1 – TRADE FRENZY: Friday marked the wildest NHL Trade Deadline in years as 24 trades were consummated and 47 players switched teams. That constitutes the fourth-highest total in NHL history! The Sunshine State teams were active with the Florida Panthers making five deals and the Tampa Bay Lightning being in on one really big one. Let’s have a look …
2 – MARCHAND A PANTHER: Of the Cats’ trades, without question the biggest was GM Bill Zito landing Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand. The Halifax, NS product and veteran of 1,090 games was on an expiring deal with Boston, and Florida gave up a conditional 2nd round pick in 2027 to get him. “It’s extremely exciting to be part of such an incredible group,” Marchand said when he met with the media on Monday. “When I walked into the room the other day, I literally had flashbacks to the year that we won (2011) and other groups that we had with incredible chemistry and incredible culture.” The only bad news is that Marchand is currently injured and isn’t expected to make his Panthers debut for a couple of weeks. Several Panthers fans have written and asked if the trade acquisitions of Brad Marchand and Seth Jones are good ones. The answer is YES!
3 – BOLTS NOT OUTDONE: The Lightning acquired forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand from Seattle. But they came with a hefty price. They sent conditional 2026 and ’27 first-round picks to the Kraken, a second-rounder this year and winger Mikey Eyssimont to the Kraken. Tampa Bay GM Julien Brisebois is unbothered by any criticism that their draft cupboard is bare for quite some time. “I’d rather have a lineup full of good players than a bank of a ton of draft picks because I think ultimately what we’re trying to do is win hockey games,” Brisebois said at his news conference. “What guides us, what drives us is trying to win a championship and that’s really hard.”
4 – DRIVE FOR SIX: The last five Stanley Cup Finals have involved Florida teams (Tampa Bay 2020, 2021 & 2022, Florida 2023 & 2024) and we appear headed for a sixth. The Panthers and Lightning are currently the two hottest teams in the NHL and it appears we’re headed to a long run on one of the two Florida coasts this spring. Of course, should these two teams line up in the playoffs for a fourth time, one will get knocked out but that just adds to the fun! However if the playoffs started today, Florida would face Ottawa in Round 1 and Tampa Bay would get the Leafs.
5 – ICKY EKKY: I was watching ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption on Monday when the ticker at the bottom of the TV announced something about Panthers veteran Aaron Ekblad being suspended for 20 games. I had to rewind and watch it again, and my heart sank to see Ekblad’s been hit with a lengthy suspension for violating the NHL and NHLPA’s performance enhancing drug policy. In a statement the 29-year old and former #1 overall draft pick apologized to the team and its fans, and said he took something while recovering from injuries “without first checking with proper medical and team personnel.”
6 – BRICKWALL BOB: Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky keeps adding to his Hall of Fame resume. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner collected his 48th career shutout last Thursday in a 3-0 whitewash of Columbus. It was also his 423rd career victory, which moved him into a tie for 10th all-time with Chicago Blackhawks great Tony Esposito. Bob is the only Russian in the Top 10. In fact the only other non-Canadian is Henrik Lundquist who sits 6th with 459 wins. Panthers great Roberto Luongo is #4 with 489.
7 – THE GREAT 8: Speaking of numbers, Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is now 9 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record of 894. The Russian sniper collected his NHL record 65th empty-net goal in Sunday’s 4-2 victory over Seattle to move him nine away from the rcord, and the goal was also his 1,600th career point (only the 11th NHLer to accomplish the feat). According to NHL analytics, Ovechkin is on pace to break Gretzky’s record on April 10 at Carolina.
8 – THE WEEK AHEAD: Both Florida teams are on the road this week. The Lightning will visit Carolina (Tuesday), Philadelphia (Thursday) and Boston (Saturday). Meanwhile the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers are at Boston (Tuesday), Toronto (Thursday) Montreal (Saturday) and NY Islanders (Sunday).
9 – POWER RANKINGS: The Trade Deadline has made for some fun shifting in our weekly Top 5/Bottom 5 rankings! Here they are: 1) Winnipeg, 2) Dallas, 3) Florida, 4) Washington, and 5) Vegas. At the bottom are: 28) Seattle, 29) Nashville, 30) Buffalo, 31) San Jose, 32) Chicago.
10 – STAR GAZING: Colorado Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon, Nashville Predators centre Steven Stamkos and Washington Capitals right-wing Tom Wilson were named the NHL’s three stars of the week. … MacKinnon topped the NHL with nine points (four goals, five assists), posting multiple points in each of his three appearances to lift the Avalanche into third place in the Central Division. … Stamkos was second in the NHL with eight points (four goals, four assists), also producing multiple points in his three outings as the Predators enjoyed a perfect week. … Wilson racked up seven points (three goals, four assists) to help the Capitals win all four of their games and reclaim first place in the overall league standings.
See you at the rink!(Rod Pedersen covers the NHL for the South Florida Tribune. He also hosts the award-winning Cats N Bolts Podcast and the daily Rod Pedersen Show on Game+TV, YouTube Live & Podcast)
