When the trade deadline comes around, in any sport, it means one of two things. Either you’re trying to get better for your playoff push, or you’re shedding talent in a fire sale. What happened coming out of the NHL trade deadline is no different. There’s teams that came out of the deadline that got better, while there’s other teams look like they are taking steps backwards. Will the deals actually work out? Only time will really be able to tell. But for now, after taking some time to be able to digest some of the moves, here’s some of the biggest winners and losers out of the trade deadline.
Winner: Colorado Avalanche
Seems like the rich get richer in a sense. The best team in the entire league actually managed to get that much better. Colorado brought back Nazem Kadri and added in more depth down the middle with Nicolas Roy coming into the mix. One of the deepest teams in the game just got deeper. Colorado has the best odds for being the team to take it all this year, and what they did at the deadline helped them get that much better.
Winner: Minnesota Wild
Another team trying to make headlines at the deadline and even slightly before it is Minnesota. A lot of that, let’s be real, started in December, when the Wild added Quinn Hughes in a major deal with Vancouver. Then, as we got closer to the deadline, Vinnie Hinostroza got traded away to Florida. That’s OK, Minnesota added Jeff Petry in a deal, then brought in Nick Foligno. With the moves that the Wild have made, they are putting all their chips in for trying to chase down both Colorado and Dallas.
Winner: Anaheim Ducks
As of this writing, the Ducks are sitting atop the Pacific Division, trying to hold off Vegas and Edmonton. The Ducks have a very good young team, that actually getting better. Sure, they moved Ryan Strome to Calgary for a pick. But the real bigtime move was sending two picks to Washington for John Carlson. That’s a huge move. Why? Because, even though the Ducks sit on top of the division, they have allowed more goals than they’ve scored (again as of this writing). So by bringing in a guy the talent of Carlson, it will in theory settle things down on that end of the ice and allow the young guys they have to fill the other net while keeping pucks out of theirs.
Losers: Toronto Maple Leafs
The team that was supposed to be good has taken steps backwards. Anybody knew it was going to be a step backward when Marner left for Vegas. It’s Toronto there’s always going to be high expectations, even with him leaving in the summer. But the Leafs have had a total fall off this year, falling to second to last place in the division (as of this writing). Because of that, it has lead to Toronto dumping off talent. Roy to Colorado for picks, Bobbly McMann to Seattle for picks, Scott Laughton to LA for a pick. Sure the Leafs are stocking draft capital but it’s really not helping their cause in the here and now.
Losers: Buffalo Sabres
Yes it seems strange putting Buffalo in this position, considering where they are in the standings. At the time of this writing, they are on a six game winning streak and have a chance at ending the long playoff drought. So why are they here? Because the management wasn’t able to do anything to improve the team. It’s not to say that they didn’t try. They looked at Colton Parayko and Luke Scheen, nothing happened out of either one. Buffalo had a real shot at trying to make improvements, but it never came to pass. This could turn out have been a massive missed opportunity.
Losers: Washington Capitals
This is a team that’s knocking on the door of a playoff spot. They sit six points back as of now and looked like they could be making moves. But then they make the deals they made. John Carlson traded to the Ducks, Nic Dowd sent to Vegas. Sure they got draft picks back in return, but if they wanted to have even a remote chance of making it to the post season, that may have gone right out the window. The team isn’t getting any younger and by the looks of it, management maybe closing the window on a title faster than expected.
