One of the biggest stories around the NHL isn\u2019t what happened the week of the trade deadline \u2014 it\u2019s what didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Just two top-10 players in the final version of Chris Johnston\u2019s trade board, Nazem Kadri and Justin Faulk, were moved ahead of the deadline. Expand to the top 20, and that list only grows to four players.<\/p>\n
And unlike last year, it wasn\u2019t just that deadline day itself was slow \u2014 the week leading up to it was.<\/p>\n
Trading has become the second-best way to land high-end talent<\/a> in today\u2019s NHL, behind the draft and development process. Of the 150 players in this year\u2019s Player Tiers project, 41 were acquired by their current teams via trade. And\u00a0trades have become all the more important as free agency has dwindled over the years. Most stars don\u2019t even make it to July 1, and the growing cap has allowed teams to retain more of their top players.<\/p>\n But besides the Colorado Avalanche, the more seasoned contenders were relatively quiet. There wasn\u2019t an arms race at the top of each division, like in seasons past. Instead, it was teams looking to return to the playoff picture that made the most noise.<\/p>\n The Utah Mammoth added MacKenzie Weegar to complement their speedy game. The Anaheim Ducks added John Carlson to up their offense. The Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings also added defenders, while the Seattle Kraken and Columbus Blue Jackets targeted middle-six forwards.<\/p>\n But the deadline didn\u2019t just represent the changing of the guard<\/a> around the NHL. The other theme was how much player movement has been suppressed.<\/p>\n While the new collective bargaining agreement does not kick in until September, a few rules were implemented early \u2014 including changes to double salary retention. Now, there has to be a 75-day gap between trades for a player\u2019s salary to be retained twice. So, in order to add a player with double retention by the deadline, they initially would have had to have been traded by Dec. 2.<\/p>\n If that wasn\u2019t complicated enough, no-trade clauses really threw a wrench into plans this year. From Colton Parayko invoking his no-trade <\/a>to stop a trade to Buffalo, to Vincent Trocheck\u2019s East Coast preference<\/a>, general managers\u2019 options were limited relative to seasons past. So ghosts of decisions past ended up haunting teams like the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, and limited how much general managers were able to sell off \u2014 and that could bite them come draft lottery time.<\/p>\n The Blues, for example, have four full no-trade clauses to maneuver around, plus four players with modified no-trade clauses. Five players on the Rangers have full no-movement clauses, plus there are another four contracts with some sort of no-trade protection. The Devils are restricted by a combination of 13 no-movement and no-trade clauses.<\/p>\n It\u2019ll be interesting to see what, if any, ripple effect comes from this year\u2019s stunted player movement. Will no-movement and no-trade clauses become reserved for the league\u2019s biggest stars and core players? Will teams push to use them as more of a bargaining chip to reduce the term or salary? Or will players pressure for that protection to take more control of their future?<\/p>\n Sabres\u2019 left-heavy defense<\/p>\n Parayko made a ton of sense for the Sabres, between his ability to absorb matchup minutes, his shutdown game, his playoff experience, the edge he brings to a lineup \u2014 and his right-handed shot.<\/p>\n The Sabres\u2019 defense has been lefty-heavy all season, between Rasmus Dahlin (who almost exclusively plays on the right), Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power and Bo Byram.<\/p>\n Handedness isn\u2019t everything, and other teams, like the Dallas Stars, have deployed a lefty-lefty top-pairing when Thomas Harley and Miro Heiskanen play together. But it still can matter; it can affect how pucks are protected and how the defensive zone is covered, as well as smooth out breakouts that start from behind the net. Plus, having different shooting options can add more variety and dimension to a team\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n But when the Parayko deal fell through, the Sabres went in a different direction: a lefty in Logan Stanley, who is likely a third-pair fit, and right-handed veteran Luke Schenn, who is more of a No. 7 at this point in his career.