It’s official – with the NHL’s trade deadline in the rearview mirror, we’re into the season’s final stretch and the time has arrived to identify the league’s trade market winners and losers.
Friday [7 March] was a fateful day in both conferences and every division, with franchise legends, world-class talents, and playoff specialists traded between friends, foes, and frenemies.
With that said, let’s dive into the latest edition of Stock Up, Stock Down – a weekly series in which lead reporter Luke James analyses trends around the hockey world.
NHL Trade Deadline: Stock Up, Stock Down
Stock Down – Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins did exactly what many teams in their position refuse to do – they made a series of difficult, but necessary, decisions.
With the Bruins set to miss the playoffs, Don Sweeney slammed his foot on the accelerator, turned into the skid, and sent Boston into full retool mode.
When pending unrestricted free agents Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau were shipped out the door, the market understood.
It’s one thing to recoup value from players who are set to leave for nothing in the summer – but trading your captain and important players with term left on their contracts is quite another.
Credit where it’s due – Sweeney made difficult choices, none more so than sending Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers for a conditional first-round pick, but his car boot sale approach has left his team hurtling towards a rebuild at a time when a return to contention next season didn’t feel far-fetched.
Boston collected assets that will help them in the future, with top-four defenceman Brandon Carlo sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for prospect forward Fraser Minten and draft capital, but deadline day announced a real mindset shift in Boston.
The Bruins are in a retool – if not a rebuild.
Stock Up – Dallas Stars
Not only did the Dallas Stars acquire the best player available on the deadline day market; they also signed him to an eight-year contract extension and reinforced their status as legitimate Cup contenders for years to come.
NHL Trade Deadline: Mikko Rantanen, Carolina Hurricanes (Image: NHL)
Mikko Rantanen is a superstar forward, who will feel as though he has a point to prove after his shock trade from Colorado to Carolina and finally Dallas.
The Stars also locked Wyatt Johnston into a five-year extension, with the 21-year-old set to torment defences across the league for the next decade-plus.
Hockey fans in Dallas are understandably thrilled – the less said about the city’s basketball team, the better.
Stock Up – Toronto Maple Leafs
Brad Treliving held his nerve and was repaid at the trade deadline.
The Toronto Maple Leafs steered clear of the market until the very last moment, acquiring Carlo from Boston and Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Carlo is a perfect match for the new-look Leafs, who play a more physical and defensively-minded style under the Treliving-Craig Berube administration and will likely slot into the squad alongside Morgan Rielly.
It’s no secret that Rielly is at his best when paired with a physical defenceman in the playoffs (Ilya Lybushkin and Luke Schenn spring to mind) – hence the acquisition of Carlo, a 6-foot-5 crease-clearer.
The 28-year-old’s contract status shouldn’t be overlooked, either.
The Bruins retained fifteen percent of Carlo’s salary, meaning he will only count $3.15m against the Leafs’ cap for the next two seasons. That’s tidy business, even with Minten and a first-round as the cost.
Laughton for Nikita Grebenkin and a first-round pick is less palatable, but adding a bona fide third-line centre to replace Max Domi was move Treliving needed to make.
Stock Down – Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes made a courageous play in acquiring Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche before the 4 Nations break – but their daringness has backfired, at least in the short-term.
Rantanen, a pending unrestricted free agent until his trade to the Dallas Stars, was not prepared to sign a contract extension in North Carolina – which left the Hurricanes with two options.
Attempt to win the Stanley Cup with Rantanen on the roster and risk him walking away for nothing in the summer – or flip him at the trade deadline to recoup the assets he cost them in the first place.
The Canes made the sensible decision, sending the Finn to Dallas in exchange for Logan Stankoven and draft capital.
In the years to come, this transaction could age beautifully for GM Eric Tulsky. But Carolina’s immediate Stanley Cup credentials are worse for wear.
Stock Up – Florida Panthers
We’ll finish with a one-liner about the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, and Brad Marchand will likely share a line in the playoffs. Dangerous.
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