A common courtesy among Stanley Cup contending teams is to make deals in late February and early March to improve the squad even further. In pursuit of a championship, the goal is to make the team an even bigger threat heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs than before. Each year at the trade deadline, there are two main groups of teams: buyers and sellers. Some teams are “larger” in the degree in which they buy or sell, and there are some teams that, unfortunately, are not sure which side they fall under.
This year, with another talented incoming draft class headlined with two deemed “franchise changers”, there should be more sellers expected, as the reward for winning the lottery or having a high pick could be even better than it would be in most years.
Anaheim Ducks
Buffalo, Edmonton, Carolina, Arizona, and Toronto are all “established” sellers for this trade deadline. The Columbus Blue Jackets are not “traditional” sellers by any means: their record makes it mostly impossible for them to enter the playoff picture (especially with the depth of the Eastern Conference), but most of their record is because of their incredible misfortune with injuries, so they are in no hurry to sell off pieces. If Lou Lamoriello could stop being delusional about the state of his team, the New Jersey Devils will most likely enter the “seller” status as well, with a player like Jaromir Jagr coming into play.
The Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers could make a run at the final wild-card spot, but that seems unlikely: Ottawa is currently nine points back of the Boston Bruins for the second wild-card and eight behind the Florida Panthers. Philadelphia is closer, sitting only four and three points behind the two respective teams, but both clubs have games in hand on the Flyers (one for Boston, two for Florida).
In the West, the Colorado Avalanche sit in 12th place, but they are seven points back of the second wild-card, as opposed to 14 points ahead of the Coyotes for 13th. While a playoff push is unrealistic, their odds of a run putting them in the picture are greater than their odds of falling into a top-five pick (they are 10 points ahead of the Maple Leafs). The same can be said for the Dallas Stars, who are without Tyler Seguin until after the March 2nd trade deadline, at the most optimistic timetable.
For these six teams (Columbus, New Jersey, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Colorado, and Dallas), making a large-scale move for a small chance at a possible playoff berth is asset mismanagement at its core. This is not to say these teams should throw in their season: the goal is to win, and that’s what they should try, but winning and building for the future are not mutually exclusive. It would better serve these clubs to make a potential push, yet if there is a move available for these teams to give them more draft picks or solidify their team for the next season and beyond, they should be explored.
As for the Anaheim Ducks, they firmly sit in the “buyer” section of the NHL divide. They currently lead the Pacific Division with 79 points and hold a 10-point lead over the second-place Vancouver Canucks.
So what do the Ducks do? Who do they go after? And who do they give up? The biggest need, obviously, has been defense: the team has had its struggles defensively, and that was the team’s biggest area of weakness from the season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins. But defense is not the only area the Ducks could explore. An injury to Matt Beleskey could have the Ducks looking to shore up their forward group: after all, the Ducks have still failed to find a consistent linemate for Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.
Many names have already fallen off the trade market. Tyler Myers and Cody Franson were hot commodities that have already been dealt. Marc Methot just re-upped with Ottawa for four years. In the forward market, a potentially good fit for the Ducks would have been Evander Kane, but he was dealt in the Winnipeg-Buffalo blockbuster.
Kane’s a very talented player who has the potential to be a 40-goal scorer, especially when playing with a top-playmaking centerman like Getzlaf. However, Kane also had shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the season. He has term on his deal, but there was no way he would have helped the team this year, and the asking price could have been a tough one to stomach, especially for an asset-starved team like the Ducks.
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There are still many good, quality players who are available on the trading block, and if Bob Murray chooses to do so, he has the ability to make a move to strengthen this team (though probably no more than one). Despite the panic that all the players are being plucked, the trade market is not completely barren of talent.
Adding new players to a team is not a bad thing, by any means. It (usually) signifies an upgrade and sends a message that the status quo has changed. In the case of contenders, the message becomes “we’re in it to win it”. It generates added excitement for the fanbase, and it changes the dynamic for the opposition as well.
On the other hand, doing little or nothing at all during the trade deadline is perfectly fine, especially if the organization feels that the team is good enough to compete with anybody as currently constructed. In fact since 2007, the Stanley Cup winners have been relatively quiet at the deadline.
In 2007, when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup, they acquired Brad May at the deadline, who was an enforcer that did not do much to help the team (though the Ducks did acquire Chris Pronger that offseason). The 2008 Detroit Red Wings acquired Brad Stuart at the deadline for their blue-line. In 2009 the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Bill Guerin from the Islanders (seven goals, 15 points in the postseason) and Chris Kunitz from the Ducks (one goal, 14 points). In 2010, the Blackhawks essentially did nothing at the deadline. In 2013, they acquired Michal Handzus (three goals, 11 points). In 2011 the Boston Bruins traded for Tomas Kaberle (11 assists), Chris Kelly (five goals, 13 points), and Rich Peverley (four goals, 12 points).
None of those acquisitions are what could be considered “major” blockbusters. There were bigger names available at the deadline, yet these teams won with smaller deals.
Of course, the “splash” method does work as well. The Los Angeles Kings, who have won the Stanley Cup twice in the past three seasons, have been bolstered by this, namely in 2012 when they acquired Jeff Carter from Columbus. Carter has been an integral part of both championship runs. The Kings also acquired Marian Gaborik for last season’s playoff-run, but he was recovering from injury, and players such as Thomas Vanek and Matt Moulson were bigger commodities.
Which route to the Ducks take at this deadline? Honestly, the Ducks don’t really need to add much more to the team. The biggest need entering the season (center strength and depth) has been addressed in the offseason. The additions of Ryan Kesler and Nate Thompson have been huge, and the growth of Rickard Rakell give the Ducks strength down the middle that they did not have last season (no offense to Nick Bonino, Saku Koivu, and Mathieu Perreault).
Defensively, the team does need some help, but the thing they do not need is a point-producer on the back-end. The team has been struggling at goal-prevention and shot-prevention, and not all “defensive” defensemen are bad puck-movers. Some of the hottest names at the trade deadline include Andrej Sekera, Jeff Petry, and Zbynek Michalek: all good puck-movers with varying levels of defense.
The team could add to the wing, but the Ducks already have a logjam at the wing as is, with two of four players probably alternating games (Devante Smith-Pelly, Emerson Etem, Rene Bourque, and Tim Jackman) when Beleskey is healthy. Of all the positions, wing is probably the least necessary to address for teams, and it’s also a position the Ducks have a lot of depth in, both at the NHL and organizational levels.
This team has played 59 games this season and has a division lead equal to that of the other three current division leaders combined. The Ducks have battled for the title of “best team” all season with some of their best players missing time. Injuries have struck frequently for the Ducks (they have lost 281 man-games to injury, third only to Columbus and Colorado). When healthy, this team has the chance to compete with anybody.
Adding a player to the team probably will make the team stronger: depth is important in the playoffs. After all, stars win games, but role players win series. But honestly, they don’t have to add someone big: making a trade for the sake of making a trade is, essentially, pointless. The recent Cup winners have proven that it doesn’t take the biggest acquisition to make the biggest difference: rather, it takes the right one. If the right piece is out there, then expect the deal to be made, but there is no need to demand the hottest commodity just because it is in demand.
Next: Three Areas the Anaheim Ducks Must Fix For the Postseason