The trade deadline's come and gone, and the New York Islanders will have a new face in their lineup Thursday. Only thing is, he's one of their own.
Joshua Ho-Sang - drafted 28th overall in the first round in 2014 - will make his NHL debut Thursday in Dallas against the Stars, head coach Doug Weight confirmed.
"He will be in the lineup and he's earned the right to be up here," Weight said.
The 21-year-old comes up from the AHL with 10 goals and 36 points in 48 games during his first minor-league season.
"I'm super excited," Ho-Sang said Wednesday, writes NHL.com's Brian Compton. "I'm just going to take it and run with it. I've been waiting for this moment my whole life. Getting the call-up is one thing, but playing a good game is another."
The Islanders are one point back of Toronto for the second wild-card playoff spot in the East, but sat on the sidelines during the deadline. With prices sky high and few impact players available, Garth Snow and Co. instead chose to stay in-house.
Ho-Sang made headlines in 2014 training camp - after he was drafted - when he slept in and was sent back to the OHL. He told Compton he's made a lot of changes to his lifestyle, and that's why he's where he is today - on the cusp of fulfilling a dream.
Other factors contributing to a slow deadline included the faux league-wide parity created largely by the "loser point" and the looming expansion draft, which will force teams to make tough decisions about which players to protect from being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights.
The trade deadline didn't go as planned for Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray.
Murray entered the day with two potential rental defensemen in Dmitry Kulikov and Cody Franson - who will both become unrestricted free agents at season's end - but after 3 p.m. ET, they remained members of the Sabres.
"I'm a little bit surprised," he said, according to John Vogl of The Buffalo News. "We didn't have a ton of UFAs, as you know. We had two on the back end that I thought would create some interest. I had some calls on them. Price-wise I was very open."
The Sabres GM expressed his dissatisfaction with the day as a whole.
"Am I disappointed? Of course I'm disappointed," Murray said. "We still have two players here who are here, so I don't want to sit here and just say I couldn't get anything for them. I don't want them to walk in tomorrow with their tail between their legs here."
He added that he received calls on Brian Gionta and Evander Kane, but wasn't interested in the potential deals.
With the Sabres now six points outside the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and five teams to jump, they're likely destined for an early spring.
Following a deadline deal Wednesday, the veteran forward is heading to the Kings with winning on his mind.
Iginla, 39, was in the final year of his contract with the struggling Colorado Avalanche, while the move to Los Angeles could offer him a shot at his first Stanley Cup.
Asked if he views the Kings as a contender to win it all, Iginla told Yahoo's Josh Cooper: "I really believe that."
The Kings won their first Stanley Cup in 2012 and repeated the feat two years later. This season, Los Angeles sits one point outside the playoff picture, chasing the St. Louis Blues for the last wild-card position.
The trade to Los Angeles reunites Iginla with coach Darryl Sutter, who was behind the bench for part of Iginla's time with the Calgary Flames. Iginla captained the Flames from 2003-13, before accepting a trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2013 deadline.
That attempt didn't end with the silver mug, nor did Iginla's next stints with the Boston Bruins and Avalanche. But he likes his odds in Los Angeles.
"I remember (Drew) Doughty after he won his last (Cup) saying how hungry he was for another one," Iginla told Jon Rosen.
Now moving to his fifth NHL club, not only will Iginla don a different look - he'll also switch away from his iconic No. 12. That number is owned by the Kings' Marian Gaborik, and Iginla has no plans to ask the veteran to put it up for grabs.
When Gretzky came to LA, Iginla says he bought a Kings jersey and lettered with his name and number 88 ...may go in that direction
It was a relatively busy deadline for the Kings, who made another big-ticket move earlier this week in adding goaltender Ben Bishop from the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Kings hope Iginla, who's recorded 18 points this season, will give them an added boost for their playoff push.
The dust of the trade deadline is finally beginning to settle.
Deals involving Thomas Vanek, Jarome Iginla, and Mark Streit were among the most lucrative and biggest trades reported in the hour before and after the 3:00 p.m. ET mark.
While those moves are expected to have the biggest payoffs for the teams that acquired those players, even the smallest deadline transaction can eventually make a huge impact on the NHL landscape.
Here are three minor trades from Wednesday that could pay off big:
Parenteau to Predators
(Photo courtesy: USA Today Sports)
The Nashville Predators made a safe move to improve their eighth-ranked offense.
The Predators acquired P.A. Parenteau from the New Jersey Devils, giving up just a sixth-round pick for his services. In exchange, Nashville gets a player who has proven - wherever he's played - that he can put the puck in the net.
Parenteau had amassed the fourth-most goals for the Devils this season with 13, firing 109 shots on goal. He's an asset on the power play, collecting four goals and eight points with the extra man.
The Predators' power play currently sits 12th overall, so upgrading that unit could pay dividends down the stretch and into the postseason.
Stafford to Bruins
Drew Stafford was having a season to forget in Winnipeg, but a deal to the Boston Bruins could bring the 31-year-old winger new life.
The Bruins acquired Stafford for the low price of a conditional sixth-round selection. While he's amassed only four goals and 13 points in 49 games, history shows Stafford can thrive as a rental.
He first joined the Jets ahead of the trade deadline during the 2014-15 season. After scoring just nine goals and 24 points in 50 games with the Buffalo Sabres, he went off for nine goals and 19 points in 26 games down the stretch, adding another two points in four playoff contests.
If he can even approach replicating that type of production with the Bruins, he could be vital in Boston not just making the playoffs, but potentially going on a run.
The Canadiens certainly add size through the transaction - Martinsen, who's 26, has 5 inches and 32 pounds over the 23-year-old Andrighetto. However, in doing so, they may have given up the more skilled player.
