NHL trade deadline winners and losers

The NHL trade deadline came and went in what felt like a flash on March 7th, so we have to see what teams won and got significantly better and what teams may have gotten fleeced.

Winners

Dallas Stars

To put it simply, they got the highest coveted player at the deadline in Mikko Rantanen. He is a talented goal scorer that gets added to an already loaded lineup and now the Stars look like the best team in the NHL.

At that, they gave up Logan Stankoven, who has looked good so far, but is a rookie. They also received conditional first round picks in 2026 and 2028 and third round picks in 2026 and 27.

All things considered, they got one of the best goal scorers in the league and re-signed him and they didn’t have to give up a single pick in this upcoming draft. His extension is eight years at $96 million which also doesn’t break the bank.

The Stars got the best bang for their buck by getting a proven elite goal scorer and only giving up a rookie and some draft capital (that should be late in the round) which is also not proven to work.

Florida Panthers

Panthers made a splash with the addition of Seth Jones to bolster their defense and the addition of multiple time Stanley Cup champion and the pest of the league in Brad Marchand.

Jones is a solid player. He struggled in Chicago, but Chicago wasn’t exactly a top contender while he was there. The return to the Blackhawks may have been steep of a potential starting goalie and a first round pick, but if they go back-to-back, you bet they’ll say it was worth it.

Marchand is such a playoff player with his style of play. He thrives at annoying his opponents and getting under the skin of opposing players. In addition to that, he knows how to score points.

While they may not be the cream of the crop anymore, they certainly still add talent to an already loaded roster in Sunrise, Florida.

Ottawa Senators

Ottawa didn’t make the biggest splash, in fact they really only made one sneaky move and that was adding Dylan Cozens.

Cozens is still young, only at 24 years old and only in the second year of a seven year contract. Cozens showed flashes in Buffalo but was never able to keep the consistency.

Cozens already has shown promise scoring four points in five games, including a game winning goal in his second game as a Senator.

If Cozens turns out to be a star and just needs a change of scenery, this could be the start of a good young core in Ottawa in addition to Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk and Jason Sanderson.

Losers

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks won a round of the playoffs in last year’s tournament and are on the verge of another playoff entrance this year, yet they did nothing. They in fact, sold more than buying.

To start, they traded arguably their best player in J.T. Miller back to the Rangers. They got two young skaters in return and a first round pick in this upcoming draft, but they are not supposed to be rebuilding.

They also couldn’t agree on a deal to get rid of Brock Boeser, who scored 40 goals last season. Boeser is set to become a free agent, but GM Patrick Allvin said the returns they were offered for Boeser were just so unbelievably low, he couldn’t do it.

With Miller gone, Boeser set to be a free agent and Pettersson still up in the air on his future in Vancouver, the Canucks look like they are in for a retool rather than a playoff push.

Colorado Avalanche

How a team who was buying at the deadline could be losers may be puzzling, but when you lose a top goal scorer for a mid-tier playmaker, that is quite the downgrade.

Martin Necas was a nice addition. He is cheaper than Rantanen, but he is not even close to the level of player that Rantanen is. There are two factors that play into the Avs being losers.

Rantanen got traded and signed an eight year extension for $12 million AAV. Now with the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, money isn’t the easiest thing to come by. However, the cap is rising again for the first time since the bubble making teams more flexible.

The ultimate salt in the wound for the Avalanche is that they will be seeing him four times a year, and more often in the playoffs because he is now on the Central division rival Stars.

The Avs didn’t get too much worse per se, but the situation they now face puts them in a hard spot.

Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina might’ve been the only team at the deadline looking to get better who actually got worse.

Rantanen didn’t seem to fit, so trade him again, why not? Because all that they sent out the door has now taken them out of control of the Eastern conference. Despite being the second team in the Metropolitan division, they were the best team from top to bottom.

They sent out Necas, who was having a career year, for Rantanen, who would then be sent out for Stankoven. Stankoven is having a nice rookie season, but he is just not proven like the other two players.

The Canes have been stuck in a playoff purgatory for years. The move for Rantanen finally made them look like they may get over that hump.

Although they will make the playoffs, sending out Rantanen feels like a punt on the season. They now have no stand out players and really pose no threat in the playoffs anymore.

Tristan Kunec is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email tqk5432@psu.edu.