Obligatory Trade Deadline Blog

As you all know, the NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone for another year. For those who cheer for teams in contention this typically means the addition of players to shore up weaknesses in an attempt at Lord Stanley or possibly even the addition of a star player. If you're sick and tired of hearing the same old Trade Deadline Leafs rhetoric from a guy with earrings that has the slowest 40-yeard dash time this planet has ever seen, read on below for the Frozen Fairway's take on the winners and losers. While we do have two Leafs fans on this blog (Dan and Chim), I'll take it upon myself to ensure we remain partisan.

Let's start with this year's top 5 losers.

Top 5 Losers from the 2024-2025 Trade Deadline

5. Pittsburgh Penguins, More Specifically, Sidney Crosby

   
   

Anytime there is a "Top # Losers of Blank" you can bet Kyle Dubas will find his way there. I know it's a nice story to have Sid retire with the organization he's carried on his back and saved from a trip to MNP Debt Solutions for the last 20 years, but come on, the hockey world deserves to have Sid competing for a cup in his final few seasons. Yes Mr. Dubas has recouped a large number of second and third round picks and Soo Greyhounds prospects, but to not move Malkin, Letang and/or Crosby just seems criminal. Maybe these guys have come to him and said we don't want to go anywhere but could you imagine the amount prospects and picks the Penguins would have received for the services of these 3?! Kyle, do the right thing for the hockey world and start your rebuild already. The rest of your team is abysmal, enjoy Erik Karlsson's contract.

Steel City's Protector - Kyle Dubas

4. Detroit Red Wings

   
   

Not entirely sure what the Yzerplan is, and how trading Joe Veleno for Craig Smith and Petr Mrazek has any part of it. Sure, Veleno was kind of just rotting away in the press box or bottom 6 and maybe he even requested a trade so I guess you try and trade him, but, this is your only move this year at the deadline? Craig Smith isn't really going to provide much of an upgrade at 35 years of age. I'm not saying they should have been huge buyers but with the amount of prospects they have in their system, trying to make a bit of a splash using a couple high draft picks to get a player with at least some star calibre, especially on defence, would have been nice given how close they are to a playoff spot. Or, you could even go the other route and try and trade some of their older top players for picks or prospects seeing as this will not be the year for a deep run for the team. I've long loathed the make-up and drafting of this organization in the Yzerman era, seeing as other than Lucas Raymond and Mo Seider, Stevey Y should be concerned with the lack of potential game-breaking talent he's been able to put together over his tenure. And no, Dylan Larkin is a nice complementary piece but is nowhere near talented enough going toe-to-toe with guys like Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Kucherov, Point, Barkov, Matt Tkachuk, Bennett, Stutzle and this is just the Atlantic.

3. LA Kings

Here we are again for the LA Kings who sit 3rd in the Pacific miles behind the Oilers and Golden Knights in terms of depth and high-end talent. They have a very reliable forward group who have consistently gotten them into third place in the Pacific without having to go into a major rebuild following their golden era, featuring guys like Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli and Dustin Brown. Kudos to them for remaining competitive. However, here you are siting third again and your big opportunity to fill a major hole in the top 6 is spent by acquiring Andrei Kuzmenko? Maybe the trade market wasn't there for top 6 wingers but you have basically elected to be content with another first round exit. The makeup of this team is questionable in the sense that I don't think there is enough talent here to win a Stanley Cup, not to mention Anze Kopitar will be heading towards retirement within the next couple of seasons. They have no major draft capital nor do they have an abundance of elite prospects. I just saw Liam Greentree play the other night actually, he was quite good but by no means the second coming of Anze Kopitar. So, to summarize, not many top prospects, not an abundance of draft capital and currently, not an elite team on paper. Your team isn't getting any better over the next few seasons without some outside help. Something probably should've been done seeing as the point is to win the Stanley Cup and not just sneak into the playoffs year after year.

