and the offensive Wisniewski. That he dumped dead weight such as Bourque and Heatley along the way is a bonus.
Grade: A
Arizona Coyotes
2 of 30
Arrival(s): Anthony Duclair, Maxim Letunov, Klas Dahlbeck, John Moore, two first-round picks, and a conditional second-round pick.
Departure(s): Antoine Vermette, Keith Yandle, Zbynek Michalek, Chris Summers, a fourth-round pick and and a conditional third-round pick.
Synopsis: The Coyotes are well out of the playoff race and faced the two-fold challenge of restocking for the future while simultaneously improving their chances at landing Connor McDavid through a bad finish. Don Maloney accomplished both tasks, moving three big names in exchange for four young players and four significant draft picks.
Grade: A-
Boston Bruins
3 of 30
Arrival(s): Brett Connolly, Max Talbot, Paul Carey and Zack Phillips.
Departure(s): Jordan Caron, Jared Knight and two second-round picks.
Synopsis: Bruins fans concerned with Peter Chiarelli's handling of the team won't find much solace in his big deadline move. Connolly does make Boston a better team, but he doesn't make it much better, and the cost for a guy who hasn't come close to living up to his draft pedigree was extreme. Talbot for Caron is a modest upgrade in the short term.
Grade: D
Buffalo Sabres
4 of 30
Arrival(s): Chad Johnson, Jack Nevins, and second-, third-, fifth- and seventh-round picks.
Departure(s): Michal Neuvirth, Chris Stewart, Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn.
Synopsis: No big surprises here. The Buffalo Sabres had a number of pending free agents to clear off their books, and they moved the majority of them. The returns for the most part weren't spectacular, but the demolition of the team's goalie position was a nice touch in its quest for dead last overall.
Grade: B+
Calgary Flames
5 of 30
Arrival(s): Two second-round picks and a third-round pick.
Departure(s): Curtis Glencross and Sven Baertschi.
Synopsis: The Flames were a bubble team entering the deadline, and it's clear in retrospect that the team's management group wasn't sold on its ability to stay in the race. The Baertschi trade won't be popular with the team's fans, but he had clearly fallen out of favour, and the return wasn't bad.
Grade: C
Carolina Hurricanes
6 of 30
Arrival(s): Roland McKeown, Jack Hillen, and first-round, third-round, fourth-round and conditional sixth-round picks.
Departure(s): Andrej Sekera, Jiri Tlusty and Tim Gleason.
Synopsis: The Hurricanes moved out three rental players, and on balance, they got value. Sekera commanding a first-round choice and a good prospect was the highlight; a weak pair of picks for Tlusty was the lowlight.
Grade: B+
Chicago Blackhawks
7 of 30
Arrival(s): Antoine Vermette, Kimmo Timonen, Andrew Desjardins and Spencer Abbott.
Departure(s): Ben Smith, Klas Dahlbeck, T.J. Brennan, first-, second- and fourth-round picks, and a conditional seventh-round pick.
Synopsis: The Blackhawks paid full price for their big addition of Vermette, went well above full price on Timonen and then made an unpleasant salary-induced downgrade from Smith to Desjardins. The team has a better chance at winning the Stanley Cup today than it did a week ago, but general manager Stan Bowman certainly didn't rob anyone.
Grade: C-
Colorado Avalanche
8 of 30
Arrival(s): Jordan Caron, Mat Clark, Freddie Hamilton and a sixth-round pick.
Departure(s): Max Talbot, Michael Sgarbossa and Karl Stollery.
Synopsis: It was a quiet day for the Avs, who mostly settled for moving around middle-tier prospects. A team with virtually no playoff hopes failed to cash in its rental players, though it did get younger in the Talbot trade.
Grade: C-
Columbus Blue Jackets
9 of 30
Arrival(s): David Clarkson, William Karlsson, Rene Bourque, Justin Falk, second- and fifth-round picks, and future considerations.
Departure(s): James Wisniewski, Nathan Horton, Jordan Leopold, Adam Cracknell and a third-round pick.
Synopsis: The Blue Jackets did pretty well for themselves in the big David Clarkson trade, getting back an NHL player for the injured Horton, who was a massive financial hole for the club. The trade of Wisniewski brought back a middling return (including the dead weight of the Bourque contract) and lowers the team's grade significantly.
Grade: D+
Dallas Stars
10 of 30
Arrival(s): Mattias Backman, Mattias Janmark and a second-round pick.
Departure(s): Erik Cole and a conditional third-round pick.
Synopsis: The Stars didn't have a lot to do, with the playoffs likely out of reach and precious few pending free agents on the roster. Jim Nill went back to Detroit to secure a nice package in exchange for Cole in a deal that will be a home run for the team if the Red Wings go deep.
