NHL Trade Deadline: Central Division Updates
As we approach the NHL trade deadline on Monday afternoon, here is a complete list of the trades made in the Central Division since February 15. We’ll keep it updated as more deals are announced.
Chicago Blackhawks
- March 2 – acquired forward Andrew Desjardins from San Jose for forward Ben Smith and a conditional 7th round pick.
- Feb. 28 – acquired center Antoine Vermette from Arizona for defenseman Klas Dahlbeck and a 1st round pick in 2015.
- Feb. 27 – acquired defenseman Kimmo Timonen from Philadelphia for a 2nd round pick in 2015 and a conditional 4th round pick in 2016.
- Feb. 26 – acquired forward Spencer Abbott from Toronto for defenseman TJ Brennan.
- March 1 – lost defenseman Tim Erixon to Toronto via waivers.
Nashville Predators
- Feb. 15 – acquired defenseman Cody Franson and forward Mike Santorelli from Toronto for center Olli Jokinen, forward Brendan Leipsic and a 1st round pick in 2015.
St. Louis Blues
- March 2 – acquired center Olli Jokinen from Toronto for forward Joakim Lindstrom and a conditional 6th round pick in 2016.
- March 2 – acquired defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and a 7th round pick in 2016 from Pittsburgh for defenseman Ian Cole.
- March 2 – acquired defenseman Zbynek Michalek and a 2015 conditional 3rd round draft pick from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for center Maxim Letunov.
- Feb. 26 – acquired forward Adam Cracknell from Columbus for future considerations.
Winnipeg Jets
- Feb. 25 – acquired forward Jiri Tlusty from Carolina for 3rd round pick in 2016 and a conditional 4th round pick in 2015.
- March 1 – acquired forward Lee Stempniak from the New York Rangers for forward Carl Klingberg.
Minnesota Wild
- March 2 – acquired forward Chris Stewart from Buffalo for a 2nd round pick in 2017.
- March 2 – acquired defenseman Jordan Leopold from Columbus for defenseman Justin Falk and a 5th round pick in 2015.
- Feb. 27 – acquired forward Sean Bergenheim and a 7th round pick in 2016 from Florida for 3rd round pick in 2016.
Colorado Avalanche
- March 2 – acquired forward Freddie Hamilton from San Jose for defenseman Karl Stollery.
Dallas Stars
- March 1 – acquired forward Mattias Janmark, defenseman Mattias Backman and a 2nd round pick in 2015 from Detroit for forward Eric Cole and conditional 3rd round pick in 2015.
What are cap ramifications of Erixon being claimed? Hawks are off the hook for the 600K owed to him? Toronto picks it up now?
It sucks that capgeek is gone, it was a great source.
I know it has been stated by Tab that the coming free agent class is going to be thin in ranks and that Vermette will command top dollar (i.e. overpay). And, I understand the fiscal cliff the Blackhawks face this coming summer, but I would not be surprised if SB has a scenario mapped out (some combination of 10, 50, 29, 65 changing sweaters, 27 and 32 coming off the books) whereby he is able to make Vermette a respectable offer for 3 years. Perhaps I am still in shock SB traded away his first round pick for a short time rental?
Hawks October-December
Gf- 3.03
Ga- 2.08
January-February
Gf- 2.42
Ga- 2.69
The offense and defense have seen an identical fall off of .61 . Our scoring problem seems to be similar to our defensive problem according to the numbers.
If anyone didn’t see…earlier tonight, the NHL Network aired a live TSN show out of Toronto recapping transactions thus far.
They really like the Rangers coming out of the east with the addition of Yandle calling their blue line 6 the best overall set of d-men in the league now.
Several interesting points regarding the Hawks…first, the ‘experts’ really liked the Hawks moves and generally still consider them the favorite to win the west; especially so if Kaner can indeed return. The only other contender discussed was St. Louis but to a lesser degree.
They projected the Hawks lineup as follows:
top line no change
10-Vermette (80) -23
65-91 or 86-29
4th line no change
2-7
4-27
Timonen (44)-TVR
Of course, they show the depth chart at G as Crow and Rantta; so I wonder about their research.
The second topic was Kane’s injury; Marty Biron was one of the panel and described his recovery from the same injury several years back. He even had his x-rays up on screen showing a clear break of the bone. His time to full recovery was stated as 14 weeks…
…many collective fingers need to be crossed that 88’s break was not as bad and that he’s a faster healer than Biron.
GO HAWKS!!!
After looking at the comparisons of trades, it looks like Nashville fleeced toronto for Franson and santorelli with jokiness, prospect, and first round pick. However, timonen seems to be a more defensive minded player with some offensive flair
Over the last 5 years Timonen is a +22 on a mediocre team. +/- isn’t a big judge for me, but he always played against the opponents top lines. This could be a good addition.
I’m not sure of the date when the Jets made the trade but the E.Kane for Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford was big for the Jets considering E.Kane was going to miss the rest of the season.
