BY ALEX FLETCHER – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
Deal or no deal? As we approach the 2013 National Hockey League trade deadline, that’s a question that NHL general managers will have to answer.
A shrewd acquisition can help propel a team to the ultimate goal of a Stanley Cup, but some argue that adding a significant player can disrupt a club’s chemistry. So, how should teams approach the trade deadline? Well, what better way to determine the answer than to look at what past Stanley Cup champions have done?
Here’s a breakdown of the deadline deals – trades executed within two weeks of the trade deadline are listed – executed by the eventual Stanley Cup champions in each season since the 2004-05 lockout:
2011-12 Stanley Cup Champions: Los Angeles Kings
Deadline day trades: ** None.
Trades made within two weeks of the deadline:
** Acquired Jeff Carter (CLB) in exchange for Jack Johnson and a conditional first-round draft pick.
Unlike some past champions, the Kings opted for a single blockbuster trade at the deadline rather than a series of minor tweaks. Apparently, that decision worked out.
The Columbus Blue Jackets had acquired Jeff Carter from the Philadelphia Flyers during the latter’s facelift in the 2011 off-season. The disgruntled centre lasted a meager 39 games in a Columbus uniform before the team’s management decided that it would be sensible to deal him to a team with which he would be happier.
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Enter the Kings. Although they were on the outside of the playoff picture on the date of the trade and Carter’s points-per-game average in Los Angeles dipped even below his Columbus level, the team squeaked into the playoffs as the eighth seed and rolled right through its playoff competition, losing just two games in the first three rounds combined and just four in total.
Carter, meanwhile, upped his production in the post-season; he tied for first in the league during the playoffs in total goals and game winning goals, with eight and three, respectively. The move from the last-place team in the league to sunny Los Angeles seemed to be to his liking – and to the Kings’, too.
2010-11 Stanley Cup champions: Boston Bruins
Deadline day trades:
** Acquired Anton Khudobin (MIN) in exchange for Jeff Penner and Mikko Lehtonen.
Trades made within two weeks of the deadline:
** Acquired Stefan Chaput and David Laliberte (ANA) in exchange for Brian McGrattan and Sean Zimmerman.
** Acquired Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik (ATL) in exchange for Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler.
** Acquired Tomas Kaberle (TOR) in exchange for Joe Colborne, a 2011 first-round draft pick, and a 2012 conditional second-round draft pick.
** Acquired Chris Kelly (OTT) in exchange for a second-round draft pick.
The Bruins made the most significant trades of any team on this list, but GM Peter Chiarelli avoided the last-minute rush by completing his biggest deals well before the deadline. In fact, after acquiring Rich Peverley ten days before the deadline, Boston’s only moves were minor ones with the Minnesota Wild and Anaheim Ducks.
Boston was a deep team with many dimensions before its flurry of acquisitions, but the players it acquired only made the team stronger, and Chiarelli evidently managed to improve his squad without disrupting its chemistry.
Peverley and Chris Kelly, both responsible two-way players who are back with the Bruins this season, greatly enhanced the team’s group of top-nine forwards, which was of paramount importance to Boston’s success, as the team relied on a group effort at forward rather than on a single player. In the playoffs, the two also pitched in with a combined 25 points, strong penalty kills, and enough shot blocks to leave them very black and blue; in fact, Kelly, with 28, led all forwards in shot blocks in the playoffs.
Tomas Kaberle, meanwhile, didn’t pot any goals during the playoffs and only played an average of 16 minutes per night. Chiarelli surely wouldn’t mind taking back the extremely generous package he offered to Toronto for the Czech defenceman, but Kaberle did tie for the team lead in scoring among defencemen and was first – by a longshot – in average powerplay ice time. Oh, and the fact the B’s won the Cup probably makes that deal just a little easier for Chiarelli to swallow.
2009-10 Stanley Cup champions: Chicago Blackhawks
Deadline day trades: ** None.
Trades made within two weeks of the deadline:
** Acquired Nick Boynton (ANA) in exchange for future considerations.
** Acquired Danny Richmond and Hannu Toivonen (STL) in exchange for Daryl Boyle and Joe Fallon.
The Blackhawks didn’t have to do much to improve their chances at the Stanley Cup; by the time the deadline rolled around, Chicago, along with the San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals, was part of a trio of teams that was well ahead of the rest of the league in points. The Hawks also ranked among the top three teams in the NHL in goals for and against.
Many were expecting Chicago to try to solidify its goaltending, as rookie Antti Niemi and Cristobal Huet didn’t form a particularly imposing goaltending tandem (and indeed, the Stanley Cup Final was not exactly characterized by all-star calibre netminding), but in the end, the only moves that Chicago made around the trade deadline were to add depth.
The team did execute a significant deal in mid-February, acquiring Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy from the Wild in exchange for Cam Barker, but Johnsson played just eight regular season games for the Blackhawks before falling victim to a concussion and missing the remainder of the regular season and all of the playoffs.
2008-09 Stanley Cup champions: Pittsburgh Penguins
Deadline day trades:
** Acquired Andy Wozniewski (STL) in exchange for Danny Richmond.
** Acquired Bill Guerin (NYI) in exchange for a 2009 conditional draft pick.
Trades made within two weeks of the deadline:
** Acquired Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi (ANA) in exchange for Ryan Whitney.
It’s a wonder that Pittsburgh won the Cup – or was even in contention for the ultimate prize – in 2009, given the state of the team leading up to the deadline. Funnily enough, the Penguins’ biggest move around the deadline didn’t involve any players, but rather the head coach.
