The team I am going to look for needing to make a trade deadline acquisition and be an active buyer is my very own Calgary Dragons. Calgary is currently holding the reins of the western conference standings with a sizable first place after twenty seven games of the regular season with lead over all the other teams in the conference with six points over their nearest contenders for the top spot in the conference, five teams are in the hunt for that second position and potentially a run at first should the Dragons momentum falter. Teams like the Edmonton Blizzard, New Orleans Specters, Texas Renegades and Los Angeles Panthers are all in contention and appear poised to make a concerted push in the second half of the season to close the gap amongst each other and with Calgary. As a result I think it will be important for Calgary to shore up some of their weaknesses to stay a top of the western conference and contend with some of the top power house teams in the eastern conference including the Hamilton Steelhawks who are the only team in the SHL who currently have a better record.

It really is no surprise why the Calgary Dragons have cemented itself with the top spot in the Western Conference with forty five points in twenty seven games. What makes Calgary’s ascent to the top of the western conference so impressive is really how few goals as a team they have given up. Through twenty seven games they have given up a league lowest thirty eight goals which is way under two goals a game. To this point in the season Kata Vilde has been the best goaltender in the league by a wide margin with an extremely impressive league leading seven shutouts as well as the lowest goals against average and save percentage out of an starting goaltender in the SHL this season.

In addition the defense has been outstanding as well with Calgary’s solid line up of blue liners, including Brennan Kennedy Jr., Otis Driftwood, Leopold Lockhart and Bradly Barkov, have limited the number of shots taken on Vilde. Out of all the starting goalies in the league Vilde has the shot most fewest amount of shots against showing that the defense has not let many chance go through in their own end.

Furthermore, Calgary’s offense has also been pretty strong with six Calgary forwards (Boris Boroshenko, Mikael Choybuk, Esa Parmborg, Barry Batsbak, Maxime Bouchard and Joseph Weston) having twenty five points or over so far with many playing at over a point a game pace. What is all the more impressive with the scoring and point production is the balance within the offense created by the unselfish play of the Calgary forwards as they have gotten even really involved in the scoring within the top six forwards. However, one area of improvement that will be needed to push the Dragons over the top will be their third line. Anders Christiansen and Atlas Rush have each produced ten and twelve points respectively so far in twenty seven games which is underwhelming for one of the hottest offenses in the league. I would look at third line forward upgrades for their playoff push if possible with one or both of these players if possible from a team like the San Francisco Pride who have been at the bottom of the league who have an attractable season fifty winger with over 1400tpe Henrik Lekberg Osterman who I would not be surprised would be available. Another option from the Pride who is a bit older and more of a short term rental would be season forty three left winger Jeff Brogen who is also over 1400tpe.

By adding another piece or two for their third line (which is not even that weak) the Dragons would improve on their incredibly strong roster with such balanced on offense and an iron curtain defense, it would be even more tough for any team to beat the Dragons on a night basis or even try to take their top spot in the Western Conference.

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