Grade: B-
Detroit Red Wings
11 of 30
Arrival(s): Erik Cole, Marek Zidlicky and a conditional third-round pick.
Departure(s): Mattias Backman, Mattias Janmark, and second-round and conditional third-round picks.
Synopsis: Detroit is a better team now than it was a week ago. General manager Ken Holland paid a hefty price for rental Erik Cole, and a more modest one for the more-needed Zidlicky. The Red Wings addressed their needs but might have done so more efficiently.
Grade: C+
Edmonton Oilers
12 of 30
Arrival(s): A second-round pick and a conditional fifth-round pick.
Departure(s): Jeff Petry.
Synopsis: Edmonton had one significant rental player to move, and it did so. The return was less than ideal, coming below that of several lesser defencemen.
Grade: D+
Florida Panthers
13 of 30
Arrival(s): Jaromir Jagr, Dany Heatley and two third-round picks.
Departure(s): Tomas Fleischmann, Sean Bergenheim, and second-round, seventh-round and conditional third-round picks.
Synopsis: The Panthers are an inferior team now to what they were at the start of the week, which makes it hard to sing their praises given that they're in a heated race for the final playoff berth in the East. General manager Dale Tallon played a long game and got decent value back, though, so it's equally hard to be too critical.
Grade: C+
Los Angeles Kings
14 of 30
Arrival(s): Andrej Sekera.
Departure(s): Roland McKeown and a first-round pick.
Synopsis: Sekera is a really nice add for the Kings, a quality defenceman who is underrated by the media but clearly not by NHL general managers. The price paid to acquire him was dear, but if it's the difference between winning the cup and not winning it, which it might be, who cares?
Grade: C
Minnesota Wild
15 of 30
Arrival(s): Chris Stewart, Sean Bergenheim, Jordan Leopold and a seventh-round pick.
Departure(s): Justin Falk, and second-, third- and fifth-round picks.
Synopsis: The Wild have a three-point lead on the final playoff spot and have been a fantastic team since bringing in Devan Dubnyk to straighten out the goaltending. Minnesota managed to add good depth pieces at reasonable costs, so the only question is whether the team is good enough to justify adding rentals. I would contend that it is, though it's certainly debatable.
Grade: C+
Montreal Canadiens
16 of 30
Arrival(s): Jeff Petry, Torrey Mitchell, Devante Smith-Pelly and Brian Flynn.
Departure(s): Jiri Sekac, Jack Nevins, second-, fifth- and seventh-round picks, and a conditional fifth-round pick.
Synopsis: The Montreal Canadiens went bargain hunting and found that there were some surprising opportunities out there for the discriminating shopper. Petry was a big add at a very fair price, and general manager Marc Bergevin found some nice depth peices on the cheap to round out the cast.
Grade: A
Nashville Predators
17 of 30
Arrival(s): None.
Departure(s): None.
Synopsis: The Predators made their big move weeks ago, bringing in Mike Santorelli and Cody Franson in exchange for a bevy of futures. While not at all exciting, the team's silence this week was also entirely defensible.
Grade: C
New Jersey Devils
18 of 30
Arrival(s): A second-round and two conditional third-round picks.
Departure(s): Jaromir Jagr and Marek Zidlicky.
Synopsis: The only surprise with the Devils was that they didn't trade off more of their pending free agents. The team is still loaded with players heading to the open market on July 1, but evidently it couldn't get anything in exchange for them. General manager Lou Lamoriello did get reasonable value for the guys he did move.
Grade: C
New York Islanders
19 of 30
Arrival(s): Michal Neuvirth, Tyler Kennedy, Dustin Jeffrey and Mark Louis.
Departure(s): Chad Johnson, Cory Conacher, David Leggio, a third-round pick and a conditional third-round pick.
Synopsis: The Islanders mostly tinkered at the edges, but they did add a decent depth forward and some important goaltending insurance in Kennedy and Neuvirth. If anything happens to starter Jaroslav Halak, the latter deal could be vital.
Grade: B-
New York Rangers
20 of 30
Arrival(s): Keith Yandle, James Sheppard, Carl Klingberg, Chris Summers and a fourth-round pick.
Departure(s): Anthony Duclair, Lee Stempniak, John Moore, first- and fourth-round picks, and a conditional second-round pick.
Synopsis: This was not Glen Sather's finest hour. The Rangers general manager made a huge gamble on Yandle, an offensive defenceman with some significant defensive warts, and compounded that risk by dumping Stempniak for nothing so he could spend a middling pick (almost nothing) on Sheppard. The team is better, but boy did it pay.
Grade: C-
Ottawa Senators
21 of 30
Arrival(s): None.
Departure(s): None.
