A memo to the rest of the teams across all major sports:
Take a look at how the NHL’s Eastern Conference approached the league’s trade deadline, which came and went Friday afternoon. It should be a blueprint everywhere.
Big-time teams with big-time dreams got further fortified with big-time players.
None more so than the Rangers, who added high-powered scoring Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko without giving up their highest pick in what could be a loaded draft.
Kane and Tarasenko were two of the marquee names swapped over a deadline period that saw several other stars changing addresses, which adds juice to the rest of the regular season and what should be a fascinating playoffs.
It remains to be seen, of course, which Eastern Conference team gets the biggest boost from its deadline work. Maybe it’ll be the Rangers, though, there’s plenty of competition.
The problem for them and the rest of the conference – heck, the rest of the league – is that the team that was already easily the best in the NHL, the Boston Bruins, made several key moves. Boston, trying to win its first Cup since 2011, may have added enough to a powerhouse to ensure that everyone else is playing for runner-up status.
The Bruins (49-8-5), who beat the visiting Rangers, 4-2, Saturday afternoon, are so good they might break league records for both wins and points this season. They entered Saturday as the stingiest defensive team in the league, the best penalty-killers and the second-most prolific scoring offense.
Before the deadline, Boston added defenseman Dmitry Orlov, who had nine points in his first five games with the team, all of which were wins. And newly-acquired forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Garnet Hathaway Offer depth to a team dealing with injuries Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno.
Still, there will be challengers in what shapes up to be a rugged conference race.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, who have played in three consecutive Cup Finals, including titles in the first two, added Tanner Jeannot from Nashville, a skilled player, to a stacked roster.
The Carolina Hurricanes, currently second in the conference, added forward Jesse Puljujarvi and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and both will help bolster their defense. The Canes, though, might have benefited from more scoring touches instead.
The Islanders essentially kicked off the frenzy of the deadline period back on Jan. 30 when they acquired star center Bo Horvat from Vancouver and then signed him to an eight-year, $68-million extension. They had hoped he could help their lagging power play – it was 31st when he was acquired and it’s 29th now. Speedy winger Pierre Engvall could help, too, and because the Isles have an elite netminder Ilya Sorokinthey loom as a dangerous playoff opponent.
The Devils added an offensive talent of their own, acquiring Timo Meier from San Jose. Meier, who called himself “a typical power-forward” after the trade, has 31 goals in 57 games this season. Curtis Lazar, another forward added by the Devils, should inject defense and grit. Both bring needed playoff experience to a young, talented team.
In Toronto, the Maple Leafs are trying to end an awful streak of six consecutive seasons of losing in the first round of the playoffs. The Leafs face even more pressure because they haven’t won a playoff series since 2004, either, so they went all-in with a team that is in second place in the Atlantic Division behind Boston.
The Leafs traded for former Blues captain Ryan O’Reillythe winner of the 2019 Conn Smythe Award as the best player in the playoffs, and further bolstered their forward corps with Noel Acciari and Sam Lafferty. On defense, they brought in Erik Gustafsson, Jake McCabe and Luke Schenn. There was some clamoring for them to make a move for a goalie, too, but they didn’t, leaving Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray between the pipes.
Meanwhile, the oldest team in the league, the Penguins, added more experience (and age) by acquiring defenseman. Dmitry Kulikov and forwards Nick Bonino and Mikael Granlund to see if they can assure themselves a playoff spot and also get deeper than the first round. That’s where Pittsburgh lost in seven games to the Rangers last year.
Ottawa, a 5-3 winner over the Rangers last week at the Garden, added one of the best players available in defenseman. Jakob Chychun.
All these contenders were trying to get better, ensuring that the road through the Eastern Conference will be perilous. That only adds to the pressure the Rangers face after making such high-profile moves in a season following a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
But since Kane arrived, the Rangers have lost two games, and he doesn’t have a point. It’s clear he and the Rangers are facing an adjustment period as roles change and responsibilities shift, maybe it’ll just take time.
Tarasenko struggled early, too, though he has picked it up lately with a three-game point streak and nine points in 12 games in blue overall.
But adding scoring punch could be vital once the playoffs begin and goals are more difficult to get against smothering defenses. Plus, six of the top eight scoring teams are Eastern contenders, including the aforementioned Bruins. It would help if Kane and Artemi Panarin reignite the chemistry they had in Chicago.
Even with added skill, the Rangers will face questions about whether they added enough grit – sandpaper, jam, or whatever you want to call it – at the deadline.
Tyler Motte helps the fourth line and they added Nikko Mikkola to the blue line in the Tarasenko trade, too. Can they advance deep into the spring if Igor Shesterkin Isn’t dominant every single night in net?
The Rangers must be considered among the “winners” of the trade deadline because they got a three-time Cup winner who’s headed to the Hall of Fame in Kane and a six-time 30-goal scorer in Tarasenko. But they still face questions, including this one: Did they do enough for a Cup run?
They’re hopeful. But with so many other contenders, they’ll have to be great in the playoffs. And then there’s this sobering reality:
Until proven otherwise, everyone in the East is looking up at the Bruins, and it might end up being the whole league.