Trade deadlines are an exciting time in any sport.  With the shortened season and slew of injured players this year, preparing for trades has been a big point of interest in the NHL.  Last week there was a sudden hot and heavy burst of trading but then tapered off.  At the beginning of this week there was almost no movement, even into Wednesday morning as the deadline drew near.  The last few hours before the deadline, however, picked right back up and actually went just a bit beyond their time limit with teams trying to get in some last minute trades in hopes of a playoff push.

Although there are no right or wrong decisions when it comes to player trades, there are definitely some winning and losing teams.
 

Winners

Pittsburgh Penguins

GM Ray Shero is by far the winner this trade season.  Known for his aggressiveness, he traded no differently this year.  If you look back just a bit, Shero’s first trade was picking up Brenden Morrow for (un-related) Joe Morrow.  Shero then added in veteran Douglas Murray and then the a-freaking-mazing Jarome Iginla.  Also, in a last second grab Jussi Jokinen was added to fill in at center until Sidney Crosby returns.  The Penguins received all this talent for basically nothing.  Shero didn’t have to give up any players, just some picks and prospects none of whom were all that promising to begin with.  The only major concern I foresee for the Penguins right now is chemistry and how well the team can mesh.

Boston Bruins

Although the Bruins made better offers and thought they’d already attained them, they managed to lose out on both Morrow and Iginla to their rivals.  The looming trade deadline was starting to become worry-inducing but the team managed to catch a break when Dallas decided to trade Jaromir Jagr and the Bruins picked him up.  He came at a lower price and with a solid rap sheet.  Jagr is also great on the power play, with six goals this season, which should be a huge help for the power-play deficient Bruins.  Right before the deadline the Bruins also decided to pick up Wade Redden, who although nothing spectacular, will add some depth to the team and cover for Patrice Bergeron who’s out with another concussion.

Ottawa Senators

Then Senators finally managed to ditch a goalie, no team really needs three goalies afterall, and got a huge pick for him.  While I’m sure teammates will be sad to see Ben Bishop go, receiving Cory Conacher will be huge for the team.  Conacher has cooled some since his red-hot start this season but still maintains top rankings amongst the league’s rookies.  This trade win is probably a tie for both the Senators and Conacher; the Senators gain fresh, young blood on the team while eliminating extra weight and Conacher gets to play for a team that has more than one good player so he can actually improve.

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal might be the most special team on this list as they earned their spot by making just one change.  They picked up former Badger Davis Drewiske from the Kings.  Having played professional hockey for just around twenty years himself, GM Marc Bergevin definitely knows what he’s doing.  The Canadiens were already a talented team this season with great chemistry so they win kudos just for acknowledging they needed nothing more than a tweak.

Minnesota Wild

One can definitely not ignore all the team-building progress the Wild has made as of late.  Last year they had some solid draft picks and built a sturdy team base.  Over the summer they picked up two major free agents Ryan Suter and Zach Parise and this season have made a serious run towards the playoffs.  Icing on their cake was the GM’s decision to pick up Jason Pominville.  Despite his hefty price tag, monetarily and in prospects and draft picks, Pominville is a hard-working player with a do-it-all mentality, which will be a great boost as the Wild continue pushing towards the postseason.

Columbus Blue Jackets

My last winning team for the trades this year has been too loud to ignore lately.  After firing their general manager mid-February and hiring someone the next day, who hasn’t even been affiliated with the NHL since he played back in the mid 1990’s, they’ve created quite a stir shooting for a playoff position.  The first European general manager ever, Jarmo Kekalainen, had his first official day Wednesday and started his career with a bang bringing in some solid players, weeding out some others and and only losing a few draft picks, and setting his team up prettily for not only a decent chance at the postseason but also a big year next year.  Marian Gaborik is a superstar player but has struggled recently and was in so deep with the Rangers that they readily waived his no-trade clause.  He’s definitely a shoe in to fill the void left last year by the departure of Rick Nash.

Losers

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks make my list as a loser mostly because they did nothing but stand to the side kicking the wall.  The team was desperately in need of a great center coming into the trade deadline but they picked up Derek Roy.  While he isn’t bad, he wasn’t even a star on his own team and when you’re playing for a team like the Stars, that doesn’t say much about a guy.  Other than picking up Roy the Canucks didn’t do anything, and they really needed to offload Roberto Luongo.  Luongo, the former starting goalie, went to the press saying his contract “sucks” and doesn’t seem pleased to be remaining in Vancouver playing backup to a much younger Cory Schneider.

Carolina Hurricanes

As I mentioned recently, the Hurricanes seemed pretty torn between whether they should buy or sell when it came to the trade deadline; apparently they waited just a hair too long to actually decide.  Although picking up veteran defender Marc-Andre Bergeron will be a boost for the team’s consistency, having to pay money just to get rid of a player, Jussi Jokinen probably did more damage in the long run.  Since Jokinen only had a year left on his contract, the Penguins weren’t super interested in him, however when Hurricanes general manager and part owner offered to pay a portion of his contract it was an easy decision.  The Hurricanes also only pulled a conditional draft pick for him.  For a team fighting to make it to the postseason, the management sure didn’t do anything to help.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche have continued to struggle, deeply, this entire season and everyone was expecting some decent team reshaping as the trades came about.  Turns out that wasn’t what the Avs were thinking though.  They did manage to relieve Ryan O’Byrne who has done basically nothing this season and still get money for him.  Trading a gritty, defensive player like Cameron Gaunce for a weak-at-best foward like Tomas Vincour is most definitely a questionable move and it’s not surprising fans are upset.  Sitting very solidly in dead last in the West right now, I’m not sure how the Avs intend to turn their team around now that the deadline has passed.  Maybe a new GM in the future?

Detroit Red Wings

Detroit earned their spot on my loser list by doing literally nothing.  For a normally winning team, the Red Wings have had a rough year and really needed a defensive boost, but unlike some other teams in similar positions, GM Ken Holland opted to do nothing about it.  Actually, he went backwards.  Instead of adding to their blue line, the Red Wings traded defenseman Kent Huskins for a conditional seventh-round pick.  The Red Wings were in the runnings for both Jay Bouwmeester and Jaromir Jagr but missed out on both guys.  If you searched deep enough you could find a positive in this, they saved money by not overpaying for anyone, but it’s really hard to be optimistic about their future; especially since their divisional rivals, St. Louis, did amp up their shoddy defense.