Andrighetto's experienced only marginal success with the big club this season - he has just two goals and eight points in 22 games - but last season he posted a respectable 17 points in 44 games. This season with the St. John's IceCaps, Andrighetto has 22 points in 20 games.
Martinsen, meanwhile, has collected seven points in 55 games this year and just 18 points in 110 career games.
If Andrighetto can continue to develop his game, the Avalanche could have themselves a serviceable forward for the future.
Peter Chiarelli's inactivity on the goaltending front before Wednesday's trade deadline was surprising to some, but the Edmonton Oilers general manager says he's comfortable with the netminders on the roster.
"We decided we're going to go with the goalies we have," Chiarelli told reporters after the 3 p.m. ET deadline passed. "We see improvement and we're confident in (backup Laurent Brossoit)."
Cam Talbot has been reliable as the Oilers' starter, going 32-18-7 with a 2.38 GAA and .920 save percentage, but he's played 57 of Edmonton's 64 games, already one more appearance than he made in all of last season.
Brossoit - a sixth-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2011 - has allowed eight goals in four NHL games this campaign.
"We felt, after making the move yesterday for Desharnais, we weren't going to be overly active," Chiarelli said Wednesday, adding that he's confident in the group as currently assembled.
The Oilers occupy second place in the Pacific Division, five points behind the San Jose Sharks - who own two games in hand - and two points up on the Anaheim Ducks, who have one game in hand on Edmonton.
Rumors circled the two forwards in recent months, while reports indicated Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic had set the bar high to make a deal work. Colorado was believed to be seeking at least three or four high-end assets in exchange for either player.
That price tag was evidently too steep for rival GMs, who passed on Duchene and Landeskog despite both players holding multi-year contracts - not pure rentals like the bulk of players moved at the deadline.
Sakic had conversations about a lot of guys, won't get into specifics with players and other GMs. #Avs
"I don't have to make any major moves," Sakic told Brian Compton of NHL.com. "I wasn't out there throwing names around. I don't do that."
But that doesn't mean the Avalanche can't revisit the possibility of dealing one or both players in the offseason, particularly during the entry draft, which has become a hotbed for transactions in recent seasons.
The Avalanche's season has been effectively over for months, with the team mired at the bottom of the standings. Colorado owns an NHL-worst record, with just 17 wins in 61 games and sits 14 points back of the next-lowest club.
Another trade deadline has come and gone, and while this year's mill didn't churn as much water, there are no shortage of talking points.
Here are three clear winners and losers.
Winners
Jarome Iginla
Sweet freedom.
Possibly in the final days of his NHL career, Jarome Iginla was mercifully cut loose by the woeful Colorado Avalanche and traded to the Los Angeles Kings, with whom he could have a shot at landing a long sought-after Stanley Cup.
First, though, the Kings need to clinch a playoff spot. At the deadline, Los Angeles sits one point behind St. Louis and six behind Calgary in the race for a wild-card berth.
Still, Iginla's in a much better spot this afternoon than he was this morning.
Vancouver Canucks
Canucks general manager Jim Benning veered further to the right on the "goat to G.O.A.T" scale with a pair of deals that brought nice pieces to Vancouver.
Out went Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen, and in come promising forward prospects Jonathan Dahlen and Nikolay Goldobin (along with a fourth-round pick) from Ottawa and San Jose, respectively.
In truth, the rebuilding process should have begun a few years ago, but these are steps in the right direction.
Detroit Red Wings
Ken Holland recognized the reality in Detroit, and the Red Wings' GM entered sell mode for the first time in a while.
Forwards Thomas Vanek, Tomas Jurco, and Steve Ott, along with defenseman Brendan Smith were all shipped out of town, with rearguard Dylan McIlrath and a handful of draft picks coming back in return.
Detroit now holds 11 picks in 2017, nine in 2018, and seven in 2019.
With all due respect, getting anything for Ott was a win in and of itself.
Losers
Radim Vrbata
The Arizona Coyotes failed to find a new home for Radim Vrbata, and missing out on playoff hockey will cost him.
Built into his contract are the following bonuses:
Qualify for playoffs - $250,000
Playoff round win - $250,000 per round
Vrbata, who has 15 goals and 32 assists to his name, did sign the one-year, $1-million base deal with a Coyotes team unlikely to qualify to begin with, but surely he was hoping to be moved - not only for a chance at those bonuses, but more importantly, a Stanley Cup.
Maybe next year.
Colorado Avalanche
Apparent sellers for weeks now, the last-place Avalanche dealt Iginla to Los Angeles for a fourth-round draft pick that carries two conditions - one playoff-related and the other based on whether Iginla re-signs with the Kings for next season.
The merits of saving potential trades involving Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog for the offseason are clear, but to come out of the deadline with that lone pick is pitiful, especially with useful veterans like John Mitchell and Fedor Tyutin to sell.
As it stands, Colorado will enter the 2017 draft with just two picks in the top 90, with the first likely being No.1 overall.
Godspeed.
Buffalo Sabres
Losers of four in a row heading into the deadline and all but dead in the water in the playoff race, the Buffalo Sabres did ... absolutely nothing.
That, with at least four soon-to-be unrestricted free agents who should have been able to command at least a draft pick in return:
The forward wasn't dealt before the NHL's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline Wednesday, and that's due to the fact he's battling an undisclosed injury that will require season-ending surgery, general manager Jim Nill announced. The ailment prevented a trade.
Sharp's been playing through the injury and will continue to do so, Nill said, which is why the Stars won't disclose it.
The 35-year-old is playing out the final season of his contract, earning $5.9 million, and will be free to sign with any team on July 1.
Injuries have derailed Sharp's season. He has only seven goals and eight assists in 37 games.
