Devils busy on slow Deadline Day, acquire Steckel and 2nd Round pick in 2012 for Jason Arnott, plus WInners and losers

Jason Arnott told Lou Lamoriello yesterday it would be a huge gamble to remain with the Devils and ride out this magical run and thus was traded to the Washington Capitals for Center Dave Steckel and a 2012 2nd round pick. Arnott has 13 goals and 11 assists in 62 games with New Jersey and is a -9. In 57 games this year Steckel has 5 goals and 6 assists an id a -3. Arnott will have his chance to play in the playoffs for a cup contender as he wished.

It was relatively slow this year on trade deadline day, maybe it being a Monday had something to do with it, but with the close playoff races, teams decided to play it safe. There was only 16 trades and 30 players moving, 15 down from 31 last year and 55 players moving. So, here are my winners and losers:

Winners

Los Angeles Kings
Vancouver Canucks
Florida Panthers
Phoenix Coyotes
Edmonton Oilers
New Jersey Devils
Washington Capitals
Calgary Flames
Buffalo Sabres
Tampa Bay Lightning

Losers:
Montreal Canadiens
Atlanta Thrashers
Colorado Avalanche
St. Louis Blues
Nashville Predators
NY Rangers

NHL Trade Deadline 2011 Trade Tracker

With 15 hours left I have decided to make a list of all the movements and will provide the top 5 winners after.

So Far: (Page will be Edited)

St. Louis: 2nd Round Pick 2011
Buffalo: Brad Boyes

Florida: Niclas Bergfors, Patrick Rismiller
Atlanta: Radek Dvorak, 5th round pick 2011

Florida: Jake Hauswirth, 3rd Round Pick 2011
Washington: Dennis Wideman

Phoenix: Rostislav Klesla, Dane Byers
Columbus: Scottie Upshall, Sami Lepisto

Colorado: Shawn Belle
Edmonton: Kevin Montgomery

Florida: Sergei Samsonov
Carolina: Bryan Allen

Chicago: Chris Campoli
Ottawa: Ryan Potulny, 2nd Round Pick

Anaheim: Brad Winchester
St. Louis: 3rd round pick 2012

Los Angeles Kings: Dustin Penner
Edmonton: Colten Teubert, 1st round pick 2011, conditional draft pick.

NY Rangers: John Mitchell
Toronto: 7th round pick 2011

New Jersey: Dave Steckel, 2nd round pick
Washington: Jason Arnott

Vancouver: Maxim Lapierre, MacGregor Sharp
Anaheim: Joel Perreault, 3rd Round Pick

Philadelphia: Tom Sestito (brother of Devils Tim)
Columbus: Greg Moore, Michael Chaput

Calgary: Fredrik Modin
Atlanta: 7th Round Pick

Vancouver: Chris Higgins
Florida: Evan Oberg, 3rd Round Pick

Montreal: Drew MacIntyre
Atlanta: Brett Festerling

R.I.P 2010-2011 New Jersey Devils: Devils get back to within 9 poins of 8th with 2-1 win over Panthers, Will Arnott or other Devils be moved?

The Devils got back into the playoff chase with a 2-1 road victory over the Florida Panthers on goals by David Clarkson and Brian Rolston. Marty Reasoner scored the lone Panthers goal late int he 3rd, but it was not enough. Rolston scored the key power play goal for the Devils. Martin Brodeur was stellar in his return from injury with a 25 save effort on 26 Panthers shots. Devils also had 26 shots, but Vokoun stopped 24.

With the victory the Devils crawl back to 9 points behind Carolina for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Devils next play the Lightning on Wednesday night at Prudential Center, so they will hope to avenge Friday's setback.

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The NHL Trade Deadline is now about 15 hours away at 3 PM ET, and right now the question with the Devils is will Jason Arnott be moved and waive his no movement clause and will any other Devils be moved?

Arnott will become an unrestricted free agent this summer and given his age would like to play for a cup contender. He told Lou Lamoriello that it might be a huge gamble to remain with the Devils since they are fighting for a playoff spot. Look for Lou to explore a trade, but as many of you know, the price has to be right for the Devils to facilitate a trade for Jason Arnott. Other Devils which could be moved are Andy Greene, Johan Hedberg, David Clarkson and Adam Mair.

