Even though the 2016 NHL trade deadline was fairly quiet when it came to blockbuster, potentially franchise-altering trades, we still saw a lot of moves that could make an impact both in this year's playoff races, as well as in the future.
The trouble with making moves at the deadline to strengthen a roster is that when teams are dealing with short-term rentals they are only getting a very small window with that player. It is not always a given they are going to get the player they expect. Even if they pick up a player everybody likes and agrees can potentially make an impact, it is still a pretty big lottery ticket as to whether or not they actually get that type of production.
Production in the form of goals and points in the NHL is very streaky, something that every player experiences at one time or another. If a team gets a player in a deadline trade that just happens to hit one of those hot streaks (or cold streaks) in the weeks after the deadline it could make or a break the deal.
Sometimes it's the deals that get the least attention that end up making the biggest impact.
Now that we've had a couple of weeks since the trade deadline, let's take a look at some of the deals that were made and who is getting a return on their investment.
1. Jamie McGinn hasn't stopped scoring in Anaheim
And here is an example of what can happen when a player changes teams and suddenly goes on a hot streak. A trade that initially snuck under the radar on deadline day suddenly starts to look like a steal. Since arriving in Anaheim McGinn has already scored seven goals in 12 games for the Ducks, including a pair in their playoff clinching overtime loss to Toronto as they erased a three-goal deficit. Between the Ducks and Sabres he is already up to 21 goals on the season.
Is McGinn, a guy who had never scored more than 20 goals in a season before this one, going to continue to score goals at this pace in the future? Of course he's not. He is riding a 26 percent shooting percentage at the moment with the Ducks, one that is certainly going to regress at some point in the future. But for the Ducks, that doesn't really matter. All they care about is what he is going to give them over the next couple of months before he becomes a free agent over the summer. And right now, he is giving them quite a bit. For the cost of a draft pick (a third-round pick in 2016 that could become a 2017 second-round pick depending on how far the Ducks go in the playoffs) that is more than worth it for the Ducks, especially as they start to emerge as a top contender in the Western Conference.
The only thing they have to do is avoid the temptation to overpay him after the season based on this hot streak.
2. James Reimer is making a case for more playing time in San Jose
One of the many trades the Toronto Maple Leafs made leading up to the deadline saw them send starting goalie James Reimer to the San Jose Sharks. Reimer has always been a pretty decent goalie playing behind a bad team, and he seems to be making the most of his opportunity behind a good one.
The Sharks had been looking to upgrade their goaltending depth behind starter Martin Jones, and Reimer has proven to be a great fit in his limited work with the team.
Not only that, he might be starting to push Jones for some additional playing time. In five appearances with the Sharks as of Friday Reimer has a .920 save percentage and already recorded a pair of shutouts. When coach Pete DeBoer was asked to commit to Jones - his starter from the very beginning of the season - for the playoffs, he didn't want to announce anything, telling Kevin Kurz of Comcast Sportsnet that they have "two guys that we're very comfortable with, and we'll see where we are when we have to make those decisions."
Goaltending controversy? Maybe you could call it that, but there is nothing wrong with having two good players at one of the most important positions for the playoffs. Especially when the team still has a couple of weeks to let them play and see which one emerges.
3. Eric Staal has yet to make a significant impact for the Rangers
This was probably one of the bigger trades that was made before the deadline when Staal, who had spent his entire career to this point with the Carolina Hurricanes, was sent to New York. Everybody knew at the time that Staal is not the player he once was, but there was still an expectation that could he help the Rangers in some way and contribute to a team that could potentially make another run at the Eastern Conference.
So far, it has not worked out that way.
In his first 12 games with the team Staal has just one goal and two assists. Going back to his time in Carolina, he has just two goals in his past 31 games.
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault took some of the blame for Staal's slow starts and said that he hasn't done enough to put him into positions to succeed. But given the way this season has gone for Staal, there may not be much he can do to get his offense going again.
4. The most productive player traded so far: Devante Smith-Pelly
And the team that is getting the most impact out of the trade deadline is a team that isn't even going to the playoffs.
The Devils picked up Devante Smith-Pelly from the Montreal Canadiens for former first-round draft pick Stefan Matteau and he simply has not stopped scoring since he arrived. In his first 10 games with the team he already has seven goals and four assists and as of Friday is the only player traded before the deadline that has recorded more than eight points with his new team.
There is no way the Devils were expecting this type of production (and they shouldn't expect it to continue), but it was still a solid gamble for a rebuilding team to take. Smith-Pelly is a talented player who is only 23 years old and would still seem to have some potential to succeed in the right situation.
It's the second under-the-radar trade first-year general manager Ray Shero has made that has really seemed to work out. Over the summer he picked up Kyle Palmieri from the Anaheim Ducks for two draft picks. Palmieri already has 29 goals and has been one of the biggest surprises in the league.
The Devils aren't going to be a team that spends to the cap, and they don't really have the assets to make a blockbuster trade to bring in talent at this point. So they need to find gems like this. And over the past few months Shero seems to have found two pretty big ones.
5. The Blackhawks, Bruins and Panthers were the busiest teams ... are they better?
The Chicago Blackhawks were one of the busiest teams at the trade deadline and made some of the biggest moves, picking up Andrew Ladd, Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise to add to a lineup that was already one of the best in the league.
Unfortunately for the Blackhawks they have started to fall off a bit as a team (mainly due to their defensive play) and for the first time in a few years are looking a little bit vulnerable as they enter the postseason.
Together, the Ladd-Fleischmann-Weise trio has combined for six goals (three each for Ladd and Fleischmann; none yet for Weise) and hasn't been bad. But it wouldn't be unfair to say -- at this moment -- that the deals haven't quite had the expected impact. And even if they never do you can't fault the Blackhawks for going all in for another shot at the Cup to try and capitalize on this current window.
Meanwhile, in Boston, the Bruins were trying to keep their window from completely slamming shut on them and not only kept free-agent-to-be Loui Eriksson, but also added Lee Stempniak from New Jersey and John-Michael Liles from Carolina. At the time, everything seemed reasonable. The Bruins were in contention for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, the Eastern Conference seemed to be there for the taking (and it still kind of is) and nothing really cost them a ton in terms of assets.
Now, after a five-game losing streak heading into the weekend (as part of a seven-game stretch where they have lost six games), they find themselves just one point away from being completely out of the playoffs, while the team that is chasing them for that spot (Detroit) still has a game in hand on them. If they end up falling completely out of this thing there is going to be an awful lot of second guessing going on in Boston.
Florida was in a similar position at the deadline, only instead of trying to extend a window that was rapidly closing on them, they were trying to speed up one that might be just starting to open.
The Panthers have exceeded most expectations this season thanks to some ageless seasons from veterans Jaromir Jagr, Roberto Luongo and Brian Campbell as well as one of the better young cores in the league. They added to that by adding Jiri Hudler, Teddy Purcell and Jakub Kindl during one four-hour stretch the day before the deadline.
Kindl was never meant to be anything more than depth on the blue line, but Hudler and Purcell have been pretty strong additions to their forward depth. Purcell has five points in his first seven games with the team, and four goals in his first 11 games.
The team gave up quite a few draft picks, but if there is a team in the NHL that can afford to give up those assets it might be the Panthers. With Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad, Nick Bjugstad, Vincent Trocheck and a pretty strong farm system behind them most of the young core for the future is already in place. They're only going to get so many more years of Jagr, Luongo and Campbell playing at this level, so they went for it. So far, it hasn't made them worse.
