2020-21 BBKL Trade Deadline Recap

[Media]

Hello and welcome to TSN's 2020-21 BBKL Trade Deadline Recap! Overall it was a rather underwhelming day with a measly 11 deals on deadline day and the days leading up to it. The big shocker of the day was the last minute blockbuster deal between GMs Mik and Willy with Sid the Kid moving to the Music City with a nice haul going back Dallas' way. Today we'll break down the winners and losers of this year's trade deadline.

Winners:

Nashville - GM: Mik

Moves: Mik did a fantastic job at both making space and maximizing the Predators depth. His first deal was a massive salary dump; convincing Chicago to take on 36 year old Jeff Carter and his bloated contract without having to give the rebuilder and rebuilding assets in payment. That deal set the stage for the next deals picking up surprising Chandler Stephenson for Gurianov and then the blockbuster of the day trading Roslovic, Buchnevich and Ekholm for Sidney Crosby. He then makes a final deal to make space on his team by shipping Lehkonen to the Habs for picks.

Analysis: Mik not only cut cap but then upgraded his roster through addition via trade but also addition through subtraction - by opening up roster spots to call up improvements from his farm that he could not afford to call up all season. Sound strategy and excellent execution - Mik has vaulted into a top 2 contender for this years BBKL Championship.


Dallas - GM: Willy

Moves: GM Willy was active on the trade front for a number of weeks now trying to acquire upgrades with little success. Deadline day things started to come together. His first deal of the day landed him a badly needed goalie in Talbot who will hopefully solidify the goalie cats he's been struggling to produce all year. Willy sends underperforming Viktor Arvisson to the Habs along with long toothed Brian Elliott and a pick and in return recieved Warren Foegele and Talbot. Then with an hour left to deadline Willy posts that Sidney Crosby is available and lands a windfall of young assets in return.

Analysis: With two simple but incredibly meaningful deals Willy vaults his team into top 3 discussions for BBKL Champion for the 2020-21 season. He filled multiple glaring needs on his roster to truly solidify his team as a contender.


Neutral:

Washington - GM: Thom

Moves: The Washington Capitals have been perennial BBKL contenders for some time now and GM Thom had been looking to fill two needs on his roster. He did manage to land one of them by paying a pretty penny to acquire 36 year old center Joe Pavelski. Pavelski has had a bounce back year after a down year last year and is a solid addition to Thom's roster. Thom then tried to fill his second need in goal by acquiring Dustin Tokarski.

Analysis: The Capitals had two needs this deadline - another center and support in goal. While Thom was able to fill the former he was unable to find help for the latter. With Ben Bishop still out for the foreseeable future Thom has to hope he heals soon because his existing tandem of Husso and McElhinney simply wont cut it in the first round of the playoffs. A rather large hole that could cost Thom his championship.


Montreal - GM: Chuck

Moves: Three years into his rebuild GM Chuck was again pushing to sell his meager assets to the few buying contenders and singlehandedly tried to make the deadline relevant by participating in 5 of the 11 deadline deals. His first deal of the day he shipped out longtime goaltender Cam Talbot and third liner Warren Foegele to Dallas for a package headlined by Viktor Arvidsson. His next deal he shipped out offensive defenseman Nick Leddy to Florida for Ghost and picks. Next up was longtime center Radek Faksa and other pieces for a return which headlined notable prospects Foudy and Chmelevski. His fourth trade of the day was the swap of an injured dman for a healthy one in Jake McCabe and Calvin DeHaan. The Habs' day was capped off by the acquisition of Artturi Lehkonen from Mik for picks.

Analysis: Overall were not sure how to assess the Habs' day. On one hand GM Chuck did a good job selling off his older, productive assets but we have concerns about the return. Arvidsson, Ghost and Lehkonen all have struggled in recent years and their values are at all time low's - albeit great buy low candidates. Chuck needs at least two of these players to have bounce back seasons to break even in this deadlines deals. He did acquire some prospects and picks but didnt manage to nab any higher end guys that his team sorely needs. The Habs' deadline is by far the biggest boom/bust candidate and we are interested to see how this plays out.


