Pearson Heads to Vancouver

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To Vancouver	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Tanner Pearson	F	61	9	15	$3.75m	2	$3.75m
----
To Pittsburgh	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Erik Gudbranson	D	57	2	8	$4m	2	$4m

The last of the pool-relevant trades was between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Vancouver Canucks, as they dealt a player that certainly has some potential, but wasn't quite living up to the expectations of their current team and at the same time, addressing some needs for their current squad.

The pool-relevant player in this deal is Tanner Pearson, heading to the Canucks, more on his relevance at the bottom of the post, but he heads down in his second deal of the year already, hoping to find a spot with a team that is retooling up front.  Pearson had a bunch of upside when he joined the Kings, but their defensive style didn't help him out much and then he was dealt to the Penguins earlier in the year, but couldn't find his spot and now he joins the Canucks, a team that has some spots open and constantly looking to improve.  At a $250,000 discount annually to what went the other way, why not?

The Penguins blueline has been decimated this season with injuries, especially of late, so they add a big body in Erik Gudbranson, who cut his teeth in the Eastern Conference with the Panthers and may not have had the foot speed to compete in the west and that may have been his biggest downfall, despite his size.  His numbers don't suggest he'll be brought in for his scoring ability, but his size and rigidity should be a big help to the Penguins down the stretch.

Jeremy held onto Pearson after the deal to Pittsburgh and why not?  He's joining the Penguins and they have centres that can turn pumpkins into just about anything, in theory.  Well, Pearson only saw limited time in the top six with the Pens and now he will shift through the Canucks' lineup, trying to find somewhere he can fit in as well.  The Canucks already added a guy like this in Ryan Spooner, so that will be his nearest competition, but there are only so many spots and so many upper echelon young players the Canucks have to play with, so gains might be tough this time around.  Jeremy's team opens the week in 16th, 17 points out of 13th and 73 points out of the money.

Boston Adds Johansson From Jersey

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To Boston	Pos	GP	Goals	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Marcus Johansson	F	48	12	27	$2.76m	0	UFA
----
To New Jersey	Pos	GP	G/W	Percent	Cap	Years	Cap
Retained Salary				40%	$1.84m
2019 2nd Round Draft Pick
2020 4th Round Draft Pick

The Boston Bruins wanted a little bit more scoring, the New Jersey Devils were looking to the future and could accommodate the Bruins' request.  Marcus Johansson, another unrestricted free agent-to-be, was on the block this past week and was held out of a game or two to make sure he was healthy for a trade and the Bruins came knocking, offering a couple of decent picks, as long as the Devils hung onto some of that cap space and that may have been the difference between a 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick as well.

Johansson is still a pretty reasonable play-maker, who does have some finish as well, but the Devils are a shell of a team that they were when they took the league by storm last season and that has a lot to do with the loss of Taylor Hall for an extended period of time and an inexperienced group at each position.  Nevertheless, Johansson does have the creativity that the Bruins could use and isn't overly quick, like most of the Bruins forwards, so he won't be left behind at any point.  This could be a pretty good fit, assuming that he stays healthy.

"Assuming he stays healthy."

That's a statement that can be the bane of many pool owner's existences and it probably could have been much worse for Wilton's team, since they currently rank 3rd in skater games this season with 705 games to their record.  Most of the games missed, however, probably belong to Johansson, so take that for what it's worth.  There could be some gains here, he could line up with some talented forwards, but it will hinge on his health, for sure.

Del Zotto Dealt Again

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To St. Louis	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Michael Del Zotto	D	35	1	7	$2.25m	0	UFA
----
To Anaheim	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
2019 6th Round Draft Pick

It's the second time this season that Michael Del Zotto has been traded and again, it hasn't been for a great return, but the Ducks are in their retooling mode and this was something that has been in the works.  The St. Louis Blues have been hot of late, well within the Central Division playoff race, so they needed a little bit more insurance, NHL-ready type insurance, on the blueline, so they went out and added Del Zotto for a late round pick this summer.

Del Zotto hasn't played a whole lot between Vancouver and Anaheim, as you can see above, so his numbers are less-than-stellar, but he can play the minutes, when called upon and that's what St. Louis is ultimately looking for.

