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Puck Daddy Power Rankings: 42 thoughts about the NHL trade deadline

Puck Daddy Power Rankings: 42 thoughts about the NHL trade deadline

42. Michael Sgarbossa to Anaheim for Mat Clark

Literally who cares about this trade at all? The Sgarbossa and Clark families, and that's got to be about it.

41. Jordan Leopold to Minnesota for Justin Falk and a 5th

Just the fact that this is what facilitated that cloying letter from Leopold's daughter getting out to the public makes me furious that it happened. Yuck.

40. Sven Baertschi to Vancouver for a 2nd

This is classic Flames asset management. Baertschi was a first-round pick, and highly regarded prospect out of junior, with stats that suggested he might have been a value pick even a few spots higher. So the Flames of course rushed him up to the NHL too early and put a lot of pressure on him. He struggled a little bit, so Brian Burke ripped him in the media, and they've spent the last two seasons sending him and up down regardless of his actual performance, and then trade him to a division rival for a second-round pick.

Wouldn't be surprised at all to see him become a very useful second-line wing in Vancouver.

39. Adam Cracknell to St. Louis for future considerations

You never know, that future consideration could end up being Ryan Johansen!!!

38. Jared Knight to Minnesota for Zack Phillips

Phillips kind of flamed out for Minnesota after being a first-round pick, so this is one of those “hopefully a change of scenery does him good” deals. Low risk for the Bruins.

37. Tim Gleason to Washington for Jack Hillen and a 4th

Why would either team want either of these players? At least Carolina got a fourth-round pick out of the deal.

36. Ben Smith and a conditional 7th to San Jose for Andrew Desjardins

I don't know why anyone would want Ben Smith, but then again I don't know why the Sharks would want John Scott and Scott Hannan and all these other bums they've acquired in the last year. But yeah Joe Thornton isn't leader-y enough.

35. Freddie Hamilton to Colorado for Karl Stollery

Another who-cares move. Karl Stollery was a good college hockey defenseman and thus ends up knowledge of this trade.

34. TJ Brennan to Toronto for Spencer Abbott

Another minor-league deal, and hey, there's another college hockey guy. Spencer Abbott is, of course, better known as “That guy who played with Brian Flynn at Maine.”

33. Marek Zidlicky to Detroit for a 3rd

Detroit's fascination with acquiring a right-shooting defenseman apparently led them to this decision and I guess I get it but Marek Zidlicky isn't good enough to be useful to the Devils without getting a lot of sheltered minutes. Red flags all over the place, but low-risk for the Wings.

32. Cory Conacher to Vancouver for Dustin Jeffrey

Man, remember when everyone thought Cory Conacher was good? Tampa to Ottawa to Buffalo to the Island to Vancouver since 2012-13. In the two seasons since, he still hasn't scored as many goals as he did in 47 his rookie year.

31. Ben Lovejoy to Pittsburgh for Simon Despres

I understand that the Penguins are familiar with Ben Lovejoy and they wanted to shore up the bottom of their defense, but isn't Simon Despres — who's 23 and projects pretty well even now — a better option? Lovejoy starts in his own zone more, sure, but the Ducks went out and got defense but considered him expendable. Have you seen the Ducks' defense? Good gamble here for Anaheim.

30. David Leggio to Arizona for Mark Louis

Leggio is 30 already, and he's having an abysmal season in the AHL. I don't know why you trade for him, because you can get an .866 AHL goalie literally anywhere there's ice, but it's not like he's going to get a shot in the bigs so who cares? Hell, the way Arizona's going, an .866 AHL goalie might be just what they want in Glendale.

29. Devante Smith-Pelly to Montreal for Jiri Sekac

It's another one of those “change of scenery” moves, and it's a good one from Marc Bergevin. Smith-Pelly has a lot of upside (in theory), and Sekac was an asset he got for nothing this summer. Even if Sekac has been semi-useful, this is a bet you make when you have the kind of playoff assurances Montreal does.

28. Erik Cole and a 3rd to Detroit for Mattias Backman, Mattas Janmark, and a 2nd

What was Cole, like the ninth-best forward on a Stars team that isn't going to make the playoffs? Getting two prospects and a second for Cole and a third makes a lot of sense for Jim Nill, who probably has a lot of familiarity with the quality of the players he acquired from Ken Holland.

