Blog Council: We all could beat Canucks GM Jim Benning at poker

With a network as vast as ours here at SB Nation, we figured we'd put our fine hockey bloggers to good use. You've got questions every week. We know. And we're here to help.

Each Monday at noon ET we'll take your questions on Twitter at @SBNationNHL. Our NHL Blog Council (made up of different bloggers from around the SBN hockey network) will meet and consider your queries. And on Wednesday we will render our verdicts to the masses.

Without further ado...

Blog Council: COMMENCE

Give us your biggest winner and loser from deadline day.

Marc Dumont, Habs Eyes On The Prize: Biggest winner: The Chicago Blackhawks. The rich keep getting richer, and they managed to add some solid depth to their roster for a very reasonable cost. Of course, they're sacrificing their future, but when you already have three Stanley Cups in your back pocket, you can afford to take risks.

Biggest losers: The Vancouver Canucks don't seem to understand how unrestricted free agents work.

Achariya, Pension Plan Puppets: Biggest winner: I write for Lou Lamoriello's team. He made absolutely no trades on deadline day — not even P.A. Parenteau, whom he promised he would move this weekend. Instead, he made all of his biggest moves carefully and deliberately well before today, so that he could concentrate on bringing up the Toronto Marlies, sending them back down again for an hour so that they'd be eligible for the Marlies playoffs, and then bringing them back up to play in tonight's game. Biggest winner was the Leafs, because on deadline day Lou didn't have to scramble around.

Biggest loser: Jonathan Drouin. Boy, did he want to get traded, and, boy, was Steve Yzerman completely unwilling to have his hand forced. I can't wait to see what Allen Walsh tweets about this one — I'm wondering if he'll go straight for personal insults, or just talk ungenerously about the Bolts organization in general?

Jacob Sundstrom, Fear The Fin: The biggest winner seems to be *vomits uncontrollably* the Chicago *vomits some more* Blackhawks. They've pushed all their chips to the center of the table and again seem poised for a deep run. The biggest loser has to be the Vancouver Canucks, which brings me no shortage of joy and happiness. I'm not sure what the plan is in Vancouver, but if it's to hop on the treadmill of mediocrity for the next decade ... well, so far so good.

Kyle McIlmurray, Winging It In Motown: I say for the direction they're going, Chicago did one hell of a job bolstering their team.

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Why do you think the deadline was so slow?

Marc Dumont, Habs Eyes On The Prize: I assume the deadline was so slow because many teams are afraid to take on term in any trade, especially since the salary cap situation for next season is still up in the air. That and the Canucks. Can we just blame them for everything? Does anyone object?

Achariya, Pension Plan Puppets: I think that a few GMs are dumb, a few are comfortable with mediocrity, and a few are happy with where their teams are right now. Oh, and then there's Jim Benning.

Jacob Sundstrom, Fear The Fin: I think there was a fair amount of action before deadline day, but in general I think it's because too many general managers think they're contenders. On one hand this can drive up the price of mediocre players — on the other, teams that are actually good benefit from playing against a bunch of dummies who think they're good.

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Which trade is going to impact the playoff race the most?

Marc Dumont, Habs Eyes On The Prize: Other than the Hawks, I would have to say the Panthers and Ducks added important pieces, which should definitely help during their Stanley Cup run. Yes, the Panthers gave away Brandon Pirri for a song, but acquiring Teddy Purcell and Jiri Hudler for cheap is definitely a coup.

Achariya, Pension Plan Puppets: I think the Dallas Stars trading incredibly mediocre defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka (and some other things) for Kris Russell is going to strengthen their team even more. They've needed a defender that is NOT Jokipakka for quite some time, and I honestly don't know what the Flames were thinking. (Maybe they were thinking "he looks nice with this pick.") The Stars can outscore their goaltending mistakes quite often, and their defensive mistakes more often than not, but imagine what they'd be like with a solid blue line?

Jacob Sundstrom, Fear The Fin: James Reimer is bringing a cup to San Jose.

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If you played poker with Jim Benning how much money would you win?

Marc Dumont, Habs Eyes On The Prize: I assume I wouldn't win anything player poker with Benning, because he would probably stop on the way to the poker game to pick up a case of beer, and while in the beer store he would trade his home, car and boat for a half-eaten burrito.

Achariya, Pension Plan Puppets: Yeah, Jim Benning. In the words of a twitter hockey pundit, #PYS.

Jacob Sundstrom, Fear The Fin: At least a Vezina-caliber goaltender.

Kyle McIlmurray, Winging It In Motown: I’d make a ton, but Jim Benning doesn’t play poker because he has yet to learn how to play Go Fish.