2019 NHL Trade Deadline: Grading each team's performance

1 of 7

Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images /

The 2019 NHL Trade Deadline has now come and gone, and we all want to know how our teams did. Here’s a first look at who won and who lost.

Finally, the 2019 NHL trade deadline has come and gone. The dust has settled, and the trades are all finished. It took a while, for some reason, to really get the trades going. For those watching TradeCentre, the crew was just shooting the breeze until about a half hour to go, then it hit the fan and calls kept coming in until well past the 3:00 p.m. deadline.

As with every deadline, there are teams that have done better than others. Certain teams mortgaged their future for a chance at glory this year, while others traded away expiring assets for futures. Only three teams didn’t get in on the action this past weekend, so there’s plenty to talk about.

More from Puck Prose

In this post, we’ll run down how well each team did. We’ll start with the winners and gradually work our way down with those teams who didn’t have such successful days.

This is all knee jerk reactions from one person, and it doesn’t necessarily reflect the proceedings from now until June when one team hoists Lord Stanley’s Cup. So if you have any issues with what I’ve written here, well, there’s probably some merit to that, so feel free to argue about it in the comments below.

Without further ado, your trade grades for each team.

A+

Vegas Golden Knights

Landing Mark Stone for the remainder of this year, then immediately signing him for the rest of his prime? Yeah, take that any day. The price wasn’t unbelievably high either. Sure, Erik Brannstrom is a top prospect, but you have to give to get, and the fact that Brannstrom was the crux of this package, leaving Vegas with plenty left to play with for their next run at it after this year is a clear win.

A

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets were the busiest team on Deadline day, making six different trades over the course of the day. Most of the deals were minor depth deals, but they did land Kevin Hayes from the Rangers. The cost for doing business was their first round pick this year and Brendan Lemieux, but as far as rentals go, and where the Jets are in their competitive arc, this is a great trade for them. Grabbing all those depth pieces can’t hurt either.

A-

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Jackets were going to be one of the most interesting teams to watch during this time period, and they didn’t disappoint. They spent almost all of their draft picks, gave up a few good prospects, and held on to their expiring superstars Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.

However, the Blue Jackets also added Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, and Adam McQuaid to bolster the lineup. For good measure, they got Keith Kinkaid to reinforce the goal. They’re certainly pushing their chips all in on this season, it just remains to be seen if it’s enough to get past the other elites in the East.

New Jersey Devils

They didn’t make much noise, but quietly, the Devils had a very good deadline. They traded away their three remaining expiring contracts and got back more than what most would have expected. Connor Carrick is a solid pickup for them, because he’ll be able to show what he’s got right away, and the bundle of draft picks they picked up could easily be used to stock the cupboards or trade for more talent (they now have three 2nd round picks this year). For what they sold, they did very well.

Ottawa Senators

Bear with me on this one, because many may not agree here. They had three big players who were definitely leaving, so they had to get stuff in return. They now have 15(!) picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts, as well as landing some very solid prospects including Erik Brannstrom, Vitaly Abramov, and Jonathan Davidsson.

While many were underwhelmed with the Stone trade, I think landing a stud prospect plus was not the worst return. The Stone trade is what puts the Senators here, and not closer to the top, but they certainly did well here to build toward a future (hopefully).

The Senators needed to scorch the earth and start from scratch, and have now done so (at least the scorching part). This is a good first step to build on, just as long as they don’t find a way to dig their hole deeper, and find a way to make Ottawa a place people want to play again.

Tampa Bay Lightning

If it ain’t broke, no need to fix it. Because they didn’t rock the boat, they’re winners on that alone.

Home/Editorials

2019 NHL Trade Deadline: Grading each team’s performance

By Jeremy Tuch | Feb 26, 2019