Game recaps, listing the winners and loser of the 2015 NHL trade deadline and more.
Game recaps.
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews celebrates one of his two goals against the Carolina Hurricanes.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Jonathan Toews scored twice and set up another to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. The game marked the debut as Blackhawks of Antoine Vermette and Kimmo Timonen. Both were held scoreless.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Newly re-signed winger Mats Zuccarello had two assists as the New York Rangers dumped the Nashville Predators 4-1 in Keith Yandle’s Rangers’ debut. Rick Nash tallied his 38th goal of the season with an empty netter late in the game.
Note: Games involving Canadian NHL teams are recapped in “Canadian Corner.”
Notable headlines.
NBC SPORTS: Lists the winners and losers of the NHL 2015 trade deadline.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a mediocre deadline day compared to previous years, especially last year’s. There weren’t any top stars on the move. However, the week leading up to deadline day saw some notable trade activity, including the Rangers swinging a blockbuster deal for Keith Yandle, the Blackhawks acquiring the most sought-after player in the trade market in Antoine Vermette, and the surprising David Clarkson-for-Nathan Horton deal. Had all those moves happened on deadline day it would’ve ranked among the busiest and most exciting in NHL history. So, while it was a lousy deadline day with mainly depth players being moved, it was a good deadline week.
TWINCITIES.COM: A heartfelt letter to Minnesota Wild management from defenseman Jordan Leopold’s daughter begging the club to trade for her father may have been the catalyst in the blueliner being acquired yesterday from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Obviously it wasn’t the driving factor but perhaps it planted the seed? Regardless, it makes for a heartwarming story.
THE DENVER POST: Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has a broken nose as well as earning a temporary spot in coach Patrick Roy’s doghouse.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s been a rough sophomore season for the 2015 Calder Trophy winner. MacKinnon’s looked out of synch for most of this season.
STLTODAY.COM: The Blues are taking a calculated risk by acquiring concussed defenseman Zbynek Michalek from the Arizona Coyotes.
NJ.COM: Devils GM Lou Lamoriello admits he could’ve received a better return for traded defenseman Marek Zidlicky but the defenseman’s no-trade clause controlled the outcome. Zidlicky was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings for a conditional third-round draft pick.
THE BUFFALO NEWS: Despite ongoing denials from Sabres GM Tim Murray that he is tanking the season to get in better position to win this year’s draft lottery, his recent moves on deadline day are drawing accusations suggesting otherwise.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s easy to look at a floundering team’s moves and accuse them of tanking the season. It’s another to prove it. Regardless of whether you believe the Sabres (or Arizona Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers) are trying to throw the season or are simply a poorly-run team, the NHL must consider more aggressive changes to their draft lottery system to prevent accusations of “tanking” from overshadowing the draft process.
NHL.COM: The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed right wing Cam Atkinson to a three-year deal believed worth $10.5 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was rumored the Jackets were entertaining trade offers for Atkinson. Perhaps that spurred the winger into accepting this deal. Regardless, it’s an affordable move ($3.5 million per season) for a young winger on pace for his second straight 20-plus goal season.
CSNPHILLY.COM: The Flyers have re-signed Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to a two-year, $1.425 million contract.
This “tanking” is a poison to the game. It’s insulting to the fans and even though it’s probably happened many times before the last time it was proven was in the early 90s when San Jose and Ottawa both dressed their worst players in a season-ending game against each other so they could secure the 1st overall pick. Solution: all non-playoff teams have equal opportunity at winning the draft. The way it’s set up, the worst overall gets the most help, the ‘best’ teams don’t need help, and the ‘bubble’ teams get nothing.
While I cannot claim to know the specifics of NHL draft lottery, why couldn’t they simply use one of those actual lottery machines. I know it’s out in left field but a machine that chooses a random ball with a team logo to determine their place seems to be the most “lottery” approach to it.
You can stop the tanking by “giving” the top pick to a team that didn’t try tank? Baring that both suggestions above also can work. I get the idea of helping bad teams but as a fan of the sport, I hate seeing real good players go to poor and perpetually sucky teams.
The problem is how do you prove tanking your team? A strong argument can be made for Buffalo tanking… their GM traded away their starting goalie, and their backup goalie, and now have two average backup goalies as their starting tandem.
I do believe that after this year the NHL is making another change to the draft where the top 3 picks are all lottery picks so that will help a little. Still sucks for this year though.
To a previous poster – Lottery balls are actually used, and in quantities that favor the lower-finishing teams, in order to determine draft-order…
Though it has been the league’s practice that the worst teams receive the more favorable odds in the draft-lottery process, it may be time to visit the idea that all non-playoff teams enjoy equal odds, when it comes to determining draft-order – If only to discourage tanking, and also cease rewarding endemic mismanagement.
Organizations that are persistently bad should face a disincentive in maintaining an ineffectual status quo. Failed NHL executives should not be given a pass based on the “new hope” they repeatedly sell their respective fan-bases as a result of their chronic ineptitude.
I once read about a possible solution that would discourage the “tanking” process. Once a team is eliminated from the playoffs, then any points that they subsequently earn will go towards the draft positioning. No lottery would then be needed as the earlier that a team is eliminated from the playoffs, the more games they would have to accumulate points to improve their draft position. Needless to say, the more points gained will mean a higher pick and not the current format that rewards mediocrity.
This approach also means that a team’s management will try to improve as the season goes on rather than dangling their top players as rentals for the upper-echelon teams.