College Hockey 2019 Trade Deadline (or) What Teams Need Down The Stretch

Trades don’t exist in college hockey. In fact, college is one of the few times in life players hold the cards, choosing their destinations rather than the other way around. With a few exceptions, teams, for better or worse, are stuck with the same players through health and injury. There’s no buying or selling a season in February when things go awry and the window closes.

Still, last Monday’s NHL Trade Deadline trickled down an idea of what teams this year contending for a title, or on the bubble needing a final conference tournament push to get a chance to contend, could use for postseason success.

If it was allowed.

Perfect teams don’t exist (outside of the 1970 Cornell men and 2013 Minnesota women). Each of the top teams has strengths and weaknesses. In a single-elimination tournament, against a new matchup, those strengths and weaknesses get exposed.

So while college hockey won’t see what could happen with a team throwing its chips on the table and going all in, there is room for those teams to improve.

Rather than looking at trades - because trades don’t exist in college hockey - what could each of the contending teams use? Which player from a non-contending team would best help one with dreams of Frozen Four glory?

If it was allowed.

Of course, if it was, and using three simple rules, here’s who I would choose. First rule: Teams in the top 20 of the Pairwise, which mimics the criteria used by the NCAA selection committee to select the NCAA Tournament at-large bids, can only pick up one player from a team outside the top 20. Second rule: Only upperclassmen can be chosen. No one will be getting Quinn Hughes on their blue line or offensive help from Ludwig Stenlund.

Third rule: Teams cannot pick players from teams in the same conference. Like how NHL teams often avoid trading players inside its own division or conference, it’d be more difficult to convince players being picked up by rivals and conference mates.

If it was allowed, of course.

Massachusetts: One of college hockey’s feel-good stories, the Minutemen can clinch Hockey East this weekend two seasons removed from winning five games. Head coach Greg Carvel’s team has a bright future. Sophomore defenseman Cale Makar has all the makings of being a Hobey Baker hat trick finalist. Five of the top six point getters and both goalies are underclassmen.

That’s why Massachusetts picks up Michigan’s Joseph Cecconi. The Wolverines senior defenseman brings leadership and Frozen Four postseason experience which the Minutemen’s young core could use in the postseason. Plus it wouldn’t hurt to have another body. The team currently has seven defensemen and Cecconi, spending the better part of the last two years on a defensive pairing with Quinn Hughes, is no stranger to being paired with a dynamic offensive defenseman.

Western Michigan: It’s been a rough couple weeks for the Broncos, who stumbled from a comfortable position in the NCAA Tournament to a precarious one on the bubble. Looking to make its second NCAA Tournament trip in three seasons, WMU’s feel-good story of senior goaltender Trevor Gorsuch hasn’t been as feel-good lately. Western Michigan has given up a college hockey-worst 5.12 goals per game since February 1st.

Goaltending and defense are positions several teams could use help, but other than Atlantic Hockey leader AIC, no team in contention could use a stopgap more than the Broncos. One player who would be available is Minnesota senior goaltender Eric Schierhorn. The two-time Big Ten goaltender of the year sat much of this season in favor of Mat Robson, however, Schierhorn has the capability to be a game-changer. In his last two starts, Schierhorn, who played junior hockey in nearby Muskegon, has backstopped the Gophers to wins over Ohio State and Arizona State. He can also play in a platoon if Gorsuch gets going once again.

Notre Dame: Unfortunately for the Fighting Irish, the Big Ten conference limitation takes away several options to add an extra scorer. Eight of the top twenty leaders in points hail from the Big Ten, whose presence looms during this exercise given the conference has four of the next seven teams just outside the top 20. None of those points leaders are on Notre Dame, whose leading goal scorer, Michael Graham, has 11 goals.

If Notre Dame can’t use a Big Ten player, could an old conference and historical foe do the trick? Boston College’s David Cotton has been a bright spot on a dismal Eagles season, scoring 20 goals while the next closest BC player has seven. Left wing is one of the Fighting Irish’s strengths with Cam Morrison and Dylan Malmquist, however, there is enough room for Cotton’s goal-scoring prowess to find a spot.

Providence: The Friars are an outlier. Of the top six teams in Corsi close, only Providence, sitting second with 60.2%, is not in the top five of the Pairwise. While PC has progressed towards the mean as the season moves on, the Friars are getting opportunities without as much to show for it. The team on average scores on less than 10% of its shots.

To help boost that total, let’s send over someone who has something to show for his opportunities by adding Lake Superior State senior forward Diego Cuglietta over to the Ocean State. Cuglietta has 23 goals on the season and one of the top shooting percentages in the country, scoring on 25% of his shots in his final season of college hockey.

