2020 NHL trade deadline: Top 5 biggest winners and losers
WINNER: Vegas Golden Knights
Last year, the Vegas Golden Knights got Mark Stone from the Senators at the buzzer of the trade deadline. They even managed to sign him to a huge extension, ensuring one of the league’s top forwards would be sticking around long-term.
Usually, sequels suck. But this sequel was pretty freaking good, even if it wasn’t as good as the original. The Golden Knights acquired Robin Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks at the buzzer of this year’s deadline and didn’t even have to give up a first-round pick.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the Alec Martinez trade, but they got something back for Cody Eakin, which was a great trade for them. Nick Cousins is about as interesting as you can get for a bottom-six forward and they got him from the Montreal Canadiens.
LOSER: Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars came into the trade deadline with some fairly obvious flaws. They really needed to have an offense. Yet the Stars made one move on deadline day, and it wasn’t even that big of a trade.
TRADE: We've acquired Buffalo's sixth-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft from the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman Emil Djuse.#GoStarshttps://t.co/kdocRq0QSY
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 24, 2020
What’s more, the Stars weren’t even really involved in many trade rumors on deadline day. They’re still a good team and I like their chances of making a postseason run. That said, I would have really like their chances if they added a top-six forward. Then again, the Western Conference is up for grabs and there’s no clear favorite to come out on top, so maybe the Stars can still go far.