The NHL trade deadline came and went, and if you weren’t paying attention, you would have no idea the deadline had even passed. The three local hockey teams spent a few extra hours sleeping, finding nothing worthwhile, and no one to help their club.
The New York Rangers didn’t gain a ton of help by the trade deadline, with their only acquisition being Bryan McCabe from the Florida Panthers.
There was one trade apiece by the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers, with the Rangers having the only significant trade: acquiring veteran defenseman Bryan McCabe from the Florida Panthers for Tim Kennedy and a third-round draft pick. The New York Islanders sat on their hands and kept the same team they had entering the final weeks of the deadline. They couldn’t have gotten much worse and ought to have taken a stab at somebody, but their desire to improve is as high as their place in the standings, and that’s never too high.
The Devils could still make the playoffs, needing only nine points to tie the eighth-seeded Carolina Hurricanes, but their chances are slim. Four teams sit between them and the Hurricanes and a lot needs to go right for New Jersey to grab a spot in the postseason.
The Rangers, on the other hand, are currently the seventh-seed in the Eastern Conference, but are five points from slipping out of the race. By acquiring McCabe, the Rangers fortified their defense and solidified their team. They aren’t much improved overall, but they don’t seem to be going down anytime soon. New York can easily topple sixth-seeded Montreal and even surpass fifth-seeded Washington, with only six points separating them.
Playoffs aren’t going to be too exciting for local hockey fans. Any team can win, but the Rangers are going to have a tough time squaring off against the top few teams in the conference, depending on which seed each team gets at the end of the year. The Rangers are only 1-7 against the current top three seeds: Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Boston, with their one win coming against the lowest of the three, Boston.
This leaves the Devils and the Islanders to duel for which team is worse. The Devils should easily win this game, meaning they will not be the worst team. But each time you feel like the Devils are ready to turn it around or put together a winning streak, or at least provide some decent hockey, they fail to come through.
At the rate they’re going they just may have a worse 2010-2011 hockey season than the New York Islanders, something no one would have predicted at the beginning of the year. Their $100 million free-agent signing along with fan favorite Patrik Elias and the always reliable Martin Brodeur should have done much better than the basement. Brodeur has been outplayed by Johan Hedberg, who has as many wins as Brodeur, but eight less losses. Hedberg’s goals against average is four-tenths less than Brodeur an he also has a .015 percent better save percentage (small decimals, but a big difference).
Of the 32 players on the Islanders that posted stats this season, only five have a plus-minus better than 0 and two of those five have a plus-minus of one. For the Islanders it seems like we’re looking ahead to next year. Then again, we’re always looking ahead to next year.
If this is how a Devils team will look with Kovalchuk as their star, fans better hold on tightly – you’re stuck with him for the next 15 years. By then the Islanders may have avoided looking like NHL’s version of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Rangers are on even ground; they can improve with some smart moves or join their NY/NJ friends with some poor ones. They have the postseason to look forward to for now and bragging rights when the season is over.
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