Carolina Hurricanes
Since we last wrote about the Carolina Hurricanes, they traded top scorer Martin Necas and depth centerman Jack Drury for another superstar in Mikko Rantanen. Then they shocked the hockey world by trading Rantanen again to Dallas for a haul of 1st and 3rd Round picks and the young centermen Logan Stankoven. While I believe the trade was fair for both teams, due to the deadline time constraints, the Hurricanes were unable to flip the draft picks for immediate help. Stankoven will likely be an important player for Carolina in the future, but he is a significant downgrade from both Necas and Rantanen this season.
The rest of their deadline was underwhelming, only adding depth centermen Mark Jankowski, who surprisingly has scored six goals in his seven games with the hurricanes, and former superstar Taylor Hall in the first Rantanen Trade, who has six goals in his last six games. These additions will surely help the team although goaltender help would have been nice to see.
The Hurricanes sit second in the Metro now and have improved since the mid-season ranking. With twelve games left to be played, they are projected to play the New Jersey Devils. This is the most likely matchup and a favourable one for the Hurricanes, due to the Devils recent injury trouble. Due to an uncertain Metro, Carolina could make another run to the Conference Finals, and maybe this is the season they break through.
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils looked like favourites to win the Metro Division coming into the season. Stacked at all positions and with a new head coach in Sheldon Keefe, there was a lot of potential. Through the season they mostly lived up to the hype until Jack Hughes was injured just before the deadline for the remainder of the season including playoffs.
This drastically changed the Devils deadline plans, who were originally looking to load up. Without Jack Hughes, management seemingly decided it wasn’t the year to go all in and made a few smaller moves. New Jersey traded for Daniel Sprong and Cody Glass, two players who can provide some one-way scoring depth.
The Devils are still a good team and are currently sitting 3rd in the Metro, but a deep playoff run is unlikely. Chances are they will play Carolina in the first round, a recently solid playoff team in recent years, and then the probable Presidents Trophy winner, Washington Capitals, in the second round. I would love to see New Jersey pull it off, but without their leading scored in Jack Hughes, this probably isn’t the year for Devils Fans.
New York Islanders
I mean is anyone really surprised at where the Islanders are currently sitting. 21st in the league with a 29% chance of making the playoffs this season. This team is stuck in mediocrity. New York has been somewhat competitive this season, but without a true superstar, it’s always going to be difficult to make the playoffs.
At the deadline, the Islanders made a nice move in trading away Brock Nelson. It is refreshing to see Lou Lamoriello trade a declining, unsigned asset at the deadline instead of signing them to a six year, $3 million AAV contract. They received a first-round pick and Calum Ritchie back, who will be a contributing NHLer in the next two years.
If the Islanders were to make a miraculous run into the playoffs as the second wildcard, they would likely play the Washington Capitals who would likely wipe the floor with them. However, this Islanders core has had some playoff success in the past five years, and they have Sorokin in net which could lead them to win a round or two. It’s also the Stanley Cup Playoffs and crazier things have happened.
New York Rangers
New York has had an interesting season. They started off as cup contenders, went on a huge losing streak, forced their captain to waive his no-trade clause (top-tier moral-boosting move), and then traded for 100-point player JT Miller. They started off as probable cup contenders, went on a huge losing streak, forced their captain to waive his no-trade clause (top-tier moral-boosting move), and then traded for 100-point player JT Miller. They unfortunately never really recovered from their poor November play and now sit fifth in the Metro.
The weeks leading up to the trade deadline for the Rangers consisted of trading for JT Miller and Carson Soucy, then trading Ryan Lindgren and Reilly Smith. Chris Drury’s goal this season was to mix up the core and continue to improve the team for the next few seasons. Like other teams in the Metro, the Rangers assessed their odds and decided to build for next year.
Similarly, the Rangers aren’t a bad team, their roster has superstars at every position. This season was just a wash from the very beginning. If the Ranger’s have somehow saved their best hockey of the season for the final ten games, and somehow make the post-season, they will rely heavily on classic Ranger’s hockey. Which is when they play poorly at even strength and then Igor Shesterkin puts up a .930 and bails them out. It will be an interesting offseason for this team.
Washington Capitals
Washington is still plowing ahead full steam as they become the first team to clinch a playoff spot, Ovechkin has 36 goals, and they are still the team to beat in the East. Ranked top three in Goals For, Goals Against, Shooting Percentage and Penalty Kill, the capitals are a complete team. They have consistent offense from all four forward lines, three solid defensive pairings, and Logan Thompson in net.
The Capitals deadline was uneventful, only adding Anthony Beauvillier from the Penguins for depth scoring. While adding a higher end asset is usually the go-to move for top-of-the-league teams, with the Capitals roster construction and the market prices for rentals, it didn’t make sense for a team so clearly already dominating.
The Capitals playoff matchup is still a mystery with the wildcard race being so close but it will likely be one of Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers or New York Islanders. If I’m the Capitals, seeing Sorokin and Shesterkin on those New York teams is scary and is a disaster waiting to happen. Playing Montreal in the first round is probably the ideal matchup, but when you’re a team like the Capitals without any real weakness, a long playoff run is likely regardless of who the first-round opponent is.
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