Perhaps the biggest trade piece floated this season has finally been moved. Kevin Shattenkirk has been sent to the Washington Capitals.
Joining Shattenkirk in D.C. will be Pheonix Copley in exchange for Zach Sanford, Brad Malone, a 2017 first-round pick and a conditional 2019 second-round pick.
The Blues will secure the second-rounder if Shattenkirk ends up resigning with the Capitals or if Washington plays their way to the Eastern Conference Finals with their new defenseman playing in at least half of the games.
There were several teams that were tied to Kevin Shattenkirk over the past few weeks. By missing out on probably the most talented player to be moved this deadline, there are 29 organizations in the NHL that now have to give the side-eye to the Caps as they continue their surge to the President’s Trophy.
This deal has a lot of contingencies tied to it with seemingly endless scenarios that change what the return packages are. I honestly can’t even wrap my head around it, but apparently, Elliotte Friedman can, so…go follow him on Twitter.
It’s hard not to be excited about a player like Shattenkirk. He’s an all-star righty defenseman with incredible vision and mobility in the prime of his career. He presents himself the right way to the media. He’s amassed 42 points this season. Plus it doesn’t hurt to be an American playing in the nation’s capital. John Carlson will love some company there.
Anyway, let’s pour over some of the winners and losers of this trade.
Winners: Washington Capitals.
The obvious choice. Washington is in a position where they can sell off picks as they please as they pursue their first Stanley Cup championship. Alex Ovechkin is only getting older, and they have built a stellar roster around him. The only way they could have made this roster better was by adding a puck-moving defenseman, and they got the best one on the market.
Matt Niskanen, the Caps’ leading scorer from the blueline, has missed a couple of games with an injury. When he is in the lineup, he provides a lot of offense from the right side, tallying four goals and 28 assists in 58 games so far this season. When he’s not, more pressure falls on John Carlson to make things happen on the top pair with Karl Alzner.
With Shattenkirk in the fold, there is less of a need to hurry Niskanen back into action. When Niskanen does come back, Washington will be rolling out John Carlson, Kevin Shattenkirk and Niskanen on the right side. Dang.
Opposite them will be Karl Alzner, Dmitry Orlov and a rotation of Nate Schmidt and when he returns, Brooks Orpik. That is about as solid a defensive core as you can possibly have.
Losers: Pittsburgh Penguins.
There were rumors that were starting to fester late yesterday afternoon that the Pittsburgh Penguins were entering talks for Kevin Shattenkirk. How would they have fit him in under the salary cap? No idea. Their cap wizardry is something I will never truly figure out on a year-to-year basis.
Losing out on Shattenkirk is not a big deal to the Penguins. While I’m sure they wouldn’t have said no to having a player of his caliber on their team, it was not a necessity. When Kris Letang, Olli Maatta and Trevor Daley all come back to the lineup fully healthy, they will be ready for another Cup run.
But it is clear that the biggest threat currently facing the Penguins is in Washington. The Pens dispatched the Rangers easily in the playoffs last season and have trampled them on several occasions this year as well. Columbus is a tough opponent, but Pittsburgh has the upper hand.
Washington, their opponent in last year’s Second Round, is their worst enemy. And now, they have a full house in their hand.
The Penguins are five points behind the Capitals in the standings with a game in hand. Washington has tallied points in all four meetings this year (2-0-2), with their most matchup being the infamous 8-7 scorefest in Pittsburgh back in January.
This is the year for the Washington Capitals to make their move. There is no waiting for next year. They are in a position to run away with the President’s Trophy for the second consecutive year, they have the greatest goal scorer of this generation captaining their team and a perennial Vezina candidate/winner in net.
And this final piece may finally bring them to the promised land.
That’s bad news for the black-and-gold.
CAPS GUY 1: "We're a regular season juggernaut that struggles to reach the Cup. What should we do?"
CAPS GUY 2: "Get guys from the Blues."— Steve “Dangle” Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) February 28, 2017
Winners: New York Rangers.
It may seem like the Rangers would be the losers in this scenario. After all, they were the heavy favorite to land Shattenkirk since before this season even began. Talks were had, possible packages speculated on. Everything seemed to be pointing to Broadway.
But ultimately, the Rangers are deciding to bide their time and plan for next year. Perhaps its management admitting that putting all their eggs into the 2016-2017 basket is extremely risky given the competition. Perhaps it’s the Eric Staal deal coming back to haunt them.
New York wants to change their philosophy and keep their picks. As desperately as they need offense from the right side of their blue line, there is no need to overpay just yet. Jeff Gorton did the right thing by waiting for free agency to take a run at Shattenkirk, where he knows he will have more of a competitive advantage.
The Rangers would be wise to sell high on some of their assets in the meantime. I would not be shocked to see Michael Grabner moved by the trade deadline. At the rate picks are flying back and forth for the likes of Martin Hanzal and Brian Boyle, one would think that Grabner, who is scoring at an elite clip this season, might fetch a handsome return. His absence would mean more playing time for Russian phenom Pavel Buchnevich, too.
Losers: Rangers fans.
Inevitably when this team’s defense fails them in the postseason, they will break out the pitchforks and torches and blame Henrik Lundqvist and Rick Nash like they always do. Then they’ll bust out their Yankee caps and countdown the 365 days they have to care about hockey again.
Ranger fans are an impatient bunch by nature. New Yorkers expect perfection every year, and they believe their city to be the one every athlete wants to play in. If you are like the New York Knicks and your product is subpar and you are not attracting the elite players anymore, your fans turn on you.
Ordinarily, I would say for Ranger fans to suck it up and keep things in perspective. However…
Kevin Shattenkirk has been notified that he is going to Washington. Expected to be in the lineup tomorrow night at MSG vs. #NYR.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 28, 2017
That’s cold. Fans are all jazzed for the arrival of a new piece and instead they have to watch him make his debut in a rival’s uniform at your home arena? The dude is going to get booed out of his mind.
Then again, Ranger fans chanted “we don’t want you” at Rick Nash the year before they traded for him. New York is a fickle mistress.
Losers: St. Louis Blues.
St. Louis is in a very depressing place. For once, I am not just referring to the state of Missouri in general.
Their goaltending has been atrocious all season long, with Jake Allen going through volatile stretches of either stellar or hook-worthy play. Head coach Ken Hitchcock managed to lose control of his locker room mere months before his retirement. He so effectively ticked off his star player Vladimir Tarasenko that he was ousted from his post, a move which has hardly slowed the Blues’ freefall from the postseason.
Then, the Blues signed Patrik Berglund to a five-year contract extension that seemed rather hefty for a player that has never been, and never will be, more than a middle-six forward.
And now, Kevin Shattenkirk is officially gone and the return is fine, but not anything to jump for joy over.
This was a trade that the Blues had to do. But it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. They are a worse team today than they were yesterday. It’s hard to see this season going anywhere nice.
And considering how fun this team was just a season ago, that is a real bummer.
