NHL trade deadline winners and losers

The NHL trade deadline has come and gone for another season. Join us as we recap the action and determine who came out ahead and who left their fan bases scratching their heads.

Winners

Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers finally addressed their need for secondary scoring when they acquired Andreas Athanasiou from the Red Wings for two second-round draft picks (Edmonton also landed prospect Ryan Kuffner and sent Sam Gagner to Detroit).

Tyler Ennis, who scored 33 points in 61 games for the Senators, was also brought in and cost the Oilers just a fifth-round pick. Edmonton beefed up its blue line with veteran defenseman Mike Green in a separate deal with Detroit for a conditional fourth-round pick.

Washington Capitals

The Capitals still have most of their core intact from their 2018 Stanley Cup-winning team, so they wisely made only minor changes and did not give away the ranch at the deadline.

Gritty defenseman Brenden Dillon was acquired from the Sharks for a second- and third-round pick, and veteran forward Ilya Kovalchuk (13 points in 22 games with the Canadiens) was plucked from Montreal for another third-rounder.

Ottawa Senators

The Senators had several attractive pieces to move at the deadline, with Jean-Gabriel Pageau considered the best forward available, once Chris Kreider was re-signed by the Rangers.

Ottawa cashed out by landing a first-, second-, and third-round pick from the desperate Islanders. The Senators also did well to move defenseman Dylan DeMelo to the Jets for a third-rounder, and Vladislav Namestnikov to the Avalanche for a fourth-rounder.

Losers

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche had more cap space than any team at the deadline and are only three points out of first in the Western Conference, so it was surprising the club came away with such an underwhelming haul.

Namestnikov, pried from Ottawa for a fourth-round pick, could hardly be considered an adequate replacement for Mikko Rantanen or Nazem Kadri, who are both slated to miss multiple weeks. Swapping defenseman Calle Rosen with Toronto for goaltender Michael Hutchinson was not an impact move, either.

New York Rangers

The Rangers’ decision to re-sign Kreider (seven years, $6.5 million average annual value) was fine, but their willingness to play the rest of the season with three goaltenders (Henrik Lundqvist, Alexandar Georgiev, and Igor Shesterkin) defies logic, despite the news that Shesterkin will be out for at least the next two weeks. 

The Blackhawks were able to get a second-rounder from Vegas for Robin Lehner. New York might have been able to swing that for Georgiev, a pending restricted free agent. The Blueshirts also failed to move pending unrestricted free agent Jesper Fast.

Their decision to part ways with defenseman Brady Skjei, whom they signed to a six-year, $31.5 million contract just a season and a half ago, for Carolina’s first-round pick was also confusing.  

Dallas Stars

The Stars didn’t figure to be too active at the deadline, as they had very limited cap space, but doing nothing to address their anemic offense (23rd in goals per game) has to be considered a loss.

The only deal they made was with Florida. They exchanged minor-league defenseman Emil Djuse for a sixth-round pick. 

---

Opt in now to get a risk-free bet up to $1,000 from BetAmerica!