Obviously, John P. couldn't find anything better or he didn't care to dig much deeper at the Week Eighteen Waiver Draft, which meant that Del Zotto stayed on his roster, despite passing in the 2nd round.  I don't think there is going to be many gains here, since he probably will play the same amount of games at the same rate as his previous two stops this season, so John may just be out of luck completely with the veteran defenseman.  John's defense ranks 15th in the pool, even with Del Zotto, but it arguably could have been a bit better.

Preds Snag Simmonds

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To Nashville	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Wayne Simmonds	F	62	16	27	$3.975m	0	UFA
----
To Philadelphia	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Ryan Hartman	F	64	10	20	$875k	0	RFA
Conditional 2020 4th Round Draft Pick

The Predators and Jets were going toe-to-toe in today's trade deadline fun and they were not going not going to back down to this challenge in the slightest.  The Wayne Simmonds sweepstakes was another good race, by the sound of things and the Flyers did well in their return for the rugged winger, as they knew they had to let him go at some point, so it might as well be for something.

Between the two players, Simmonds and Ryan Hartman, they do play a similar style of game, although Simmonds, 30, and Hartman, 24, have their age differences match their experience levels, but still very similar at the end of the day.  The point totals are not that far off, but Simmonds knows how to get under the skin of opponents better, owning the PIM differential, 90-44.

The Predators have added a wily veteran and one that can put the puck in the back of the net and has seen a bit of the grind of the playoffs and is probably itching for more.  This is a good gain for Nashville and it didn't come at the greatest of costs either.

I'm not totally convinced that Simmonds will be having many gains in the scoring department, when he joins the Predators, because I think he has spent too much time aligning his game with the Flyers style, that it is up in the air, to me at least, whether or not the Western Conference will be his sort of game.  The Predators do like to grind things out, but the Flyers could really tough it out with the best of them... it could be the easiest of fits or something might not be quite right.  Scott's team is still just looking to get out of last place, but I don't think this deal will ensure that happening, as he still needs 15 points to do so and I don't think Simmonds is going to make those sort of gains.

Vegas Doubles Down on Stone

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To Vegas	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Mark Stone	F	59	28	62	$7.35m	8	$9.5m
Tobias Lindberg	F	0	0	0	$650k	0	RFA
----
To Ottawa	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Oscar Lindberg	F	35	4	12	$1.7m	0	UFA
Erik Brannstrom	D	0	0	0	$894k	2	$894k
2020 2nd Round Draft Pick

The biggest fish in the market, Mark Stone... it sounded like the Senators were looking for something big for their big unrestricted free agent-to-be and as we drew closer and closer to the actual deadline, it was looking like the Senators were possibly going to hang on to him, hoping to re-sign him before the July 1st open market release.  No, that wasn't the case at all, as the Vegas Golden Knights did come through with a striking offer, which included blue chip defenseman prospect Erik Brannstrom and a 2nd round pick in 2020, which was certainly enticing enough for the Sens brass to pull the trigger.

In Stone, the Golden Knights get another established scoring forward, which adds to a stable of fairly impressive forwards as it is, even if they took a while to get going this season.  Stone's scoring rate makes him the top scoring forward on the team, not quite the best hockey pool scorer, still 10 points behind Marc-Andre Fleury, and he should provide a big boost to an already potent lineup. 

The real kicker of it all was that Stone was looking for a long-term, big money deal as well, something that Ottawa wasn't going to give him, albeit they were going to give him the term, if they found a reasonable number.  The Golden Knights stepped up and they have already agreed on an extension, in principle, for an 8-year deal, worth $9.5 million per season.  The deal won't be made official for another week, but it's coming.

I'm sure the Senators were hoping for a 1st round pick in any deal that they would get for Stone, but the acquisition of a blue chip kid like Erik Brannstrom is just as sexy, if not more so.  Brannstrom was a stand out at this past year's World Junior Championships for Sweden and has some striking similarities to a former Senators defenseman, which I dare not say his name here.  So, in that, moulding him into something special would be in their best interest and shouldn't be overly difficult.