<\/p>\n If Stanley plays and Schenn sits, it means there will only be one natural righty on the back end (Michael Kesselring) and at least two lefty-lefty pairings. That has already been the case for stretches this season, as the team has leaned on combos like Samuelsson-Dahlin and Byram-Power. But the playoffs are a different animal, so it\u2019ll be a test to see how much handedness matters on a team that only has five righties up front.<\/p>\n Kadri\u2019s power-play impact<\/p>\n As dominant as the Avalanche have been this season, one thing is missing from their arsenal: a reliable power play.<\/p>\n Just take Sunday\u2019s shootout win against the Minnesota Wild: Colorado had five opportunities to make an impact on the advantage, and failed to convert on each of those chances. The Wild, on the other hand, scored on the power play and the penalty kill.<\/p>\n Colorado\u2019s 5.22 goals per 60 on the power play rank dead last in the league, and it\u2019s more than just bad luck holding this team back. The Avalanche are only 22nd in xG, despite having elite talents like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar leading the way. This isn\u2019t a new problem for the Avs, either; there were consistency issues last season as well, which proved costly in the playoffs. So Colorado changed its power play coach, with Dave Hakstol replacing Ray Bennett. And a change in voice hasn\u2019t been enough to get back on track.<\/p>\n The good news is the Avs have gained more options over the last stretch. The Olympics highlighted what a weapon Marty Necas\u2019 one-timer<\/a> could be from the left circle, which Colorado can design more schemes around. Nazem Kadri\u2019s return gives the team another real threat.<\/p>\n Two things tend to age well in this league: power-play production<\/a> and volume shooters<\/a>. So, as much concern as there is around Kadri\u2019s age and how that potentially could play into some scoring dips this season, those two elements of his game should hold up pretty well. As it stands, his shot volume and scoring chance generation are standouts across the league this season, and that could be a key to unlocking Colorado\u2019s power play.<\/p>\n Kadri may not get as many puck touches on a unit with MacKinnon, Makar and Necas as he did with Jonathan Huberdeau, Matt Coronato and Morgan Frost, but maybe that upgrade in talent will help him turn those shots into goals more often.<\/p>\n Stars are surging<\/p>\n The Central Division is an absolute gauntlet. The Avalanche are 8-2-0 in their last 10. The Stars have gone 9-0-1.\u00a0 The Wild are 7-2-1. And the Mammoth, who may be the fourth- or fifth-best team in the Western Conference despite their wild-card standing, are 6-4-0.<\/p>\n While Colorado has rightfully gained a lot of attention over the last stretch with shootout wins over both the Stars and Wild and the busiest deadline, the Stars are proving they should not be overlooked.<\/p>\n After some ups and downs on both ends of the ice in the early goings of the season, Dallas has found its game and is absolutely thriving. The Stars have been in control since New Year\u2019s, with a league-high 57 percent xG rate. Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell have been cooking<\/a> on the back end and have helped limit opponents to just 2.17 xG per 60. The goaltending, after some iffy play earlier in the year, has responded well to that workload and only given up 1.91 goals against. The Stars\u2019 power play is hot and helping make up for some of the team\u2019s even-strength scoring. And now the penalty kill is trending in the right direction after a leakier start to the year.<\/p>\n Despite some key injuries, the Stars\u2019 depth and completeness are worth keeping an eye on as the schedule ramps up. Dallas has Vegas, Edmonton, Utah, Colorado, and Minnesota ahead over the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n The Oilers\u2019 top-heavy approach will have to be enough<\/p>\n It\u2019s always some version of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard against the world in Edmonton. On the score sheet, there is a clear defining line between the top and the bottom of the lineup.<\/p>\n McDavid leads the way with 108 points, Draisaitl with 92, and Bouchard has 73. Then there\u2019s a 25-point gap between Bouchard and the next best scorer, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.<\/p>\n To Nugent-Hopkins\u2019 credit, he is on pace for 72 points across a full 82-game season. And Zach Hyman has been extremely productive since returning from injury, too; his 43 points in 45 games equate to 78 in 82. Below that is where things get particularly bleak, with no other player pacing for more than 46 points.