Trade DUD-Line Day

I have no idea why anyone makes a big day out of Trade Deadline Day any longer. Everyone was making a big deal about how the Nazem Kadri trade from Calgary to Colorado was a "blockbuster", yet all I did was shrug my shoulders because Colorado added a third-line centerman. Yes, Kadri likely could play higher up in the lineup, but Colorado's lineup doesn't need him in the top-six forward group. For as much as TSN, Sportsnet, and the NHL Network make Trade Deadline Day a thing, it's not. And it shouldn't be moving forward.

As we've seen in past years, the best or most intriguing trades were made in the days leading up to the deadline. In the salary cap era, seeing star players switch teams at the deadline rarely happens now, and this year's new set of rules made it even harder for teams tight against the salary cap ceiling to find any sort of wiggle room. Even in the years before the salary cap, some of the biggest trades weren't made on deadline day. How did Trade Deadline Day become notable?

You can argue that 1994 may have been the year when the "excitement" started. That was the year that the New York Rangers loaded up for their Stanley Cup run by trading away Mike Gartner, Tony Amonte, and Todd Marchant to bring in Glenn Anderson, Brian Noonan, Stephane Matteau, and Craig MacTavish in three deals. 1994 also saw Al Iafrate join the Boston Bruins in exchange for Joe Juneau who went to Washington, and St. Louis acquired Craig Janney from Vancouver for Jeff Brown, Bret Hedican, and Nathan Lafayette.

The 1999 trade deadline saw a few more big names on the move as the Detroit Red Wings acquired Chris Chelios, Bill Ranford, Wendel Clark, and Ulf Samuelsson in four deals that saw Anders Eriksson, Kevin Hodson, and six draft picks shipped to three different teams. Vincent Damphousse was traded to San Jose by Montreal for three picks, and a trade that sent Peter Zezel from Vancouver to Anaheim was nullified days later after Zezel refused to join the Ducks.

The 2002 NHL Trade Deadline saw the New Jersey Devils acquire Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner from Dallas for Jason Arnott, Randy McKay and a first-round pick. The Devils also acquired Stephane Richer from the Penguins for a seventh-round pick, and then Pittsburgh traded Darius Kasparaitis to Colorado for Rick Berry and Ville Niemenen. However, the number of "big names" being moved was starting to dwindle as star players were dealt earlier.

2008 saw a few known stars dealt on the deadline as the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis from the Atlanta Thrashers for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christiansen, Angelo Esposito, and a first-round pick. Shortly thereafter, the Dallas Stars acquired Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist from Tampa Bay for Jeff Halpern, Jussi Jokinen, Mike Smith, and a fourth-round pick. Buffalo traded Brian Campbell and a seventh-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for Steve Bernier and a first-round pick. Aside from a few big-name players who were past their primes when they got moved later in the day, 2008 had some NHL stars that changed addresses.

2013 had a few big trades happen on deadline day as the New York Rangers sent Marian Gaborik, Blake Parlett, and Steven Delisle to Columbus for Derek Dorsett, Derick Brassard, John Moore, and a fourth-round pick. Tampa Bay sent Cory Conacher and a fourth-round pick to Ottawa for Ben Bishop. Washington dealt Filip Forsberg to Nashville for Martin Erat and Michael Latta. In the days leading up to the deadline, all of Jaromir Jagr, Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regehr, and Jarome Iginla were traded, but why worry about those details?

As stated above, most of the stars were dealt to their new teams prior to the final day of swaps in the NHL over the past thirty years. Don't tell network television producers that, though, because they're already blocking off eight hours and booking three dozen analysts to sit in their studios and break down the deal that sent the fourth-line center to a new team for a mid-round pick for an hour. They can review the bigger trades that happened earlier in the week, but it's not thrilling TV if those analysts aren't breaking blockbuster deals.

It might be time to retire "Trade Deadline Day" when it comes to network television. A one-hour recap with a couple of analysts would be more than enough based on how few "blockbuster" trades there are on the actual deadline day, but we know that won't happen because anyone who doesn't break the biggest trade of the day will lose status as an insider. And none of the personalities want that.

I stopped watching years ago. There aren't the big deals that everyone hopes there will be, and the TV just isn't that good. Maybe next year's deadline will be different, but I wouldn't count on it.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!