The Florida Panthers have signed one of their top prospects, Jayce Hawryluk, to an entry-level contract, the team announced Tuesday.
Hawryluk, a center, was selected in the second round, 32nd overall by the Panthers in 2014.
He's scored 30 goals and has already established a career high in points at the Major Junior level, with 79 in 49 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings this season.
Hawryluk ostensibly sealed his first professional contract with 33 points in 13 games over the last month.
The 2016 edition felt rather dry and uneventful, especially up until 2 p.m. ET. Nevertheless, many teams hoping to get a final piece to push them into the Cup conversation were active.
While there wasn't much in terms of high-calibre talent exchanged Monday, the transactions that did (and didn't) happen leave us with a clearer picture of the realities teams are facing.
Here are three things we learned from the trade deadline:
In all the deals Monday and the days leading up, only the Andrew Ladd trade between the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks saw a team willing to part with a first-round pick.
With growing proof that these picks - no matter where in the top 30 they slot - can bring in a potential game-changing player, teams are becoming much more reluctant to give them up.
Meanwhile, as many as six second-round picks were included in deals between Feb. 25-29.
General managers are getting ahead of the curb
While several trades were made in the final minutes before the deadline, there wasn't even one major blockbuster completed Monday.
The biggest names moved were arguably Mikkel Boedker and Kris Russell, which suggests that teams interested in marquee players did their due diligence in advance of Monday.
General managers are no longer waiting until the last minute to make a deal. Teams are combing the market earlier and pouncing when they get the chance. Expect this to be the new norm.
The Avalanche want it now
The Blackhawks and Panthers made it crystal clear heading into Monday they mean business this season.
After the dust settled Monday, though, it appeared the big winner of the day was the Colorado Avalanche.
The Avalanche are currently holding down the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with just a two-point cushion between them and the Minnesota Wild.
Colorado added Boedker and underutilized defenseman Eric Gelinas. In exchange the team sacrificed ageing forward Alex Tanguay, 2014 first- and third-round picks Conner Bleackley and Kyle Wood, and a third-round draft pick.
Since the Avalanche gave up two prospects for Boedker, who'll likely serve asa rental player, it appears they have one thing on their mind: this year's Cup.
Boedker gives the team a lot of skill - though the analytics community will argue Tanguay holds more value - and makes the potential line of him, Gabriel Landeskog, and Nathan MacKinnon perhaps the fastest in the league.
It had been hard to get a read on the Avalanche, who've played jump rope with a playoff position. Whether or not the deals pan out, it's clear Joe Sakic and Co. are aiming for a deep playoff run.
In the new asset-management NHL, it's harder now than it's ever been to draw up and execute a plan at the trade deadline. And though we're seeing more imagination in the workings of the league's 30 GMs, who continue to evolve in concert with the game, that conservative "Ah, let's get 'em on the draft floor" mentality still tends to win out when the stakes are so high.
That said, in every season there are a handful of specific team situations and corresponding contracts that require in-season activity. Inaction in these instances can result in grave consequences. Yet, even with that inherent knowledge, teams still make the same mistakes and mismanage the same resources.
Here are three things that definitely should've happened on trade deadline day:
The Canucks should've done something, anything
We're sort of belaboring the topic at this point, but in speaking of squandered assets, the conversation begins with Jim Benning and the Vancouver Canucks.
Stuck in the Western Conference wasteland, there might not be a single team in a less-enviable position. But for Vancouver, and on Monday, that wasn't the case.
The Canucks had two very attractive rental commodities in a legitimate top-four defenseman Dan Hamhuis, and a two-time 30-goal scorer in Radim Vrbata. With their blessings, each could've been moved for a pick, prospect, or package to help the team gain some traction. Yet, inexplicably, the only thing Benning did on Monday was lose Adam Cracknell to waivers.
There's absolutely no excuse for not dealing these players, even considering their respective no-trade functions and affinity for Vancouver. This mismanagement represents gross oversight, and borderline negligence.
Kings had to match wits
This segues nicely, as we might have been able to gloss over the Canucks had Hamhuis moved to Los Angeles. But instead of making a major splash, Dean Lombardi decided to finesse around the edges.
In all, the Kings acquired Vincent Lecavalier, Luke Schenn, Rob Scuderi, and Kris Versteeg (a quartet with five Stanley Cups between them) over the last several months, and didn't surrender one player on their active roster to do so. Though the value these four players encompass isn't significant - at least on the open market - they're bodies that fit Los Angeles' scheme.
