Bruins Acquire Drew Stafford From Winnipeg
After watching all of their Atlantic Division rivals add pieces this week, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney was able to stay true to his goal of not overpaying this deadline, as he did last year, but still added some quality depth by bringing in Winnipeg Jets winger Drew Stafford for a conditional 2017 sixth-round pick. The return becomes a 2017 fifth-round pick if the Bruins make the playoffs and a fourth-round pick if the Bruins win at least one playoff round and Stafford plays in 50% of postseason games.
Stafford is having the worst season of his NHL career, yes. However, that is also due in part to only playing in 40 games due to injury. Stafford is just one year removed from a 38-point season and scored 40 points or more four times earlier in his career. The Bruins are certainly familiar with his body of work with the rival Buffalo Sabres and were able to bring the scoring winger in at a very low cost. Boston has been rolling lately with a 7-1 record under new head coach Bruce Cassidy, but rookie winger Peter Cehlarik and streaky Jimmy Hayes have also been playing in top-nine roles nearly every night. If Sweeney had gone through the deadline without adding any additional depth to banged-up Matt Beleskey, he would have been risking the Bruins’ good momentum falling apart if either Cehlarik’s or Hayes’ play fell off. Stafford adds some excellent insurance for Boston down the stretch, as they look to return to the postseason for the first time in three years.
Dallas Stars Trade Lauri Korpikoski To Columbus
As the trades all pour in after the deadline, the Dallas Stars have traded Lauri Korpikoski to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Dillon Heatherington. 
The Blue Jackets added Kyle Quincey on the back end earlier today, and now give themselves some depth up front. Korpikoski has been an effective bottom-six winger for almost a decade in the NHL, providing some consistent secondary scoring and penalty killing ability. He’ll fit in nicely for head coach John Tortorella who Korpikoski briefly played for in his rookie season.
The team has put together everything they need to go and win a playoff round for the first time in their existence. Tied with Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan division, adding some experience will help them keep pace down the stretch.
For Heatherington, this is probably a great chance to make the NHL sooner than later. Since being drafted in the second round in 2013, he has been stuck in the AHL behind a very good group of defense. In Dallas, he’ll immediately become a nice option for the team as soon as next year as they try to rebuild their defense corps. Not an offensive defenseman, Heatherington uses his long reach and physical stature to win puck battles and clear the zone effectively.
For Columbus, it’s a worthwhile move to add depth in a year that almost everything has gone right. While Korpikoski is on just a one-year deal, he may be an option to re-sign in the summer and grow with this group.
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Tampa Bay Flips Streit To Pittsburgh
Give Steve Yzerman credit. In two moves, the Lightning GM was able to rid himself of Valtteri Filppula, whose contract was a heavy burden for the team, by trading him to the Philadelphia Flyers. He then took the inexplicable return, defenseman Mark Streit, and traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun. In exchange, Tampa Bay will receive a fourth-round pick from the Penguins, which will recoup the pick they sent to the Flyers in the previous deal. Basically, he took advantage of the fact that Philly and Pittsburgh don’t do business with each other to help his team in a major way by moving out Filppula.
However, Streit is also a big gain for the Penguins. After the rival Washington Capitals added elite puck-moving defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, the Penguins have now added Streit and Frank Corrado. The Lightning will also retain 50% of Streit’s remaining salary (Philadelphia held on to 4.7% of his original contract), helping the Penguins to fit him on to the roster.
2017 NHL Trade Deadline Transaction Tracker
Keep it right here for all the trades, extensions and movement around the league on Trade Deadline day in the NHL.
Eric Fehr Headed To Toronto Maple Leafs For Frank Corrado
While it is still pending details and a trade call, Bob McKenzie of TSN is reporting that the Pittsburgh Penguins have traded recently waived Eric Fehr along with Steven Oleksy and a fourth-round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Frank Corrado.
For the Maple Leafs, this is another example of using their cap space as an asset during their rebuild. In Fehr, the Leafs have taken on the rest of his contract which has another year at $2MM in return for the draft pick. He also fulfills their expansion requirements up front, though they were likely not in much trouble there anyway.
For Corrado, another player who cleared waivers earlier this season, he provides some more right-handed depth for the Penguins. As the team also added Mark Streit, their defense corps is very full going forward but is now ready for a long playoff run and some possible injuries. Corrado hadn’t played much at all since coming to the Maple Leafs, and now might have to wait for an opportunity to open in Pittsburgh as well.
If the Maple Leafs bury Fehr in the minors, he’ll join Brooks Laich, Milan Michalek and Colin Greening on the most expensive AHL team in the league. All four forwards are capable bottom-six players that will provide some depth for Toronto as they try to get back to the playoffs. If the team deems him a good fit for the NHL squad, he would likely slot in beside Matt Martin and Brian Boyle on the fourth line. That would mean sitting Josh Levio, who has proven himself a capable offensive producer even with limited minutes.
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Ottawa Sends Curtis Lazar To Calgary
The Ottawa Senators were hoping to get a better return for Curtis Lazar than a second-round pick, but it seems that offer never came. The Calgary Flames have acquired Lazar and Mike Kostka for their 2017 second-rounder and defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka.
After months of speculation due to an inferred poor fit and a drop-off in production, the Senators have finally moved on from their promising 21-year-old forward. Lazar was the 17th overall pick in 2013 and Ottawa had high hopes for his career. Lazar broke into the NHL in 2014-15 and over the past two seasons he accumulated 35 points in 141 games. However, 2016-17 has been a different story, as Lazar has hit a wall in his development and has struggled to fit in with the team’s system. He has just one assist in 33 games and Ottawa has been frustrated over his lack of production.
