Trade Deadline blog: Latest news, fantasy spin from around NHL

Welcome to NHL Trade Deadline Day 2018. After weeks of speculation, reports and scouring scouts lists at games across the League, the end of the drama is upon us with teams trying to make moves before 3 p.m. ET. NHL.com will have all the news, analysis and fantasy spin all day long, with reporters in place across the League.

6:40 p.m.

Now that the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline has passed, it is time to start assessing what happened. That will take some time, but let's start with our coverage of the major deals from Monday.
Before we look at individual deals, don't forget
our Trade Tracker
, which has a link to every trade made from June 4 of this year.
As we have mentioned in several entries,
the trades
for Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller by the Tampa Bay Lightning from the New York Rangers has to lead any discussion of the activity Monday.
The Winnipeg Jets likely won the
Western Conference trade wars
by trading with the St. Louis Blues for forward Paul Stastny, a move that could give them the deepest forward group in the conference, if not the League.
When the 2017-18 season started, conventional wisdom had the Vegas Golden Knights selling before the deadline and looking to harvest assets for the future. Instead, general manager George McPhee
expressed confidence in his group
, which leads the Pacific Division, and added Tomas Tatar from the Detroit Red Wings.
Another Western Conference rival, the San Jose Sharks,
countered by acquiring
power forward Evander Kane from the Buffalo Sabres
The Columbus Blue Jackets made two trades Monday,
acquiring scoring forward
Thomas Vanek from Vancouver
and defenseman
Ian Cole from the Ottawa Senators.
The Nashville Predators, the defending Western Conference champions, geared up for another long run by adding some grit to their forward group,
importing forward
Ryan Hartman from the Chicago Blackhawks. Earlier Monday, the Predators
signed veteran center
Mike Fisher, who is coming out of retirement and has been skating with them this month.

5:58 p.m.

TORONTO --The Toronto Maple Leafs did not add to their roster prior to the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday after trading for center Tomas Plekanec on Sunday.
The Maple Leafs (39-20-5, 83 points) are second in the Atlantic Division, four points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and one ahead of the third-place Boston Bruins. They have won four in a row, nine of their past 10 (9-1-0) and 13 of their past 15 (13-2-0) entering their game against the Lightning at Amalie Arena on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SUN, SNO, NHL.TV).
"Chemistry is important, but way our team has been playing, we have confidence in our team," Maple Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello said.
Forwards James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov can all be unrestricted free agents July 1 but with each playing important roles, Lamoriello said it did not make sense to consider trading them.
"I don't know if you had to take too long to weigh it," Lamoriello said. "What you look at where your team is, if you had the reverse you'd go out and get players like that and pay a price for it. It wasn't that difficult to make those decisions. There wasn't much time spent on it."
Though Lamoriello confirmed the Maple Leafs inquired about defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who was traded to the Lightning by the New York Rangers on Monday, the emergence of defenseman Travis Dermott since his recall from Toronto of the American Hockey League on Jan. 5 factored into the decision not to pay a premium.
"No question the development of Dermott has played a role in a lot of our thought process," Lamoriello said. "If we could have added someone who would have made us better and not subtracted, we certainly would have done that."
Dermott and forward Kasperi Kapanen were assigned to Toronto of the AHL and recalled so that they would be available for the AHL playoffs.
Plekanec and forward Kyle Baun were traded to the Maple Leafs by the Montreal Canadiens for forward Kerby Rychel, defenseman Rinat Valiev and a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft on Sunday.
"He's a player who has played against Toronto quite a bit and [Boston], which looks like the logical playoff opponent if everything stays as is," Lamoriello said of Plekanec. "He's had success in the role that he plays. He's a consummate professional. He'll really help our kids, no different than what Patrick Marleau, Ron Hainsey and Dominic Moore have done for us to show exactly what has to be done and how important it is to be a professional. We feel he's going to help us not only on the ice but off the ice." -- Dave McCarthy

5:30 p.m.

The Tampa Bay Lightning trade for Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller from the New York Rangers is official.
The Lightning did pay a hefty bounty, but believe the payoff could lead to their second trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 2015. Top-line forward Vladislav Namestnikov, prospects Libor Hajek and Brett Howden, a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and a conditional first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft was the the haul for the Rangers, who received other futures in trades for Rick Nash and Nick Holden earlier this month.
Here is our
working story
on the trade and the
fantasy impact
on McDonagh, Miller and Namestnikov.

4:30 p.m.

Two other fantasy-relevant trades have become official, with Evander Kane (LW, 69th in Yahoo) joining the San Jose Sharks from the Buffalo Sabres and Thomas Vanek (LW/RW, 169th) heading to the Columbus Blue Jackets from the Vancouver Canucks on Monday.
Kane is likely to play with either Joe Pavelski (70th in Yahoo) or Logan Couture (92nd) in San Jose's top six, and Vanek brings much-needed power-play help to the Blue Jackets. NHL.com's fantasy staff has more on the
impact of the Kane and Vanek trades
.

3:55 p.m.

