By Tyler Fennell
Staff Writer
This year’s NHL trade deadline was arguably the most anticipated in quite a while, given this year’s very stacked free agent class.
With names like Brock Nelson, Mikko Rantanen, Brock Boeser and Brad Marchand all rumored to be on the trade block, this year's deadline was expected to be one of the most league-altering deadlines in the past decade.
Late in January, Rantanen was traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Martin Necas, Jack Drury and two draft picks. While the value at the time seemed to favor the Hurricanes, as the weeks went by with no Rantanen extension in sight, it became clearer that there could be another possible trade involving the winger.
This forced the Hurricanes to flip him at the trade deadline to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks and two third-round picks. The return for the Hurricanes was decent, when considering the fact they gave up Necas for six weeks of Rantanen playing below his skill level only to get Stankoven and two late first round picks.
If the Hurricanes flipped those picks before the deadline was over, the reception of the moves would be less negative. However, they decided to keep these picks, a confusing move for a contending team.
With this trade, the Stars without a doubt have the best forward core in the league despite giving up the budding star, rookie Stankoven.
Unlike the Hurricanes, the Stars made sure that if they traded for Rantanen, he would be extended before the deadline.
The Stars put pen to paper and inked an eight-year, $96 million extension, which comes to around a $12 million average annual value. They also extended one of their young stars in Wyatt Johnston to a five-year, $42 million extension for an AAV of $8.4 million.
The Central Division got even tougher with not only the Stars making major additions, but also the Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets.
The Avalanche acquired pending free agent Nelson from the New York Islanders in exchange for Calum Ritchie, Oliver Kylington, a protected first-round pick and a conditional third-round pick.
Kylington would immediately be flipped to Anaheim for future considerations, effectively making this a three team trade between the Avalanche, Islanders and Ducks.
The Avalanche finally got their legit second line center in Nelson. Despite his age, he has been the Islanders' leading goal scorer every year ever since the 2019-20 season.
For the Islanders, receiving a top-20 prospect and a first-round pick is a great start to a youth movement that has been desperately needed on Long Island.
The Avalanche also acquired center Charlie Coyle from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Casey Mittelstadt, William Zellers and a second-round pick. This move solidifies their center core of Nathon MacKinnon, Nelson, Coyle and Jack Drury.
They also added depth pieces in a trade with the New York Rangers for Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey in exchange for Juuso Parssinen, Calvin de Haan, a conditional second-round pick and a fourth-round pick.
Despite losing Rantanen, the Avalanche’s lineup became much deeper overall. Necas has fit in like a glove with MacKinnon with 17 points in his last 16 games since being traded. Combine this with the return of Valeri Nichushkin from the NHL’s player assistance program, they have one of the deepest forward cores, defensive cores and goaltending tandem.
The Winnipeg Jets also made significant depth trades, the first of which was with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Jets acquired Luke Schenn from the Penguins in exchange for a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick. Schenn was acquired by the Penguins along with Tommy Novak in a deal with the Nashville Predators just days prior to sending Schenn to Winnipeg.
The Jets also acquired depth forward Brandon Tanev in exchange for a second-round pick. Considering they have the best record in the league, there was not much reason to do much else other than bolster their depth.
Although the Penguins ended up being sellers this deadline, General Manager Kyle Dubas had himself quite the deadline, bolstering their youth for a team that desperately needed it and acquiring a ton of draft capital as well.
On top of the aforementioned Schenn deal, the Penguins traded forward Anthony Beauvillier to the Washington Capitals for a second-round pick. They acquired a third-round pick along with Chase Stillman and Max Graham from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Cody Glass and Jonathan Gruden. The only pick they spent on deadline day was a fifth-round pick for Conor Timmins and Connor Dewar from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The biggest surprise trade of the night, however, was the Bruins trading their captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers.
The return for the Bruins was rather light, with a conditional second-round pick that becomes a first if the Panthers make it to the Eastern Conference Finals and Marchand plays at least 50% of the games.
The condition on the draft pick states that if the Panthers win two rounds in the playoffs and Marchand plays in at least 50% of those games, the Bruins will instead receive either a 2027 first round pick or a 2028 first round pick.
The reason why the Bruins might get a 2028 first round pick instead is because of a previous trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. That trade involved Seth Jones being sent to Florida in exchange for assets that included a first round pick in either 2026 or 2027. If the Panthers choose to trade their 2026 first round pick, the Blackhawks will receive the Panthers 2027 pick, and the Bruins will receive the 2028 first round pick. If the Panthers choose not to trade away their 2026 pick or use it at the 2026 NHL entry draft, Chicago will instead receive the 2026 pick and the Bruins will receive the 2027 pick.