It's going to be interesting to see what Stone can do in Vegas and I'm sure Wes is chomping at the bit, now having to wait almost a week for one of his star forwards to even get back on the ice.  That has definitely hurt his team's ability to put up points in the last week and a bit, I'm sure the trade chatter didn't help Stone's production when on the ice, so now that it's done, it will be a big relief and a huge excitement to head to the playoffs again.  I'll call this a big gain for Wes' team, which opens play tonight in 5th place, only 3 points ahead of 6th and still 28 points behind 3rd.

Granlund for Fiala

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To Nashville	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Mikael Granlund	F	63	15	49	$5.75m	1	$5.75m
----
To Minnesota	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Kevin Fiala	F	64	10	32	$863k	0	RFA

An interesting one-for-one deal in the trading frenzy today, as the Nashville Predators were looking for another upgrade on their active roster, while the Minnesota Wild looked to get a little bit younger and flexible against the cap and this trade does just that, when it was all said and done.

The Predators added a good veteran scoring presence in Mikael Granlund, already 27 years old, to their mix, one that has some hands and some good offensive instincts, one who also knows the grind of this difficult division, not to mention comes withe one more season tacked on.

In Kevin Fiala, the Wild get a 22-year old with some offensive upside still expected in his overall game, but he still has to find that part of his game at the NHL level, something that the Wild must be confident in.  Still, the Wild gain more flexibility with a significantly less cap hit and some bargaining ability in the summer, when Fiala goes to restricted free agency.

The Predators had to give up some youth, if they were going to add some experience and in this deal, they moved a roster player for a roster player and players that each team could be happy to hold onto for the next season and beyond as well. 

This was the first deal of the day, where there was more than one pool player, not to mention a pool player going in either direction.  Granlund belongs to Troy and there isn't a lot of certainty that Granlund's play would necessary increase his scoring with his new team, but there's always a chance it could go either way, really.  I think Troy should be pretty pleased about this deal, it looks good at the surface of it.  Mike, on the other hand, wasn't getting as much offense from Fiala and he is moving to a team that scores fewer teams, as a whole, 20 less to be exact, so the kid may struggle a bit to find his way or he may relish the opportunity of possibly finding more ice.  These are things to look for when it comes to these two guys, there could be pluses, there could be minuses... but Troy starts action on Monday night 63 points out of the money, much closer than Mike, but Mike has a line on some paying mini-games... maybe Mike does get the advantage here?

Winnipeg Adds Hayes

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To Winnipeg	Pos	GP	Goals	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Kevin Hayes	F	51	14	42	$5.2m	0	UFA
----
To New York	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Brendan Lemieux	F	44	9	11	$839k	0	RFA
2019 1st Round Draft Pick
Conditional 2019 4th Round Draft Pick

The Winnipeg Jets were thought to be after some of the bigger fish in the trade market, but the prices were too high, even though they were dangling their 1st round pick for this summer.  That isn't to say they didn't deal it, sending the pick, along with a roster player in Brendan Lemieux, plus a conditional pick to the Rangers for unrestricted free agent-to-be Kevin Hayes.

As you can see in the numbers above, the 26-year old centre has been having a good 2019 season, to date, with the Rangers and will join a Jets team that has been sputtering in their offense of late and are in need of a spark, especially needing help down the middle.  Hayes appears to be that guy and should slot in in the 2nd line centre role really easily.

The Rangers get a roster player that will help grind through to the end of the season, when the team can really start planning more around its rebuild, including how they may use their newly-acquired 1st round pick, wherever it may land.  If the Jets have their way, it will be the 31st pick in the round.

The Jets' 2nd line wingers may include guys like Patrik Laine and/or Nikolaj Ehlers, so Hayes is going to find himself in a very quick, transitional setup with some strong scoring talents around him.  That has to be some real gains for Wilton, but they won't be over the top.  You've got to consider, Hayes has been putting up some decent numbers already and he'll probably need a period of adjustment too, but if he can dial it in within the next six weeks, Wilton, starting play tonight, is 52 points out of the money.

