ANTHONY GETTINO
Staff Writer
The NHL is a wild landscape of hockey once again. After last year’s title run by the St. Louis Blues, who went from last to Stanley Cup winners after the trade deadline, teams know just how important this time of the year can be. At the current moment, there are six teams outside of the playoff picture by three points or less. Just one piece can be the difference between going home at the end of the regular season and playing for the championship trophy.
Some teams that made moves included the Boston Bruins, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Edmonton Oilers, the Calgary Flames and the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Boston Bruins went out and got the piece that changes them from a contender to a championship favorite with the addition of Ondrej Kase from Anaheim. What he can do when healthy fits perfectly with what Boston has. Health is the only concern, as he has played less than 66 games the past three years and will hit 67 if he doesn’t miss another game for the rest of the regular season. The move also freed up cap space for Boston to be able to keep their core group of guys this summer in free agency.
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As for Tampa Bay, they’re sitting right behind Boston in overall record and in the Eastern Conference. The choke job of last years’ playoffs was a major reason for the moves the team made, as they overpaid mightily for Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow for two first-round picks. Tampa knows it can’t make another first-round exit with this crew, and if two first-round picks are the price of a Stanley Cup, the front office would take that deal in a heartbeat.
As for Carolina, the moves that the team made at the trade deadline may be the push that they need to get into the playoffs. They currently sit just one point out of a spot, but with the additions of Brady Skjei and Vincent Trocheck, that may change quickly. These moves follow what Carolina has tried to construct their roster around, which is medium price tags for young players that fit together around their star Sebastian Aho.
As for the Oilers, Flames, Golden Knights and the Canucks, these teams all made moves to try to win the weakest division in hockey at this point in the Pacific Division. While each team made different sized moves, the most important may have been Vegas acquiring a backup goalie. The Golden Knights have the best roster in this division by far and have been playing amazing hockey in the last few weeks. With just a few more saves here and there, they go from the middle-of-the-pack team to Stanley Cup contender. Acquiring a top tier backup may be the turning point in this team’s season and ultimately what brings home the Cup.