The NHL trade deadline has come and gone, but not before 45 players changed addresses in 25 deadline deals.

The most stunning deal was Atlanta trading Marian Hossa to Pittsburgh after the rumor mill had the high-scoring winger moving to Montreal. Hossa, who scored 43 goals and 100 points last season, gives the Penguins a trio of scoring threats that is arguably the best in the league.

Evgeni Malkin leads the NHL with 84 points, and he’s been terrific with Sidney Crosby sidelined since mid-January by a high ankle sprain. The Penguins add Hossa to the mix and get Crosby back in the next 2-3 weeks. With Hossa’s scoring touch and passing ability, his star teammates stand to benefit. And Hossa should do just fine himself.

Hossa, who has 26 goals and 56 points to lead all players traded near the deadline, joins his new team after scoring three goals and five assists in his final six games with the Thrashers. Among the group of traded players, no one can top Hossa in goals and points this month.

Most Points in February by a Player Dealt near Trade Deadline

Player, New Team. . . . . . Gms. . . . . . . .G. . . . . . . . . .A. . . . . . . . . . Pts
Marian Hossa, Pit. . . . . . . .10. . . . . . . . .4. . . . . . . . . . 6. . . . . . . . . . 10
Andrew Ladd, Chi. . . . . . . 11. . . . . . . . .4. . . . . . . . . . 6. . . . . . . . . . 10
Jussi Jokinen, TB. . . . . . . .12. . . . . . . . .3. . . . . . . . . . 5. . . . . . . . . . . 8
Brad Richards, Dal. . . . . . . 10. . . . . . . . .2. . . . . . . . . . 4. . . . . . . . . . . 6
Jan Hlavac, Nsh. . . . . . . . .10. . . . . . . . .2. . . . . . . . . . 3. . . . . . . . . . . 5

Andrew Ladd was traded by Carolina to Chicago for Tuomo Ruutu. He has nine goals and nine assists on the season, but 10 of his 18 points have come in February. The 22-year-old wing, who won a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes two years ago, has been held without a point only twice in his last nine games.

Among the nine traded defensemen who have been in the league nearly all season, eight played for teams that have been outscored. Nearly all move to better clubs.

Looking at plus-minus on the season, the one who stands out is Bryce Salvador, who the Blues sent to New Jersey. St. Louis had been outscored by 16 goals during his tenure, but Salvador was +12 on the season, easily the best plus-minus among traded defensemen.

San Jose acquired defenseman Brian Campbell from Buffalo. Known for his ability to move the puck up ice, Campbell leads his traded peers with nine assists and 10 points in 13 games this month, though his plus-minus is -2. Brad Stuart had seven assists and eight points for the Kings in February, but he was -5.

Posted by Thom Henninger at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Parity seems to be a byproduct of the new NHL. Nine of the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference are in first place or within five points of it. Only two teams in the East are more than 10 points out of first.

The division leaders in the Western Conference -- Detroit, Minnesota and Dallas -- have larger leads than their Eastern counterparts, but parity still figures in a tight playoff race. Take the runaway Red Wings and Pacific-leading Stars out of the equation, and the next 10 teams in the Western Conference standings are separated by just 10 points. Those 10 clubs are in pursuit of the West’s final six postseason berths.

Going into Wednesday night’s action, Vancouver and Calgary hold down the West’s final two playoff spots with 68 points. The next four clubs in the chase -- Phoenix, St. Louis, Colorado and Columbus -- are within five points of the Canucks and Flames.

Although parity is a key theme of the playoff push down the stretch, you won’t find it between the conferences. The West has a significant edge over the East in 2007-08.

East vs. West, 2007-08

Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Record. . . . . . . . Points
Eastern Conference (vs. West). . . . . . . .52-55-12. . . . . . 116 points
Western Conference (vs. East). . . . . . . .67-40-12. . . . . . 146 points

The Avalanche may be seeded 11th in the West with a little less than six weeks remaining in the regular season, but they top all Western clubs with a 7-1-0 record and 14 points against the East. The Ducks are 6-2-0 and the Red Wings are 6-2-1 facing Eastern teams this season, and that may not bode well for the East’s representative in the Stanley Cup finals.

Until then, however, parity rules as clubs vie to play postseason hockey.

Posted by Thom Henninger at 1:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook’s plus-minus was -5 entering December 19, but he’s compiled one of the league’s best ratings over the past two months.

Best Plus-Minus Rating – December 19 & Since

Nicklas Lidstrom, Det +21
Pavel Datsyuk, Det +19
Brent Seabrook, Chi +18
Johnny Oduya, NJ +18

Posted by Walter Lis at 8:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It’s a good bet that a teenager will win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie, and you can add Peter Mueller’s name to the mix.

The eighth overall pick by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2006 draft, the Minnesota native has the gifts to make an immediate impact. The 6-foot-2 center rarely figured in the scoring for the first two months of the season, however, as he managed just a goal and an assist in his first 11 games.

Mueller broke through with a hat trick in a 6-5 road win against the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks on Nov. 7, but then he didn’t score a goal in six straight games.

