NHL Trade Deadline winners, losers: East loads up, GM beefs

By Mar 21, 2022, 7:58 PM EDT

After all of the speculation and rumors the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline is now in the rear view mirror. Now instead of talking about rumors and potential landing spots for players, we get to do the next fun thing: Analyze the winners and losers from all of the roster moves over the past couple of weeks. 

Here Adam Gretz and Sean Leahy take you through their winners and losers.

Winner: Colorado Avalanche. The rich get richer. The Avalanche already had one of the best, deepest teams in the league and they only added to it over the past couple of weeks by getting Josh Manson, Artturi Lehkonen, and Andrew Cogliano. All three players boost the team’s defensive presence, while Lehkonen can also chip in some offense on a newly formed third line with Alexander Newhook. -Adam Gretz

Winner: Ron Francis. The Kraken aren’t making the playoff this year so the future was the focus for this trade deadline. Francis shipped out Marcus Johansson, Mason Appleton, Jeremy Lauzon, Mark Giordano, Calle Järnkrok.

After all the moves the Seattle GM has made this season, the Kraken now have nine picks in the opening four rounds of the 2022 and 2023 NHL drafts. That includes four seconds and three fourths this season and three seconds and two thirds in 2023. As important, $8.5 million in cap space has been opened up. -Sean Leahy

Winner: Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild. Fleury gets to play in the playoffs again for a pretty good team, while the Wild address a position that was starting to become a concern -Adam Gretz

[Related: With Fleury trade Wild boldly aim to fix biggest weakness]

Loser: Trying to slide players through waivers. Harri Säteri signed for the Maple Leafs but will end up on the Coyotes. With Petr Mrzek struggling and Jack Campbell still out a little while longer, Toronto GM Kyle Dubas wanted to help his goaltending depth by bringing in the Finnish netminder, who most recently won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

But because Säteri played in Europe this season with Novosibirsk Sibir of the KHL, he needed to pass through waivers before fully joining the Maple Leafs. Well, with Scott Wedgewood on his way to Dallas, Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong needed a backup for newly-signed Karel Vejmelka.

Säteri’s contract is only one year with a $750,000 cap hit. -Sean Leahy

Loser: Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending. For the reason listed above, and because they still have some major, major question marks here. Better hope Jack Campbell returns soon and plays like he did in the first part of the season. -Adam Gretz

Loser: Hoping for unexpected blockbuster trades. Also even some expected trades not happening. Vancouver did not trade Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, or J.T. Miller. Detroit did not trade Tyler Bertuzzi. Arizona did not trade Jakob Chychrun or Phil Kessel. No P.K. Subban trade, Tomas Hertl re-signed, and Filip Forsberg stayed in Nashville. We should not be surprised because that is the nature of the trade deadline lately, but most rumored trades never happen. Or are close to happening. -Adam Gretz

Winner: Claude Giroux. Yeah, it stinks for a team when it has to trade one of its franchise icons like the Philadelphia Flyers had to do with Giroux, but now Giroux gets to go from a team that has been mired in mediocrity for the past decade to go to the Florida Panthers for a chance to win the Stanley Cup. He now has meaningful hockey to play for one of the league’s best teams and a pretty good chance to chase that championship. -Adam Gretz

Loser: Florida’s defense. The popular consensus is to make Florida big winners at the trade deadline because they added a lot, but I am going to play contrarian here and say I do not like what they did to their defense. They paid an extremely expensive price for Ben Chiarot and added Robert Hagg from Buffalo, all while Aaron Ekblad is sidelined for the foreseeable future. Are Chiarot and Hagg upgrades? They do not really fit Florida’s style of play, and they just seem like moves that are going to do more to slow them down than help put them over the top. -Adam Gretz

Winner: Jake DeBrusk suitors. His new two-year, $8 million extension means that any team that tries to trade for him will have some cost certainty going forward. DeBrusk has not rescinded his trade request and has been productive since news went public that he wanted out of Boston. -Sean Leahy

