The NHL Trade Deadline is now just over two days away. More moves are starting to trickle in as teams get ready for the Monday at 3 pm cut-off. The Florida Panthers made more improvements to one of the game’s best rosters. Adding to their back end, the franchise acquired defenseman Ben Chiarot from the Montreal Canadiens. In return, they sent back prospect Tyler Smilanic, a 2023 first-round pick and a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL draft.
Back with our weekly stock up, stock down article, the Boston Bruins remain red hot. They have won seven of their last ten games to sit hot on the heels of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. Furthermore, the Edmonton Oilers have also caught fire.
Make sure to check out all of our NHL Trade Deadline Previews.
Stock Up: Boston Bruins
The Bruins are currently manning the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They are sitting just four points back of the Maple Leafs for the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. Red hot of late, Bruce Cassidy‘s group has won four of their last six games. This includes victories over the Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Continuing to lead the way, David Pastrnak has racked up four points in his last five contests to lead the team with 61. However, more importantly, for Boston has been the play of Taylor Hall and Jake DeBrusk. Playing better of late, the former has recorded eight markers in his last ten games while the latter is now up to 15 goals on the year.
Stock Down: Las Vegas Golden Knights
Things have quickly gone from bad to worse for the Golden Knights. Vegas is now just one point clear of the Dallas Stars for the final post-season spot in the Western Conference. The team lost five games in a row before picking up a 5-3 win over the Panthers on Thursday Night. Struggling to keep the puck out of the back of their net in the absence of Robin Lehner, number two netminder Laurent Brossoit has allowed ten goals over his previous three starts.
Now in danger of missing the playoffs, Peter DeBoer’s group needs to get healthy upfront. Up against the cap, expect the franchise to look at unloading a contract at the deadline to add another forward. They could also look to add depth in net depending on the health of Lehner.
Stock Up: Arizona Coyotes
Arizona is currently one of the hottest clubs in the league. The team has won three of their last four and seven of their last ten. Continuing to improve their road record, André Tourigny’s group is 11-16-3 away from Gila River Arena. Guided by the play of their top line, both Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz have been fantastic for the Coyotes.
On pace to shatter his career-high in points, Keller has already racked up 26 goals and 34 assists in 60 games. Along with this, Schmaltz is currently on a point-per-game pace, with 42 in 41 contests. With all eyes on star defenseman Jakob Chychrun as the trade deadline approaches, the franchise could look to ship out their star blueliner. This with the hope to recoup more draft picks as they look to build for the future and kick start their rebuild.
Stock Down: Ottawa Senators
March has been a rough month for the Senators. The team has won just eight times during the month. Losers of three in a row, they were disappointingly knocked off by the Chicago Blackhawks and the Coyotes last week. In addition to this, the franchise also received more tough news after it was revealed that number one defenseman Thomas Chabot would be out for an extended period of time after suffering a broken hand.
Struggling to generate offensively in the absence of one of their rising young stars in Drake Batherson, Ottawa is 20th in the league in shots on goal per game and 27th in goals per game. It appears as if they will limp to the finish line to close out their 2021 campaign.
Stock Up: Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles is holding their ground in the Pacific Division. The Kings are sitting just five points back of the Calgary Flames for the top spot. Fresh off a shutout victory over their rival in the San Jose Sharks, they have now earned a point in three of their last five games. Beginning to draw comparisons to their Stanley Cup-winning clubs in the early 2010s, Todd McLellan‘s group is one of the stingiest teams in the NHL in their own zone, despite a mounting list of injuries on the blue line.
Along with this, they continue to get scoring from all areas of their lineup. In a prime position to return to the postseason for the first time since 2018, the squad has a favorable schedule coming up with games against the Blackhawks and Seattle Kraken on tap.
Stock Down: Chicago Blackhawks
After dropping two of their three games last week, Chicago is beginning to challenge Arizona for the worst team in the NHL. The team has dropped six of their last ten games as they fall lower and lower in the ultra-competitive Central Division. Remaining the only bright spot for the group has been the play of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Acquired from Vegas last season, the 37-year-old has posted a .909 save percentage and a 2.90 goals-against average across 44 starts.
They are destined to be sellers at the trade deadline. The franchise already struck their first deal of the proceedings after they flipped forward Brandon Hagel to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a package including two first-round picks.
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