Western Conference contenders busy at NHL Trade Deadline

WINNIPEG -- The 2019 NHL Trade Deadline signaled an escalation of the battle in the Western Conference.

Again.
Just like last season, the top contenders were busy adding players on Monday, trying to tweak and, in some cases, turbo-charge their chances to win the Stanley Cup.
Go West, Young Men: [Stone to Golden Knights | Nyquist to Sharks | Simmonds to Predators | Hayes to Jets]
"You look at the top of the food chain in the West," San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said after they acquired forward Gustav Nyquist from the Detroit Red Wings for a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and a conditional third-round pick in 2020. "Each team added some players, added some key pieces to their teams. It's going to be a challenge going forward.
"It forces you to get better and forces you to maybe zero in on some of the details you need to be on top and to play your best hockey."
The road through to the Stanley Cup Final through the Western Conference certainly became a lot more hostile.

San Jose (37-18-8), which added two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on Sept. 13, 2018 and forward Evander Kane in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres at last season's deadline on Feb. 26, 2018, are second in the Pacific Division with 82 points, three behind the first-place Calgary Flames and 13 ahead of the third-place Vegas Golden Knights.
But Vegas raised the stakes Monday.
After reaching the 2018 Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season, the Golden Knights captured one of the biggest prizes in the final minutes before the deadline, acquiring pending unrestricted free agent forward Mark Stone from the Senators for defense prospect Erik Brannstrom, forward Oscar Lindberg and a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Vegas GM George McPhee called it a rare opportunity to acquire a player of Stone's ability and said the move was about keeping focus on the Cup after a five-game series loss to the Washington Capitals last season.
"I'm repeating myself, but you don't get players like this very often," McPhee said. "Players this good aren't available through trade very often.
"We start every day by putting our blueprint up. What were our objectives a couple years ago? What are we trying to do here? And it's a good reminder to read it over and have everyone look at it and talk about where we're trying to go and what we're trying to accomplish. And this fit."
A year ago, the Golden Knights acquired forward Tomas Tatar from the Detroit Red Wings for a first-round pick in 2018, a second-round choice in 2019 and a third-round selection in 2021, then defeated the Los Angeles Kings in four games, the Sharks in six games and the Winnipeg Jets in five games on their improbable journey to the Final.
Tatar had six points (four goals, two assists) in 20 regular-season games for Vegas after the trade. He played in eight of its 16 playoff games and had one goal and one assist. Tatar was traded to the Montreal Canadiens with forward Nick Suzuki and a second-round pick in this year's draft for forward Max Pacioretty on Sept. 10, 2018.

At about the same time Stone was going to the Golden Knights on Monday, the Nashville Predators acquired pending unrestricted free-agent forward Wayne Simmonds from the Philadelphia Flyers for forward Ryan Hartman and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020.
Nashville (36-23-5), which is second in the Central Division with 77 points, also traded forward Kevin Fiala to the Minnesota Wild for forward Mikael Granlund on Monday.
Last season on its way to the Presidents' Trophy (117 points), Nashville added Hartman and a fifth-round pick in 2018 from the Chicago Blackhawks for forward Victor Ejdsell, a first-round pick in 2018 and a fourth-round pick in 2018 prior to the deadline. Predators GM David Poile said he's always aware of what his rivals are doing, but it's not a reason to act.
"No, but you can't help but keep an eye on that," Poile said. "I mean, we've got all of the TVs in a room and you see what somebody is doing and what have you, but I get that and I think that's a question to anticipate. But I think we have to be focused on ourselves."
The Golden Knights and Predators were well aware that the Winnipeg Jets moved in the morning Monday, acquiring pending unrestricted free agent center Kevin Hayes from the New York Rangers for forward Brendan Lemieux, a first-round pick in 2019 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2022.
Winnipeg (37-21-4) leads the Central Division with 78 points, one more than the Predators, with two fewer games played.
A year ago, the Jets put a strong foot forward in the Western Conference arms race when they acquired center Paul Stastny from the St. Louis Blues for a first-round pick in 2018 and forward Erik Foley prior to the deadline.
In the playoffs, Winnipeg defeated Minnesota in five games in the Western Conference First Round and the Predators in seven games in the second round before falling to the Golden Knights. Stastny had 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 19 regular-season games and 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 17 playoff games for Winnipeg but signed with Vegas as a free agent on July 1, 2018.
"I like what we did today for our organization," Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said Monday.
The Jets also acquired defenseman Nathan Beaulieu from the Buffalo Sabres for a sixth-round pick in 2019, forward Matt Hendricks from the Wild for a seventh-round pick in 2019 and forward Par Lindholm from the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward Nic Petan.
"The game is played on the ice; it's not played in the board room, or in the dressing room, or on the score sheet or the stat sheet. The moves we did were discussed and calculated, and I feel good about it."

Cheveldayoff said what happened Monday is what always happens at the deadline; contending teams, including the Jets, try to make moves to get stronger, and they do so with purpose.
"I'm being perfectly honest and I said it last year, if we didn't get the right fit - and we felt Paul (Stastny) was the right fit - we weren't going to make a move because we felt good about our team," Cheveldayoff said. "If there's a fit there and a need there and you can address those things, then you do it.
"There's not a team in this league that's going to make trades just for the sake of making trades."
Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving used that script Monday.
The Flames (39-16-7), who lead the West with 85 points, made one trade, acquiring defenseman Oscar Fantenburg from the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020.
Questioned on Calgary's relatively quiet deadline day in comparison to its conference rivals, Treliving said restraint was crucial in his view.
"There's no mourning," he said. "The hearse is not driving by and none of us are climbing in. We're pretty excited about our team. I'm prepared to go to battle with this group."
Treliving said the Flames held to their game plan. They were not going to paying high prices simply to join an arms race.
"I've said it many times, if we do nothing today, the same 23 bodies that have gotten us this far are still here," he said. "And if we can add to that, great. If we had to do something [such as trading high draft picks] that's going to impact us moving forward, that just didn't make sense.
"You're aware what's going on around you. You don't have the blinders on. But because your next-door-neighbor buys a big car, if you can't afford it, you don't buy the big car, right? When you try to keep up with the Joneses just for the sake of keeping up with the Jones, the banks comes and takes it from you at some point."
The ante has been raised. Nobody's admitting that rivals caused it to happen, but it doesn't matter now. The games won't be played in the offices and board rooms. They will take place on the ice until the Cup winner is decided.