Heading into last week’s NHL trade deadline the Philadelphia
Flyers, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins were
expected to make roster-bolstering deals.
But they did little or nothing, and their inability to
address their significant roster needs due to lack of salary cap
space could have potentially adverse consequences on their
performances over the final weeks of the season and into the 2010
NHL playoffs.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren managed to clear nearly
$2.6 million in cap space prior to the deadline by a combination of
player demotions and placing oft-injured goalie Ray Emery on
long-term injury reserve for the remainder of the season.
Some believed Holmgren was pursuing a potential replacement
for Emery at the deadline, but they’ve received quality
goaltending from backup Michael Leighton while those potentially
available as a replacement were either too expensive
(Florida’s Tomas Vokoun) or no improvement over Leighton.
The Flyers were among several teams interested in Nashville
Predators defenseman Dan Hamhuis but weren’t willing to pay
the Predators' high asking price of a top prospect or good young
player and lacked the high draft picks they were seeking as part of
the deal. It was the same story with Holmgren’s rumored
interest in forward Raffi Torres, who was eventually dealt to the
Buffalo Sabres.
Currently sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference, the
Flyers are presently in a tight battle to retain a playoff berth as
only seven points separates them from the 11th overall Tampa Bay
Lightning, with the Bruins, Rangers, Montreal Canadiens and Atlanta
Thrashers jammed in between. Without additional scoring punch or
blueline depth, the Flyers could find themselves battling to hang
on to a postseason spot.
Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli went into the deadline needing to
add a puck-moving defenseman and a scoring forward. He addressed
the former by acquiring Dennis Seidenberg from the Florida Panthers
but came up empty-handed for a scorer.
Sitting at the bottom of the league in goals-per-game
average before deadline day, the Bruins now have no choice but to
hope forwards David Krejci, Michael Ryder, Blake Wheeler and Milan
Lucic — who are well below their production from last season
— can regain their scoring touch over the season’s
final weeks.
If those players who step it up, the Bruins could nail down
a berth. But if their offense keeps sputtering, they could find
themselves outside the postseason picture, which would be a
considerable embarrassment for a club that topped the Eastern
Conference last season.
Like the Bruins, the Rangers were believed to be seeking a
puck-moving blueliner and a scoring forward but with too many fat
contracts eating up valuable salary cap space, there was nothing GM
Glen Sather could do by deadline day. Granted, Sather did make a
major move over a month ago, shipping underachievers Chris Higgins
and Ales Kotalik to Calgary for center Olli Jokinen, who’s
had seven points in nine games as a Ranger.
That’s helped a bit, but the Rangers need more
offensive depth beyond the Marian Gaborik line and with the
expensive contracts of blueline disappointments Wade Redden and
Michal Rozsival eating up valuable cap space, Sather was forced to
the sidelines on deadline day.
Currently sitting two points out of the final playoff berth
in the East, the Rangers will be forced to ride the Gaborik line
and the goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist the rest of the way and
hope it’ll be enough to squeak into the playoffs.
Unlike the Flyers, Bruins and Rangers, the Blackhawks are in
no danger of falling out of playoff contention. They lead the
Central Division by 16 points over the Predators and are sitting
second overall in the overall Western Conference standings, nearly
18 points ahead of the eighth overall Detroit Red Wings.
Thanks to their impressive depth at forward and defense, many
fans and pundits consider the Blackhawks a legitimate Stanley Cup
contender but their goaltending is consider their weak link.
Despite GM Stan Bowman’s insistence he was happy with his
tandem of Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi, there was rampant
speculation leading up to deadline day he was either trying to
trade Huet or would demote the French netminder to free up cap
space to land Vokoun from Florida or Dwayne Roloson from the
Islanders. If Huet was being shopped, his expensive contract ($5.65
million per season) and inconsistent play made him untradeable.
Barring a stunning meltdown between now and the end of the
regular season, the Blackhawks should easily make the playoffs
among the top three seeds in the West and with their strong defense
and lethal scoring punch, could march again to the Conference
Final. But their inability to improve their goaltending could spell
the difference between advancing to the Stanley Cup Final or a
disappointing early playoff exit.