The drought is over. Mueller has been held without a point in only three of the Coyotes’ last 16 games. It’s a run in which the teenager has tallied 10 goals and 10 assists. In that stretch, he’s surpassed his point total of the first 40 games of the season.

Mueller’s Scoring Surge

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gms. . . . . . . . G. . . . . . . . . .A. . . . . . . . .Pts
Through Jan. 8. . . . . . . . . .40. . . . . . . . . .9. . . . . . . . . 10. . . . . . . . .19
Jan. 9 & Since. . . . . . . . . . 16. . . . . . . . .10. . . . . . . . . 10. . . . . . . . .20

The goal-scoring surge began on Jan. 17. Mueller had picked up just two goals in his previous 19 games when he scored in three straight contests. After his streak was halted at three games, Mueller bounced back with two of four Phoenix goals in a 4-2 win in Columbus on Jan. 29.

Mueller registered his second career hat trick a week ago, giving Phoenix a 3-0 lead over Calgary after two periods on Feb. 5. The Flames rebounded with three third-period goals and went on to win in a shootout.

"It's bittersweet," Mueller said. "It's always nice when your line puts a few points up, but right now, those two points for the team are the biggest thing on our minds right now." With the loss, the Coyotes failed to jump over the Flames in their pursuit of a Western Conference playoff berth. Still, Mueller has to be excited about his recent scoring touch.

Mueller’s goal-scoring surge has pushed him to the top of the leader board among rookies. He’s one of four teenagers who have been finding the net this season.

Goal Leaders among Rookies, 2007-08

Rookie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Age. . . . . . . .Goals
Peter Mueller, Pho. . . . . . .19. . . . . . . . . 19
Jonathan Toews, Chi. . . . . .19. . . . . . . . . 15
Patrick Kane, Chi. . . . . . . . 19. . . . . . . . . 12
David Perron, StL. . . . . . . . 19. . . . . . . . . 10
Five rookies tied with. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

For what it’s worth, Mueller is the elder of the group. He turns 20 on April 14. The youngest is Chicago’s Patrick Kane, who remains a teenager until mid-November. One of these four teens will celebrate his 20th birthday soon after winning the Calder Trophy for an impressive NHL debut.

Posted by Thom Henninger at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After four years at the University of Michigan, center T.J. Hensick made a strong push to make the Colorado Avalanche roster this fall in his first pro training camp. At just 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, the 22-year-old Hensick calls on explosive speed and a creative streak with the puck, and they will be his ticket to excel against much bigger players in the NHL.

Despite an impressive preseason performance, Hensick started the season with Lake Erie of the AHL. It didn’t take long to join the Avalanche, however, as injuries to Joe Sakic, Paul Stastny and Ryan Smyth have created holes in the offense. Hensick arrived in late November.

In his second NHL game on Dec. 1, Hensick went in alone on a breakaway and snapped a wrist shot past Los Angeles goalie Jason LaBarbera for his first goal.

Then Hensick went two months -- a stretch of 19 games -- without finding the net. In Colorado’s last six games, however, he and the Avalanche have demonstrated a scoring touch that has produced four wins and an overtime loss in the last six games. Even without the scoring punch of Sakic, Stastny and Smyth, the Avs have been able to stay among the Western Conference’s top eight teams in pursuit of a playoff berth.

It’s been an up-and-down road. The Avalanche had lost three of four when they were held to 15 shots and blanked 2-0 in Detroit on Feb. 1. The following night in St. Louis, Hensick scored a pair of goals to help Colorado to a 6-4 victory over the Blues.

“It's been awhile since I've scored a goal,” Hensick said after the game. “Two good plays by two very good players and I reaped the benefits.”

Hensick made it back-to-back two-goal games on Feb. 4, when he scored two of Colorado’s three goals in an overtime loss to Phoenix. On Wednesday, he tallied the go-ahead goal in a 3-1 win over San Jose. After assisting on a Brett Clark goal Saturday, in a 6-2 victory in Vancouver, Hensick has five goals and an assist in Colorado’s last four games.

No one has more goals during the Avs’ 4-1-1 surge. Hensick and others have picked up the slack with key players sidelined.

Colorado Goal-Scoring Leaders, Last Six Games

Player. . . . . . . . . . .G. . . . . . . . . Pts
T.J. Hensick. . . . . . .5. . . . . . . . . . .7
Marek Svatos. . . . . . 4. . . . . . . . . . .6
Tyler Arnason. . . . . .3. . . . . . . . . . 11
Ben Guite. . . . . . . . 3. . . . . . . . . . .4
Milan Hejduk. . . . . . 3. . . . . . . . . . .4

Hensick impressed his teammates with how he handled his scoring drought, still coming ready to play and doing what he can contribute. When you keep putting out, sometimes it seems luck is the only difference between finding the back of the net and going scoreless for days on end. And Hensick’s luck has turned.

“He’s playing great,” Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles said of the rookie. “He’s worked hard and put in some time in the minors and had a few trips back and forth, so it’s nice to see him rewarded.”

The Avs are being rewarded as well by the first-year pro, sooner rather than later.

Posted by Thom Henninger at 6:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)