Now that the trade deadline has come and gone, it's time to take a look at the deals from this past weekend leading up through three o'clock yesterday. Some teams were definite buyers while others were sellers. Some teams made some minor tweaks to their rosters in hopes that the subtle move puts them over the hump.
The Sellers:
Arizona was an absolute seller. The Coyotes shipped three of their best players out this weekend. Keith Yandle, who has long been coveted, was traded to the New York Rangers on Sunday. The Rangers sent defenseman John Moore and forward prospect Anthony Duclair back along with picks.
Antione Vermette was sent to the Blackhawks in exchange for Klas Dahlbeck and a 2015 first rounder. Finally Zybnek Michalek went to St. Louis for prospect Maxim Letunov.
The Buffalo Sabres were also sellers. Everyone knows about the deal for Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian. They also had previously traded goaltender Jhonas Enroth as well. This weekend saw Buffalo trade forwards Brian Flynn and Torrey Mitchell as well as goaltender Michal Neuvirth.
The Philadelphia Flyers were also sellers. They were not firesale type sellers, but sellers nonetheless. Philly traded their two longest tenured players and former defense partners this week.
Kimmo Timonen was sent to Chicago on Friday for two picks. Meanwhile, Braydon Coburn was shipped to Tampa early Monday morning for Radko Gudas, a 1st and 3rd in the 2015 draft.
The Maple Leafs are also in rebuild mode. Toronto shipped out multiple players prior to Monday's deadline as well as defenseman Korbinian Holzer and forward Olli Jokinen yesterday.
The Buyers:
The New York Rangers were one of the more aggressive teams at this year's deadline. The Rangers went all in with the acquisition of Yandle. They also traded for Winnipeg forward Carl Klinberg and Sharks forward James Sheppard.
It was also announced they came to terms on a four year extension with forward Mats Zuccarello.
Chicago is another team that would be in this category. In addition to Timonen and Vermette, the Blackhawks also acquired forward Andrew Desjardins from the Sharks. He will likely fill a role in the bottom six of the roster.
Anaheim spent this year's deadline with a focus on defense. The Ducks picked up three dmen on Monday. They snagged Korbinian Holzer from Toronto, Simon Despres from Pittsburgh and James Wisniewski from Columbus.
Minnesota was another team that tried to improve for this year's postseason run. The Wild acquired forwards Chris Stewart from Buffalo and Jared Knight from Boston along with defenseman Jordan Leopold from Columbus. Their biggest move though happened about month ago when they picked up Devan Dubnyk from the Coyotes.
The Wild were a team some thought were out of the picture before the Dubnyk trade. Minnesota is very much in the picture since and the acquisitions of Stewart and Leopold only make the Wild a deeper better team.
Not to be Overlooked
The Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders and Boston Bruins made a few moves that while not of the blockbuster type will go a long way in helping their teams.
Montreal acquired defenseman Jeff Petry from Edmonton along with forwards Brian Flynn and Torrey Mitchell from Buffalo. Petry had long been rumored to be on his way out and Montreal pulled the trigger for the Edmonton blueliner.
Detroit added gritty playoff tested winger Erik Cole from Dallas and right handed shooting defenseman Marek Zidlicky from New Jersey. Cole brings grit and scoring to the forward core. Zidlicky has a cannon from the point and is the right handed shot Detroit has been looking for.
New York solidified their goaltending situation by trading for Buffalo's Michal Neuvirth. Neuvirth was a part of the Washington three headed monster a few years back that included Semyon Varlamov and current Capitals starter Braden Holtby.
The Islanders also added gritty winger Tyler Kennedy and forwards Dustin Jeffrey and Mark Louis.
Boston got better up front defensively by picking up Max Talbot. Talbot is an excellent defensive forward who will chip in the occasional big goal. The Bruins also traded for Tampa Bay forward Brett Connolly and Minnesota forward Zach Phillips.
In all, there were 33 trades made from Friday on, including 24 on Monday alone. Time will tell if the new players will be able to mesh with their new teams. Some deadline deals work out great while others prove that no matter how good the player may be, without any chemistry or in the right system, they won't be successful.
Let us know who you thought were the winners and losers of this year's trade deadline.
Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @wtfd103074
