Blue Line Buzz: Recapping the Deadline

The Capitals are now 3-0 with Kevin Shattenkirk in the lineup, even though their newest addition has notched just one assist with his new team. After a slow start, Barry Trotz's squad is now firmly in the driver's seat in the Metro Division; depth scoring is no longer an issue, with as many as six 20-goal scorers in the lineup, double the number they had two years ago. Shattenkirk's fantasy boost has yet to be realized, but that the Caps haven't experienced any hiccups with a new impact player in the lineup is very comforting, and the first major domino to fall led to a flurry of moves involving other defensemen. To recap:

Pittsburgh acquires Mark Streit from Philadelphia via Tampa Bay, and also Frank Corrado from Toronto for Eric Fehr and Steve Oleksy

The Pens won big by acquiring Mark Streit. It could've easily been a three-team trade, but there's a part of me that thinks Ron Hextall's cell automatically blocks calls from a Pittsburgh area code. It couldn't come at a better time, either, with news that Kris Letang has no timetable for return due to an upper-body injury. Streit has already notched two points in two games for the Penguins and is fully expected to increase his per-game output on a power play unit that features two of the league's top 10 players.

The other piece is Corrado, and it remains to be seen how much he will contribute. There's no denying he still has the potential to turn into a decent pro, but he's lost too much development time over the past two seasons. As the Penguins get healthy, Corrado will continue to get pushed down the depth chart unless his play proves otherwise.

Rangers acquire Brendan Smith for two picks

The Rangers missed out on Shattenkirk and they could've used a puck mover like Streit, but settled for a defenseman who's prone to the odd mistake but is otherwise a solid second-pairing defenseman in the Jack Johnson mold. Paired with Ryan McDonagh, Smith is averaging a career-high 22:16 in just two games with the Blueshirts, a significant increase from the usual 18 minutes he received in Detroit. His ice time will certainly get reduced when Dan Girardi (ankle) returns, but there's no doubt Smith has much more upside and a better contract situation. Despite his ability to play at both ends of the ice, Smith is still not quite the defenseman the Rangers need, but should provide solid minutes overall.

Montreal swaps David Desharnais for Brandon Davidson

Davidson is underrated despite a tough sophomore campaign, and Montreal's blue line is far better for it. He's averaging just 15:24 this season after averaging 19:12 in 51 games last year, but growing pains are part of the journey for any young player. It'll be interesting to see where Davidson fits, especially with Jordie Benn looking quite good in his Montreal debut and Nathan Beaulieu unlikely to come out of the lineup. Davidson gets an immediate downgrade in fantasy value, but this should not impact his long-term value.

Florida trades Dylan McIlrath and a conditional pick for Thomas Vanek

This will be McIlrath's third team this season, and at just 24 years old is making a name of himself as a rough-and-tumble, low-maintenance, but easily replaceable third-pairing defenseman. Granted, he hasn't gotten much playing time with just 43 games played since 2013, and he's an odd fit on a blue line in Detroit that has traditionally leaned towards skill.

Senators trade Mike Kostka and Curtis Lazar to Flames for Jyrki Jokipakka

The key piece in this deal is Lazar, since the Flames' signing of Matt Bartkowski and trade for Michael Stone really pushed Jokipakka to the fringe. The Flames are on a seven-game winning streak and there's no question their defense has improved vastly since their horrific start to the season. Jokipakka had just cleared waivers before getting traded, and won't move the needle much even if he plays; the Sens have stuck with Frederik Claesson, who averages a little over 10 minutes per game, which tells you what they think about their newest acquisition.

Stars acquire Dillon Heatherington from Blue Jackets for Lauri Korpikoski, trade Johnny Oduya to Chicago for Mark McNeill and a pick

The Stars defense looked good on paper but it's been a mess all season, and having moved nearly all of their veterans leaves just 34-year-old Dan Hamhuis on the blue line, who's nearly 10 years older than everyone else. Heatherington is only 21 years old, but the second-round pick is still a couple of years away from making the NHL. He's a 6-foot-4 defenseman who's tasked with clearing the net and touches the puck as little as possible, and it usually takes a bit longer for big, physical guys to establish themselves in the pros. He's an intriguing return for a depth forward, and the Blue Jackets can afford to give up some talent on the blue line.

