Each Monday during the NHL season, Rob Mixer takes a look at the biggest storylines from the hockey week that was. Its been no secret Devils general managerRay Shero wanted to improve his defense. On the other coast, theDucks were down a handful of top forwards and it was questionable as to whether they could hang in there without an addition. Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kelser, Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverbergall on the shelf, and somehow Anaheim was able to take down theBlues on the road last week. Then, help arrived. MORE: Last week's trade cost Bob Murray one of his prized defensemen in Sami Vatanen, a player oft-rumored in trade discu sions and one who clearly has a lot of value around the league. Adam Henrique and Joe Blandisi were dealtto Anaheim, and if both teams arelamenting having to give up certain pieces, odds are the deal is fair. Thats been the consensus both teams get something they sorely needed, and because of that need, it comes at a price. The Devils have cooled off a bit after their hot start, but theyre still only a point behinddivision-leading Columbus and Pittsburghon their Andrew Shaw Jersey heels. A big opportunity awaits this week, as theyll visit the Blue Jackets Tuesday and host them at Prudential Center on Friday. Thats four points (at least) to be given out between the two teams atop the division, and now the Devils have a little extra boost on the back end. MORE: If you ask four people in the hockey world about Vatanen, you might get four different opinions. Hes not a big guy, which doesnt even matter all that much anymore. He skates well and has a bomb of a right-handed shot, which instantly makes the Devils' power play a bit more dangerous. He will most likely have a larger role in New Jersey than he did with the Ducks, so itll be interesting to see how his game is impacted for better or worse. Henrique gives the Ducks center depth when they sorely need it but when those guys return from injury, he could shift from center to wing and play on one of the top two lines. Thats an Anaheim team with plenty of weapons up front if itcan stay healthy. SN EXCLUSIVE: OWN-NO! Listen stuff happens. When the Oilers are struggling (which Lukas Reichel Jersey theyve done a lot over the last decade) and their stars are slumping, the vitriol comes out from the Edmonton media. Connor McDavid hasnt been exempt from it, either, as the temperature continues to rise and pre sure mounts for an Oilers team that should not be nearly as awful as its been. And when something happens , everything becomes magnified. You know how it goes, right? Only this would happen right now. Well, at least they put it into *a* net. Whatever. The Oilers have a ton of problems, but a guy firing a puck into his own net in late November isnt one of them. Did he screw up? Absolutely. Did it cost the Oilers the game? Sure did. But the Oilers arent getting anywhere near the Wests playoff picture if they arent better defensively (which is where Ru sell can actually be faulted because hes not a great defender). Theyve allowed 92 goals in 27 games, an average that looks better if youre a starting pitcher. MORE: Battle of Alberta =Weird Speaking of the Oilers, they nearly blew a 6-1 leadSaturday night in their latest meeting with theFlames. Calgary isa weird team in itsown right, but the Oilers almost re-wrote the book on legendary collapses at the Saddledome the Flames came back to make it a 6-5 game with six minutes left, then they got a power play. Gulp! The Oilers killed it off and, in a poetically perfect twist, got an insurance goal when Calgarys T.J.Brodie inadvertently tipped the puck into his own net trying to break Ryder Rolston Jersey up a 2-on-1. Edmonton and Calgary are five points apart, with the former sitting six points back of the Canucks for the final playoff spot in the West. Theres plenty of time for the Battle of Alberta to get mega-weird between now and the end of the season. Wouldnt it be something if one of the last postseason spots came down to these two? MORE: Buffalow Oh, no, Buffalo. You have to feel for Phil Housley here. The Sabres have too many good players to be sitting with six wins (six!) on Dec.4. Thats almost impo sible to proce s. Sure, their defense needs a ton of work, but they have forwards Phil Russell Jersey who can score and their goaltender is at least competent enough to be competitive. And for whatever reason, its been a horrific to start the season. MORE: Housley said this weekend that only the players in the room can turn this around. They have a choice to make, he said, as to whether they want to continue down this path or try and get the train back on the tracks. Its a long road ahead and a heck of a hill to climb, but you have to think this team with Jack Eichel, Evander Kane, Kyle Okposo and others can score enough to win a few games. But then, theres this: the Sabres have been outscored 14-1 over their last four games, a stretch that included ascorele s streak of 232 minutes, 9 seconds. Good grief. New GM Jason Botterill probably figured he had a lot of work to do, but this is another level altogether. A new reportSunday indicated that Buffalo has a handful of players available for trade, and not surprisingly, the list of untouchable players is apparently significantly smaller than the list of those who are on the market. Well see where this goes, but it sucks for the diehard hockey fans in Buffalo. They deserve better than a 31st-place team, owning the fewest number of wins in the NHL. MORE: Bad times in the Alex Vlasic Jersey East The Red Wings got crushed by theCanadiens last week and it was ahistoric drubbing for a proud franchise. The Canadiens dropped 10 goals on the Red Wings, the second time in as many seasons Montreal has scored 10 goals in a game. They also did so in 2016-17 against theAvalanche. It goes both ways, too. The Blue Jackets smoked the Canadiens 10-0 on Nov. 4, 2016, at Nationwide Arena, and poor Al Montoya (currently injured) was left in for all 10 goals by former Montreal head coach Michel Therrien. Oof. The Flyers have lost 10 straight and Wells Fargo Center has been filled with Fire Hakstol chants lately. GM Ron Hextall, who took a big leap in hiring Hakstol away from a safe-as-can-be job at the University of North Dakota, has publicly stood by his head coach and it doesnt seem as though a change is coming in Philadelphia. Just another boring week in the league, eh?