If Timonen is still good, then I think the Hawks made the most improvement. If Timonen doesn’t return to form I’d give it to the Jets.
ER – The Jets looked very good against the Kings today. They have great depth and are very physical. The central division is going to have five teams in the playoffs that are capable of winning the western conference.
Arizona could have traded Vermette to any team for a 1st and prospect, but they made trade with us. People complained/somewhat about a 2nd for Rundy, but maybe they would have traded Vermette with another team.
Whats weird is Toronto got Brennan and Erixon. Two guys that where not ever going to play on our roster but could help in future relations.
Even though 57 is practicing now, until we know he can go that only leaves us with 32/5 for the 6th and one of them/26 for depth. That’s might only be two depth Defenseman or with 57/47 (Paliotta) and add a another defenseman. Would be good to add another one for a mid/low pick/propect that’s not needed for future, etc.
I can’t believe these posters claiming SB gave away the future. How many number one draft picks take years and years to develop and even then the Hawks don’t even keep them around or they are at the bottom of the roster. I mean wasn’t Morin a #1 pick of somebody else that the Hawks traded for, same with Runblad, they also picked Hayes, Kyle Beach, etc. etc in the first round and those picks didn’t work out. Some people on this website even claim that T2 won’t turn into anything(I totally disagree) and he was a #1 pick years ago. Plus the #1 pick they traded will not be in the top of the draft. Hawks fans should stop worrying so much about draft picks and prospects that may/could possibly come into play years and years down the line and enjoy the run right now. The Hawks have enough prospects and draft picks anyway and they already have the stars you need to win. What they need now are players to round out the roster for a run not prospects and draft picks that might possibly come into play years down the road. Anyone who regularly reads this website knows that. Good job Stan. If Kane comes back in time I like the teams chances. GO HAWKS.
Calgary- appears to be the biggest winner… I heard 8 picks in 1st – 2 rounds…
all they have to do is bat .25%– and they will have 2 nice “Cap friendly guys”… and plenty of money to play with.
Why do the Canucks not get any love as a team to go deep??? I thought they looked very good vs. Hawks in 2 games this year, and I don’t know who half their guys are, that bodes well for them in future.
Jets- are very big!!!
Rangers/Isles are both very good!!! Might the East win the Cup this year???
Pete- while I agree with your assessment that there are plenty of #1’s… that don’t pan out… the Reality is SB/Hawks Will NEED some Picks to pan out- due to the large % of Cap space being tied to 2 players and the Cap not being as high as anticipated… therefore, the more Picks u have… the greater the chance of finding a Saad type,,, and once again – due to the cap- the Hawks will need some “picks/prospects” to step up and Play/contribute very soon (next 3-4 years)… if not… the Monies thrown at 19/88 will go for nothing (moving forward- as they will have most likely peaked as Hockey players).
2nd- SB/Hawks have actually done a very good job at drafting- lot’s of their picks have seen NHL time… and Play a lot — most likely in the top 10 in league (that’s just a guess) for Player’s/ice time– drafted in last 4-5 years…. (especially if you exclude true top 10 picks)
Wall, I appreciate your thoughts, but a lot of those players end up on other rosters of other teams for basically nothing ie. Pirri, Stanton etc. because they can’t help the Hawks. The Hawks need players they think they can win with now, hence the trades. Any GM can accumulate draft picks. Off topic, but Jerry Angelo once traded a high second round pick to San Diego for about 6 picks. San Diego drafted Eric Weddle, who was a very good NFL safety. Every one of those 6 or so picks turned into nothing and the Bears are still looking for a safety. More picks doesn’t mean that much. I would take quality over quantity every time.
The thing to, not about the trades or picks for them, is that Bowman has been loading up on picks these 5yrs in a row. This is the first time, other then Oduya/when we needed to, to dip into the well. I like that we load, load, load and then dip when needed. Doing it this way, we can dip anytime we want as well and still have a top4-7 farm aftwerwards (only ANA and CHI have top farms of all top10 teams).
Bowman, BEAUTY PLAYING.
w/ Vmette on 2nd… where do TT and 91 fit???
TT should play just for PP skills- But in reality- he is probably – odd man out…
I wouldn’t mind Q doing some real blender lines- to see if anything “fits”.
I hear 81 has played w/ 80 before… So I wouldn’t mind TT w/ 19/20…
20/19/86
10/80/81
29/91/23
42/16/65
reality – is all these Rt. wingers most likely move up (TT -Rock)– But in my head – 29/91/65 will not be a good line.
On Q’s presser this morning he said 80 will play between 10 and 20. So lines appear to be looking something like this:
81-19-23
20-80-10
29-91-86
42-16-65
With TT playing more LW than RW, i would think maybe TT-19-81 with 29-91-23. or even 29-19-81, TT-91-23…
But i guess we will see…
Wall – Let us not forget that Calgary is run by an idiot that traded a 3rd round draft pick for Brandon Bollig. By a guy that laughs in the face off advanced metrics, and still thinks it’s important to have people that punch other players. Are they in a good position with all the picks? Maybe. Depends how well they draft. Hawks needed to make a move to try to win now as they can’t predict the landscape of the NHL in the next few years.
