Here are 10 important questions going into tomorrow’s 3 p.m. ET NHL trade deadline With the Blue Jackets and Capitals both significantly improving their…
Here are 10 important questions going into tomorrow’s 3 p.m. ET NHL trade deadline
With the Blue Jackets and Capitals both significantly improving their teams this week, will the Penguins answer with a deal?
For sure. Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford is historically one of the most aggressive traders. He lost two more defensemen, Brian Dumoulin (concussion) and Kris Letang (upper body), in Saturday’s outdoor game. He will be looking at defensemen.
Which team has done the best job in the early deals?
Most would say the Blue Jackets because they have added Matt Duchene (28 goals) and Ryan Dzingel (22 goals). But Capitals GM Brian MacLellan helped his team considerably by adding speedy Carl Hagelin to be a fourth-line role player and Nick Jensen to be a dependable third-pairing defenseman. Jensen could help the Capitals as much as Michal Kempny did last season. Stars GM Jim Nill also added veteran defenseman Ben Lovejoy and creative forward Mats Zuccarello for reasonable prices. The Senators are also doing a good job stockpiling draft picks.
How should we rate this year’s crop of available players for the deadline?
The best forward group in recent memory. Mark Stone, Kevin Hayes, Wayne Simmonds and Mike Hoffman are four players that will significantly upgrade teams.
