Dave Poulin: NHL GMs took their best shot at the trade deadline. Now comes the moment of truth

Let’s change the name of the NHL trade deadline to: “There’s a puck in the corner. Who’s coming out with it?”

Hockey is a simple game. Players battle for possession and in that moment one of them is better. That’s the difference between winning and losing.

There was a lot of discussion about the “puck in the corner” before Friday afternoon’s deadline. With every contender seeking an edge for the Stanley Cup playoffs, film was studied, analytics scrutinized, every scrap of information digested.

Put yourself in the general manager’s chair. How do you determine which player is coming out of that corner with the puck? Will the battle be physical? Cerebral? A battle of wills? You are ultimately responsible for who goes into that corner and determines your team’s fate. Is he already on your team, or do you have to acquire a difference maker?

This year’s deadline festivities started early when the outlier New York Islanders jumped ahead of the curve and landed prized forward Bo Horvat from the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 30. An early start is always interesting because the bar is set and the clock is running. In an ultra-competitive Eastern Conference — where six of the league’s top seven teams by points resided heading into Friday — the race was on.

The Rangers saw the Isles’ move and raised them forward Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues. The Maple Leafs jumped in next and also dealt with the Blues, acquiring a seemingly perfect complement to their talented core in 2019 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O’Reilly and gritty Noel Acciari.

With the rich getting richer, the richest of all struck. Boston pried elite defender Dmitry Orlov and gritty forward Garnet Hathaway from the Washington Capitals. The Bruins, an elite group on a record pace, somehow got better. Not to be outdone in the East, the New Jersey Devils landed perhaps the biggest prize of all in power forward Timo Meier. Watching all this activity was cagey Tampa Bay GM Julien BriseBois, a two-time Cup winner who countered by acquiring power forward Tanner Jeannot from the Nashville Predators (a player most thought wasn’t even available) for a collection of six assets.

And that was just the start.

The Leafs added four more significant pieces, including defenceman Luke Schenn from the Canucks, and the Rangers doubled down with future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane. In the West, the Predators sent forward Nino Niederreiter to the Winnipeg Jets, winger Ivan Barbashev jetted from St. Louis to the Vegas Strip, and highly coveted Nashville defenceman Mattias Ekholm joined Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton.

Creative moves, fiscal gymnastics, bold actions.

Put yourself back in the GM’s chair. Now you have built a stronger, more competitive team. You’ve paid a price, but when competitive windows open you have to act. So have a number of your fellow managers. Who has the right mix?

You’ve learned from the heartache of previous defeats — or, if you’re fortunate, from the thrill of victory. You’ve paid your dues and perhaps come close. You’ve managed the salary cap and stayed away from injuries. You’ve had your share of good bounces, survived the tests.

You have arrived at the moment of truth.

You sit upstairs, far removed from the actual action, but questions remain in the back of your mind. Did you and your scouts make the right choices? Some of these decisions were made at the deadline, others years before. Are your coaches getting the most out of the collection of players you assembled? Have they been put in the best possible situation to succeed? Are the players executing to the best of their ability? And how about the opposition. Are they better prepared, or just flat out better?

At some point in our great game we reach the ultimate moment of truth that determines wins and losses. The pieces are in place.

There’s a puck in the corner. Who’s coming out with it?

Dave Poulin is a former NHL player, executive and TSN hockey analyst based in Toronto. He is a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @djpoulin20

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