NHL Trade Deadline Winners and Losers

Another NHL trade deadline is in the books. On one hand, teams in win-now mode have been working the phones tirelessly trying to enhance their chances of bringing home Lord Stanley. On the other hand, non-contending teams are in a position to sell off their pending free agents to avoid losing them for nothing in the summer. With that in mind, now is an appropriate time to reflect upon the deadline that was, and evaluate which teams did well for themselves, and which teams had deadlines to forget. Here are your winners and losers from the 2022 deadline

(Note: my somewhat arbitrary timeline for deadline season is any trade that took place in either February or March of 2022)

Winners:

Colorado Avalanche

The Avs have to be considered the clear favourites not only in the Western Conference, but the entire NHL. With that in mind, it is no surprise that they were seemingly linked to every big name available for trade. While they may not have landed any of the truly big fish, they still made a number of moves that will certainly be a big help for them. Just as importantly, they did not really overpay to obtain any of these players. My personal favourite move they made has to be the Artturi Lehkonen deal. While he may have cost them a second round pick as well as 2020 first rounder Justin Barron, the acquisition cost was totally worth it. Often dubbed as this year’s version of Blake Coleman or Barclay Goodrow, Lehkonen is legitimately great defensively and can chip in with secondary scoring to boot- a perfect fit in Colorado’s possession-heavy style. Death, taxes, and the Avs trading for analytics darlings. As I alluded to off the top, the Avs were my cup pick heading into the deadline, and their recent moves have only strengthened my stance on this matter. 

Toronto Maple Leafs

A lot was made about how the Maple Leafs did not add a goaltender at the deadline. Reality is, once a trade for Fleury was no longer in the cards, it made sense for Kyle Dubas to not panic, and instead put his faith in the guys they currently have, since none of the available netminders would have represented an upgrade. You’re telling me Alexandar Georgiev, Joonas Korpisalo, or Martin Jones would have really made this team better, even before accounting for acquisition cost? Give me a break.  As they say, sometimes the best trades are the ones that don’t happen. The Leafs are also winners in my books for the 2 trades of note they actually did make. First off, adding some depth on the right side of their defense in Ilya Lyubushkin, while also ridding themselves of the Nick Ritchie contract seems like a clear win to me. More recently, they hit a home run in the trade they made with Seattle. Considering what Hampus Lindholm, Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak, and Nick Leddy went for, Dubas has to feel good about himself as far as what he gave up for Mark Giordano. Colin Blackwell, meanwhile, is not exactly a throw-in. He should provide the Leafs with a cheap source of depth and versatility. Of course, this team will be judged solely based upon what happens in the playoffs – I don’t need to tell you that at this point. Reality is, this team has the talent to make some serious noise this spring.

Calgary Flames

Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I was quite high on this Flames team heading into the season. Even so, I didn’t see this coming.

As a clear-cut top 2 team in a relatively thin Western Conference, it made perfect sense for this team to bolster their roster. First off, the Tyler Toffoli trade gave them another much needed natural scorer, not to mention the element of familiarity in Darryl Sutter’s system. Moreover, they added a solid ,all-around, versatile forward in Calle Jarnkrok. His ability to play up and down the lineup should be music to Sutter’s ears. With no glaring holes on the roster, with excellent coaching to boot, these recent moves by the Flames make them the biggest threat to Colorado’s Western Conference supremacy. 

Minnesota Wild

Admittedly speaking, I had a somewhat lukewarm reaction to their acquisition of one Marc-Andre Fleury. I had no qualms with a tandem of Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen. However, the more I think of it, the more I’m warming up to this trade .While he is having a tough season based on his lofty standards, he represents a clear upgrade in net. This is arguably the most talented roster the Wild have ever had, and given their inevitable salary cap problems they will face starting next year given the Ryan Suter/Zach Parise buyouts, it makes sense to go all-in with the group they currently have. It may not be enough to take down the Colorado’s of the world, but it was certainly worth trying.

Montreal Canadiens

In the points above, I have discussed some of the trade deadline successes of various teams in win-now mode, so why not shift to a team in sell mode that I believe did very well for themselves throughout the deadline period? Since taking over, the new regime led by Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes have essentially telegraphed the fact that significant changes were coming. That was not a surprise, given how the team has been performing this year. The Habs have to feel good about themselves regarding the return packages for Tyler Toffoli, Ben Chiarot, Artturi Lehkonen, and Brett Kulak. Throughout this process, the team was able to acquire multiple early draft picks, as well as multiple prospects who have a chance of contributing in the future. While it is becoming more and more obvious that last year’s Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final was an aberration, fans certainly have reason to be optimistic about the long-term state of the franchise.