But in beating the market and using the wiggle room they had from under the cap by acquiring Lecavalier and Schenn almost two months ago, their closest competitors had the opportunity to evaluate a greater sample, and issue the appropriate response in turn.
The Blackhawks, Stars, and Ducks - the three other teams most believe have a chance of coming out of the West - each will have more effectively filled holes on their rosters with their in-season transactions.
Must part with Parenteau
Lou Lamoriello fell one trade short of a masterclass.
The 73-year-old Maple Leafs GM, who through decades of experience with the NHL trade market has been the right man to properly execute the strategy of his forward-thinking franchise, failed with one task: fetching a return for the injured P.A. Parenteau.
Having out-performed his $1.5-million cap hit, Parenteau was considered one of, if not the safest bet to be traded out of Toronto before the deadline. No player under Mike Babcock did more for his value.
But in the end, a troublesome neck injury likely gave interested parties pause. At the very least, though, the club should have pocketed whatever lottery ticket was on the table (perhaps a trade akin to Brandon Pirri's return) and then revisited the partnership this summer with Parenteau, who had already expressed his desire to return.
In a trade announced nearly two hours after Monday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, forward David Jones is heading from the Calgary Flames to the Minnesota Wild, and his son sure seems excited about dad's new team.
Jones posted the video on Twitter after sending a thank-you to Flames' fans. The 31-year-old recorded 62 points in 174 games across three seasons in Calgary.
Thank you Flames fans. It was a privilege to play in front of you. Thanks to my teammates for the memories and friendships.
After seeing a pair of high-schoolers holding the sign below during pre-game warmups, Zuccarello handed an extra stick to a security guard to give to the young couple. He autographed both the sign and the stick following the win.
Andreas Athanasiou scored his second goal Monday against the Dallas Stars in spectacular fashion, speeding into the offensive zone before toe-dragging around defenseman Johnny Oduya and roofing the backhand past goalie Antti Niemi.
His two-goal performance doubles his season total in his 18th game with the Red Wings.
The big performance from Johnson comes just one day after he was forced from a game against the Boston Bruins due to a puck to the head from an Adam McQuaid clearing attempt. The 28-year-old has three goals and two assists in his last six games.
The other story from the game came from a quartet of Maple Leaf rookies making their NHL debuts in William Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen, Zach Hyman, and Nikita Soshnikov. All four impressed, but were ultimately kept off the scoresheet.
Player
TOI
SOG
Hits
Nylander
18:41
2
0
Kapanen
16:48
3
2
Hyman
15:58
2
1
Soshnikov
14:12
3
1
After Nazem Kadri scored with under three minutes left to make it a one-goal game, head coach Mike Babcock turned to Nylander, Kapanen, and Hyman for the game's final shift and the Maple Leafs kept considerable pressure before defenseman Jake Gardiner failed to keep the puck inside the blue line.
Though the result didn't go the way they'd hoped, it was clearly a dream come true for all four players to hit the ice at the NHL level.
"When you're standing in front of (Steven) Stamkos, you're like 'this is the NHL,'" Nylander told reporters, but admitted: "I just wanted to score, that's the only thing, and win the game. Otherwise it was lots of fun."
Kapanen: "It was pretty awesome I'm not going to lie."
The Leafs now head to Washington on Wednesday, where recent acquisition Brooks Laich will visit his old team. The Lightning, who have drawn even with the Florida Panthers at 78 points atop the Atlantic, will wrap up their three-game trip against the Ottawa Senators.
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Derek Stepan wasn't interested in playing overtime.
The New York Rangers forward pounced on a loose puck after a miscue by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the neutral zone, then faked out goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and scored to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead with under three minutes left.
Stepan's 14th goal of the season came with seven seconds left in a tripping penalty to teammate Marc Staal, and helped the Rangers secure their third straight victory as they held on for a 2-1 win.
Servalli's source stressed Drouin's return is not a possibility, and Yzerman's offer is reportedly believed to only include the Syracuse Crunch, the club's AHL affiliate.
Even if the the offer included a chance to return to the Lightning before the playoffs, Servalli reports Drouin isn't believed to be interested.
The 20-year-old forward was suspended indefinitely without pay by the Lightning for failing to report to a game with the Crunch last month.
Yzerman elected not to trade Drouin, despite garnering plenty of interest from around the league, saying it "made no sense" to deal him for a rental player that he couldn't or wouldn't want to re-sign.
Drouin has been skating in the Montreal area with his former midget team while awaiting a deal. He could still be traded before the end of the season, but any team acquiring him wouldn't be able to use him in the playoffs.
The 2013 third overall pick could also be dealt at the draft, which takes place in Buffalo on June 24 and 25.