Winner: Ron Hextall. Hextall wanted to add some scoring depth to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup and he did not want to trade his first-round draft pick. He accomplished both things by acquiring Rickard Rakell from the Anaheim Ducks for Zach Aston-Reese, Dominik Simon, Calle Clang, and a 2022 second-round draft pick. Rakell should upgrade their second line, while they still have enough depth to be able to trade Aston-Reese and Simon. -Adam Gretz

[Related: Trade: Penguins get Rakell, add some scoring depth]

Indifferent feeling: Lou Lamoriello and the Islanders. Had they been active the Islanders would have been sellers. But the goods they had to offer weren’t very attractive. Zdeno Chara (45)? Andy Greene (39)? Zach Parise (8 goals, 24 points)? Cal Clutterbuck (6 goals, 15 points)?

Now Parise (1 year) and Clutterbuck (2 years) have extensions. GM Lou Lamoriello wants to improve his team through “hockey trades,” as he put it this afternoon.

The one real asset they had was goaltender Semyon Varlamov, but he has a 16-team no-trade clause, which could really hinder shopping around for a move. After two deep playoff runs and little upgrades, the Islanders need a roster refresh this summer. -Sean Leahy

Winner: Rangers depth. The Rangers were in a position to be major buyers at the trade deadline given their salary cap space, and while they did not swing for the fences or hit a clear home run, they did make a couple of really smart moves in Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte, and Justin Braun to add some much needed depth to their lineup. They still may not be on the same level as some of the other top contenders, and a lot of their success will still probably depend on their goaltending, but they did improve. -Adam Gretz

[Related: Copp, Braun make Rangers more balanced]

Winner: Kyle Davidson. His hands were tied a bit in trying to deal Marc-Andre Fleury. The goaltender would have to approve any trade following their agreement last summer. Only so many Stanley Cup contenders needed an upgrade in net, but the Wild wanted Fleury and they got him. Bill Guerin targeted Fleury two years ago and managed to negotiate a win-win move for the Blackhawks and Wild to send the goaltender to Minnesota. Now, while Chicago is without a first-round pick in 2022, they could have a second first-round pick in either 2023 or 2024 depending on how certain trade conditions go.

Davidson has already stated the franchise is going to go through a rebuild, so that could mean Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and maybe others move on this summer. That would only add assets to be used to turn the franchise around. -Sean Leahy

Losers: Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Just because it is another season where the front office just does not seem willing or able to do something meaningful around them. Brett Kulak is a smart pickup from Montreal, but does he really move the needle much against the other top Stanley Cup contenders? No. This is still an extremely top heavy team with no goaltending, questionable depth, and problems on defense. -Adam Gretz

Winner: General manager beefs. Kyle Dubas did not like that word leaked out about his attempt to acquire Marc-Andre Fleury and Brandon Hagel and put the blame on Kyle Davidson in Chicago. Kyle Davidson quipped back that he would handle it in private with Dubas. This is the best general manager beef since the time Brian Burke and Kevin Lowe were going to fight in a barn. -Adam Gretz

More NHL News

Maple Leafs hire Brad Treliving as team’s new general manager
Nashville Predators hire Andrew Brunette after firing John Hynes
Spencer Carbery hired as Capitals coach after 2 seasons as Maple Leafs assistant

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    Maple Leafs hire Brad Treliving as team’s new general manager

    Associated PressMay 31, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT
    Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
    2 Comments

    TORONTO — Brad Treliving has a new job.

    And the Maple Leafs have a new plan.

    Treliving was hired as Toronto’s general manager less than two weeks after firing Kyle Dubas.

    The 53-year-old Treliving left the Calgary Flames in April following nine seasons that included five playoff appearances and two 100-point seasons.

    “Brad brings a wealth of knowledge from his years of experience as a general manager and hockey executive in Calgary, Arizona and beyond,” Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said in a statement. “He has earned tremendous respect amongst his peers throughout his years in the NHL and has built excellent relationships at all levels within the game.”