2. New York Rangers

This organization continues to amaze me in all the wrong ways. You have a team in the heart of Manhattan - the greatest city in the world according to Donald and you're now on the brink of wasting another potential Hall of Fame goaltender's career. Their goaltending situation is covered for the next 8 seasons or so, so you do have a lot of time to re-tool the roster but some of the current pieces aren't going to get you there. Adam Fox isn't your number one guy. He's nowhere near the same talent wise as guys like Makar and Hughes offensively which would be okay if it weren't for the fact he's basically Amelia Earhart's refueling technician in his own end and away from the puck. Anyways I'm getting off topic, there are a few more questionable choices but I should explain why they make this list. Let's take a look at what came in and what left the Rangers this season.

In	Out
Nicolas Abue-Kubel	Kappo Kaako
Carson Soucy	Jacob Trouba
Brendan Brisson	Reilly Smith
Jusso Parssinen	Jimmy Vesey
Calvin de Haan	Ryan Lindgren
J.T. Miller	Filip Chytil
Will Borgen
Urho Vaakamnainen

Picks In	Pick Out
3rd	3rd
3rd	1st
6th
2nd
4th

So, I guess the Ranger decided to re-tool when they stumbled badly around the 20 game mark this season and traded their captain, Jacob Trouba, to the Ducks. That's fine and all but you made him your captain and then you just kind of discard him to the irrelevant Anaheim Ducks after threatening to place him on waivers. Not a good look regardless if he was living up to his contract or not. Then they decided to re-acquire locker room cancer J.T. Miller, leaving us thinking okay, the Rangers are looking to get back into the hunt at the deadline here, but it came and went without any significant moves on their end other than dealing Reilly Smith back to Vegas. What was the plan here? Sure you ended up regaining some relatively insignificant draft capital but gave up a first just to have school yard bully J.T. terrorize the locker room. First round picks haven't been the Rangers forte regardless in recent years selecting Kappo Kaako 2nd overall and then being media pressured into selecting Alexis Lafreniere first overall. They didn't get any better this season, sure Miller will help out offensively but there was no real improvement for the team now and into the future. I'm sure they'll look to solve the gaping holes in their lineup this offseason but this was not a good deadline for the Rangers.

1. Carolina Hurricanes

   
   

Our biggest loser this year is the Carolina Hurricanes. Yea, pretty much everyone has them as one of the biggest losers this year at the deadline for infamously dealing away Necas for Rantanen only to lose him for Logan Stankoven and a couple of Firsts. While the return itself for Rantanen wasn't all that bad, it seems odd a team with Cup aspirations would make a deal that is one a rebuilding team would make. But, let's back up to the Necas trade first. Marty Necas had previously requested a trade at the end of last season, which stemmed from his dad complaining about his lack of ice time on powerplay 1. While I agree with his dad, that Marty should have been on that unit all along, the problem was rectified this season by having him on that first unit which directly paid off for the Canes, putting him well on pace to set a new career high in points. In fact, he was obliterating his old numbers. Now unless he directly told the GM there is no chance of him re-signing, why on earth would you move a guy in the midst of a career year (55 points in 49 games for the Canes)? I get that Mikko Rantanen has done amazing things the past couple of seasons, eclipsing 90 points since 2021-2022 but this to me just seemed a little bit risky when you consider the vast differences in the play styles of the Avalanche and Hurricanes. Rantanen would only put up 6 points in 13 games with the Canes before they opted to move him again. While I applaud the Canes for getting a return on Rantanen who may not have worked out there anyways, the main issue I have with the Canes this year was dealing away Necas in the first place. Logan Stankoven will be a great player in the years to come but the loss of Necas (and Rantanen) will be to their demise come playoff time. Imagine what those guys are thinking in that locker room. Even given this significant loss, I still might take the Canes over the Devils in what is likely to be the round 1 matchup.

