Dose: On Deadline Arrivals
Well, the 2015 trade deadline was … a trade deadline.
OK, it wasn’t really that lame, at least if you expand the scope to before March 2. I’ve often been sad to see entertaining players wasted on abysmal teams, and while that’s obviously an inevitable truth, some teams got more entertaining. My favorite from that standpoint is almost certainly Keith Yandle going to the New York Rangers (more on that in a moment).
The Dose isn’t designed to break down deals as they happen, as I discussed in yesterday’s column. If you want a more comprehensive breakdown, check out Michael Finewax’s blog from Monday and keep your eyes peeled for what Ryan Dadoun will have up on Rotoworld NHL later on Tuesday.
(If you really want some more analysis from your humble author, I uncomfortably continued my tradition of making the winner/loser picks for PHT. Surely such a thing didn’t bring about weirdly angry comments, right? Uh oh …)
There were also some debuts for newly traded pieces on Monday, including Jeff Petry (who was traded that same day). Let’s take a look at last night’s awkwardly placed trio of post-deadline games, then.
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RANGERS 4, PREDATORS 1
-- Rick Nash's empty-netter (which gives him 38 goals on the season) inflates the deficit a bit here, but 4-1 is probably pretty fair. The Rangers generated a 40-26 shot advantage and largely suffocated the Predators attack in this one.
Nashville's slipping enough that I'm a tad bit concerned, to be honest.
-- Mats Zuccarello went from being a trade rumor target to a guy with a contract extension and two assists in a blindingly quick few days. His pass on Chris Kreider's 17th goal was a beauty (although Taylor Beck's helper was the greatest work of setup art last night).
-- Keith Yandle looked a little clunky out there, but still managed three SOG and topped all Rangers with two minutes of PP TOI (out of 19:41 overall). Pretty promising since New York only received one power play ...
-- If any team can integrate Yandle, it's the Rangers. It's remarkable how much of this team has been built through trades, especially since the franchise has still had some solid drafting moments here and there.
(It's especially remarkable that, despite still making some free agent mistakes, Glen Sather's been so effective after all those blunder-filled years.)
-- Shea Weber had a -4 rating and tapered off in peripheral categories. Hey, these nights will happen ... I'm not so sure I'd have him approach 30 minutes in regulation (29:47 TOI) if you're interested in keeping him fresh for the playoffs, though.
-- Cody Franson with Nashville: two assists, +1 and seven SOG in six games. It's early, but I wonder if the Preds' wealth of scoring defensemen might ding Franson's value a bit.
BLACKHAWKS 5, HURRICANES 2
-- Nice work from Jonathan Toews, who scored the game's first two goals, including the 10th shortie of his career. I wouldn't be thunderstruck if Toews ramps up his efforts in Patrick Kane's absence.
-- Brandon Saad hit the 20-goal mark. He'll be a costly re-sign for Chicago, although I expect him to get Johansen'd as an RFA.*
-- It's hard for me to believe that Kimmo Timonen is playing in the NHL this season, let alone for Chicago. So weird.
He's long been a solid-to-good fantasy option, and playing for the Blackhawks certainly makes him interesting. He received 17:29 TOI. It would be worrisome that he didn't get a whiff of power-play time if it weren't for the fact that Chicago didn't get a power play.
(Losing by three goals when your opponent doesn't even get a man advantage? Yeah, that's not too good, Carolina.)
I tend to look at fringe fantasy defenseman with a less critical eye (difference-makers can be hard to come by), so I say give him a shot if you're hurting. Just be ready to drop him if his health turns, and thus it's wise to have a few replacements in mind.
-- Antoine Vermette only received 12:55 TOI. I wouldn't outright drop him just yet - the zero PPs argues this was an odd game - but Chicago won't ask as much from him offensively as Arizona did.
-- It's interesting/sad that Carolina still seems to be stuck in an organizational coma, even with new management. Injuries have cropped up, but why not at least try a little harder to move some money for assets? This team needs new blood really badly.
* - Johansen’d: to get lowballed in a way that might set up a divorce in the future. Also known as O'Reilly-ing.
SHARKS 4, CANADIENS 0
-- This is the third straight time San Jose shut out Montreal.
-- I wonder if San Jose's occasional line shuffling has been negative for Joe Thornton, who has just an assist in his past five games. Playmakers can be frustrating in their all-or-nothingness, as he's -2 with just three SOG in that span.
-- Cannot say I expected Ben Smith to be the guy to score in a debut on Monday. No, I don't expect much from him, although he could be a boon for San Jose merely by giving them a little bit more depth competence.
-- Joe Pavelski's assist on Patrick Marleau's PPG was something else. Wow.
-- Matt Irwin scored his seventh goal of 2014-15, as puck luck is really smiling on him. He's a bit of a fantasy oddball in that he puts up solid numbers in uneven patches.
-- Brent Burns got an assist, four SOG, two hits and also saved Alex Stalock's shutout by a smaller gap than the blank spot in his teeth.
-- Jeff Petry debuted, getting a -1 in 18:15 TOI. I look forward to his assists so people can drop "Petry dish" puns.
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