    Treliving joins the Leafs at a crucial juncture in the wake of Shanahan’s stunning dismissal of Dubas on May 19.

    The Original Six franchise, whose Stanley Cup drought stands at 56 years, won a playoff series for the first time in nearly two decades with a victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning this spring, but then lost to the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers in five games.

    Dubas, who had been Toronto’s GM since 2018 and didn’t have a contract beyond June 30, suggested at an end of season news conference May 15 he wasn’t sure he wanted to remain in the role – at least in part because of the stress on his young family.

    A roller coaster five days followed, with Shanahan ultimately firing the 37-year-old Dubas despite previously wanting to keep his GM, and the now-unemployed executive eventually indicating to his boss he wished to stay.

    Treliving is the third GM – joining Dubas and Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello – hired in Toronto by Shanahan, whose so-called “Shanaplan” aimed at getting the storied franchise back on its feet when he came on board in 2014 has seen unparalleled regular-season success, but just that one series victory in eight attempts.

    “I’m thrilled to join an Original Six team and recognize how much the Maple Leafs mean to this community,” Treliving said. “This is a very exciting day for my family and I.”

    Treliving has a lot to deal with as he settles into his new office at Scotiabank Arena.

    Treliving, who served in the Phoenix Coyotes’ front office for seven seasons before arriving in Calgary, will have to decide the future of head coach Sheldon Keefe, while stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander can sign contract extensions as of July 1.

    Matthews and Mitch Marner have full no-movement clauses ready to kick in the same day. Nylander will have a 10-team list.

    The NHL draft is also set for the end of June in Nashville, Tennessee, while the Leafs have 12 roster players primed to hit free agency at noon EDT on July 1.

    The Flames, who missed the playoffs this season, won the Pacific Division in 2021-22 under Treliving before falling to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round.

    Johnny Gaudreau then stunned the organization by leaving Calgary for the Columbus Blue Jackets in free agency last summer. Fellow star forward Matthew Tkachuk added another wrinkle by informing the team he didn’t plan to re-sign.

    Treliving subsequently dealt the winger to Florida as part of a package that included forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar heading to southern Alberta.

    Huberdeau then signed an eight-year, $84 million contract extension with the Flames that kicks in next season.

    Tkachuk, a Conn Smythe Trophy candidate as playoff MVP, and the Panthers open the Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.

    Despite the departures of Gaudreau and Tkachuk, the Flames looked like contenders ahead of the 2022-23 season.

    The acquisition of Huberdeau and the signing of center Nazem Kadri was expected to fill the void left by Gaudreau and Tkachuk, but the mix wasn’t right for a group led by hard-nosed coach Darryl Sutter.

    Huberdeau and Kadri finished well off their career-high points totals of the previous season – the former went from 115 with Florida to 55 in Calgary – while subpar goaltending was an issue much of the season.

    Treliving now turns his attention to Toronto.

    Just like last summer, he has lots of work to do.

    Nashville Predators hire Andrew Brunette after firing John Hynes

    Associated PressMay 31, 2023, 10:54 AM EDT
    Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
    3 Comments

    NASHVILLE, Tenn.– The coaching shuffle in Nashville is complete, with Andrew Brunette officially hired as the Predators coach a little over 12 hours after the team announced that John Hynes was fired.

    The moves are the first being made by incoming general manager Barry Trotz and come about six weeks after the Predators missed the playoffs.

    The 49-year-old Brunette spent the past season as a New Jersey Devils associate coach under Lindy Ruff and has previous head-coaching experience.

    He was promoted to interim coach of the Florida Panthers during the 2021-22 season and oversaw a team that set franchise records for wins (58) and points (122) in claiming the Presidents’ Trophy before being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. Brunette finished second in the Jack Adams Award voting for the NHL’s coach of the year.

