4 players acquired near the NHL trade deadline who already made a significant impact for their new teams

The 2024 NHL trade deadline has come and gone, but there are a few players who have already made a significant contribution to their new teams.

Vancouver Canucks v Vegas Golden Knights
Vancouver Canucks v Vegas Golden Knights | Candice Ward/GettyImages
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Anthony Duclair’s debut for the Lightning was epic

Deadline week saw Anthony Duclair make an epic return to Florida after spending nearly half the season in California playing alongside a struggling San Jose Sharks team that is fit for a rebuild. This time, however, Duclair saw himself not in South Florida, but near the Gulf, donning a Tampa Bay Lightning uniform. 

He only played in one game so far, and it was a 7-0 blowout win against those surprisingly talented Philadelphia Flyers. But Duclair wasn’t watching the rest of the Lightning while the team put up seven on Philadelphia; he was doing his part, ending the game with one goal and two points. 

Even more amazing was the fact that Duclair saw just 13 minutes and 56 seconds of ice time in his debut. Through just one game, he’s showing us he can still be the prolific scorer he was just two seasons ago for what was a Florida Panthers team that ended the regular season with the league’s best record. 

Duclair also wasn’t putting up bad numbers with the Sharks, despite the team’s meager production when they had the puck, with 27 points in 56 games. No, it was nowhere near what he could put up when he’s even playing for a halfway decent team, but Duclair overachieved with a bad hockey team in San Jose. 

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)