The NHL trade deadline was noon PDT on Wednesday, April 3. As they have been for years, the San Jose Sharks were active leading up to that moment. After previously trading veteran players for draft picks, two moves made by general manager Doug Wilson in the trading period's final hours were clearly designed to improve the team for a 2013 Stanley Cup run.
They also both connect the Sharks to their past in one way or another.
Scott Hannan was a mainstay of their blue line from shortly after he was drafted in 1997 until he left via free agency in 2007. He is a solid defensive player familiar with the surroundings and players, making him a great fit as an alternative at the bottom of the unit in case of injury or if more physicality is needed than Jason Demers or Justin Braun can bring.
All the Sharks sent to the Nashville Predators for Hannan is a seventh-round pick in the 2013 NHL draft that moves up a round if he plays in a Stanley Cup playoff game for them this season. That is very little for a guy who provides good insurance on the ice and is going to mesh well in the locker room.
The same cannot be said for Raffi Torres. He provides needed speed and grit and could be a better match on the ice for San Jose than Ryane Clowe, who was traded Tuesday. Wilson described him as a player you want as a teammate but not as an opponent. But he has been a notorious adversary of the franchise since long before his time with the Pacific Division rival Phoenix Coyotes.
In the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs, he delivered a hit to the face of Milan Michalek in the third game of the second round that turned the series toward the Edmonton Oilers. It is not like that transgression is an isolated incident. He spent the first nine games of 2013 suspended for a brutal shot at Marian Hossa's head in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Wilson is taking a risk giving up a third-round pick (acquired from the New York Rangers in the Clowe trade) for a guy with a suspension history and with whom there was bad blood from the playoffs for three players (Hannan, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau). No doubt the Sharks will put the past with him behind them, but initial reaction from fans has been negative and it does not take open animosity to disrupt the chemistry of a team in a five-game winning streak.
Still, with the trade deadline now past, the Sharks remain a contender while improving their future outlook. Neither Torres nor Hannan is expected to skate for the Sharks Wednesday night when they host the Minnesota Wild. Watch for live Twitter updates from HP Pavilion.
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