Kinkaid to the Jackets

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To Columbus	Pos	GP	Wins	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Keith Kinkaid	G	41	15	36	$1.25m	0	UFA
----
To New Jersey	Pos	GP	Goals	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
2022 5th Round Draft Pick

The first actual pool-relevant deal on trade deadline day itself saw the Blue Jackets add another piece to their puzzle, acquiring goaltender Keith Kinkaid from the Devils for a pick, three drafts from this year, which doesn't seem very expensive at all.

The Jackets goaltending situation was obviously one to be concerned about and you can understand that a team, like the Jackets, who are going all-in this season, would want to make sure that their playoff aspirations don't hinge on one goalie and they have some support in there.  At the price of a pick in 2022, that isn't too bad.

This would be considered a loss for Neil's pool team, which doesn't need any more hits to it, as he chases down Ryan's pool team, which is now 20 points ahead at this time in the season.  Kinkaid was certainly more likely to see more work in Jersey, than he would now in Columbus, as Sergei Bobrovsky will get the bulk of the work, until otherwise advised.  If something were to happen, well, then this conversation gets to be a whole lot different.

Sharks Add Nyquist

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To San Jose	Pos	GP	Goals	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Gustav Nyquist	F	62	16	49	$3.325m	0	UFA
----
To Detroit	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Retained Salary				30%	$1.425m
2019 2nd Round Draft Pick
Conditional 2020 3rd Round Draft Pick

The San Jose Sharks made a pretty good splash before the clock struck deadline day, acquiring forward Gustav Nyquist from the Detroit Red Wings for a couple of decent picks and the Wings will hang on to 30% of his remaining salary, which isn't exactly $1.425 million, just what it would look like in the annual sense.  It works out to be a little over $300,000, I believe, for the last six weeks of the season.

The Sharks are not shy, when it came to scoring before this deal was done, but now they add another quality goal scorer to the mix, as a rental, to help them work their way to some playoff success.  Nyquist ranks 80th among all players in the hockey pool this year, so that should give you a good indication about what he'll bring to the mix for the Sharks, which already boasted eight of the top 100 point-getters in the pool before the deal.

Moving from Detroit to San Jose has to be a big gain for the pool's top duo of Kristy & Don, who are in the mix for the money this year, finishing last week in 3rd place, just over-taking Grant's team for the honour.  This trade gets Nyquist out of a rebuilding situation and into a championship calibre situation, but now the question is, 'how quickly will he be able to adjust and adapt to his new surroundings?'

Sabres Add Montour

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To Buffalo	Pos	GP	Goals	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Brandon Montour	D	62	5	25	$3.4m	1	$3.4m
----
To Anaheim	Pos	GP	Goals	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Brendan Guhle	D	2	0	0	$698k	1	$698k
Conditional 2019 1st Round Draft Pick

The Buffalo Sabres started Sunday out of the playoffs, but the Anaheim Ducks are in selling mode, so it may not be as much of a deal that gets the Sabres back into the playoff race, more than it is finding a buyer for a 24-year old defenseman that is a pretty solid chunk against the salary cap.

The Sabres have picked up a player that could be a cornerstone piece in the future, building up their blueline, with a kid like Brandon Montour.  Last season, he emerged onto the scene with 32 points and could just as easily get there again with a good finish to the season.  The Sabres are still 6 points behind for the last wild card in the east and still have to get past Pittsburgh, but with this deal in tow, they'll give it a good college try.

At what cost though?  Brandon Guhle is a bit younger and has been toiling in the Sabres system for a couple of years now, having brief cups of coffee with the Sabres in the past couple of seasons.  He's still slated to have some upside, ranked among Buffalo's top prospects last summer.  The Sabres also have given up a 1st round pick, which they potentially have three of them, depending on how the conditions go on a number of deals.  The Ducks will have their pick, under certain conditions as well.

The Sabres do get a quality player, who is still only 24 years old, established in the league, for a couple of question marks, especially when it comes to the Sabres and their scouting ability, which has been questionable, at best.  This looks expensive, but it could be a good bet.

This trade won't have much impact in the hockey pool, since Montour belongs to Mike's team and as much as he might have some gains, playing with a more confident Sabres team, Mike's team is now hanging on to a top 20 spot in the standings.  Mike certainly shouldn't lose anything in this deal, but his team is now 7 points back down of 19th place and 25 clear of 21st.