NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 26: Kevin Hayes #13 of the New York Rangers scores a goal on Zane McIntyre #31 of the Boston Bruins during the second period at Madison Square Garden on October 26, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The NHL trade deadline started off slowly. However, before the deadline at 3 p.m. EST on Monday, 35 different players and 18 picks were shuffled around the league as some teams hoped to rebuild and others tried to reload.
The 23 swaps this year are up from 18 in 2018 and 2017, 17 in 2016, and just below the 24 trades in 2015.
The Ottowa Senators, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Columbus Blue Jackets and the San Jose Sharks came out on top of the deadline.
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The Senators were dealt a poor hand. After not resigning any of their soon-to-be free agents, general manager Pierre Dorion prevented them from walking away empty-handed. Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel all rejected the idea of sticking around in Ottowa. Though the organization is a mess and the team is without their 2019 draft pick, they got back a monster haul. This year, they hold seven draft picks and in 2020 they’ll have 13, including three in the first round alone.
Meanwhile, the New York Rangers continued on with their fire sale. After Ottowa shipped off Duchene, center Kevin Hayes‘ value shot up. The Rangers flipped him to the Winnipeg Jets for a first-round pick and a decent forward. Then, they were able to turn 32-year-old defender Adam McQuaid into two late-round draft picks. Though King Henrik Lundqvist is all alone on a dismal team, they’ve got 10 picks in the upcoming draft and only $61 million on the books for next season.
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The Lightning didn’t have to do anything to win. They pulled in their talent early with Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller joining the team last year from the Rangers. Instead, they’ve got 98 points in 62 games and much less competition as all of the talent in the east went out west.
The Blue Jackets found themselves in a weird spot. They could’ve imploded after Artemi Panarin demanded out along with the possibility that Sergei Bobrovsky wouldn’t be on the team. Instead, they added Duchene and Dzingel and are hoping to make a deep run into the playoffs. While it’s left the team depleted with picks and betting on free agents, for a team that hasn’t even sniffed the second round of the playoffs, these are the right moves to make.
Any fan of the San Jose Sharks can’t complain about the deals they’ve made. While sitting on second place in the Pacific Division, they doubled down and added Gustav Nyquist. He’s been good for 49 points in 63 games and could be the piece that catapults them over the top. He’s been shaky in the playoffs but as a third option, no team would complain.
Now, with the dust settling, all that matters for these teams is hoisting the Stanley Cup come June.
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