    He becomes just the fourth coach in the history of a Predators franchise and returns to Nashville, where Brunette played for the Trotz-coached team during its inaugural season in 1998-99. Their relationship goes back to 1993-94, when Brunette played under Trotz, who was head coach of the Washington Capitals’ American Hockey League affiliate in Portland, Maine.

    “I feel like this is coming full circle for my career – from pulling on the jersey for the first time 25 years ago to returning now to take care of some unfinished business,” Brunette said in a statement. “It has been awesome to see how this city and its fanbase have grown since I played here and I look forward to continuing the legacy and the culture behind the bench that Barry cultivated that inaugural season.”

    Trotz, meantime, has an eye on building on the Predators’ youth and offensively skilled players as he takes over as GM for David Poile, who is retiring at the end of June after 26 years overseeing the franchise.

    “We want to become more of an offensive team and Andrew specializes on that side of the ice – he lived it as a player, and he coaches it as a coach, Trotz said. “He is as good of an offensive teacher and power-play coach as there is in the game today. He will be great with our young players, and I know, because of his background as a player, he will connect well with our top, skilled players.”

    In Florida, Brunette coached a Panthers team that led the NHL with 337 goals and had the league’s fourth-best power-play unit.

    The Predators missed the playoffs for the first time in nine years, and the first under Hynes, who took over as coach during the 2019-20 season after Peter Laviolette was fired.

    Brunette, who is from Sudbury, Ontario, spent 16 seasons playing in the NHL, ending with a one-year stint with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011-12. He finished with 268 goals and 733 points in 1,110 career games split among six teams, including two separate stints in Minnesota. Brunette is one of 25 players selected in the seventh round or later to appear in more than 1,000 NHL games.

    Upon his retirement, Brunette spent seven seasons with the Wild in various off-ice roles, including assistant coach and assistant GM, before being hired by the Panthers as an assistant coach in 2019-2020.

    Spencer Carbery hired as Capitals coach after 2 seasons as Maple Leafs assistant

    Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 12:58 PM EDT
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    Spencer Carbery got his start in coaching in the minors with the Washington Capitals watching closely.

    They liked what they saw, and they brought him back to fill the job they envisioned he would get.

    The Capitals hired Carbery as their next coach, ending their search for Peter Laviolette‘s successor by landing on a favorite of the organization who in recent years had become one of the NHL’s most intriguing candidates. He now is tasked with getting Washington back in the playoffs with an aging roster and extending the organization’s run of success a few more years while Alex Ovechkin chases Wayne Gretzky’s goals record.

    “Spencer is one of the best young coaches in the game who’s had success at every level at which he has coached,” general manager Brian MacLellan said in a statement. “We feel his leadership, communication skills, ability to develop players and familiarity with our organization will be a tremendous asset as he makes this next step in his coaching career.”

    Carbery spent the past two seasons as an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs, running the power play that ranked second in the league over that time. Before the Leafs hired him, he was considered the heir apparent to Laviolette because of his time with the Capitals’ top minor league affiliate, the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears.

    When Hershey VP of hockey operations Bryan Helmer was interviewing candidates for his head-coaching gig in 2018, he asked Carbery how long until he saw himself in that kind of role in the NHL. Carbery gave himself five years and nailed that projection.

    “He did an incredible job for us when he was here, and I knew that he would be an NHL coach at one point down the road,” Helmer told The Associated Press by phone. “He wanted to make sure that he was ready to make that step. He went through the steps, and I think he’s ready for the NHL.”

    Carbery coached Hershey for three years before getting the NHL promotion to Sheldon Keefe’s staff in Toronto. At the time, there wasn’t an opening for an assistant in Washington.

    There is now, and Carbery at 41 usurps Keefe as the youngest coach in the league after going from a Capitals’ homegrown prospect who began with their ECHL team in South Carolina to one of the hottest names on the market. He interviewed with the San Jose Sharks for their vacancy last year and multiple others this spring.

    The Capitals got him back before a rival team could scoop him up. They chose Carbery from a pool of candidates that also included former captain-turned-Tampa Bay assistant Jeff Halpern, Philadelphia associate coach Brad Shaw and others with more experience.