NHL Trade Deadline 2011: Rangers acquire Defenseman Bryan McCabe from Panthers

The NY Rangers today acquired defenseman Bryan McCabe from the Florida Panthers in exchange for forward Tim Kennedy and a 3rd round pick. In 48 games this season, McCabe has 5 goals and 17 assists and is +3. Kennedy has not played for the Rangers this season, so he might get some in Florida, but played 78 games for Buffalo last year and had 10 goals and 16 assists.

McCabe adds some depth to the Rangers defense and will help their power play. He has a hard shot, something the Rangers have missed in the past few years. He will become an unrestricted free agent this summer on July 1st. The NHL Trade Deadline is Monday at 3 PM, stay tuned for more deals.

R.I.P 2010-2011 New Jersey Devils: Devils playoff hopes take a hit with 2-1 loss to the Lightning as Canes and Rangers both win

It was going to happen eventually and it did tonight when the Devils lost and ended their magical hot streak. Martin St. Louis and Devils killer Simon Gagne scored each had a goal off two face off wins in the 2nd period to lead Tampa Bay to a 2-1 victory. Mark Fayne scored the lone Devils goal. Shots were 30-20 Lightning and Johan Hedberg was the Devils best player in the loss. Kovalchuk continued his point streak at 11 games as he assisted on Fayne's lone goal.

Since the Devils lost and Carolina and the NY Rangers both won, this drops the Devils to 11 points behind the Canes and 14 behind the Rangers. So, every game basically becomes more and more crucial. They have 21 games remaining and at worst they would have to go 18-1-2 to get into the playoffs. Sunday's game at Florida will likely say a lot about what Lou Lamoriello does on Monday, the NHL Trade Deadline at 3 PM ET.

Jason Arnott will speak to Lou after Sunday's game as to whether he will request a trade or decide to ride out their magical run to the playoffs. With tonight's setback, Arnott is likely to give Lou the green light to explore trade possibilities. Other Devils likely to get looked at are Andy Greene, David Clarkson, Dainius Zubrus, Brian Rolston, Adam Mair and Patrik Elias.

I will blog on Sunday on the trade deadline and what moves are likely to be made by other teams and will blog during the playoff regardless if the Devils are in or not.

R.I.P 2010-2011 New Jersey Devils: Devils avenge season opening loss to Dallas with 1-0 shutout win in Dallas

It was the Dallas Stars who spoiled John MacLean's coaching debut in the NHL back on October 8th at Prudential Center when Loui Eriksson scored the game winner in overtime to seal a 4-3 victory. That game's first period offered most Devils fans hope that this was going to be a very special year, at least the first period did. But, an Ilya Kovalchuk post hit seemingly changed the complexion of that game, because seconds later Dallas cut a 2-0 Devils lead to a 2-1 lead. It was then, where things went downhill for John MacLean and the Devils. The Devils followed that OT loss with a 7-2 blowout loss to the Washington Capitals. In late December John MacLean was fired as Devils coach and replaced by Jacques Lemaire.

Last night, the Devils avenged the loss which started their first half misery and mystifying struggles. Newest Star Alex Goligoski took a penalty, which led to the only goal of the game, a Nick Palmieri power play goal. Hedberg made 19 saves for the shutout and it is his second in three games. The Devils struggled on the power play up until that goal, but an angry Jacques Lemaire send them a message before the fourth man advantage.

Shots were 23-19 Devils, but Dallas had the better of the play and more better chances. Anton Volchenkov saved the game for the Devils making a goalie save late in the 2nd. Overall, the Devils won their 8th straight and are now 9 points behind 8th seed Carolina.

NHL Trade Deadline 2011: Penguins acquire Neal, Niskanen from Stars for Goligoski

The Pittsburgh Penguins today added some scoring depth by acquiring winger James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen from the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenseman Alex Goligoski. Neal has 21 goals and 39 points in 59 games for Dallas and Niskanen has only 6 assists and no goals in 45 games this season and a -1 rating. Goligoski has 9 goals and 31 points in 60 games this season.

