After an exciting and action-packed traded deadline day, it's time for teams to look ahead to the playoffs. General managers across the league have done their best to prepare their respective teams for this final push of the regular season.
A handful of teams have given themselves a good chance to make a run at the Stanley Cup with some of the trades they orchestrated on Friday. Here are the three winners of the trade deadline.
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars acquired Mikko Rantanen on deadline day, the biggest name on the trade board. For a team that was already considered a Cup contender, General Manager Jim Nill may have pushed his team to be an even bigger favorite.
In this trade, the Stars didn't have to surrender any major roster pieces. Logan Stankoven and four draft picks, including two first rounders was what they sent to the Carolina Hurricanes. Stankoven is a young exciting player, but doesn't match the abilities of Rantanen.
To make this deal even sweeter for Dallas, Nill was able to lock up the Finnish winger to an eight-year deal. The Hurricanes looked to trade him because of the uncertainty of Rantanen signing an extension with the team.
Nonetheless, Dallas made sure that there was a contract in place before going through with the trade.
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche will always be Stanley Cup contenders as long as Nathan MacKinnon is healthy. While he continues his Hart Trophy-worthy campaign, the Avs added to their center depth.
Before the deadline, Colorado had Casey Mittelstadt as their second-line center. However, by Friday evening, the team looked very different down the middle. General Manager Chris MacFarland acquired Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders and Charlie Coyle from the Boston Bruins.
Those two additions allowed Colorado to fill in the center role on the second and third line. With that, the players coming in have plenty more playoff experience than 26-year-old Mittelstadt.
The only risk the Avalanche took with these moves, is they lost years with the addition of two 33-year-olds. Furthermore, Mittelstadt has two more years on his contract, while Nelson is a pending UFA. Also, Coyle has just one year left on his deal.
All signs point to the Avalanche making another deep run in the playoffs this season, thanks to their newest acquisitions.
Florida Panthers
The defending Stanley Cup champions are prepared to go back-to-back with what was arguably the most shocking trade during trade deadline day. The Florida Panthers acquired Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand just minutes ahead of the 3 p.m. ET deadline.
Not only is it surprising to see a player who could potentially be inducted into the Hall of Fame one day, the Panthers are a fierce rival of the Bruins. Their recent playoff series from last season can be evidence of that.
Furthermore, Panthers General Manager Bill Zito made another big splash almost a week earlier. They traded for Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks, finding a quality replacement for Brandon Montour, who became a free agent in the offseason.
For the time being, Matthew Tkachuk is unavailable because of an injury he picked up during the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, when he returns, opponents will have nightmares of a potential line including Marchand, Tkachuk and Sam Bennett.