Synopsis: The Senators are well out of the playoff race but also have precious little of value to sell.
Grade: C
Philadelphia Flyers
22 of 30
Arrival(s): Radko Gudas, first-, second- and third-round picks, and a conditional fourth-round pick.
Departure(s): Braydon Coburn and Kimmo Timonen.
Synopsis: The Flyers, six points out of the post-season, hoisted the white flag and sold off assets this week. Ron Hextall got a really solid return for defenceman Coburn and somehow conned the Blackhawks out of two picks for the ghost of Timonen.
Grade: A
Pittsburgh Penguins
23 of 30
Arrival(s): Daniel Winnik, Ben Lovejoy and Ian Cole.
Departure(s): Simon Despres, Robert Bortuzzo, Zach Sill, and second-, fourth- and seventh-round picks.
Synopsis: The Penguins are a better team today but may come to regret sending Despres out of town for a player in Lovejoy with a lower ceiling. Winnik was the club's signature move, and he's a solid player; however, not only is he not exciting, but the Pens also paid a lot to obtain him.
Grade: C
St. Louis Blues
24 of 30
Arrival(s): Zbynek Michalek, Olli Jokinen, Robert Bortuzzo, Adam Cracknell, a seventh-round pick and a conditional third-round pick.
Departure(s): Ian Cole, Maxim Letunov, Joakim Lindstrom, and a conditional sixth-round picks.
Synopsis: The Blues' big addition was Michalek, a solid and underrated defensive defenceman. St. Louis managed to upgrade its depth without selling off anything too dear, an important thing for a team with a weak roster of prospects and picks.
Grade: B-
San Jose Sharks
25 of 30
Arrival(s): Ben Smith, Karl Stollery, a fourth-round pick and a conditional third-round pick.
Departure(s): James Sheppard, Tyler Kennedy, Andrew Desjardins and Freddie Hamilton.
Synopsis: The Sharks are only two points out of third in the Pacific, so the team's semi-seller approach makes some sense. Oddly enough, the best player on the list above is Smith, and he didn't cost much to acquire. That was a great trade for San Jose; decisions to sell off depth pieces for marginal returns were less impressive.
Grade: C+
Tampa Bay Lightning
26 of 30
Arrival(s): Braydon Coburn and two second-round picks.
Departure(s): Brett Connolly, Radko Gudas, and first- and third-round picks.
Synopsis: The Lightning paid steeply to add a quality defenceman in Coburn, but what really made the deadline for Tampa Bay was the decision to sell Connolly to Boston for two significant draft picks. If we consider those deals together (as we are here), the Lightning got better in the present at a very reasonable cost to the future.
Grade: A-
Toronto Maple Leafs
27 of 30
Arrival(s): Nathan Horton, Eric Brewer, Joakim Lindstrom, Zach Sill, T.J. Brennan, second-, fourth- and fifth- round picks, and a conditional sixth-round pick.
Departure(s): Daniel Winnik, David Clarkson, Olli Jokinen, Korbinian Holzer and Spencer Abbott.
Synopsis: NHL opponents are going to miss the days when the Leafs were incompetent. The signature move here is the Clarkson-for-Horton swap, which dramatically improves Toronto's salary situation, but the Leafs also did a nice job of getting value for a host of middling-or-worse depth guys.
Grade: A+
Vancouver Canucks
28 of 30
Arrival(s): Sven Baertschi and Cory Conacher.
Departure(s): Dustin Jeffrey and a second-round pick.
Synopsis: General manager Jim Benning's actions suggest a certain level of skepticism as to the quality of his team, which at present inhabits second place in the Pacific. The addition of Baertschi is typical of this GM, who has profitably made a habit of dealing picks for prospects a little further along. There's nothing too exciting here, just slow and sensible improvement for a team that probably isn't a contender.
Grade: B-
Washington Capitals
29 of 30
Arrival(s): Curtis Glencross and Tim Gleason.
Departure(s): Jack Hillen, and second-, third- and fourth-round picks.
Synopsis: Glencross is a really nice addition to the team; he's both a good fit stylistically and an underrated talent. Gleason isn't anything special, but then the cost wasn't particularly dear either. This was probably about as much as could realistically be expected from the Caps.
Grade: B
Winnipeg Jets
30 of 30
Arrival(s): Jiri Tlusty and Lee Stempniak.
Departure(s): Carl Klingberg, a third-round pick and a conditional sixth-round pick.
Synopsis: The Jets are one of those teams facing the dilemma of what to do about being on the playoff bubble. General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff struck the balance perfectly, adding Stempniak virtually for free and Tlusty for not much more than that, thereby improving his team without sacrificing the future.
Grade: A-
All trade information courtesy of the Sportsnet NHL trade tracker.
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