Wheeling And Dealing At The NHL Trade Deadline

The NHL trade deadline ended at 1 PM Mountain Time yesterday. Teams who are in the playoff picture hope to boost their chances. There were plenty of transactions. Here were the major deals.

The Boston Bruins dealt forward Anthony Camara, a 2016 3rd-round pick, and a 2017 5th-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for defenseman John-Michael Liles. The Bruins have a top scoring defenseman in Zdeno Chara who has 8 goals and 24 assists for a total of 32 points but having another might be key for them to go far in the NHL playoffs. John-Michael Liles can be that other offensive defenseman.

Liles has 6 goals and 9 assists for a total of 15 points this season. In his career he has a total of 87 goals and 272 assists for 359 points. He can score from the point and set up his teammates. With both Liles and Chara the Bruins will be a force for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs because of their ability to score. They also are physical and can check which limits the opposing teams’ opportunities to score.

The Anaheim Ducks, who are second in the Pacific Division, completed a small trade. They sent a 2016 3rd-round draft pick to the Buffalo Sabers for Jamie McGinn. The Ducks must have felt that adding another left wing will create more scoring for them. McGinn will contribute to the offense. He lit the lamp a total of 14 times and has 13 assists this year.

The Colorado Avalanche completed two trades. Colorado was looking for a defenseman. The trading block was limited but Colorado found one. They agreed to send a 2017 3rd-round pick to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Eric Gelinas. Gelinas is not a scoring defenseman but that is not what Colorado was looking for. They wanted someone who could be physical. Gelinas is 6 foot 4 inches and 215 pounds. He will check and block shots which could lead the Avalanche to the playoffs. Gelinas is also young at 24 years old. This is a great trade because the Avalanche didn’t give up much, a 3rd-round pick is a prospect who may or may not make it to the NHL.

The last trade the Avalanche made was to upgrade their offense. The Avalanche received forward Mikkel Boedker from the Coyotes for forward Alex Tanguay, forward Conner Bleckley, and defenseman Kyle Wood. Alex Tanguay will always be remembered by Colorado Avalanche fans for scoring two goals in game seven back in 2001 to win the Cup. Tanguay’s season has been poor to this point with 4 goals, 18 assists and 22 points. He is also 36 years old.

Mikkel Boedker is ten years younger and plays the same position as Tanguay. Boedker should see ice time on the second line. Boedker can score goals and set up his teammates on the ice. Colorado is hoping these two moves will make them a playoff team.

These were all respectable deals for the teams in the playoff picture. It is up to their play for them to make the playoffs. Hopefully these transactions will improve the teams.

What do you think was the best trade of the day at the deadline?

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