Kevin Gledhill's Trading Deadline Winners

Winners:

Los Angeles Kings

           

            The LA Kings have long been searching for the key to piece to an offense that has been stagnant in the past. This summer they fought long and hard for the rights to Ilya Kovalchuck but were a few years apart and some $25 million apart in discussions. Having an off and on season up to the February 28^th trading deadline, GM Dean Lombardi found the big bodied forward he has long desired. Lombardi signed off on a trade that saw him giving away D Colten Teubert, a highly touted big man on the blue line, along with a 2011 first-round pick and a 2012 conditional third round pick. In exchange for this package he got back a 6-4 power forward in the presence of RW Dustin Penner.

Penner finds a new home in Los Angeles, and moving on from the worst team in the NHL in the Edmonton Oilers. Penner brings the Kings a big body power forward with scoring touch which is very hard to find in the new NHL. With the Kings being locked in a playoff spot battle, 8 teams find themselves find themselves 5 points apart in the Western Conference. All spots ranging from the 4^th seed all the way to 11^th. Lombardi knew he had to make a move to spark his team. The team had long been connected in trade talks with the Dallas Stars for C Brad Richards, but with concussion concerns and a steep asking price, Lombardi pounced on the package to get Penner.

Penner should fit in nicely with his new team. A former Stanley Cup winner with the Anaheim Ducks, he will be on the top line centered by All-Star Anze Kopitar and flanked on the left wing by Ryan Smyth. This is a potentially deadly top line, all players capable of playing the body just as easy as they can cycle the puck and score plenty of goals. Look for the Kings to make a run in the playoffs with strong goaltending from UMass grad Jonathan Quick and a deep core of forward talent.

Washington Capitals

            GM George McPhee had to make moves regardless of how big or small they were. The Capitals have been in the playoff race all season, but inconsistent play has haunted their success all season. Poor defense and shaky goaltending do not normally balance out astronomical offense, hence why the Capitals currently sit in the 4^th spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The team was in dire need of a shake-up and McPhee delivered.

            A few days before the deadline, the Capitals claimed RW Marco Sturm off of waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. He is not an All-Star winger by any means, but he provides a veteran body on a relatively young Capitals squad. A third line winger at best, Sturm will provide scoring depth and add veteran leadership when the playoff season rolls around.

            The Capitals also added two more veterans in C Jason Arnott from the New Jersey Devils and D Dennis Wideman from the Florida Panthers. Both of these players have been underachieving so far this season and the Caps them got them for cheap. Arnott has been around for quite sometime and has the ability to help on the power play and in all three zone of the ice. A lifetime +/- of 65 is evidence of his three zone play and offensive prowess. Arnott will step onto the third line most likely with Sturm, and could also pivot on the second power play team. The other addition of Dennis Wideman will give an instant boost to the power play. Wideman leads the NHL in power play goals this season with 8 and has 11 assists to go along with the goals. He is a very capable puck moving defensemen, who at times has trouble with his defense.

            These three main additions will add a definite boost to the Capitals who look to catch the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Southeast Division, only trailing the by 5 points with 19 games to play.

Boston Bruins

            At this point it seems like it has been 2 years since the Tomas Kaberle to the Boston Bruins rumors first started. Now those rumors can be put to rest. The Bruins finally got their puck moving defensemen that their team desperately needed. The failed experiment with Dennis Wideman ended this summer in a trade for RW Nathan Horton, now the Bruins have moved on to seasoned veteran Tomas Kaberle. Kaberle, now 32 years-old, will be the new quarterback to an inconsistent power play that at many points was run by 43 year-old Mark Recchi. Kaberle, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, has already been linked in contract talks with Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli.

            Chiarelli was very busy just prior to the trade deadline. With the loss of their superstar C Marc Savard to concussion issues, Chiarelli need to act quickly and add depth while saving money. He made a deal with the struggling Ottawa Senators for veteran grit forward Chris Kelly. Kelly is capable of playing all three forward positions and is one of the better defensive forwards in the Eastern Conference. Very reliable in the face-off dot, Kelly will be a key role player in the Bruins system, with the ability to jump in the penalty kill as well as score some goals.

            The last of the big moves was a deal involved with the Atlanta Thrashers. In this deal the Bruins gave up two key pieces to the team in D Mark Stuart and RW/C Blake Wheeler. Stuart was one of the better D-men that the Bruins had, but with unrestricted free agency looming he was expendable after being a health scratch for the previous six games. Wheeler will get more opportunities to be the superstar that he is capable of being in Atlanta. Wheeler never got the chance to crack the top two lines in Boston and more ice time will give him the ability to showcase his finesse and scoring touch. With these two players departing, the Bruins in turn received F Rich Peverley and D Boris Valabik. Peverley, like Kelly, has the ability to play all three forward positions and so far with the Bruins has been centering a line of Chris Kelly and RW Michael Ryder. Peverley has the label as a hard-working two way forward that is excellent in the faceoff dot. Peverley upon leaving the Thrashers, led the team in face-off percentage at a 57% clip. Valabik is a 6-7 defender who is more of a project at defense than a true prospect.

            With the moves, the Bruins have primed themselves for a deep playoff run. They have depth within their system and these moves have given them some of the deepest forward lines in hockey, and with Kaberle they made the NHL’s best defensive team that much better.