27. Chris Stewart to Minnesota for a 2nd

Well, getting Chris Stewart off your team is a nice move for anyone. Chris Stewart isn't good. That Buffalo ransomed him for a second-round pick is nice and helpful. But here's the thing: Tim Murray dramatically overestimated Stewart's market value and as a result settled for less at the deadline than he was reportedly offered in the run-up to it. It happens, bud.

26. James Sheppard to New York for a 4th

Getting a half-decent NHL forward for basically nothing was a good move on a day full of them by Glen Sather.

25. Korbinian Holzer to Anaheim for Eric Brewer and a 5th

Dave Nonis continued to work his magic, somehow, and got someone to take Korbinian Holzer off his hands. Brewer has played 26 games this year and only nine with Anaheim. Wanna bet he even gets that many with the Leafs?

24. Brian Flynn to Montreal for a 5th

Another strong tank move from Murray. Flynn is okay, with a positive relative corsi, dismal zone starts, and work against Buffalo's top competition. Having him off the roster helps the team be worse.

23. Torrey Mitchell to Montreal for Jack Nevins and a 7th

See No. 24. Buffalo's top four scorers at 5-on-5 this season are no longer with the club.

22. Max Talbot and Paul Carey to Boston for Jordan Caron and a 6th

Well this is a move I don't get for the Bruins. Sure, Caron didn't figure into their plans, and Max Talbot had 50 percent of his salary retained. But is Max Talbot what the Bruins need? He sure isn't, because he's not a Dennis Seidenberg trade.

21. James Wisniewski and a 3rd to Anaheim for Rene Bourque, William Karlsson, and a 2nd

Of all the people to scapegoat on the Blue Jackets defense, I can't see where James Wisniewski is one of them. And then taking on that Rene Bourque contract, which has another season left on it? At least they got a second-round pick out of it, I suppose.

20. Ian Cole to Pittsburgh for Rob Bortuzzo and a 7th

This was actually a good move for the Penguins as they tried to shore up that defense. Cole plays bottom-pairing minutes but gets decently tough zone starts and does well. Bortuzzo plays middle-pair minutes — when he plays at all — and needs favorable zone starts, and still gets buried. On the balance, the Pens getting Cole and Lovejoy gives them some pretty good options at the end of the bench and costs them a guy they've given up on and a guy who's not good. (Not that it was what they needed or anything, but they upgraded the blue line.)

19. Michal Neuvirth to Long Island for Chad Johnson and a 3rd

This is the mega-tank mode move for all to fear. Tim Murray's goaltenders for the foreseeable future are Anders Lindback and Chad Johnson. Meanwhile Garth Snow gets a very serious backup in Michal Neuvirth for basically nothing. Great move for both teams, given what they're going for.

18. Tomas Fleischmann to Anaheim for Dany Heatley and a 3rd

Fleischmann is okay but not-having Heatley is great. Solid swap for Bob Murray. Meanwhile, the Panthers are that much closer to winning the 2006-07 Stanley Cup.

17. Olli Jokinen to St. Louis for Joakim Lindstrom and a conditional 6th

Toronto got someone to take Olli Jokinen. What a world. Huge win for Nonis.

Mar 2, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Antoine Vermette (80) during the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes at the United Center. (Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports)
Mar 2, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Antoine Vermette (80) during the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes at the United Center. (Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports)

16. Antoine Vermette to Chicago for a 1st and Klas Dahlbeck

I said it on Monday morning but even if Vermette doesn't work out, this basically doesn't cost the Blackhawks anything they had an actual need of. And Vermette will probably work out okay if they use him properly.

15. Jiri Tlusty to Winnipeg for a 3rd and conditional 6th

I'm always going to be in favor of getting a useful NHLer, which is what Tlusty is, for middle-round picks. Real nice little move by Kevin Cheveldayoff, but it wasn't his best of the day.

14. Jaromir Jagr to Florida for a 2nd and conditional 3rd

There's no reason at all for Florida to acquire Jagr because they're not going to make the playoffs, but Jagr is awesome and having him around must be awesome. Hope he plays for all 30 teams before he's done. He'll only need to play 11 more seasons in which he plays for two teams apiece. I can see it happening.

13. Sean Bergenheim and a 7th to Minnesota for a 3rd

Speaking of useful NHLers for mid-round picks, Bergenheim is probably a little better — if unluckier — than Tlusty, so the fact that the Wild got him for very little indeed strikes me as a win. Minnesota really upgraded their forward depth this week.

