CarterHud

    
The Detroit Red Wings have traded winger Tomas Jurco to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a third round draft pick in the 2017 NHL draft. Let\’s get into details.
       The Blackhawks are in the middle of a dynasty, lifting the Stanley Cup 3 times in the last 7 years. This year, they should make the playoffs again. They have 81 points (a record of 38-18-5), good enough for second place in the Central division. They do have cap issues, though. They\’ve traded away stars in Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp, Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell (who was diagnosed with MS, but is luckily recovering quickly). Their depth isn\’t in the greatest shape. They\’ve gotten lucky on deadline acquisitions Michal Handzus and Richard Panik in recent years, and GM Stan Bowman is probably thinking Jurco can be another great acquisition. Jurco, 24, has no points in 16 NHL games with Detroit this season. He\’s also a -8 and has 2 PIM. He has 2 points (a goal and an assist) in 2 games with Grand Rapids (AHL) this season, with an even rating. He has 39 points (15 goals and 24 assists) in 159 career NHL games. He also has 46 PIM in the NHL.
         When the Wings drafted 35th overall (second round) in the 2011 NHL draft they probably thought he\’d be at least ok in the NHL. He became a faded prospect, though. The Wings have made the playoffs in the last 25 years, but that streak seems to be coming to an end. They\’re 10 points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern conference (they\’re also the second worst team in the conference), and are shopping guys like Brendan Smith and Jurco (before he was traded). \”Things haven\’t worked out. He wanted to be elsewhere,\” Wings G Ken Holland said. Jurco, who\’s a RFA at the end of this year, should stay with Chicago next year.

  

  The Anaheim Ducks have acquired RW Patrick Eaves from the Dallas Stars in exchange for a conditional second round pick in the 2017 NHL draft. The condition is if the Ducks reach the Western conference finals, and Eaves plays in 50% or more of the games in the first two rounds, then the Stars will receive the Ducks\’ first round pick instead of their second. Let\’s get into details.
       The Ducks are in the playoff race in the Western conference. They have 74 points (a record of 32-20-10), good enough for third in the Pacific division. Getting a guy like Eaves, who can be a UFA on July 1, can be a solid rental player. Although he was waived twice and was signed to one year deals in consecutive years, Eaves is having a career year alongside stars Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin in Dallas. Eaves, 32, has 37 points (21 goals and 16 assists), a -10 rating on a terrible Stars team, and 16 PIM in 59 games this season. He\’s played for the Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes, Detroit Red Wings and the Nashville Predators earlier in his career. The biggest thing about him that makes teams want him is his cap hit. For a guy with 20+ goals, Eaves has a very small cap hit of just $1 million, a steal. He can play with Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Rickard Rakell or Ryan Kesler in Anaheim.
         The Stars were the best team in the Western conference last season. But goalie problems have set them back this year. They are 10 points out of the second wild card spot with 56 points (a record of 23-27-10). GM Jim Nill did a great job to get a draft pick in the first 2 rounds for Eaves. They are officially sellers, and a guy like Johnny Oduya could be the next one to go.

   

Bryan Bickell has already had a remarkable NHL career. In 2013, he scored an important goal in game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks. That goal led to his Blackhawks winning the Cup. He has 3 Stanley Cup rings: in 2010,\’13, and \’15 (but his name was only inscribed on the cup twice, because he was called up for a small portion of the playoffs). When he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes before the 2016-17 season, some issues stepped in.
       The issues, weren\’t related to the Canes, though. On November 12, the Hurricanes announced that Bickell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (or MS), and was placed on IR. He hasn\’t played since.
        When a team places a player on waivers, he is probably not happy. But when the Canes placed Bickell on waivers Thursday, it was a very good thing for Bickell. Bickell cleared, and was sent to the Charlotte Checkers (AHL), to play for the first time since his diagnosis.
        \”[I\’ll] get my feel back, get some minutes, get some good practices in and then hopefully everything feels good to come back up,\” Bickell said via CarolinaHurricanes.com.
         Bickell, 30, has 1 point (a goal) in 7 games with the Canes this season. He\’s missed the last 48 games. He also has a -1 rating and 4 PIM.
          He has 136 points (66 goals and 70 assists) in 391 career NHL games (he also has 192 PIM) with the Canes and the Blackhawks. We don\’t know when Bickell will return to the NHL, but it seems to be when GM Ron Francis sees that he\’s ready after his stay with Charlotte.

  
The Tampa Bay Lightning\’s 2015-16 season was great. Although they started off bad, they made game 7 of the eastern conference final without captain and superstar center Steven Stamkos. They then signed Stamkos to a 8 year extension, and prospect Jonathan Drouin, who previously requested a trade, rescinded his request.
    But the 2016-17 season has been rough. They sit 6th in the Atlantic division with a record of 27-24-8 (62 points), and are 4 points behind the New York Islanders, who currently sit in the second wild card spot in the eastern conference. Stamkos is averaging over a points per game this season, with 20 of them (9 goals and 11 assists) in just 17 games. He last played on November 15, and just started to practice today. Star goalie Ben Bishop is an upcoming UFA, and has a GAA of 2.55 and a SV% of .911. He\’s also a possible trade target for other teams as the trade deadline looms.
     More injury problems have occurred. Winger Ryan Callahan has 4 points (2 goals and 2 assists) in just 18 games this season, last playing on January 7. The 31 year is now marked out for the rest of the 2016-17 season after undergoing hip surgery to repair a labral tear. He had the exact same surgery done on his hip last year. Bolts GM Steve Yzerman said that the injury is expected not to be career threatening.
     Forward Cory Conacher was recalled from Syracuse (AHL). Conacher, 27, has 2 points (a goal and an assist) in 7 NHL games this season. He has 44 points (12 goals and 32 assists) in 42 games this season in the AHL. He\’s played in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and the New York Islanders previously. He played 35 games with the Bolts in 2012-13, before going to those three teams. He had 24 points (9 goals and 15 assists) that year.

  The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired defenseman Ron Hainsey from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a second round pick in 2017 and forward Danny Kristo. ESPN\’s Pierre Lebrun reports that the Canes will retain 50% of Hainsey\’s $2.83 million contract. Let\’s get into details.
    The Pens were Stanley Cup champs in 2016, and look poised to at least make the playoffs in 2017 with 82 points (a record of 37-14-8), and are in second place in the Metropolitan division. But they have injury problems with their defenseman. It was recently announced that defenseman Trever Daley will miss 6 weeks, and underwent knee surgery. Another defenseman in Olli Maatta will also miss 6 weeks. The second round pick is the main thing they surrender, and the prospect, Kristo, is the cherry on top of the deal. Hainsey, 35, has 4 goals and 10 assists (14 points), a -17 rating, and 17 PIM in 56 games this season.
      The Canes are currently in a rebuild. They are currently last in the eastern conference with 56 points (a record of 24-24-8), and GM Ron Francis is looking to make trades this deadline, already making a trade for defenseman Phillip Samuelsson. Hainsey is an upcoming UFA, and was major trade bait for teams. Hainsey has the record for most games played without a single playoff game (891 career games). Being on Pittsburgh can end that streak. The Canes now have 10 picks in the 2017 draft, 6 in the first 3 rounds. Kristo, the prospect has never played in the NHL, but has been in the St. Louis Blues organization until this year, when he went to Pittsburgh. The 26 year old has 11 points (6 goals and 5 assists) in 32 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) this season. He also had a +2 rating and 10 PIM for them.