NHL Trade Deadline - Full Recap

The NHL's trade deadline past yesterday at 3pm EST. There were more than a few big names kicking around as many major sports broadcasts launched their respective ten-hour trade deadline specials. I'll cut to the chase though, most of the bigger name players, such as Nash, Grabovski and others, ending up staying put with their current teams. The day moved slow, but in the end there were more than a dozen trades before the deadline.

Here is a recap of each trade and a bit on who I think walked out a winner, and who walked out a loser.

WINNER: TIE
Nashville had one Kostitsyn brother, and got the other to get some chemistry between the two for their playoff run this season, but they may have given up too much for a pending UFA. Kostitsyn was drafted 10th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. The 27-year old had 20 goals and 45 points in 81 games last season and is at a similar pace this season. Those aren't astonishing numbers, but he may prove to be a good secondary scorer. Andrei's brother Sergei will be an RFA this summer. If he decides to stay in Nashville, maybe he can convince his brother to stay as well, and Nashville might walk out winning this trade after all.

This is the part of the movie where "The Monster" is destroyed

Jonas Gustavsson, #50, Toronto Maple Leafs
PHOTO: mapleleafs.com

In the movie of the Toronto Maple Leafs 2012 season, the hero is currently at war with the villain. However, in this complex story-line, the villain is actually one of the good guys who means well, but can't seem to handle the pressure and ends up doing harm to their surroundings. The villain is Jonas Gustavsson, and even though he is good at heart, the hero, Brian Burke, needs to take him down, away from the surroundings where he is causing all this destruction.

Last nights hockey game will likely mark the beginning of the end of the Gustavsson goaltending experiment in Toronto. It takes a special kind of goalie to play in this city. He has to be composed, confident, and skilled. It doesn't take much for the fans in Toronto to turn on you, as we have seen in recent years with Vesa Toskala and Andrew Raycroft, just to name a few. Without those three characteristics in perfect balance, this city will eat you up as a goalie.

Gustavsson, who is 27 years old and in the last year of his current contract, will likely be a free agent this summer. I hope the best for him, and I hope he thrives in a smaller market that doesn't demand perfection from their goalies. Without all the pressure on his shoulders, he may be able to find more consistency in his game.

Leafs win 3-1 over Devils... Wait, no they lost 4-3 courtesy Jonas Gustavsson

Joffrey Lupul's facial expression says it all.
Leafs lose 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday night
PHOTO: TMLsHockeyBlog

The Maple Leafs played 60 hard minutes in Toronto tonight. It has been a while since I have seen the team put in a complete effort like this. They are on the wrong side of a losing skid and barely in a playoff spot, mostly due to the Washington Capitals struggling just as much as Toronto.

The Leafs started the game with a ton of effort and speed, but it was the Devils that scored first as the Leafs defenders left Petr Sykora wide open to tap in his own rebound. From there, Jonas Gustavsson would take over. He let in two bad goals through the five hole that seemed to zap the Leafs of any momentum as they were pushing back to take the lead in the hockey game. Down 3-2 in the final minute of the third period, Phil Kessel would slide the puck past Brodeur and tie the game, but in overtime the Monster struck again. Mark Fayne's point shot was going wide, but Gustavsson stretched to stop it anyway. The puck would hit Gustavsson under his left arm and bounce into the net. The Leafs would lose 4-3 in overtime.

This is the final straw for the goaltenders in Toronto. Enough is enough and something needs to give. I can't imagine Gustavsson will get another start for a while. To say the Toronto's playoff hopes are in jeopardy is an understatement. They need a goalie that can make the simple saves, and sometimes make a big save. As it stands right now, neither of the goalies on their active roster, James Reimer or Jonas Gustavsson, have proven to be a number one goaltender. The starting role has bounced back and forth for a while now. You would think that one of the goalies would take the opportunity and run with it, but that hasn't happened.

Leafs lose 6-2 to Canucks

Leafs goalies Jonas Gustavsson (left) and James Reimer (right)
as Reimer was pulled from the net in Saturday's game
PHOTO: mapleleafs.com

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a really bad whole and can't seem to climb out of it. They have just won win in their last six games including last nights 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks shed some light on truly what kind of team the Leafs can be against a top team in the league. The answer on this night was a skilled offensive team with terrible defensive zone coverage, and two goalies who, rather than play really well to prove they want and have earned the starting goaltending job, end up getting the start moreso based on the other goalie's struggling efforts.

The game started out bad when the Canucks scored in the first off a mis-timed pinch by Keith Aulie. We've seen too many of those come back and end up in the back of our net. Aulie needs to gage when is a good time to pinch, and when isn't. Once in a while you will make mistakes, but you would think after being burned by that play so many times, he would be more hesitant to pinch.

It's tough to blame James Reimer on many of the goales the Canucks scored on him last night, but on the flip side he didn't go out there and make any big saves to help the team. If you're a bubble team like Toronto you need your goalie to step up and make some big saves every game. I'm not deflecting away from the issue, which is absolutely awful defensive zone coverage, but a big save from Reimer would have been nice last night. Jonas Gustavsson came into the game in relief of Reimer, and did not look any better, in fact I would say he looked worse, but I wasn't really paying attention, tuning in and out at that point.

Habs trade Hal Gill to Predators

Hal Gill
PHOTO: mapleleafs.com

It must be really difficult to manage a team when the ownership keeps you on a really tight budget. Such is the problem in Nashville. That is why in the off-season the Predators traded Cody Franson and Matthew Lombardi to the Maple Leafs for Brett Lebda and Robert Slaney. The only reason the Predators gave up an asset like Franson is because they wanted to get Lombardi's contract off their books. Nashville would end up letting Lebda go and keeping Slaney, until today.

The Predators traded Slaney along with Blake Geoffrion and a second round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Hal Gill and a conditional draft pick. Gill, who is 36 years old, is in the last year of his current contract and will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer. With not much money left to pay to Gill from now until the end of the season, the Predators add some depth to their defense as they prepare for the playoffs, at a very minimal cost.

Looking back at the those two trades, there isn't much return for what the Predators have given up. They did manage to save the 3.5 million dollars per year, for this year and next year, that Lombardi would have been paid, but have given up quite a bit for not much in return. Compared to last years roster, out of Nashville is Cody Franson, Matthew Lombardi, Blake Geoffrion, and a second round draft pick, and in return is just Hal Gill, who is likely just a rental player until the end of the season.