Top 5 Winners from the 2024-2025 Trade Deadline

5. Colorado Avalanche

   
   

Well, things didn't start out great for the Avs this season. They stumbled out of the gate like Peter Griffin's race horse, "Till Death", but were able to recover, in large part of course thanks to Nate and Makar, but also dumping their awful goalie tandem. With Rantanen signing that $12 million AAV deal, his move out of Colorado is looking more and more perplexing. At least they were able to land Marty Necas on the momentum of a career year to somewhat compensate for the loss of Mikko. The reason the Avs kick our list off at number 5 stems from the sheer volume of transactions they've made this season to get them back into consideration. Yes, they lost Rantanen and high school hockey star Casey Mittlestadt but here's a list of who they've been able to add:

• Brock Nelson: 44 points in 62 games. A much more reliable option than Mittlestadt for the 2C, then again maybe it's just his grey hair. Only time will tell.

• Mackenzie Blackwood: A solid option in net when compared to Alex Georgiev

• Marty Necas: 71 points in 64 games this year, basically on pace with what Rantanen has.

• Jack Drury: A good depth add who came over with Necas.

• Ryan Lindgren: A proven shut-down defender and excellent shot blocker. They have enough offense from Toews and Makar anyways.

• Jimmy Vesey: A bit of a suitcase but he does fine on a fourth line.

• Erik Johnson: A depth add, not sure how much he'll be playing.

• Charlie Coyle: He only has 22 points this season but is coming off a 60 point effort with the Bruins last season. He dominates puck possession when he's at his best. Colorado should have enough support around him to get back to producing at the rate he should be. Excellent 3C.

4. Tampa Bay Lightning

   
   

I was a little worried for the Bolts and their fans that they don't quite have the depth they're accustomed to having for a deep playoff run. The re-acquisition of Yanni Pumpkin really solidifies their third line and Oliver Bjorkstrand has proven in the past he can be a dangerous goal scorer given enough support around him. The Bolts will have plenty of that. On paper this team now stands a real shot at the Title, however, I still don't think it will be enough. The Atlantic is going to be tough to make it out.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs

   
   

After seemingly getting it wrong for so many seasons prior to this one, I think they finally found something that may work. Instead of going after the Russian Bear for a third time, who let's be honest, would struggle to keep up in some beer leagues, they acquired Brandon Carlo. With Carlo and Tanev on that right side, you have to admit this seems much more legitimate. Yes, they still lack a true number one guy on the back end but this is a step in the right direction. Up front they added third line centre Scott Laughton, perfect. He can play a tough game at both ends of the ice and is much more dependable than Max Domi or Pontus Holmberg. This was a quite successful trade deadline for the Leafs. The only blunder would be asking Mitch Marner to waive his no-move clause in an effort to make a deal for Rantanen. The only downside for the Leafs is that both the Lightning and the Panthers also made this Top 5 list.

2. Florida Panthers

   
   

We have our third Atlantic Division team making the Top 5 list. The Panthers were likely already on a shortlist of teams to be favourites for this postseason, now, they've gone out and added a couple more huge pieces. First they dealt promising young netminder Spencer Knight to the Blackhawks for top 4 defender Seth Jones. I know Seth has his group of haters and you could argue he's overpaid but he's been on a horrendous Blackhawks team. I loved this move for the Panthers. They could have stopped there but given the moves from the Lightning and the Leafs, why would you. When I refreshed my feed on "TSN Trade Tracker" I fell out of my chair when I saw Brad Marchand's name pop up. I'm beyond a state of happiness that Bad Brad gets another shot at once again ousting the Maple Leafs from Stanley Cup contention. Sure, MArchand may be getting up there in age but with a supporting cast as strong as this Panthers squad, he's sure to be "Super Effective" as they say in the Pokemans world.

1. Dallas Stars

   
   

This team was already deep beyond belief up front prior to making their acquisitions this season. Mikko Rantanen, 60 goal scorer, and a somewhat surprising almost point-per-game Mikael Granlund join a group that features other star forwards - Roope Hintz, Jason Roberston, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston and Matt Duchene. You have 8 forwards who, if given the opportunity to all play on the first powerplay, would be point-per-game players, or close to it. And now you get to roll out Dadonov and Marchment on a fourth line who both have more than 30 points this season or 23 year-old AHL All-Star Mavrik Bourque who made the minor leagues look like Bonnie Blue last season, absolutely outrageous.