The Daily Faceoff Show: Which trade deadline additions have made an early impact?

With the trade deadline well in the rearview mirror, Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna decided to talk about which additions have been helping their teams in the early going.

Frank Seravalli: Let’s talk about the other trade deadline additions and the guys that have fit in well to this point. When you take a look at this list of guys and how that they’ve produced since they’ve joined their new teams. Claude Giroux stands out, five points in four games, all apples.

For me, it’s Rickard Rakell. You think back to last year’s deadline, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, they added Jeff Carter, and what a pickup he was, how he fit in quite seamlessly. I watched Rickard Rakell’s first game with the Pens, and I was like, “Wow, this guy is so noticeable.” He really seemed to fit in perfectly, playing on a line now with Evgeni Malkin. They may be getting Jason Zucker back tonight, he’s a game-time decision. You can see their lineup card on DailyFaceoff.com.

When you look at this group, who stands out?

Mike McKenna: I’ll definitely agree with you on Rakell. I’m even thinking to the end of the game against the Rangers the other night, and he’s playing goalie, making saves against the post with an empty net, like he’s bought in. He looks energized. Great goal on the rush.

I think Giroux has really fit. It’s not surprising because he’s been such a consistent player throughout his career. The Florida Panthers should have known exactly what they were going to get, but there’s always apprehension of if that’s exactly going to play out, and it has. And Giroux for me, yeah it’s all assists and not goals, but two have been on the power play, he’s killed penalties for the team, he’s been able to switch between center, right wing. He’s been a perfect fit for that club.

And as you said, it took a little bit of cap wrangling to be able to make space for him. And also credit to Bill Zito, when Aaron Ekblad went down, he went out and grabbed Robert Hagg, a defenseman to fill in some space on the back end with the Florida Panthers. So, I thought they were great managing the cap.

I also really like even what Mark Giordano has done in Toronto. That team needed some veteran presence on the back end. I know he’s not on our list, but he’s made a really positive difference. Same with Nick Leddy in St. Louis. That team looked really good the other night, and Leddy’s starting to now play an elevated role with that club and really start to fit in.”

Frank Seravalli: We’ll talk about Marc-Andre Fleury in our next edition of the Blue Paint. You love seeing the fan interaction with him already in Minnesota, people throwing flowers on the ice, bouquets of flowers after games. He’s had a near flawless start.

But I wanted to give a little love to Max Domi with the Carolina Hurricanes. We talk about value adds with Frank Vatrano, Max Domi ended up being essentially free. You can get this guy for $3.99 on deadline day, as long as you get the trade in by 2:59 p.m. Eastern. They didn’t have anywhere else to send him. Carolina says, “You know what? We’ll take a chance.”

This is a team that has found value everywhere. There might be some talk, and I think John Tortorella on ESPN was saying, previously having coached Domi with the Blue Jackets, in so many words, he was essentially saying he’s a locker room cancer. Well, that doesn’t scare the Hurricanes. They took on Tony DeAngelo, they took on other players that they’ve added to their group.

When you trade basically next to nothing to get a guy that just a few seasons ago had a 72-point year, those types of guys, you never know what happens in the playoffs. You get one or two goals from Max Domi in an important spot, and you’ve won easily without even having to try.

Mike McKenna: And there’s one person that’s in charge of all of this in Carolina, in terms of the culture and how things go, and it’s Rod Brind’Amour. Everybody that you hear talk that’s played for him would go through a wall for him. And he cultivates that personality of the team, and Domi fits in.

Frank Seravalli: His numbers going back to Columbus this season, some might look back at them and say he’s had a little bit of a disappointing year. His numbers per 60, the numbers that he’s put up in limited ice-time have actually been right up there in terms of the best of his career. So Domi is a name to watch moving forward.

You can watch the full episode here…