The NHL’s trade deadline was a month ago, so it’s a good time to revisit the winners and losers coming out of the deadline.
Earlier this week, we identified the winners. In this file, we’re identifying the losers. In alphabetical order:
1. Detroit Red Wings
After firing coach Derek Lalonde on Boxing Day, the Red Wings went on a 15-5-1 tear before the 4 Nations Face-Off. But when the trade deadline came and went, and Detroit GM Steve Yzerman failed to add talent to put them over the top in their playoff push, you could see the air let out of Detroit’s competitive balloon almost in real time.
Indeed, leading up to the deadline, the Red Wings lost five straight games, and since the deadline, they've been unable to recover, going 5-7-1 and fading from the post-season picture. Yzerman talked about the high prices he would’ve had to pay to add talent, but other GMs found a way to pay that price, and their teams are better for it.
Ultimately, it’s an indictment of Yzerman that his team is almost assuredly going to miss the playoffs for the ninth straight season. Nobody cares about high prices – they care about winning, and the Wings haven’t been able to consistently do that, in no small part because their GM couldn’t figure out a way to improve his roster.
2. Minnesota Wild
The Wild were one of the Central Division’s better teams early in the season, going 26-11-4 through Jan. 7. But at the deadline, all Minnesota GM Bill Guerin was able to do was add forwards Gustav Nyquist and Justin Brazeau – neither of them difference-makers. And since the deadline, the Wild have gone 5-7-3, sliding out of not only the top-three in the Central, but also into the second Western Conference wild-card position.
Minnesota wasn’t one of this writer’s favorites heading into the season, and now, they’re going to be heading into the playoffs as an underdog, no matter who they face. And there’s also still a risk that they fall out of the playoff picture completely.
Guerin could’ve been a bigger player on the trade front, but he added periphery talent, and it shows in the way the Wild have flailed and failed since then. And Guerin should be held accountable for his roster management. There’s not enough high-end talent in Minnesota, and until a change in philosophy happens, the Wild are destined for more of this mediocrity.
3. Nashville Predators
The Predators have had a horrendous season, and no one would’ve blamed Nashville GM Barry Trotz if he had stripped down the roster and focused on the future. In fact, that’s precisely what Trotz should’ve done. Instead, he moved Nyquist, defenseman Luke Schenn and winger Thomas Novak at the deadline. And if that sounds like a relative pittance in terms of what Trotz sent out and what he got back – a fourth-round pick for Schenn and Novak, and a second-rounder for Nyquist – that’s because it is.
Trotz ...