12. Braydon Coburn to Tampa for Radko Gudas, and 1st and a 3rd

Coburn, despite the protestations of Flyers fans, is actually good. They'll tell you he's not but they also generally think Nick Schultz is, so there ya go. Tampa gives up a first here, but who cares because they have a dozen future stars under the age of 25, and also offload Radko Gudas, who is not good. Coburn helps them a lot.

11. Daniel Winnik to Pittsburgh for a 2nd, a 4th, and Zach Sill

The Pens probably needed to make another trade or two like this, and they did give up three assets for a rental, but they're going to miss maybe one of those assets at most. I think Rutherford did very well here, and had a good couple of days ahead of the deadline overall.

10. Kimmo Timonen to Chicago for a 2nd and a conditional 4th

This could be a game-changer for Chicago. We have no idea what Timonen is at this point, given how much time he's missed, but the gamble isn't a bad one at all. Timonen, when he's at 100 percent, is an excellent defenseman, and they'd be using him in a mop-up role. That's luxury right there. Costs them nothing, really.

9. Brett Connolly to Boston for two 2nds

Boston should have been a little more worried about offloading bad contracts than getting players they don't need, but as “players they don't need” go, Connolly's a reasonable gamble as well. He's a very young winger and a high first-round pick who — say it with me — might just need a change of scenery. The Bruins' wing depth isn't what Tampa's is, and he might flourish with more minutes. Or not. Definitely worth the risk, even if he's not, say, a middle-pairing defenseman.

8. Tyler Kennedy to Long Island for a conditional 3rd

Kennedy is an extremely sneaky-good pickup for the Islanders. Among Sharks forwards with at least 200 minutes at 5-on-5 — he has just 25 games played this year — his goals per 60 minutes is tied for third on the team with Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture. Not bad company. His assists per 60 is also third. And his CF% is 54.5. Sure he plays soft minutes, but if you have a player doing that in your bottom six, that is extremely useful. Garth Snow speed-bagged San Jose here.

7. Curtis Glencross to Washington for a 2nd and a 3rd

A 32-year-old wing who doesn't fit into your plans for a rebuild, and who's only marginally effective, and is almost certainly going to be leaving this summer for two assets of any kind is a good one. Not sure why Washington cared so much.

6. Zbynek Michalek and a conditional 3rd to St. Louis for Maxim Letunov

Michalek as a third-pairing defenseman (once Kevin Shattenkirk comes back) doesn't seem fair, but here we are.

5. Jeff Petry to Montreal for a 2nd and a conditional 5th

How is this all Edmonton got for him? It's an expiring contract, yeah, but the seeds for this trade were sown months and months ago. He's been mishandled for years, and isn't it weird how he's been mishandled for years, and isn't it weird how that made him not want to re-sign with the Oilers?

4. Keith Yandle, Chris Summers, and a 4th to New York for Anthony Duclair, John Moore, a 1st and a 2nd

It's a hefty price to pay, no doubt about that, but having Keith Yandle as a defenseman for $2.625 million — retained salary is fun — sure is nice. Meanwhile, the Coyotes get better at some point around 2018 and make a serious run at Auston Matthews next season. Buffalo probably has them outgunned for that one too, but you never know with the lottery.

3. Lee Stempniak to Winnipeg for Carl Klingberg

Klingberg recently passed through waivers without being claimed. Stempniak is decent. The Jets did a real good job adding to their bottom-six forwards this week.

2. Andrej Sekera to Los Angeles for a 1st and Roland McKeown

Another thing I wrote about on Monday, but here it is again: The Kings got a guy who was a solid No. 1 defenseman, albeit on a bad team, for next to nothing by their reckoning. Hate to be anyone going up against that defense in the playoffs.

1. Nathan Horton to Toronto for David Clarkson

I get it from both sides but this trade is an absolute shock and I still cannot believe it happened. The salary structure for the Blue Jackets has to be the weirdest in the league; a list of players making more than $4 million for them includes Sergei Bobrovsky, Scott Hartnell, Fedor Tyutin, Jack Johnson, Brandon Dubinsky, and now Clarkson. But they made Ryan Johansen beg for $4 million a season. Doesn't make any damn sense given the fact that they're never going to spend close to the cap. This is how you allocate your money? Toronto has its own payroll problems but good lord, at least they're mis-spending to the cap, rather than mis-spending to some arbitrary, low number.

(Not ranked this week: Llamas.

It's a good thing no one goes back and re-watches trade deadline coverage years from now, because that joke didn't age well from last week.)

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