Trade Deadline Day Running Diary

The 2014 Trade Deadline came and went. Following a busy prelude yesterday, it was difficult to gauge whether it was just the tip of the iceberg and a sign of things to come, or whether the teams that intended on being feisty had already blown their loads.

After the fact I’d say the answer was “both”, sort of. The festivities – as they’re one to do – started off with a largely slow, boring build-up. Based on my extensive field research, I’d say a large majority of people came into the day thinking there could really be some fireworks after being lured in and teased yesterday. So there was a lot of moaning, and groaning, and complaining. Nothing new there.

But sure enough, as we reached the noon PST deadline itself, trades began to come in bunches as some relatively big names were moved. Unfortunately for a lot of readers of this blog, there was one name in particular that wasn’t moved and really stuck out – that being Ryan Kesler. 

Anyways, we spent the full morning updating this post in the style of a running diary, with a live chat mixed in as well. If you were working and missed out on it all, hopefully you’ll be able to use this as a tool to get caught up. And even if you were actually around throughout, maybe you’ll still be able to make some use of this bad boy. After all, Twitter is so active that things can slip through the cracks even for the most observant of fans!

6:15 AM PST: nothing has really happened yet. And I mean nothing. Well, except for this clip of Roberto Luongo being serenaded on TSN:

6:24 AM PST: According to Rob Rossi (via Sporting News), there is a developing situation in the Ryan Kesler trade talks with the Pittsburgh Penguins:

If that’s true, then it sure speaks to what a mess the Canucks are these days. And I’m not just talking about their on-ice issues. Yesterday James Duthie speculated that Mike Gillis (and potentially John Tortorella) could certainly be a dead man walking. 

If that’s the case, then there’s just one question: why on god’s green earth is he still around for this deadline? What a mess.

6:55 AM PST: The first instalment of today’s podcast. Cam and I spend 15 or so minutes talking about all of the trades that happened yesterday. We were initially planning on doing a live audio stream, but ran into some technical difficulties.. so instead we’ll just be recording these shorter segments and updating the blog as we do them. [LISTEN HERE] 

7:50 AM PST: A discussion about wingers available, and potential landing spots for guys like Thomas Vanek, Mike Cammalleri, Ales Hemsky, and Matt Moulson. Plus, a quick tangent on the direction the Canucks are currently headed in. Would they potentially part ways with Alex Edler? [LISTEN HERE]

8:30 AM PST: We’ve finally got a trade! Marty St.Louis is off to Broadway, and Ryan Callahan (+ picks) is heading the other way. How does this change the landscape in the Eastern Conference? [LISTEN HERE]

There aren’t many trades happening, so we decided to kill the time by bringing my girlfriend into the mix. On the topic of Martin St.Louis, we figured we’d introduce her to the picture above and get her thoughts on the matter. You can listen for yourself, but she seemed legitimately impressed to me. Remember kids: don’t skip leg day. [LISTEN HERE]

9:38 AM PST: Quick thoughts on the Ales Hemsky trade to the Ottawa Senators. Good on the Senators for taking advantage of the hopeless Oilers (who remarkably wound up essentially swapping Ales Hemsky for Viktor Fasth, which is as funny as it initially sounds). Have to wonder whether this says more about how little the Penguins thought of Hemsky, or whether it means they’re closer to doing something bigger *hint hint* [LISTEN HERE]

10:18 AM PST: BREAKING NEWS – David Legwand leaves the ice.. at the end of practice. Oh well. It has been just that kind of day thus far. [LISTEN HERE]

10:26 AM PST: This isn’t a trade, but the Canucks – who we’re still waiting on to make some #boldmoves – made the least bold move of all-time when they gave Jacob Markstrom #35. Fun fact: other players to don that number in a Canucks uniform include other goaltending luminaries like Kevin Weekes, Alex Auld, Dany Sabourin, Petr Skudra, and Bob Essensa. Also: 

10:42 AM PST: The Marian Gaborik-to-LA trade is finally official, and we have some thoughts on it. To sum it up – the Kings did well to bring in a guy who could potentially really swing things for them without risking much. There’s a strong possibility that it doesn’t work out, but all things considered, it’s a decent roll of the dice. 

As for CBJ, this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re waiving the white flag on their season. They’re currently in the 8 slot, and 13th in fenclose% on the year. They’ll be just fine without Gaborik, who didn’t really provide them with anything of note this season anyways. [LISTEN HERE]

11:02 AM PST: There are a few minor trades to discuss. The Penguins have acquired Marcel Goc, and the Devils have acquired Tuomo Ruutu. As always, everything that happens must be somehow brought back to Ryan Kesler.. so we spend a good couple of minutes wondering whether this means that the Kesler-to-Penguins deal could be back on. Good god, the thought of Brandon Sutter being a Canuck makes me openly weep. [LISTEN HERE]

BOOOOOzma!!

12:13 PM PST: 

As the final trades trickled in, we discussed them in as much detail as we could. This includes the Vancouver Canucks finally making a deal.. but it’s probably not the one you were waiting impatiently for. They’ve moved impending UFA Raphael Diaz to the Rangers for a 5th round pick, where he’ll promptly jump right into Alain Vigneault’s doghouse (quite possibly). 

There’s also Matt Moulson being dealt to Minnesota, Andrej Meszaros to Boston, and Tim Thomas to Boston. We’ll wait 15-20 minutes or so to let things marinate, get straightened out, and then we’ll be back with an all-encompassing recap of the day’s festivities. [LISTEN HERE]

12:49 PM PST: A quick take on the Raphael Diaz trade to the Rangers.

1:20 PM PST: After giving everything some time to settle in, get finalized, and marinate, we round up all of the straggler trades with one final audio recording. We discussed the Vanek-to-Montreal trade, the Halak-to-Washington move, and the Legwand-to-Detroit deal. We then wrapped everything up with a grander scale discussion about the Canucks, and where they go from here. [LISTEN HERE]