You know it's a dull NHL Trade Deadline when half the names coming across make you ask either: (1) Wait, who is he again? or (2) Wait, he's still in the NHL?
But I guess when you spoil us with a few big pre-deadline moves, when no one's moving 1st-round picks and when all of the buyers have already moved their 2nd-round picks, this is what you get. Your biggest deadline mover is Raffi freaking Torres. Matheiu Schneider moved but Tomas Kaberle did not. Vesa Toskala moved but the Islanders goalies did not. Milan Jurcina moved, but Dan Hamhuis did not. To complete the surreal cycle, the Coyotes and Kings are now buyers.
Barring something tardy and unusual, in Islanders country, with their biggest chip already cashed in for one of those 2nds yesterday, all was quiet save for a pending Rick DiPietro health update. There were lots of rumors of Dwayne Roloson to Chicago or Philadelphia, or Martin Biron to anyone looking for a backup, or nibbles for Sean Bergenheim or Richard Park, but in the end 2 p.m. went quietly into that good night.
To paraphrase the famous words of Don Rumsfeld, the Islanders will play out Rebuild: Year 2 with the army they have, not with the all-star studs you hoped Richard Park and Jeff Tambellini could bring back.
I'll end with one final plea about the price fetched for Andy Sutton: Look around at the defensemen acquired today, and notice how the price went lower and lower: Derek Morris for a 4th. Martin Skoula for a 5th. Milan Jurcina for a 6th. Aaron Ward for a 4th and scraps. The 2010 draft is considered deeper than 2011, and you have a limited number of buyers at this deadline -- therefore a limited number of picks for sale. No 1st-rounders changed hands -- and the one case where a team was holding out for a 1st, for Torres, did not pan out that way.
We can argue whether the Islanders should have kept Sutton around for the stretch run and risk getting nothing for him this summer (I wouldn't), but I don't think anyone can still argue Sutton should have fetched more than a 2nd-round pick from one of the teams that will, by definition, be picking in the last third of each round.
This is the market Snow was dealing with. To sell, you need a buyer. To gain, you have to give up. To give up, you have to have something worth buying. The Islanders, sitting in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and 26th overall in the league, don't have much of that -- unless they want to give up an important piece of the rebuild. For now, maybe next year.
For quite a bit of team-specific commentary and a stream of all 30 teams' moves, check SBN Hockey's NHL Trade Deadline hub:
Discuss your favorite or hated non-moves, funny moves, and dream moves in comments.