Coyotes, Penguins open deadline day with trade

The Boston Bruins, looking to solidify their playoff position in the East, added some scoring depth by trading for New Jersey Devils journeyman Lee Stempniak, who will be joining his ninth team in 11 seasons.

Russell and the Stars are going to need endurance to get out of the Central Division, where the Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues are real threats.

Jim Benning had hopes to sell off his aging players and acquire picks and prospects for his team by the deadline.

HOME ON THE RANGE: The New York Rangers seem far more imposing than before they acquired center Eric Staal from the Carolina Hurricanes. As a result, the Stars could be interested in picking up a defenseman for the stretch run.

“I think, with what’s happened in the league, Chicago, etc., etc., etc., I think it was important to send a message to our group that we believe in them and we have faith in them”, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said of acquiring Staal.

The silver lining for the offensively deficient Russell are his 174 blocked shots, good for second in the league, so he’ll slot in nicely along Dallas’ third pairing.

Instead, trade deadline day showed the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks are ready to challenge for the Western Conference title and for the Stanley Cup. Teams swapped veterans for prospects and draft picks, after most of the juicy stuff went down in the weeks and months leading up to February 29.

Boedker, a pending unrestricted free agent, has 13 goals and 26 assists for 39 point this season.

“We expect to make the playoffs”, Sakic said.

Daniel Winnik said he was “pretty shocked” to be traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Washington Capitals. Whatever the reason, the fact still remains that not many trades were made on this year’s trade deadline.

The Bruins got Stempniak – now annually moved on or around the trade deadline – and defenseman John-Michael Liles.

The now-former captain of the Winnipeg Jets is now a member of his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Montreal Canadiens announced they claimed tough guy Mike Brown off waivers from the San Jose Sharks. The bigger news might be who was not moved, including Boston’s impending UFA Loui Eriksson, Tampa Bay’s disgruntled forward Jonathan Drouin, Anaheim’s RFA to be Sami Vatanen, and Vancouver’s defenseman Dan Hamhuis.

Edmonton also signed a pair of rookies, defenseman Brandon Davidson and goalie Laurent Brossoit, to two-year contract extensions.

Facing a Rangers team Monday night that added Eric Staal in a blockbuster deal, Tortorella noted the uncertainty for teams that scheduled to play on deadline day. “I have my thoughts on that but I better keep them to myself”.

We are back with another great episode of the Game Time Decision Podcast, breaking down the NHL Trade Deadline!

It was certainly a dud of a day for Canada’s all-sports TV networks, which aired gimmicks like kiss cams and mascot races to help fill a day’s worth of trade coverage until a late flurry of deals at the 3pm deadline.

The Coyotes also acquired winger Sergei Plotnikov from Pittsburgh in exchange for prospect Matthias Plachta and a conditional seventh-round pick in 2017. If there’s one thing that was made clear, it’s that the Lightning are hell bent on winning Stanley Cup in the final contract year for pending free agent Steven Stamkos.