Here are my top 5 winners and top 5 losers of the trade deadline but I would also like to know who you had as winners and losers at the deadline
Winners
#1) Florida Panthers
The Panthers went out this year and were major buyers before the deadline. In the week before the deadline and the day if they acquired Defensemen Ben Chiarot from Montreal for two picks and a prospect, Claude Giroux from Philadelphia for two picks and a prospect, moved Frank Vatrano to New York R for a pick, and got Robert Hagg from Florida in exchange for a pick, and got a pick and prospect for taking some of Domi’s money in the Max Domi deal. So the Panthers are trading away there future for chasing the Cup right now and I think that was the smart move. Getting Giroux, Chiarot and Hagg who are all pending UFA’s will help right now and Giroux is already producing while Chiarot has done well stepping in for the injured Aaron Ekblad. Now I do have concerns long term especially the fact that they moved their best prospect in Owen Tippett and don’t have a first round pick in the next three drafts but the outlook in my opinion for this season is great as I believe they will win the Atlantic and because of these additions I see them as the favourite to come out of the east even more so then their Atlantic opponents, so the depth on this team is lethal and I think because of the additions they will go far.
#2) Minnesota
The Wild got physical before the deadline and upgraded their goaltending and Defence to compliment a already great offense. The Wild made a few moves before the deadline, first acquiring Nicolas Deslauriers for a pick, swamping fourth line forwards with Colorado getting Tyson Jost for Nico Sturm, moving McBain who wasn’t signing his ELC with them for a 2RD pick, getting Marc Andre Fleury from Chicago for a pick, and getting Jacob Middleton from Minnesota for goalie Kahkonen and a pick. This is a lot more scarier Wild team then before the trade deadline and if I was a St.Louis or Nashville and had to play the Wild in the first round I’d be worried. In my opinion the depth up front with Deslauriers and Jost will bring the playoff physical element that they were somewhat lacking and both players can produce offensively at times, Middleton gives Minnesota a great top 4 option and have been using him with Spurgeon but he to is more of a physical player, and Fleury is a major upgrade on Kahkonen in net and should get a majority of the starts over Talbot. This was a great deadline for Minnesota and some of the players like Jost and Middleton are not only there for the playoff run and they really didn’t lose anything for the future. The only thing I am worried about is if it might have been a mistake to move Kahkonen because I do feel he is an NHL starter and if Fleury leaves as a free agent in the offseason then the Wild are going to have to find another goalie.
#3) Chicago
The Blackhawks kicked off a rebuild they will continue in the offseason by making a lot of moves, first they got rid of Brandon Hagel and 2 lower end draft picks for Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk and 1RD picks in 2023 and 2024, they moved Marc Andre Fleury to Minnesota for a conditional 2RD pick that could upgrade to a first, and got a 5RD pick from Calgary for moving Ryan Carpenter. I do think the Blackhawks could have done more before the deadline including maybe trades with Kubalik or De Haan but the moves they did make I loved for a rebuilding team. Moving Hagel was tough as he is young and cost controlled for multiple years but getting two 1RD picks for a bottom six forward blew my mind and I loved that deal and the two young players are doing great as Raddysh has been a great fit in the top 6 and has produced at a great pace and Katchouk has been a decent bottom 6 forward, and then getting two picks one possibly a first this year for pending UFA’s were great moves and I suspect the Blackhawks will be even busier in the offseason but what they did before the deadline has really made me hopeful that the Blackhawks can get back to the playoffs in 3-4 years.
#4) Montreal
The Canadiens have done a spectacular job at selling pieces this year under new GM Kent Hughes. They started a month early moving Tyler Toffoli to Calgary for Emil Heineman, Tyler Pitlick a 2022 1RD pick and a low end pick, then they moved Ben Chiarot to Florida for a 1RD pick in 2023, young prospect Ty Smilanic and a 4RD pick, they shipped off Artturi Lehkonen to Colorado for grade a prospect Justin Barron and a 2RD pick in 2024, and also moved Brett Kulak to Edmonton for William Lagesson, a 2RD pick and a 7RD pick. The Canadiens are going to try to rebuild on the fly and could be agressive in free agency so they may not be looking to go full rebuild but these moves do help them. Getting young players like Heineman, Smilanic, Barron and Lagesson who are all pretty good prospects (except for Lagesson who has NHL experience) can help the Canadiens in the next year or two especially if some of the veterans are moved but these players for me especially Barron are great additions for Montreal. Also getting 2 1RD picks and 2 2RD picks are great and will help them get back to winning ways if they can draft well and getting 3 low end picks help them stockpile draft picks. So with the 4 young players and 7 more picks the Canadiens have gotten better for the future and all of their moves I liked.
#5) Seattle
The Kraken did a fantastic job moving out players in the final year of their contract For a plethora of draft picks before the deadline. They moved Calle Jarnkrok to Calgary for a 2RD, 3RD and 7RD picks, they moved Mason Appleton to Winnipeg for a 4RD pick, Jeremy Lauzon was moved to Nashville for a 2RD pick, they moved Colin Blackwell and Mark Giordano to Toronto for 2 2RD picks and a 3RD pick, and also moved Marcus Johansson to Washington for Daniel Sprong, a 4RD pick and a 6RD pick, and acquired Victor Rask from Minnesota for nothing. This was a great first ever deadline for the Kraken in their inaugural season as the team they had iced this season was not the best and they couldn’t get a winning season this year but the future looks bright after these moves. They were able to get 3 2RD picks for this draft from Nashville, Florida and Toronto as well as a 4RD pick so getting four more picks for this year and adding their draft capital up to 12 for this year amazing in my opinion. They also got a 2RD, 3RD, 4RD and 6RD pick in the 2023 draft now giving them 13 picks in 2023 and got a 3RD and 7RD pick in 2024 so with these additions getting 10 extra picks over the next three drafts will definitely help a rebuilding team like Seattle. As for the players Rask is a Pending UFA and is just there to help them fill the roster for the rest of this year, but Sprong is playing in a consistent bottom 6 role and has a goal in all 3 games with Seattle so he could be a long term fit in the bottom 6 but all of these moves give me hope for Seattle’s future.