Penn State: Few teams have been as entertaining as Penn State, who seven times this season have scored seven or more goals. The Nittany Lions lead the nation in goals per game with 4.69 goals per game; a total matched a handful of times in the last 20 years. PSU’s defense, however, can be entertaining for the wrong reasons with Penn State 57th of 60 teams in goals against per game and no goaltender with a save percentage above .900%.

That’s why Vermont goaltender Stefanos Lekkas makes a good late addition. If the difference for Penn State, currently outside the bubble, making the tournament resides in defense then getting a goalie who has a .932 save percentage despite facing the second-most shots of anyone can help as much as one player can.

Arizona State: Not being in a conference means ASU must get into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid. Being without an automatic bid is a more difficult path, but in this case, has the advantage of allowing the Sun Devils to choose from any team. Anybody can go to Arizona State. There are several paths to take. Like Massachusetts, the Sun Devils lack postseason experience going into the program’s first-ever berth. Like Notre Dame, an extra goal scorer could be added. (Unlike Penn and Western Michigan, goaltending seems to fine with Joey Daccord.)

However, there are only so many players. Cecconi would fill a couple holes on a blue line that will be missing Josh Wilson for the next two games, but bringing in someone like Northern Michigan left winger Troy Loggins helps a power play lacking power. Loggins’ 10 power play goals tie Quinnipiac’s Chase Priskie (who would have also been the perfect addition if he was eligible) for the most nationally. Arizona State sits 49th of 60 teams with a 15.2% success rate. Only one player has more than three power-play goals. Adding Loggins, a player who knows a thing or two about turning around a program, on a line and power play unit with a healthy Johnny Walker, who has nine power-play goals, would help immensely.

Minnesota Duluth: Sometimes there’s a missing piece. Sometimes the piece is missing something. The Bulldogs return much of last year’s national championship core. After spending much of 2017 getting the core together, UMD continues to play like a team that can make its third straight Frozen Four and possibly wins its second straight national championship.

So with a team of this caliber, it’d make sense to have a player who hasn’t had a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament want to join. That’s why UMD adds Canisius forward Dylan McLaughlin. One of Atlantic Hockey’s top players, McLaughlin, who has 19 goals and 37 points, has been on some good Golden Griffins teams that unfortunately been unable to get the conference autobid.

Cornell: The Big Red appears to be in good shape to make a third consecutive NCAA Tournament trip as co-ECAC regular season champions. A year removed from being a number one seed, Cornell has lost a total of three times since December 1st.

If there’s a team to add Mercyhurst defenseman Joseph Duszak, having a fantastic season for the Lakers, Cornell might be a good landing spot. Duszak is second in points nationally (in total, not just among defenders) with 45 points and the Big Red could use a boost offensively from the blue line. No Cornell defenseman has more than four goals this season in a year where the blue line has driven the offensive conversation nationally.

Minnesota State: To be honest, the easy thing would be to give the Mavericks a player on a team that has won an NCAA Tournament game. At this point, Minnesota State’s fanbase is dying to see regular season success translate into postseason success. The team had the NCAA Tournament veteran addition a season ago in BU graduate transfer Chad Connor LaCouvee, however.

Instead, the Mavericks receive one of the hottest forwards of the last month in Princeton’s Ryan Kuffner. Only Niagara’s Ludwig Stenlund scored more goals in February than Kuffner, who helped lead the Tigers to an ECAC conference tournament championship last season. The senior forward scored 29 goals a season ago. When he’s on, he is a boost to any team and would be one for any of Minnesota State’s top three lines.

Denver: DU’s season might be a surprise to some following the departure of so many stars, but not to the Pioneers. Being in the top ten is what David Carle’s team imagined itself being when the season began in October.

While the team plays greater than the sum of its parts, Denver could use another goal-scorer; someone who can dish as well as they shoot. Someone who can help a power play that is 42nd nationally. Someone like Michigan State’s Taro Hirose, who leads the nation in points with 50 and on a team whose opponents game plan for stopping the line he runs with Patrick Khodorenko and Mitch Lewandowski.

St. Cloud State: On pace to likely be the number one overall seed for a second straight season, St. Cloud State has a balanced team which can score, defend and gets good goaltending. It makes it difficult to find a spot to add a player who could help without taking away from a group that has gelled together.

This list started with a Michigan defenseman and while I’d be lying if I didn’t want to see what Quinn Hughes could do in the SCSU system, it won’t end with one. Rules are rules in this made up trade deadline scenario. Another defensive option, one that’s legal, would be Boston University’s Dante Fabbro. Like Hughes, Fabbro is a first-round NHL Draft pick who has offensive talents although he is more of a two-way player.

Other options among teams just outside the top 20 would be Fabbro’s teammate Bobo Carpenter or Minnesota junior forward Rem Pitlick to complete the Huskies-Gophers trade started last March.

If it was allowed.