The NHL’s Northwest Division At The 2011 Trade Deadline: Rumors And Expectations

Earlier comments by Feaster have him publicly leaning on “stay the course,” but we all know that NHL GMs talk out of both sides of their mouths, especially come February. Like 2/3 of the teams in the Western Conference, the week before the trade deadline could significantly impact decisions.

Status: On The Bubble

Need: In the long haul, Colorado needs to find some stability in net along with stay-at-home defensemen to steady their group.

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In the first third of the season, just about everyone was calling for the head of Wild coach Todd Richards. Now the Wild are playing like a machine, and their stats have all the signs of a well-coached team: strong power play and penalty kill, low goals-against, and good face-off percentages. They’re good, they’re just not great, and a quick look at the team’s would-be goal scorers shows that.

Mikko Koivu’s injury (out several weeks) certainly doesn’t help. Minnesota is in the same position as much of the Western Conference, where a bad few days leading to the trade deadline could mean the difference in decision making. Still, the Wild have plenty of holes to fill.

Was there really a time this season when the Vancouver Canucks weren’t steamrolling the competition? Yes, but that was early on, and even after a rash of injuries decimated Vancouver’s blueline, the Canucks weathered the storm.

Now, with the trade deadline aroung the corner and players returning from injuries, is there anything the Canucks need to do? Thanks to long-term injured reserve, the team should be able to play with its full compliment of defensemen, though some creative cap management may be required.