I’m not really afraid of St. Louis or Nashville (should I be? I don’t know). So another tumble with the Kings in the WCF’s sounds good to me.
I think Winnipeg is very good. (They beat LA yesterday) I would prefer that the Hawks avoid them for as long as possible in the playoffs.
Wall, I would really like to see TT with 19/20. That could do the trick in my opinion.
JS- I will give you that… the Hawks do appear to match up way better VS. Blues, Preds, Ducks,,, and Looked bad VS. Jets, Wild, Canucks– Bad Vs. Wings /NY/NY/Caps- if it gets that far,,, still can’t figure why Canucks- have made them look bad. The Wings look pretty tough in East, and I would HATE for KHayes to win a cup!!!
But- yes- I hate to admit it- You have a chance (due to most likely match-ups… Not on Merit!!!)
What’s PO format- assuming both Wild Cards come from Hawks Div. ,,, If Both Wild-Cards win… does the one that played the Pacific 1st place team- stay vs. Pacific???
or is there re-seeding due to the Records???
The Hawks are going to recoup a bunch of picks when they unload salary this summer. Not a huge deal IMO.
Especially if Bickell and Sharp blow up in the playoffs.
If they weren’t buyers they certainly needed to be sellers (which they clearly weren’t). Kane probably shows up sooner then expected – someone call Kobe and get his chef to send over some bone broth. Hilarious article on ESPN about that if you haven’t read it. “Bone broth” haha.
I was ready to toss in the towel after Kane went down but have done a complete 180 and am now excited for the playoffs to start again.
The 4 and 5 seed are in one division each. They stay in each division.
Wall, I agree the wings are starting to look like the wings we know, hate, and fear. Confused on the K Hayes comment though, as he plays for NY.
AJ- Haven’t read the “bone broth/Kobe”… But as a person w tons of sport injuries (2 broken ankles, torn Miniscus/repair/ torn ACL (played on it for years- before I figured it out)… I am a believer in those things – Glucosamine, Chicken-broth and jello (which is made from Ground chicken bones/cartilage)… I took it for years post Miniscus repair…
went to Doctor years later w knee issues (thought I tore it again)… He said no- But you don’t have ACL!!! Cartilage looks great-though
AJ, I too think Kaner will be back earlier.
Hossa not in the morning skate. Unclear if he’s out for the game, but practice lines were as follows:
23-19-86
10-80-20
29-61-65
42-16-28
Wall- no reseeding.
I would guess that the Hawks play better against the “Top Tier” teams because they actually get up for the games. So much of their success comes from effort in the neutral zone and skating a full 200. When they play the top teams, they are a lot better at clearing their own zone and take better care of the puck in the neutral zone.
I’m really surprised by the success of the Canucks, but a lot of the reason they were terrible last year was because of their coach. Now that they have a real coach, they might be a scary team to play.
My guess for Playoffs shapes up as
1- Nashville
2- Hawks
3- St. Louis (see them collapsing, maybe I’m wrong)
4- Minnesota
1- Anaheim
2- LA
3- Vancouver
4- Winnepeg
Outside of Minny/Nashville, it would be a pretty entertaining grouping of first round matchups.
I am one of those think the Hawks need to have draft picks especially with the salary cap. There needs to be a good balance. Draft picks are cheap to pay if you can develop them. The problem is the development hasn’t been as good as we would all like. Obviously the more picks you have the better odds of finding a Saad or Shaw. Now that the Hawks are going to pay Toews and Kane +$10 mil each, which leaves less room for expensive FA. I don’t believe the cap will go up as much as SB might have thought when he signed these deals with the Canadian $$ value diminishing. The Hawks have had some very productive years of Saad at a $764k cap hit. Good luck signing a FA at that price with his production. A team needs to have some cheap productive players to succeed. Usually you can’t afford to keep them when they are up for renewal, but then you roll in the next guy. The Hawks were lucky with the Leddy acquisition. He was fairly inexpensive when they got him and had a couple of productive years. They foresaw his new price and moved him. They were hoping someone could fill in for him. Maybe that will be TVR. You can’t have a team of only FA.
Blues traded Cole to Pittsburgh for Bortuzzo + a 7th round pick
Can’t really complain about Bowman’s job this deadline, anybody fretting too much over giving up a first rounder, you’re worrying too much. Nobody’s front office seems to be valuing this draft too much, as tab has pointed out, probably Bowman even less after Kevin Hayes punked him this year. He was the 24th pick of the draft a couple years ago, to my knowledge completely wasted. It is a bummer to see Smith go, but honestly, it really feels like whatever spark he had had fizzled. He’s a good role player, but we got a little more physicality EVERYONE has been clamoring for and saved a little money in the process.
To wall about PO scenarios: yes. The lower seed WC plays the division winner with the best record, and next wc plays the other division winner, no matter the division.