The NHL trade deadline is ten days away, but you’d think all of the general managers wrote the date down incorrectly if you saw the number of trades that went down today.
To recap from earlier:
- Goaltender Craig Anderson (Colorado Avalanche) traded to Ottawa Senators for goaltender Brian Elliott
- Defenseman Ian White (Carolina Hurricanes) to San Jose Sharks for 2nd round draft pick
- Defenseman Mark Stuart and forward Blake Wheeler (Boston Bruins) to Atlanta Thrashers for forward Rich Peverley and defenseman Boris Valabik
- Defenseman Tomas Kaberle (Toronto Mapleleafs) to Boston Bruins for prospect Joe Colborne, Boston’s 1st round draft pick, and a conditional 2nd round draft pick (if Boston re-signs Kaberle)
- Defenseman Eric Brewer (captain of the St. Louis Blues) to Tampa Bay Lightning for prospect Brock Beukeboom (awesome name) and a 3rd round draft pick
The first two trades don’t really affect the Philadelphia Flyers all that much (I don’t see how the Anderson and Elliott trade really helps either team other than a change of scenery), but the latter have raised the stakes in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins and Lightning are easily the two toughest teams that the Flyers could face in the playoffs, and these trades have made both rosters deeper.
For Boston, Wheeler (11 goals, 16 assists, +8) was a decent third line winger, but moving his salary allowed the team to take on additional salaries. Mark Stuart, a former first round draft pick, is also a good 5th/6th defenseman, but he has been a healthy scratch of late and won’t really be missed.
Coming the other way, Peverley (14 goals, 20 assists, -16) will help fill the gap at center that was left when Marc Savard was re-injured with another concussion. It appears that the Bruins organization doesn’t feel that rookie Tyler Seguin (drafted #2 overall in 2010) is ready to be a top line center yet, and Peverley (who’s 28 years old with one more year on his contract) will allow Seguin to better develop at his own pace.
Tomas Kaberle (3 goals, 35 assists, -2) is the real threat here. Two years of speculation and rumors are finally put to bed as Kaberle waived his no-trade-clause for the Bruins only. Andy Strickland of True Hockey wrote today that general manager Paul Holmgren had inquired about trading defenseman Matt Carle for Kaberle, but the Leafs are looking to re-build through youth (apparently Carle’s not young enough).
Kaberle is a top four defenseman who excels at the powerplay. With a defense led by captain Zdeno Chara and backed by goaltender Tim Thomas, Boston’s goals-against per game is ranked 3rd in the league already (2.36 GA/G). For reference, the Flyers are ranked 7th (2.47 GA/G).
Boston’s powerplay isn’t much better than Philadelphia’s (17.4% to 18.1% success rate), so adding Kaberle on the point will make their special teams much more dangerous.
The Brewer trade isn’t as threatening, as he’s not the fastest defenseman, but he adds leadership to the lockerroom as well as powerplay support. Tampa’s defense is ranked 25th in GA/G, but their powerplay is 6th in the league.
Two other teams that are potential Cup contenders and trade deadline participants are the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. With so much happening so quickly over the last few days, their moves could come sooner than expected.
Needless to say, the fight for home ice advantage just became that much more challenging.
For trade deadline updates and Flyers news, follow me on twitter (@JoshJanet).
