How trade deadline acquisitions are faring with new clubs
While not enough time has passed since the NHL trade deadline to know if your team hit a home run, it’s enough runway to get a sense of the new fit. Ryan Dixon checks in on how some trade deadline acquisitions are doing in their new spots.
Nearly a month has passed since the NHL trade deadline came and went. That’s not enough time to know if your team found its Butch Goring or Marian Gaborik — only the drama and high stakes of the playoffs can make true heroes of deadline acquisitions — but four weeks is certainly enough runway to get a sense of the new fit.
Of course, trade deadline season really kicks up about six weeks before the actual cutoff for swaps, so some players who were moved early in the action have had quite a bit of time to acclimate to their new surroundings.
So, how’s everybody doing?
To answer that question, we’re going to examine each trade deadline buyer who spent significant capital to add pieces. We’ll list each team according to their conference rank by points percentage and begin in the East.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
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No team factored more prominently into deadline season than the Canes. In late January, they pulled the trigger on a huge move that landed Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche. When Rantanen declined to sign a big extension to stay in Raleigh, he was moved to Dallas for a package built around young gun Logan Stankoven.
Lost in the excitement of Carolina originally acquiring Rantanen was the fact it also snagged Taylor Hall from Chicago. Hall has been on fire lately, recording eight goals in his past 15 outings. And if you think nobody paid much attention to the Hall acquisition, we really weren’t talking about the Canes snagging Mark Jankowski from Nashville for a fifth-rounder on deadline day. All Jankowski has done since landing in Carolina is score seven goals in 10 games. Now, some would say his shooting percentage of 63.6 per cent since joining the Hurricanes is due for a dip, but Jankowski has probably already justified the cost of a fifth-rounder for his services.
Stankoven, meanwhile, is actually playing a tick less in Carolina than he was in Dallas, averaging 14:36 per night in 10 games with his new team compared to 15:06 in Texas.
Obviously there’s been consternation over the fit with former Flyers centre Scott Laughton so far. Both his traditional and underlying numbers are grim and coach Craig Berube has given him some run on wing to reduce his responsibility level. Ultimately, the Leafs need Laughton down the middle to get the most out of him, but it’s really just about helping the player get comfortable in a new, pressure-filled situation in time for when the games really matter.
As for Toronto’s other notable acquisition — big, right-shot defenceman Brandon Carlo — he’s been, more or less, as advertised. For what it’s worth, Carlo and partner Morgan Rielly — who seemed endlessly in search of a right-shot buddy he could pair with long-term — have an expected goals percentage of 58.3 per cent in a dozen games since Carlo landed in Toronto.
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The Bolts knew what they were getting when they acquired old friend Yanni Gourde from the Seattle Kraken. That said, Tampa is likely pleasantly surprised by the eight assists in 13 games Gourde has posted since returning as the 3C to the team he won a pair of Cups with. Skating alongside Gourde on the third line is Oliver Bjorkstrand, who came over in the same swap with Seattle. The winger scored in his first game with Tampa, then was held to a single assist in nine contests. Recently, though Bjorkstrand has been showing that 20-goal touch, notching three goals in his past three outings, including during Tuesday night’s win on Long Island.
It’s tough to say Seth Jones’ brief tenure in Florida has been a smashing success, though he does have a goal and an assist in his past two outings with stronger underlying numbers in his recent games. Still, it’s a little troubling that he’s minus-6 in his 13-game tenure with Florida despite having over 60 per cent of his shift starts in the offensive zone.
One unexpected development since Jones landed in South Florida is the 20-game suspension handed out to Aaron Ekblad for violating the NHL and NHLPA’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. With Ekblad — the Panthers’ other minute-munching, right-shot defenceman — out of the lineup for most of Jones’ time there, the latter has been seeing even more time (25:47) than was likely intended.