The Blackhawks have made a habit of re-acquiring players they were forced to move for cap reasons, and in Oduya, they brought back Niklas Hjalmarsson's old defense partner, leaving the other two pairs of Duncan Keith with Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell with Trevor van Riemsdyk intact. McNeill is an intriguing prospect, but that shows you how confident the Blackhawks are in Oduya's ability to contribute.

Columbus trades Dalton Prout to New Jersey for Kyle Quincey

Prout had fallen out of favor with John Tortorella, and — with another year left on his deal — was an extra contract Columbus didn't need, but provides New Jersey with some cost certainty and a big defenseman on the right side. Quincey is older and a little smaller, but moves the puck a lot better and was a far more productive player when he was Prout's age. With Ryan Murray comfortable playing on his off-side and Seth Jones and David Savard serving as the other right-side defensemen, Prout was the odd-man out. He gets the bigger fantasy boost after the trade, averaging 17:24 in two games with New Jersey to Kyle Quincey's 15:06 in three appearances with Columbus, but neither will make much of an impact.

Studs of the Week:

Victor Hedman, Lightning – The Lightning were sellers at the deadline, but that hasn't stopped Hedman from rolling through the second half of the season with two goals and five assists in his past five games. How dominant has the big Swede been? Over his past 37 games he's scored a whopping 38 points.

Dustin Byfuglien, Jets – Speaking of players on a roll, when Big Buff gets some momentum, he's unstoppable. He's scored two goals and seven assists during his seven-game point streak, and the Jets are coming off two impressive wins, shutting out St. Louis and burning the Avalanche in a rout.

Justin Schultz, Penguins – He's going to have to step up in a big way with Letang out of the lineup. Other than a horrific minus-3 performance against Chicago that highlighted his shortcomings as a defenseman, Schultz has otherwise continued to be very good on offense, scoring two goals and five points in his past two games.

Jaccob Slavin, Hurricanes – All the talk about Carolina potentially moving Justin Faulk is partly due to the emergence of Slavin, who is on a four-game assist streak and played at least 25 minutes in each of those games. He's quickly earned Bill Peters' trust in just his second year in the NHL, and there's plenty more to come from the 22-year-old.

Rasmus Ristolainen, Sabres – He averaged 28:15 of ice time this past week, more than any other defenseman in the league, and finished with a stat line of two goals, four blocks, 11 hits and 17 shots on goal. You can't ask any more of Ristolainen, who puts up mind-boggling numbers on a team that's still trying to catch up to the rest of the league.

P.K. Subban, Predators – He registered just two assists in three games, but the top highlight was his return to Montreal, where he was greeted with open arms and moved to tears with a deafening ovation from the crowd and Madame Beliveau.

Duds of the Week:

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Coyotes – This is surely a season to forget, right? With just 10 goals and a minus-23 rating, OEL has been stuck on pause, having last scored a goal on Feb. 2. The longer the Coyotes take to re-build, the more they are wasting OEL's prime, and there will come a point when he will become trade bait and move to greener pastures.

Keith Yandle, Panthers – Things were looking up when Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau returned, but the Cats have lost five of their past six games and Yandle has contributed just three paltry assists. He'll likely hit 40 points again, but it's hard to think of a more overrated player.

Morgan Rielly, Maple Leafs – It was not a good week for the normally stalwart Rielly, who finished the week with a league-worst (among defensemen) minus-6 rating. He's been a minus player in every game during the Leafs' five-game losing streak, including a minus-3 effort on Friday. The Leafs don't play again until Tuesday, and the record for teams coming off that much rest has not been very good this season.