The NHL Trade Deadline. Growing up, I would skip school just to be able to stay home and take in all the excitement surrounding the day when players would find new homes and compete for Stanley Cups. Over the years, the day has lost its excitement, as now more trades occur before the deadline than on the actual day. If we’re lucky, we might get a couple of big trades on the day, unlike in past years.
On Monday, although there was some flurry of action, there was not anything to write home about. Sure, we saw some great depth trades from contending teams, looking to boost their rosters come playoff time. Other than that, this trade deadline was pretty much a snoozefest. So, with that in mind, I will be mocking up three trades that I think should have happened at the NHL Trade Deadline. Without further ado, let’s jump right into it.
Jakob Chychrun to the Canadiens
With the Canadiens entering a “mini-rebuild”, they have been looking to offload some veterans with contracts that don’t really help them out heading into the future. We saw them get rid of Brett Kulak, Arturri Lekhonen, and openly shop Jeff Petry and Shea Weber’s contract. Their defensive lineup has taken a hit, which means rookies and sophomores are making up the top-6 defensive pairings as of late.
The Canadiens have great defensive prospects in Alexander Romanov and Justin Barron, so why not bring in Jakob Chychrun as well to further emphasize our flourishing young defenseman lineup. Chychrun is a star at only 23 years old, which means he still hasn’t hit his prime. His entire career has been spent with the lowly Coyotes so imagine the impact he could make on a team that is looking to contend in the years to come.
Hopefully, a deal like this gets done in the offseason, because we could be seeing the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for years to come if they add this young man to their young talent pool.
Any Goalie to the Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs have struggled with their goaltending for quite some time now, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better for them at the moment. Both Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek have not been playing well since December, and it has caused the Leafs to drop certain games that were must-wins. This has also caused their offense to pick up the slack more than they already have, and try and win games based solely on goal-scoring.
I don’t blame the Leafs for not pulling the trigger on a trade for a goalie at the deadline, but now, they must live with the fact that heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs you have two goalies who are low on confidence and are struggling. In order to win the Stanley Cup you need everything to be going right for your team, and then some, and right now, it doesn’t really seem that way for the Leafs.
I still believe Jack Campbell has what it takes to pull a rabbit out of a hat and start playing like he did last year, but time is of the essence, so he better get to it sooner rather than later.
Big Z to Calgary
Zdeno Chara is among the most respected NHL players, so it was a share to find out he hadn’t been traded to a contender on Monday, knowing that this season is his last in the NHL. The Calgary Flames are Canada’s best chance of bringing home a Stanley Cup, so I thought Chara’s chippy style of play would blend in perfectly with what the Flames are doing at the present moment.
Calgary is a bit on the smaller end altogether, so bringing a 6″9 defenseman who loves to throw the body around wouldn’t be a bad thing. His contract is close to the minimum so money wouldn’t be an issue either. I’m not sure why nobody traded for him, but it seemed like a missed opportunity in. my books.