Meanwhile, Brad Marchand has now played three games with the Panthers since returning from an injury. The former Bruins captain picked up a helper and had four shots on goal during his debut, but has not registered a point or put a puck on goal during his past two contests.
Dylan Cozens has looked right at home on the Senators’ second line between David Perron and Drake Batherson. The former Sabre has nine points in 13 contests with the Sens and looks like a good, right-shot compliment to top centre Tim Stutzle.
Meanwhile, it’s been a grind for former Shark Fabian Zetterlund in his new surroundings. The winger has just a single assist in 12 games, but maybe things will turn soon; Zetterlund has totalled nine shots on goal in his past two games.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
The Jets didn’t really push their chips in ahead of the deadline, opting for complimentary pieces in bottom-six forward Brandon Tanev and big-bodied blue-liner Luke Schenn. Tanev — who began his NHL journey with 195 games in a Jets uniform — has managed to chip in four points in 12 games while playing just over 10 minutes per night in his return to Manitoba.
Schenn, meanwhile, missed Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss in Los Angeles after coach Scott Aniel said he was “stiffening up” at the morning skate. In the nine games he has played with the team, Schenn has seen more action in Winnipeg than he was previously getting in Nashville, seeing 17:42 per night with the Jets compared to 15:35 with the Preds.
It’s has obviously been a bizarre season for Mikko Rantanen, an elite, two-way winger who is now on his third team of the year. Rantanen’s production in Dallas has been in the middle between his crazy-good stats in Colorado (107-point pace) and shockingly low output in Carolina (six points in 13 games). Overall, Rantanen has 11 points in a dozen games with Dallas, but seven of them have come in his past five games as he’s heating up in his new(est) surroundings.
And don’t forget about the other Finn Dallas picked up this year. Mikael Granlund, who came over with Codi Ceci from San Jose in January, has 17 points in 23 games with Dallas and looks like a valuable middle-six forward.
As for Ceci, he’s playing over 20 minutes a night and is a solid plus-14 in 23 outings as a Star.
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Could Andrei Kuzmenko wind up being a buy-low heist for the Kings? The Russian winger is feeling it lately, with goals in his past two games and four tallies and nine points in his past seven contests. Kuzmenko — who has filled the net at different times in his three-year NHL career — has been skating on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.
Not for nothing, but the Kings were 23rd in goals per game (2.80) when they picked up Kuzmenko from Philly for a third-rounder and rank eighth since then with 3.57 goals per game.
Colorado Avalanche
When the Avs hit the ice — depending on the lineup on a given night — five of their 12 forwards are players acquired by the team since late January. That’s nearly two full lines of new guys.
Brock Nelson was the biggest acquisition at the deadline by Colorado and — even with 0-0-0 lines in his past two games — the former Islander has six points in his past six games.
Right now, Nelson is skating beside Martin Necas, the centrepiece of the return for Rantanen from Carolina in January. The former has been a point-per-game player since landing in Denver just after his 26th birthday.
Charlie Coyle hasn’t had a goal in a dozen games with the Avs, but his big body will be a valuable third-line presence once the post-season starts.
On the back end, banger Ryan Lindgren has two goals in 14 games with Colorado, which is the same number he posted in 54 contests with the Rangers this year. Lindgren has been seeing just over 18 minutes per night on the second pair and starts more than 60 per cent of his shifts in the defensive zone.
One of the Oilers big — as in, six-foot-three, 221 pounds — acquisitions ahead of the deadline, Trent Frederic, has yet to debut with the club thanks to an ankle injury he had already sustained as a member of the Boston Bruins. Ideally, Frederic would squeeze into at least one or two regular season contests as Edmonton’s 3C before lacing ’em up with a new team in Game 1 of the second season.
As for the guy who is playing, Jake Walman scored for the first time as an Oiler in Tuesday’s 3-2 win in Vegas. The former Sharks defenceman has six points in 12 outings with Edmonton and is averaging a pretty significant 21:20 of ice time per night.