The trades just keep on coming and the deadline is next Monday the 28th at 3 PM ET. Goligoski was a fan and clubhouse favorite in Pittsburgh, but with the Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek signing this past summer, he was trade-able. Goligoski, like Martin is a Minnesota native and they are close friends. He was instrumental in wooing Martin to Pittsburgh from the Devils this past off-season. So, for Paul Martin this trade would be tough to digest for a short while.

With the season ending injury to Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins with this trade are able to fill his scoring void. Dallas also saves $2.5 million in cap space money with the trade. The Stars are also rumored to be interested in trading Brad Richards, with the NY Rangers as the most likely destination.

R.I.P 2010-2011 New Jersey Devils: Should Devils buy or sell by Next Moday at 3 PM ET?

The playoffs might still be a possibility for the Devils, but they are still 10 points out and it is is still a long shot since they have to leap frog so many teams before focusing on the 8th seed team that being Carolina at this moment. The NHL trade deadline is next Monday, February 28th at 3 PM ET, which is a rarity for the NHL since the deadline usually falls on a Tuesday, Wednesday or sometimes Thursday. The last two years it was on a Wednesday. So, the tough big question for the Devils is, should they be buyers, sellers or even neither?

For the Devils, they would like to have wished that the deadline would be next Thursday, March 3rd, because Parise is scheduled to visit his doctor to get clearance to practice on March 2nd, which would paint a much clearer picture for them for what to do. Jason Arnott is the most trade-able player on the team since he is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in the Summer and is open to being moved to a playoff team, but is also open to riding out the rest of the season with the Devils. It is not yet known if the Devils are interested in bringing him back for next year. On defense, Andy Greene is also a possibility to be traded since he will become unrestricted over the summer.

So, there you see it, the options for the Devils are limited due to the salary cap and the Parise questions. If they do buy to strengthen their depth, it would be tough to fit any of the new players in their line-up, so it might be better off for them to stand pat, because simply put, their struggles this year in my opinion is only a one year blunder and they should be good for next year with a few minor adjustments in the off-season. Their biggest need whether it be on deadline day or in the summer is resigning Parise, which as I have mentioned numerous times should be top priority 1 and 1A and 1B and puck moving defensemen to take pressure of the forward corps. If the Devils do make a deal, it will likely be for a puck moving D-Man. Their forward corps are filled and might be difficult to fit anyone new especially with Parise possibly coming back in late March-early April. Adam Mair might be moved for a draft pick just to get ready for a Parise return.

R.I.P 2010-2011 New Jersey Devils: Devils complete sweep of 12 day showdown over Hurricanes, win 4-1

In a week in which the Devils were supposed to lose all three games, they managed to win all of them. The biggest one came last night against 8th seed Carolina, who now leads the Devils by 10 points for the final playoff berth. Dainius Zubrus scored twice, Rolston and Tallinder had the other goals to lead the Devils to a 4-1 victory in Carolina. Patrick Dwyer had the Canes lone goal.

Shots were even at 25, but Hedberg continued his stellar play making 24 saves. Kovalchuk had no goals, but had a key assist as he continued his point streak. The Elias line continued to shut down the Staal line of the Hurricanes. Jacob Josefson returned to the Devils line-up and Adam Mair sat out. He played very well with Arnott and Tedenby. It was the first game this year that Tedenby and Josefson played together other than the preseason.

NHL Trade Deadline 2011: Busy Friday goes into an overnight shocker as Blues-Avs complete blockbuster

Rarely is there an NHL trade which is done at about 1 or 2 in the morning Eastern Time, but that happened today. The St. Louis Blues continued to trade defenseman, hours after sending captain Eric Brewer to the Tampa Bay Lightning, they have traded former #1 overall pick defenseman Erik Johnson and forward Jay McClement to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for forward Chris Stewart and rookie defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.

I guess the NHL GM's do not realize that the Trade Deadline is February 28th at 3 PM ET.

In 55 games, Johnson has 5 goals and 14 assists but is a -8 rating. McClement has 6 goals and 10 assists and is a -13 in 56 games. In 36 games, Stewart has 13 goals, 17 assists and is a -10 and Shattenkirk has 7 goals and 19 assists in 46 games but is a -11. So, basically all four are minus players, but are very effective. Johnson was the first overall pick in 2006.