The National Hockey League has a new face now thanks to the trade deadline that saw plenty of the league’s super stars moving cities.
The first big trade was a night before the March 5 deadline. This trade was arguably the biggest because it gave the already power-house St. Louis Blues a key component. The trade included Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller and forward Steve Ott being sent to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for goalie Jaroslav Halak, forward Chris Stewart and draft picks.
This move is good for both sides. Starting with St. Louis, if they were not already a Cup contender they definitely are now. And with Buffalo, they got more draft picks which is never bad during a major rebuild.
The next trade was also huge – a swap of captains. Martin St. Louis and Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman seemed to not be seeing eye to eye after Yzerman chose to leave St. Louis off the Canadian Olympic team until injured Steven Stamkos was declared unavailable. It was clear that if New York Rangers captain Ryan Callahan did not get an expensive, long-term contract with the Rangers he would be on his way out.
I think this move was great for the Rangers because they now have three superstars in my mind, a few great defenceman and a goaltender who is a threat to win the Vezina year after year. Those players would be Rick Nash, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Mcdonagh, Marc Staal and Henrik Lundqvist.
The last key trade would be the deal that sent Columbus forward Marian Gaborik to the L.A. Kings. Now, I had clearly underestimated Jeff Carter. He provides a good part of L.A.’s scoring. Now they receive another goal-scorer in Gaborik, who could be deadly.
I like the Kings now that they can score once again, and they could go far in the playoffs.