Leave it to the Tampa Bay Lightning to save what had been a slower-than-expected deadline.
They have made the blockbuster of all the trades, sending top-line forward Vladislav Namestnikov, two prospects and two draft picks, one of them a first-rounder, to the New York Rangers for a package that includes defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller.
When it became clear that Erik Karlsson would not be dealt at the deadline, McDonagh became the prize jewel on the blue line and Steve Yzerman, the Lightning GM, got creative and aggressive to get his man.
The Lightning, the top team in the Eastern Conference, has bolstered a defense that already featured Victor Hedman, a candidate for the Norris Trophy this season, and the always reliable Anton Stralman, also a former Rangers player.
The additions Monday counter aggressive moves made by the other main competitors in the East. On Sunday, Boston obtained Rick Nash, also from the Rangers. On Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the defending Stanley Cup champions, obtained third-line center Derrick Brassard from the Ottawa Senators.

3:10 p.m.

The 2018 NHL Trade Deadline has passed, but the fun is not yet over. Deals can, and likely will, be announced past the deadline. Teams must have the proposals into Central Registry by the deadline, but the trade calls can start after the deadline, especially if there is a backlog.
With that said, it appears that many of the big names that had made the rounds are not on the move. Erik Karlsson remains in Ottawa and Mike Green remains in Detroit.
It will be interesting to see what comes in the next two hours. We will update with any trades announced after the trade deadline, as well as analysis on all the deals that were made Monday.

12:30 p.m.

Whoa, now we are cooking.
The Winnipeg Jets just turned the dials to 11
with a trade for forward Paul Stastny to add to an already loaded group of forwards.
The Jets sent a conditional first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and the rights to forward Erik Foley, an unsigned draft choice, to the St. Louis Blues.
It is arguable the Jets now have the best top-nine grouping in the NHL. They are also the first Western Conference contender to push all of its chips into the middle of the table with a blockbuster trade ahead of the deadline. Will this spur other contenders in the West -- the Nashville Predators, Vegas Golden Knights, in particular -- to make countering moves?
Stastny, 32, has 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists) in 63 games this season. He has had 40 or more points for each of the past four seasons. His 40 points are fifth best on the Jets, behind Blake Wheeler (72), Patrik Laine (51), Mark Scheifele (49) and Nikolaj Ehlers (46).
From a fantasy standpoint, Stastny (C, 25 percent owned in Yahoo) could gain value with the Jets if he centers a line with Laine and Ehlers. NHL.com's fantasy staff
breaks down the Stastny trade
.

12:05 p.m.

The
Nashville Predators traded for forward Ryan Hartman from
the Chicago Blackhawks.
Hartman, 23, was Chicago's first-round pick (No. 30) in the 2013 NHL Draft. He and Chicago's fifth-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft go to Nashville for the Predators' first-round picks in 2018, a fourth-round pick in 2020 and prospect Victor Edjsell.
Hartman fits into Nashville's top-nine as they try bolster their roster for the playoffs. Nashville also signed forward Mike Fisher, a move that has been expected since Fisher announced he was coming out of retirement earlier this month, to a $1-million, one-year contract.
This move is just the latest message from Nashville general manager David Poile that he is all in after reaching Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final last season before being eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Hartman, who has 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 57 games this season, has 57 points (27 goals, 30 assists) in 141 career NHL games.

10:40 a.m.

As we wait for more deals to come down Monday, let's revisit some of the quality content NHL.com has already created around the Trade Deadline.
Here is the
Trade Tracker
, listing and linking to every official Trade made since June.
What will Rick Nash bring to the Boston Bruins? Rob Vollman
looks at the underlying numbers
and sees a deeper forward group for the Atlantic Division contenders --
How about the Rangers post-Nash? The future looks pretty bright in the long-term, especially if general manager Jeff Gorton
can pull off some of the transactions still on his to-do list
, according to Dan Rosen.
Who else could be traded Monday? Let's look at Dan Rosen's
list of the most-coveted assets
still on the market?
Is a trade necessary for a team that wants to win a championship? Mike Zeisberger looked into the
past 10 champions and the answer is interesting
.

10 a.m.

The first trade of the day has taken place, portending what could be a busy Monday.
Defenseman Ian Cole's stay in Ottawa was short-lived. He was
sent to the Columbus Blue Jackets
from the Ottawa Senators, who had acquired him in the Derick Brassard trade on Friday. Ottawa received a third-round pick and a prospect for Cole to couple with the goaltending prospect, a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in 2019 from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Brassard.
Ottawa has players it could still move, most notably defenseman Erik Karlsson. Forwards Mike Hoffman and Jean-Gabriel Pageau are other names rumored to be available.

9:15 a.m.

Three teams In the Eastern Conference made significant additions on offense Sunday, with forward Rick Nash being
traded to the Boston Bruins
from the New York Rangers, forward Tomas Plekanec
moving to the Toronto Maple Leafs
from the Montreal Canadiens and forward Mark Letestu
landing with the Columbus Blue Jackets
from the Nashville Predators after he was sent to Nashville from the Edmonton Oilers.
NHL.com Staff Writer Amalie Benjamin said the Nash trade is a signal the Bruins
want to win now
.
The Nash trade not only gives the Bruins another scoring threat, it should have major fantasy implications for the former Rangers forward and some of his new Boston teammates.
Here is
James Harding with the fantasy spin
on the Nash trade.