In a new location, especially with the speedy Flames, Lazar can still be a great player. Lazar has mostly played right wing in Ottawa, but prefers to play center, and Calgary has all lefties down the middle. Lazar, even if it’s not until 2017-18, should eventually slot in nicely as a right-handed center for the Flames who can keep up with their fast, skilled forwards. To give a talented young player a fresh start, an investment of a second-round pick and a young defenseman who has not worked out is certainly a good deal for Calgary and GM Brad Treliving. For Ottawa, they simply took the best offer they could get for a player who clearly needed to move on.
New Jersey Trades P.A. Parenteau To Nashville
According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the New Jersey Devils have continued selling their expiring contracts, this time sending P.A. Parenteau to the Nashville Predators for a sixth-round pick. The Predators have been looking for some forward help and will pay a very small price for a player who can score 20 goals and contribute on the powerplay. 
Parenteau was signed by the New York Islanders and looked like he would spend time on John Taveras’ wing again, the spot that he found a lot of success early in his career. Instead, the Islanders waived him just before the start of the season and New Jersey snapped him up. He has scored 13 goals and 27 points in 59 games and is capable of skating alongside top players if he is given the chance.
The Predators could slot him in beside captain Mike Fisher as Craig Smith has had a tough season and isn’t producing at the same level as in the past. Either way, at the same cost as Steve Ott went for last night, Parenteau is an easy gamble for Nashville to make.
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Flyers Trade Mark Streit To Lightning For Valtteri Filppula
The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired veteran defenseman Mark Streit from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for another veteran, center Valtteri Filppula. Streit is an impending free agent, while Filppula has another year remaining at $5MM and had to accept this trade to Philadelphia. The Lightning will also send a 2017 fourth-round pick and conditional 2017 seventh-round pick to Philly. The Flyers will retain 4.7% of Streit’s contract.
The trade is really centered around Tampa Bay’s salary cap crunch and Expansion Draft scenario. Filppula’s No-Movement Clause made him automatically protected in the draft, which put pressure on both Tampa’s expansion decisions and 2017-18 payroll. By moving Filppula and the final year of his five-year, $5MM contract, the Lightning have had many of those issues alleviated. Rather than choosing who they wanted to leave exposed or which restricted free agent they couldn’t sign, Yzerman will now have more flexibility in his maneuvers.
However, there is certainly a trade-0ff in talent. Filppula is still an effective NHL contributor, with 34 points this season, and joins a talented group of forwards in Philadelphia who may be in need of a strong veteran presence to turn their season around or, at least, to help them get back into shape next season. The Flyers had the cap space and expansion situation to acquire Filppula, and were one of the few teams who could, which explains why the cheap price of 39-year-old Streit was enough to get the deal done and why Tampa sent over draft picks as well. Streit is still a good puck-mover, but his production has dropped off significantly. The Lightning are outside of the playoffs right now, and Streit won’t hurt their chances, but trading away Ben Bishop, Brian Boyle, and now Filppula shows that the postseason is not the primary focus of the team right now.
New Jersey Devils Trade Kyle Quincey To Columbus Blue Jackets
According to Darren Dreger of TSN, the New Jersey Devils have traded Kyle Quincey to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Dalton Prout. As always, the deal is pending a trade call but is agreed to at this point. 
Quincey was always going to be sent somewhere at the deadline after being held out of the lineup this week. While most of the rental defensemen have been dealt for picks, the Devils are looking for players that can possibly help them as early as next season. Prout has one year left on his current deal at $1.575MM, and had fallen out of favor in Columbus.
A former mainstay on the back end, Prout has only played 15 games for the Blue Jackets this season and saw his ice time slashed considerably. The 26-year old still has a little bit of upside to his game, if he can get back to the level he played early in his career. He at least can provide a big-bodied depth piece as the Devils try to make it back to the playoffs last season.
Quincey on the other hand has proven that he can still compete at the NHL level at least in the bottom pairing. The Blue Jackets have one of the best top-four (or five) defenseman in the NHL, but needed to add some depth to numbers 6 and 7. They found it and had to give up very little in Prout, holding onto all of their draft picks.
In a rental market that has seen a lot of high picks sent for defenseman recently, acquiring Quincey keeps the Blue Jackets in line with the Rangers and Penguins without giving up as much. They’re a lock for the playoffs as one of the leaders of the Metropolitan division, but will try to get home ice by finishing in the top two. Currently sitting tied with the Penguins for that second spot, they have given up the second fewest goals in the NHL and just upgraded on the blueline.
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Tampa Bay, Florida Swap AHL Goaltenders
Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that the Tampa Bay Lightning have traded Adam Wilcox to Florida for Mike McKenna. Both goaltenders are playing in the AHL at the moment, though McKenna does have some NHL experience over his lengthy professional career.
McKenna was drafted way back in 2002 by the Nashville Predators, and has bounced around the minor leagues for over a decade. He has been excellent, average and bad at different times, with the most recent stint with Springfield being closer to the lower end of that scale. The 33-year old has a .907 save percentage this season.
Wilcox on the other hand is just 24 but has had a tough time adjusting to the AHL since starring at the University of Minnesota. At a .895 save percentage this season, Syracuse needed an improvement for their upcoming playoff run. Despite their bad goaltending—Kristers Gudlevskis also has a sub-.900 save percentage this season—the Crunch are in first place in the North Division and expect another playoff appearance.