2014′-15′ NHL Trade Deadline Eclipses Last Season Totals
Photo: Alan Sullivan
Arguably the most dreaded day for many in the National Hockey League, the trade deadline. It’s the day where a player could wake up in Toronto as a Leaf, but find themselves falling asleep in Dallas as a Star. No one is truly safe. Deadline day racks up frequent flyer miles, blood pressure and speculation in crushing force. Similar to past seasons, the 2014-15′ deadline brought some disappointment, with notable moves skating in well before the 3 p.m. cutoff, the day lacked a certain “blockbuster” trade element. This season proved to be a sellers market, and the buyers, with the exception of the Arizona Coyotes, just weren’t there.
Flashback: The 2013-14′ NHL Deadline Day saw 20 trades, involving 38 players and 24 draft picks. Undoubtably the most memorable trade from that day, the Columbus Blue Jackets bidding adieu to Marian Gaborik, sending the forward straight into the clutches of Lord Stanley and the 2014 championship LA Kings.
It’s hard to pinpoint if a similar spark occurred, no one will know for sure until the Stanley Cup Playoffs face off in April, but with the movement of some notable names, Keith Yandle, James Wisniewski, Max Talbot and Braydon Coburn, it is a possibility. If a player has been lacking on their current team, there is no better way to start a fire and hopefully fuel a desire for the playoff push, than a trade.
While the 2014-15′ deadline lacked in the blockbuster department on a grand scale, 24 trades, involving 48 players occurred prior to 3 p.m., eclipsing last trade deadline totals.
A complete list of trades via the NHL:
Anaheim traded D Ben Lovejoy to Pittsburgh for D Simon Despres.
Anaheim traded LW Rene Bourque, C William Karlsson and Anaheim’s 2nd-round
pick in the 2015 NHL Draft to Columbus for D James Wisniewski and Detroit’s
3rd-round pick in 2015 (previously acquired).
Anaheim traded D Eric Brewer and Anaheim’s 5th-round pick in the 2016 NHL
Draft to Toronto for D Korbinian Holzer.
Anaheim traded D Mat Clark to Colorado for C Michael Sgarbossa and a
conditional draft pick.
Arizona traded D Zbynek Michalek and a conditional draft pick to St. Louis
for C Maxim Letunov.
Arizona traded D Mark Louis to NY Islanders for G David Leggio.
Boston traded RW Jordan Caron and its 6th-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft
to Colorado for C Maxime Talbot and C Paul Carey.
Boston traded C Jared Knight to Minnesota for C Zack Phillips.
Buffalo traded C Torrey Mitchell to Montreal for LW Jack Nevins and
Montreal’s 7th-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.
Buffalo traded G Michal Neuvirth to NY Islanders for G Chad Johnson and a
3rd-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.
Buffalo traded RW Chris Stewart to Minnesota for Minnesota’s 2nd-round pick
in the 2017 NHL Draft.
Buffalo traded C Brian Flynn to Montreal for Montreal’s 5th-round pick in
the 2016 NHL Draft.
Calgary traded LW Sven Baertschi to Vancouver for Vancouver’s 2nd-round
pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.
Chicago traded RW Ben Smith and a conditional draft pick to San Jose for C
Andrew Desjardins.
Colorado traded D Karl Stollery to San Jose for C Freddie Hamilton.
Columbus traded D Jordan Leopold to Minnesota for D Justin Falk and
Minnesota’s 5th-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.
Edmonton traded D Jeff Petry to Montreal for a 2nd-round pick in the 2015
NHL Draft plus a conditional draft pick.
New Jersey traded D Marek Zidlicky to Detroit for conditional draft picks.
NY Islanders traded C Cory Conacher to Vancouver for C Dustin Jeffrey.
Philadelphia traded D Braydon Coburn to Tampa Bay for D Radko Gudas and
Tampa Bay’s 1st- and 3rd-round picks in the 2015 NHL Draft. (If Tampa Bay
fails to make the playoffs in 2015 and ends up with the first overall
selection, Philadelphia will receive the New York Rangers’ 1st-round pick
in 2015, previously acquired, in lieu of Tampa Bay’s own 1st-round
selection).
Pittsburgh traded D Robert Bortuzzo and its 7th-round pick in the 2016 NHL
Draft to St. Louis for D Ian Cole.
St. Louis traded C Joakim Lindstrom and a conditional draft pick to Toronto
for C Olli Jokinen.
San Jose traded C Tyler Kennedy to NY Islanders for a conditional draft
pick.
Tampa Bay traded RW Brett Connolly to Boston for Boston’s 2nd-round pick in
the 2015 and 2016 NHL Draft.