By mid-February, the Penguins sat in 10th in the Eastern Conference and management had become so dissatisfied with the team’s performance that head coach Michel Therrien was fired and Dan Bylsma was assigned the role of interim head coach. The Pens posted an 18-3-4 record the rest of the way.
Of course, the coaching shake-up wasn’t the only change that Pittsburgh experienced. The team attempted to surround its triumvirate of centres with quality wingers, as it acquired both Chris Kunitz and the experienced Bill Guerin within a week of the deadline. The two combined for 29 points in the playoffs en route to Pittsburgh’s third Stanley Cup in franchise history.
2007-08 Stanley Cup champions: Detroit Red Wings
Deadline day trades:
** Acquired Brad Stuart (LAK) in exchange for a 2008 second-round draft pick and a 2009 fourth-round draft pick.
Trades made within two weeks of the deadline:
** None.
Deadline trades are often meant to bolster line-ups temporarily – just through the rest of the season and the playoffs. Detroit’s lone deadline deal in 2008 didn’t fit that stereotype, though; nearly four years after Brad Stuart was shipped from Los Angeles to Detroit, he remains an important spoke in the Red Wing wheel.
He was a key component of the 2008 squad that won the Cup, too, logging close to 22 minutes of ice time per night, including nearly three minutes shorthanded, and leading his team in hits in the post-season. The Wings are known for being a team that relies more on skill and smarts than on brute force, but Stuart has added a physical dimension to the team; he’s led the Red Wings in hits in three of the four seasons since the trade, including this one.
It’s almost surprising that Detroit felt the need to add a piece at the 2008 trade deadline, given that they led the league in points, were second in goals scored, and had allowed the fewest goals at the time of the deal. However, there’s no question that Stuart was a positive addition to the blueline, allowing defenders like Andreas Lilja and Chris Chelios to shoulder less of a load. The team’s achievement of the Stanley Cup sure validates that suggestion.
2006-07 Stanley Cup champions: Anaheim Ducks
Deadline day trades:
** Acquired Doug O’Brien (TBL) in exchange for Joe Rullier.
** Acquired Brad May (COL) in exchange for Michael Wall.
Trades made within two weeks of the deadline:
** Acquired Gerald Coleman and a 2007 first-round draft pick (TBL) in exchange for Shane O’Brien and a 2007 third-round draft pick.
** Acquired future considerations (DAL) in exchange for Shane Endicott.
The Anaheim Ducks didn’t win their Stanley Cup quite the same way the Red Wings did – indeed, the Ducks were the most penalized team in the NHL during the 2006-07 regular season and the most penalized playoff team of any that advanced beyond the first round. Rather than a single significant deal, the Ducks carried out a flurry of less significant ones.
Brad May, known more for his ability to take penalties than for anything else, was the only acquisition to play for the Ducks in the playoffs. Although he didn’t manage to find himself in a fight in the post-season, he did add truculence to the team, an element that Brian Burke, Anaheim’s GM at the time, coveted.
The reality is that Anaheim’s key pieces were already in place, so no major additions were necessary. The Ducks were already loaded at all positions, between two towers on defence in Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger; as suffocating a forward shutdown line as you could come across in Travis Moen, Rob Niedermayer, and Samuel Pahlsson; a couple of sturdy goaltenders, including Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who was near the top of his game; and scorers like Ryan Getzlaf, Andy McDonald, Corey Perry, and Teemu Selanne. There was no match for them in 2007.
2005-06 Stanley Cup champions: Carolina Hurricanes
Deadline day trades:
** Acquired Mark Recchi (PIT) in exchange for Krystofer Kolanos, Niklas Nordgren, and a 2007 second-round draft pick.
Trades made within two weeks of the deadline:
** None.
The Carolina Hurricanes never received the memo that read that you need a rock solid group of defencemen to win the Stanley Cup. Rather, the Hurricanes used a deep set of forwards and a white-hot rookie goaltender to win their way to the prize.
Mark Recchi was one of the key contributors in that forward corps. He was the last of Carolina’s three significant acquisitions that year, and GM Jim Rutherford executed the trade that brought him in less than an hour before the official trade deadline.
Recchi, who came to the Canes with a Stanley Cup ring already around his finger and 57 points in 63 games with the pitiful Penguins that season, brought scoring punch and a wealth of experience to Carolina.
The club’s deadline day may have been quiet beyond the acquisition of Recchi, but that’s because Rutherford had already done most of the tinkering he wanted to do. At the end of January, he acquired centre Doug Weight and defenceman Anton Babchuk in separate deals, giving up eight assets in the process. None of the pieces that Rutherford sacrificed were significant roster players, though, allowing the Canes to add without subtracting.
By the end of the season, the additions of Weight and Recchi gave the Hurricanes nine forwards with at least 49 points, including Eric Staal, who had 100. That depth came in handy when winger Erik Cole fractured a vertebra in his neck in March and missed all but two playoff games (amazingly, he returned for games six and seven of the Stanley Cup Final).
Although Babchuk didn’t end up playing a game for Carolina in the playoffs, Weight and Recchi continued to contribute, tallying a combined 34 points during the Hurricanes’ run to its first Stanley Cup in franchise history.