<\/p>\n If Matt Savoie can keep progressing on Draisaitl\u2019s wing \u2014 the Oilers are up 15-8 in their shared ice time as of late, with a 55 percent xG rate \u2014 it should help solidify the top six. But what about when McDavid and Draisaitl aren\u2019t on the ice?<\/p>\n Edmonton is up 100-87 in scoring with at least one of their two cornerstones on at five-on-five; without either one, the team has been outscored 65-38 because the bottom-sixers have generated such little offense this season.<\/p>\n And yet, instead of punching up the offense, the Oilers\u2019 deadline focus was on stoppers. Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson should bring an element of defensive stability this team needs, especially with such a shaky goaltending situation, but that alone may not be enough for a team in the midst of a Stanley-Cup-or-bust season.<\/p>\n Kucherov is on a tear<\/p>\n With two goals and three points against the Sabres on Sunday night, Nikita Kucherov\u2019s 34th multi-point game of the season brought him up to 103 in 59 games. He sits third in scoring, behind McDavid and MacKinnon, with an 11-point lead over Draisaitl (92) in fourth place. Those 103 points in 58 games put him on pace for a 139-point season, which would be the second-best of his career.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s after a pretty slow start to the year by his standards. Kucherov started the year at a point-per-game pace, with 14 points in 14 games. Then he went on a nine-game streak, starting Nov. 15, where he had another 18.<\/p>\n Since Nov. 15, Kucherov has dominated with 89 points in 44 games. In that time, he has rocked a 59 xG rate at five-on-five and helped the Lightning outscore opponents 57-26. Expand out to all situations, and that jumps to a 107-38 scoring edge and a league-high plus-69 goal differential.<\/p>\n To put that into context, that is a pace of 2.02 points per game, which would add up to 166 points across an 82-game season. And he has managed to score at such a torrid pace despite key injuries to Tampa Bay before the Olympic break, with Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Ryan McDonagh, among others, all missing time earlier this season.<\/p>\n Can Detroit finally have a strong March?<\/p>\n In recent seasons past, March has not been kind to the Red Wings. As Max Bultman pointed out<\/a>, the Red Wings have had playoff hopes in each of the last three seasons in early March, but have finished the month on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n So some emerging red flags at five-on-five are rightfully raising concerns about Detroit\u2019s playoff hopes. Over the last two months, the Red Wings\u2019 scoring rate has dropped to 1.57 per 60, which is dead last in the league. The team likely won\u2019t score only six percent of its shots forever, but Detroit needs more substance behind it, considering the team\u2019s xG rate is in the bottom 10 of the league.<\/p>\n On the other end of the ice, goaltending has done a lot of the heavy lifting. The Red Wings have the fourth-lowest goals against (1.90 per 60) in that same span, but haven\u2019t been as defensively sound as the scoresheet shows.<\/p>\n These are two trends that are going to be even tougher to fight out of as long as both John Gibson and Dylan Larkin are sidelined. What helps is that, unlike Marches past, the Red Wings did bring in reinforcements to help, in both Justin Faulk and David Perron (when he returns from injury). What hurts is that the Red Wings have one of the most difficult remaining schedules. Detroit not only has to win its own games, it also has to hope that teams like the Penguins, Bruins, or Blue Jackets, who all have challenging roads ahead, are the ones to crumble under the pressure this time around.<\/p>\n Data via Evolving-Hockey<\/a>, HockeyViz<\/a>, HockeyStatCards<\/a>, All Three Zones<\/a>, Dom Luszczyszyn and Natural Stat Trick<\/a>. This story relies on shot-based metrics; here is a primer<\/a> on these numbers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the biggest stories around the NHL isn\u2019t what happened the week of the trade deadline \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,6581,7522,7521,3064,3275,575,85,4788],"class_list":["post-531035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-buffalo-sabres","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-dallas-stars","tag-detroit-red-wings","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-tampa-bay-lightning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}