2019 NHL TRADE DEADLINE

5 BIGGEST WINNERS AND LOSERS

The 2019 NHL Trade Deadline saw both winners and losers. Teams got better and worse. Let’s take a look at the five most obvious winners and the biggest losers.

Every NHL trade needs a winner and a loser. Anyone who tells you “both teams won the trade” is merely trying to convince themselves that they didn’t lose the trade. The 2019 NHL trade deadline saw a number of winners and losers.

Teams got better, both in the future and the present. There are also teams who stood by and did very little. Other teams went and made themselves worse or didn’t properly value their assets as much as they should have.

Now that the trade deadline is over, let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers.

WINNER: NEW JERSEY DEVILS

The New Jersey Devils, in hindsight, did a really bad job at last year’s trade deadline. They gave up multiple draft picks to acquire Michael Grabner and Patrick Maroon. Their reward? Losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It appears general manager Ray Shero learned his lessons well from last year. This year, he did a darn good job. Shero picked up two second-round picks, a third-round pick, a fourth-round pick in 2020, and a fifth-round pick (though that one’s in 2022). He turned Brian Boyle, Ben Lovejoy, Keith Kinkaid, and Marcus Johansson into future assets. Hats off to Shero.

LOSER: NEW YORK ISLANDERS

The New York Islanders did as much before the trade deadline as you did. To be fair, it’s easy to see why they believe in their team. The Islanders are a darn good team who are in first place in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve finally got some young players worth getting excited about and they didn’t want to part with them. I get it.

But this doesn’t excuse adding zero pieces to your contending team at the trade deadline. Especially not when the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals all got better. The prices were pretty darn reasonable and the Islanders could have really used a scoring forward.

WINNER: SAN JOSE SHARKS

San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson does his job the way everyone wants their GM to do their job. He doesn’t care about the future, he wants to win right now, gosh darn it. Wilson does a darn good job of negotiating too, so he rarely overpays for someone.

The Sharks obviously made their two big “deadline additions” this summer when they signed Evander Kane to an extension and traded for Erik Karlsson. One could consider Tomas Hertl’s brilliant campaign and Timo Meier’s breakout year to be two deadline additions.

But Wilson wasn’t satisfied. He got himself Gustav Nyquist, who’s one of the best playmakers in the league. And Wilson did it without giving up a first-round pick (though to be fair, he didn’t have one to give out until 2021).

Personally, some goaltending depth would have been really nice to have. But the Sharks hitched their wagon to Martin Jones a while ago. They’ve put a darn good team in front of him. Now Wilson just has to hope the Jones from the past three postseasons shows up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

LOSER: CALGARY FLAMES

If the Calgary Flames were on that game show “Press Your Luck”, they hit a double whammy at the NHL trade deadline.

Not only did the Sharks get better by adding Nyquist, but the Vegas Golden Knights got a lot better too (we’ll talk about them later). The Flames lost out on Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello as well. They didn’t address the pink elephant in their room (their goaltending). All the Flames did was add a depth defenseman.

If Calgary loses in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, general manager Brad Treliving is going to look like a fool.

WINNER: OTTAWA SENATORS

The Ottawa Senators absolutely needed to nail the 2019 NHL trade deadline. Their very future depended on it. General Manager Pierre Dorion did a pretty darn good job.

First, he got at least one first-round pick for Matt Duchene. And potentially another one as well, depending on if he re-signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Which seems at worst a plausible scenario. Grabbing two interesting prospects was just icing on the cake.

You would have liked to see them get a first-rounder for Ryan Dzingel, but they were dealing with a team that literally didn’t have a first-round pick to give away until 2021. So getting two second rounders for him was a pretty nice consolation prize.

The Mark Stone trade wasn’t ideal because they didn’t get a 2019 first-round pick. But they did get arguably the best defensive prospect around in Erik Brannstrom. Many believe he’s worth more than a low first-round pick, and I agree with that sentiment.

Ottawa got everything they needed to stock up for a painful rebuild, including a high-level prospect to build a new blueline around. Now if only the Senators could trade their owner….