Losers
#1) Washington
The Capitals are probably the only team who looks to be in the playoffs not challenging for a top 3 spot. The Capitals made two relatively small moves as they acquired Johan Larsson from Arizona for a 3RD pick, and Acquired Marcus Johansson from Washington for a 4RD pick, a 6RD pick and Daniel Sprong. Now I don’t see anything wrong with the moves they made as they only gave up 3 picks none higher then a 3rd rounder and Sprong who was been their 13th forward this season for two veteran forwards who increase their depth for the playoffs. But as much as this was a all right deadline for Washington I think they are losers for what they could have done. I believe in order for them to have success against a great opponent in the first round they would need to improve their goaltending and they didn’t do it. I do like how Vanecek and Samsonov have held down the fort this year and I know the Capitals were looking at the goalie market for a addition but the fact that they wound up not acquiring a veteran goalie worries me. I don’t trust that duo in a playoff series and I sort of thought they would do something like Minnesota did in net by acquiring a veteran and moving the youngster but they didn’t upgrade their week point and for that I am calling them a loser at the deadline.
#2) Los Angeles
The Kings are a deadline loser in my opinion based on the fact that they were in a playoff spot at the deadline and severely injured and they did basically nothing. They acquired Troy Stecher from Detroit for a 7RD pick and swapped underperforming prospects with Winnipeg and Nashville getting Nelson Nogier and Frederic Allard for Brayden Burke and Matthew Philips. Los Angeles did some okay moves when it comes to depth players but I don’t really think they have a shot right now at making noise in the playoffs. Not only are they missing key players who could be out for the season but they also didn’t upgrade at their weakest spot. They had been talking about adding a top 4 left side defensemen for almost the entire year and weeks leading up to the deadline they had also been interested in adding a top 6 forward and they did neither after being linked to top 6 forwards like Boeser or Garland and they were heavily interested in Jacob Chychrun which I thought would have been a great fit so while I know they could miss the playoffs and didn’t want to give up so much and that the injures ment trading a good prospect would be taking off of their third injured team I seriously am surprised that LA didn’t more before the playoffs and I am worried they will pay dearly.
#3) New York I
The New York Islanders have had a bad year this year, a lot has to do with COVID and injuries but they are also playing slowly as one of the oldest teams in the NHL and while a lot of people thought they would move some veterans they ended up not making any moves on trade deadline day or the week leading up to it and the only in season move they made was sending Johnny Boychuk’s contract cause he isn’t playing anymore to Buffalo for nothing. New York I was doing good the last couple of years but this sudden downfall really caught me by surprise this year and I thought they would have cleared at least some cap space before the deadline and moved out a player or two as some of the names mentioned being Beauvillier, Bailey and Varlamov but they decided to do nothing and while I fully expect them to be very busy in the offseason trying to improve and get back to the playoffs a do believe that they should have made some move before the deadline and their lack of move is why I consider them a loser.
#4) Arizona
The Arizona Coyotes needed to get a lot of picks and prospects but they really underwhelmed in my opinion. Arizona got Nick Richie and a conditional 2025 2RD pick from Toronto for Ryan Dzingel and Ilya Lyubushkin, and sent Carter Hutton to Toronto for nothing, Michael Callahan was moved to Boston for a 7RD pick, Scott Wedgewood was moved to Dallas for a conditional 3RD pick, they got Jack McBain from Minnesota for a 2RD pick, they got the Bryan Little contract and Nathan Smith for a 4RD pick, they moved Johan Larsson to Washington for a 3RD pick and moved Riley Nash to Tampa Bay for nothing. Now I won’t say I didn’t like what they did as I actually liked most of what they did especially using cap space and draft capital to get young prospects like Jack McBain or Nathan Smith and they still moved players to get draft capital like with Larsson and Lyubushkin but I just thought they should have done more. Pending UFA’s who didn’t get moved who I still thought had some value like Anton Stralman, Alex Galchenyuk and Phil Kessel should have all been moved as they probably have no future with the team, Crouse and Fischer are two pending RFA’s who I thought might bring in decent returns and of course I did think that Chychrun was being dealt ahead of the deadline but that didn’t happen so although I think that they did a acceptable job before the deadline I just thought they would have some more and that is why I peg them as deadline losers
#5) New Jersey
The Devils were rumoured to be contemplating a lot of moves before the trade deadline in all three aspects of their roster but wound up doing very little as they only acquired Andrew Hammond from Montreal for Nathan Schnarr. Now that deal was very minor and Schnarr is a okay prospect and Hammond is a injured third string pending UFA goalie who might be able to hold the fort for the rest of the year if he can be activated but I am just surprised at the lack of movement. They were talking about moving Andreas Johnsson and Pavel Zacha who are young forwards and would’ve been good additions to contenders, they were also considering moving pending UFA defensemen P.K Subban as well as Damon Severson but they both stayed with Jersey and they were also considering moving UFA goalie Blackwood as he has shown that he may not be ready for a starting role but they also kept him. Now I believe all of these players could be moved in the offseason (expect Subban who will probably become a UFA) I just would’ve liked to see some movement out of them but they didn’t do anything and that is why they are deadline losers
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