Losers:

Edmonton Oilers

I admittedly like the moves they made for Brett Kulak and Derick Brassard. So why do I have the Oilers as losers, you may ask? It all comes down to their goaltending situation.I recently gave the Leafs credit for standing pat once it became apparent that they were not getting Fleury, so the same logic should apply to Edmonton, right? Not quite. Fact is, I would take Toronto’s collection of goalies over Edmonton’s by a fairly considerable margin. If you’re Ken Holland, why not chance it and hope you strike gold with a newly-acquired goalie, considering your other options are a backup-level Mikko Koskinen, the corpse of Mike Smith, and an unproven Stuart Skinner, who has had mixed results even dating back to his days in junior? When you have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in their primes, any season where you’re not all-in to try and improve feels like a wasted season. This seems like another wasted opportunity for the Oilers.

St.Louis Blues

The Blues have only made one trade of note recently, but I was not a fan of said trade. Had the deal taken place a few years ago I would feel differently, but the reality is Nick Leddy’s on-ice impact has declined rather considerably in recent years. Not to mention, they did not exactly pay a cheap price to obtain him. Giving up a second rounder and Jake Walman for potentially 2 months of a third-pairing defender seems steep enough, but an underrated detail of this trade is the inclusion of Oskar Sundqvist. The Swede is a serviceable bottom-six forward, and since there was no corresponding move, they rid themselves of some depth up front while not meaningfully improving on defense. While I am fully aware that his inclusion in the deal was essentially mandatory to make it work as far as the salary cap is concerned, perhaps they would have been better off just standing pat if this was the only deal genuinely available to them. The 2019 Blues ain’t exactly walking through that door, after all. 

Philadelphia Flyers

I have no qualms with the Justin Braun trade. However, I take issue with some other transactions they have made. While I am fully aware that Giroux’s NMC essentially forced himself  to Florida, and thus lowering Chuck Fletcher’s leverage in negotiations, the return they fetched from Florida still feels very underwhelming. It definitely feels like they could have squeezed a couple more assets out of the Panthers. However, by far the most egregious thing they did over the course of deadline season was paying a premium to retain Rasmus Ristolainen. This feels like a classic case of a team succumbing to the sunk cost fallacy. Instead of admitting their mistake and resorting to shopping him at the deadline, they decided to double down and sign him to a five-year extension with a cap hit of 5.1 million dollars. Risto is a replacement-level defender with a top-pairing reputation, and this is a deal that will almost certainly age poorly for the Flyers. Expectations were relatively high heading into the season, but now, it is fair to wonder whether blowing it up and starting from scratch would be the appropriate course of action for this team.

New York Islanders/Buffalo Sabres

It sort of feels like cheating putting two teams into the same segment. However, they are listed for the same reason. By and large, these are two teams that refrained from trading their pending UFA’s despite widespread expectation that they would do exactly that. While none of their pending free agents are necessarily studs who will shift the balance of power, we’re talking about useful depth pieces that contending teams could have surely used. Even if you aren’t necessarily in love with the offers you’re getting, not getting what you can for these players and risking losing them for nothing in the summer is simply bad process. Even if all you could get back is late picks and lesser-known prospects, it still does not hurt to stockpile on these types,especially if you aren’t winning anything in the immediate term anyway. This past deadline feels like a missed opportunity for these two teams.

Mixed Feelings- Florida Panthers

I’m not going to discuss all of the teams I feel pretty neutral about. However, I would be remiss if I did not mention the team that added the single biggest fish at the deadline. As previously mentioned, the Panthers did very well for themselves in the Claude Giroux deal, He should fit right in on a team that has an excellent chance of going all the way. Feels like an easy win. So why do I have mixed feelings? Let’s take some time to discuss the Ben Chiarot trade. I am of the belief that he does not make this team better, and he came at a very high price. Of course, the Panthers have become known for getting the most out of their players, and perhaps a presumably lesser role compared to what he had in Montreal will do wonders for him. And of course, if the Panthers go on to win the Stanley Cup, no one will go back and ridicule them for this deal. That said, there were certainly better ways they could have spent the 1st round pick that it took to acquire him. And if the Panthers do in fact win it all, it’s hard to envision Chariot being that one piece that pushed them over the top, given his general on-ice performances.