2019 NHL Trade Deadline: 5 Biggest Winners And Losers

Winner: San Jose Sharks

San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson does his job the way everyone wants their GM to do their job. He doesn’t care about the future, he wants to win right now, gosh darn it. Wilson does a darn good job of negotiating too, so he rarely overpays for someone.

The Sharks obviously made their two big “deadline additions” this summer when they signed Evander Kane to an extension and traded for Erik Karlsson. One could consider Tomas Hertl’s brilliant campaign and Timo Meier’s breakout year to be two deadline additions.

But Wilson wasn’t satisfied. He got himself Gustav Nyquist, who’s one of the best playmakers in the league. And Wilson did it without giving up a first-round pick (though to be fair, he didn’t have one to give out until 2021).

Personally, some goaltending depth would have been really nice to have. But the Sharks hitched their wagon to Martin Jones a while ago. They’ve put a darn good team in front of him. Now Wilson just has to hope the Jones from the past three postseasons shows up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Loser: Calgary Flames

If the Calgary Flames were on that game show “Press Your Luck”, they hit a double whammy at the NHL trade deadline.

Not only did the Sharks get better by adding Nyquist, but the Vegas Golden Knights got a lot better too (we’ll talk about them later). The Flames lost out on Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello as well. They didn’t address the pink elephant in their room (their goaltending). All the Flames did was add a depth defenseman.

If Calgary loses in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, general manager Brad Treliving is going to look like a fool.