Losers:

Chicago - GM: Mark

Moves:Another one of BBKL's heavy tankers, the Hawks have been trying to sell off their useful pieces all year. With some great BBKl options on his roster much was expected of Mark turning some older assets into future pieces. Unfortunately that did not come to fruition. The only deal of the day was the acquisition of Jeff Carter for Corey Perry. Amounting to nothing more than a cap dump for Mik; Mark was unable to extract anything meaningful for his rebuild. At least a pick or two would have been nice to compensate for the cap dump. Alas that did not happen and the Hawks essentially stood pat.

Analysis: A very disappointing deadline for GM Mark who should have cashed in better on some solid seasons by players like Bailey and Myers. Lets hope they have good seasons next year so that the Hawks have an opportunity to capitalize again.


Buffalo - GM: Matt

Moves & Analysis: BBKL's reigning champion and top 3 team again this year, GM Matt decided not to make any moves this deadline. With big time rivals or Mik and Willy making significant moves to improve their rosters, the Sabres did not make any moves to keep pace with them. Only time will tell if standing pat was the right decision to not make any moves.


Well that about does our show today. Thanks for watching and good luck to those entering the BBKL playoffs.

[Media]

Completed.

[foofnik]

BUF added Petry near before the deadline, that was significant

[Matthew]

Great read. Thanks.

For Anaheim, my two biggest needs were adding periphs/defensive depth and 1 more forward.

I was able to add the dman a week before the deadline by acquiring Manson, as well as having Parayko return from his long term injury. That definitely helps solidify my back end.

I wasn't able to grab an upgrade at forward, so hopefully 1 of my Taxi squad guys can over-perform.


Agree that Florida did pretty good on the Leddy deal.

[Florida Chris]

I like my Leddy for Ghost deal, but my real boost will be the hopefull return of Hischier and Frk for the playoffs.

[Da_Hawks]

Agree 100% with the assessment. I was lucky enough to have had a very good off season as this season has been a write off. Luckily, several of my players have had good seasons to keep their value and gp going into next year. Hoping for another great off-season.

[CasperX22]

Thom definitely looking vulnerable with his current goaltending tandem.

[Media]

BUF added Petry near before the deadline, that was significant

True and i thought about factoring that in but this is a deadline block and a week prior isnt really deadline. To me the issue is Matt sees his rivals making significant gains deadline day and didnt also take the opportunity to upgrade say Cole when he has the ability to do so and a large selection of sellers to chose from.

[Bruyns]

BUF added Petry near before the deadline, that was significant

True and i thought about factoring that in but this is a deadline block and a week prior isnt really deadline. To me the issue is Matt sees his rivals making significant gains deadline day and didnt also take the opportunity to upgrade say Cole when he has the ability to do so and a large selection of sellers to chose from.

I have no cap space and sellers didn’t have pieces to improve on what I had IMO. Cole is a pretty decent periph D so if that’s my weakest player I’m OK with that.

[CasperX22]

BUF added Petry near before the deadline, that was significant

True and i thought about factoring that in but this is a deadline block and a week prior isnt really deadline. To me the issue is Matt sees his rivals making significant gains deadline day and didnt also take the opportunity to upgrade say Cole when he has the ability to do so and a large selection of sellers to chose from.

I have no cap space and sellers didn’t have pieces to improve on what I had IMO. Cole is a pretty decent periph D so if that’s my weakest player I’m OK with that.

Goaltending could've used a bump. Still in a better place than Thom though.

[thom54]

Ya, by the scant reports from the hockey hotbed that is Dallas ... Bishop is close and I’ve also put up a top3 record despite punting goalie stats, top 2 skaters total score so far.

A calculated risk

[CasperX22]

Latest I've heard was Bishop really isn't even ready to start practicing yet. At this point with Dallas playoff hopes floundering wouldn't surprise me to see him shut down for the year. The best goalie in Dallas is already there anyway.