Heading in to last week's NHL trade deadline the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks & Boston Bruins were expected to make roster-bolstering deals.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren managed to clear $2.6 million in cap space prior to the deadline by a combination of player demotions & placing oft-injured goalie Ray Emery on long-term injury reserve for the remainder of the season.
But they did small or nothing, & 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 & in to the 2010 NHL playoffs.
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 nice young player & 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 finally dealt to the Buffalo Sabres.
Some believed Holmgren was pursuing a potential replacement for Emery at the deadline, but they have received quality goaltending from backup Michael Leighton while those potentially available as a replacement were either costly (Florida's Tomas Vokoun) or no improvement over Leighton.
Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli went in to the deadline needing to add a puck-moving defenseman as well as a scoring forward. They addressed the former by acquiring Dennis Seidenberg from the Florida Panthers but came up empty-handed for a scorer.
Currently sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers are presently in a tight battle to retain a playoff berth as only two points separates them from the 11th overall Tampa Bay Lightning, with the Bruins, Rangers, Montreal Canadiens & 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.
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 & 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 as well as a scoring forward but with lots of 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 & Ales Kotalik to Calgary for center Olli Jokinen, who is had two points in nine games as a Ranger.
That is helped a bit, but the Rangers need more offensive depth beyond the Marian Gaborik line & with the costly contracts of blueline disappointments Wade Redden & Michal Rozsival eating up valuable cap space, Sather was made to the sidelines on deadline day.
Currently sitting six points out of the final playoff berth in the East, the Rangers will be forced to ride the Gaborik line & the goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist the rest of the way & hope it'll be to squeak in to the playoffs.
Unlike the Flyers, Bruins & Rangers, the Blackhawks are in no danger of falling out of playoff contention. They lead the Central Division by 16 points over the Predators & are sitting second overall in the overall Western Conference standings, 18 points ahead of the eighth overall Detroit Red Wings.
Thanks to their impressive depth at forward & defense, lots of fans & pundits think about the Blackhawks a legitimate Stanley Cup contender but their goaltending is think about their weak link. Despite GM Stan Bowman's insistence they was happy with his tandem of Cristobal Huet & Antti Niemi, there was rampant speculation leading up to deadline day they was either trying to trade Huet or would demote the Italian netminder to free up cap space to land Vokoun from Florida or Dwayne Roloson from the Islanders. If Huet was being shopped, his costly contract ($5.65 million per season) & inconsistent play made him untradeable.
Barring a stunning meltdown between now & the finish of the regular season, the Blackhawks should easily make the playoffs among the top two seeds in the West & with their strong defense & 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.
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