LOSER: EDMONTON OILERS

The Edmonton Oilers did the worst thing they could have done – virtually nothing. Shipping out Cam Talbot netted them Anthony Stolarz, which helps their future out slightly. But they actually lost cap space for next season by trading Sam Gagner for Ryan Spooner. You’d think the Oilers would have thought things through and asked the Canucks to retain that $50,000 difference between the two.

Right now, Edmonton has a heck of a lot more questions than answers. Especially after being so darn quiet.

WINNER: WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Contenders were running around right before the NHL trade deadline. Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals got their shopping done ahead of time. Give credit to general manager Brian MacLellan for doing something you don’t see much around deadline day – get assets without overpaying.

Carl Hagelin is someone the Capitals are obviously familiar with. He helped the Pittsburgh Penguins win two Stanley Cups and has a lot of postseason experience. Hagelin is a versatile, underrated forward who might well be the second-fastest guy in the NHL. He can kill penalties, which the Capitals desperately need, and he’s one of the most defensively responsible forwards around.

The crown jewel, though, was Nick Jensen. Not only did the Capitals trade for the defenseman, but they also extended him for four years. The second-round pick they gave up for him sounded a tad bit rich at the time but factored in with the extension, that’s a bargain.

Most importantly, they didn’t overreact to what the Columbus Blue Jackets did. Speak of the devil…

WINNER: COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

The Columbus Blue Jackets had two options – go all-in and hope to win the Stanley Cup or trade Artemi Panarin and others for future assets. They chose the far more fun and valiant option – the former. The Blue Jackets have never won a postseason series. That’s freaking heartbreaking.

But the Blue Jackets didn’t let that stop them. They’re going all-in to win with Panarin and Bobrovsky. Yes, the Blue Jackets took a huge chunk out of their future to add Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Keith Kinkaid, and Adam McQuaid. They literally have two draft picks in 2019. But Blue Jackets fans will forgive them if they win the Stanley Cup.

Columbus put themselves in a darn good spot to contend for the elusive title. Remember, they were a goal post away from potentially putting the Capitals down 3-0 in the first round. Fate didn’t smile upon them last season. Maybe it will this season. If the Blue Jackets go down, they ain’t going down looking. They’re going down swinging with all their might. And you can’t help but respect that.

BIGGEST WINNER: VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Last year, the Vegas Golden Knights nearly traded for Ottawa Senators captain Erik Karlsson. The trade quickly became general manager George McPhee’s white whale. While he didn’t trade for Karlsson this year, he did the next best thing by trading for Mark Stone. Additionally, Stone is signing an eight-year extension with the Golden Knights, though it can’t become official until March 1.

Vegas has suffered some inevitable regression from their initial season. But they’re still well in the playoff hunt, as they’re in third place in the Pacific Division. The Golden Knights likely can’t catch the San Jose Sharks or Calgary Flames in the regular season, but they sure as heck match up better against them now with Stone.

Erik Brannstrom is a heck of a prospect to lose. He’s considered by many brilliant minds as being the best defensive prospect in the world. Every time I’ve watched him, Brannstrom stands out in the best kind of way. Vegas might regret losing him eventually. But for now, they’re good. Vegas had trouble re-creating the magic from last season. Getting the best magician around in Stone should help with that.

BIGGEST LOSER: PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a great example of what not to do at the NHL trade deadline. Before even discussing their moves in February, they retained $250,000 of Carl Hagelin’s cap hit when they traded him to the Los Angeles Kings for Tanner Pearson. That retained cap hit helped the Capitals afford Hagelin.

There’s also the Jamie Oleksiak fiasco. They traded a perfectly capable NHL defenseman for a middling return and wound up needing him several weeks later. It’s almost like trading competent players isn’t a good idea unless there’s something in it for you. So their deadline was bad before their deadline moves hit.

After losing both Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin two days before the deadline, the Penguins knew they needed a defenseman. But they needed one well before that, yet failed to realize it. This cost them Jensen, who would have been perfect for them.

The Penguins elected to panic, trading Pearson to the Vancouver Canucks for defenseman Erik Gudbranson. Every underlying metric says he’s one of the worst defensemen in the NHL. Yes, even more so than Jack Johnson.