By Canadian Press

Jarome Iginla the biggest name to move on dull deadline day

Mar 1, 2017 | 12:45 PM

You know it’s a slow trade deadline day in the NHL when the biggest name dealt is a 39-year-old with eight goals this season.

Headed for the Los Angeles Kings, Jarome Iginla was the highest profile name to move in one of the slowest (and least interesting) deadline days in recent memory. Most of the transactions involved depth players on expiring contracts, including Thomas Vanek to Florida, P.A. Parenteau to Nashville and Mark Streit to Pittsburgh.

There were only 18 trades in all, and only 16 involving players who’ve played in the NHL this season.

“It’s probably less I guess than past years, which doesn’t surprise me,” Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving said. “You look at the compression in the standings, you’ve got expansion, you’ve got financial pressures in terms of cap squeezage, it probably went the way I thought it would go.”

Treliving predicted that the expansion draft in particular would “make it a little bit stickier” on deadline day with clubs having to consider players to both protect and expose to the newly-minted Las Vegas Golden Knights in June. 

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Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland thought teams were also placing increasing value on their own prospects and draft picks and thus were not as likely to move such assets in exchange for a short-term solution at the deadline.

Many of the picks moved Wednesday were either conditional or late round selections. Iginla fetched a conditional fourth round pick in 2018 for Colorado; Vanek netted the Wings a third in 2017; Parenteau got the Devils a sixth, also this summer. Not one first round pick actually moved hands on deadline day itself (and only one second), though some moved in the more intriguing lead-up to the deadline — including in Washington’s acquisition of Kevin Shattenkirk and Minnesota’s landing of Martin Hanzal.

The NHL’s fourth-highest scoring defenceman this season, Shattenkirk was one of the few high-end contributors to change teams with most of the other deals involving depth pieces for playoff contenders.

Streit, the 39-year-old defenceman, joined the defending Stanley Cup champions, Kyle Quincey and Lauri Korpikoski came aboard the surprising Columbus Blue Jackets, and Jannik Hansen injected some depth on the wing for the San Jose Sharks.

Maybe the most curious wheelers at the deadline were the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.

Montreal, oddly, went for size and physicality up front in scooping up Dwight King (six foot four, 229 pounds), Andreas Martinsen (six foot three, 220 pounds) and the always feisty, but aging Steve Ott. The club also traded for six foot two, 210-pound defenceman Brandon Davidson and six foot two, 200-pound defender Jordie Benn — the latter with two more years left on his contract.

“I don’t want to lose the pace that we have, but at the same time I think we accomplished a little bit of both (in also adding some size).” Habs GM Marc Bergevin said.

None of the additions addressed the club’s need for offence. The Habs, who also recently flipped Michel Therrien for Claude Julien behind the bench, have scored only 21 goals in 13 games this month.

Already busy with the recent additions of Alex Burrows, Tommy Wingels and Viktor Stalberg, the Senators opted to deal 22-year-old former first round pick Curtis Lazar to Calgary on deadline day for a second rounder in 2017 as well as defensive depth in Jyrki Jokipakka.

Sens GM Pierre Dorion and head coach Guy Boucher both took Mark Borowiecki’s brief injury scare at practice Wednesday as a sign that a move was necessary on the back-end.

“I feel we’re a better hockey team today than we were a few weeks ago,” Dorion said.

The two biggest names reportedly in play at the deadline, Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog, both stayed put in Colorado as did Radim Vrbata with Arizona.

Iginla, meanwhile, will play for his fifth NHL team, though it’s curious whether his addition — alongside goaltender Ben Bishop — will be enough to get the Kings to the post-season. Still chasing his first Stanley Cup, the Edmonton native is on pace to finish with fewer than 20 goals for the first time since 1997-98 when he scored 13 goals as a 20-year-old sophomore for the Calgary Flames.

He might not be the boost the Kings’ 25th-ranked offence needed. 

Bishop was among the many pieces shuffled out of Tampa recently, joined by Brian Boyle on Monday and Valtteri Filppula on deadline day — the latter moving to Philadelphia. The Lightning are in danger of missing the playoffs after back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference final.

Holland’s Red Wings, too, are likely to see their 25-season run of playoffs come to an end with the club sending out Ott, Vanek and Brendan Smith before the deadline.

After adding Boyle earlier in the week, the Toronto Maple Leafs made only a minor move on Wednesday, dealing Frankie Corrado to Pittsburgh for Eric Fehr, minor league defenceman Steven Oleksy and a fourth round pick. The Fehr deal helped the cap-strapped Penguins add Streit, while aiding the Leafs in the expansion draft.

Fehr can help the club meet the minimum requirements of exposure, which GM Lou Lamoriello said was a factor in the deal.

Jonas Siegel, The Canadian Press

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