    “I would like to thank the Capitals organization for affording me the opportunity to lead this team,” Carbery said. “I look forward to working with this group of talented players and building upon the winning culture in place. I would also like to thank the Toronto Maple Leafs organization for all their support over the past two years.”

    Carbery’s job won’t be an easy one. Five years removed from Washington winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, the team is coming off missing the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade and could be on the verge of changes beyond coaching.

    MacLellan must decide how much to shuffle the roster, but in no way is he beginning the process of rebuilding. With Ovechkin, the 2018 playoff MVP and longtime face of the franchise, about to turn 38 and sitting 73 goals away from breaking Gretzky’s career record, the organization from owner Ted Leonsis down has set a goal of continuing to contend while the Russian star is under contract for three more seasons.

    Helmer, who played with Ovechkin briefly in 2008-09, said Carbery’s relationships with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and other Leafs stars will only help him moving forward.

    “It’s going to be a great mix,” Helmer said. “Spencer really stays on top of it. He expects a lot out of his players and he holds them accountable, which is a great thing. I see big things coming from Spencer and what he can do with the Caps.”

    Golden Knights reach second Stanley Cup Final after Game 6 win over Stars

    Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 1:20 AM EDT
    Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
    5 Comments

    DALLAS — William Karlsson scored two goals and had an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights advanced to their second Stanley Cup Final with a 6-0 rout over the Dallas Stars, who had extended the Western Conference Final to six games after losing the first three.

    William Carrier, Keegan Kolesar and Michael Amadio each had a goal and an assist for the Knights, and Jonathan Marchessault had a goal. Carrier, Marschessault and Karlsson were all part of the inaugural 2017-18 Knights season that ended in their Cup Final.

    Adin Hill stopped 23 shots for his second career playoff shutout – both against the Stars. The other was 4-0 in Game 3 last Tuesday, when the Knights were already within one win of clinching the series before Dallas overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in both Games 4 and 5.

    Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against Florida will be Saturday night in Las Vegas.

    Vegas led the Western Conference in the regular season with 51 wins and 111 points. The Panthers completed a four-game sweep of Carolina in the East final last Wednesday, but their 40 wins and 92 points in the regular season were the fewest among the 16 teams that began these NHL playoffs.

    Instead of having to face a do-or-die Game 7 at home against the Stars, coach Bruce Cassidy and the Knights got off to another fast start and never left any doubt about the outcome of this series that included three overtime games.

    It was the most lopsided playoff loss for the Stars since the franchise moved south from Minnesota before the 1993-94 season.

    “You just expect more from yourself in a game like this,” said Stars forward Joe Pavelski, the 38-year-old veteran still without a Stanley Cup after 17 seasons.

    The Stars got captain Jamie Benn back after his two-game suspension for a cross-check to the neck area of Vegas captain Mark Stone early in Game 3. But Benn already had a minus-2 rating without a shot after playing only 3:46 in the first period, and finished minus-2 with only one shot his 12 1/2 minutes on the ice.

    Vegas led for good when Carrier scored 3:41 into the game after a puck poked from behind the net in the vicinity of three Dallas players. Carrier skated across the front of the crease and put a backhander in the net, the ninth time this postseason the Knights scored in the first five minutes of a game.

    Karlsson’s power-play goal came midway through the first period made it 2-0, and after a penalty that likely had prevented him from scoring.

    Nicolas Roy took a shot that deflected off Jake Oettinger’s glove and popped up in the air behind the goalie. Karlsson was charging into the crease when Stars defenseman Esa Lindell raised his stick and swatted the puck out of play, drawing a delay of game penalty.

    With the man advantage, Reilly Smith took a shot from the circle to the left, which was deflected in front by Roy and then off Oettinger’s extended skate before Karlsson knocked in the rebound.

    After Kolesar made it 3-0 in the first, and Marchessault scored his ninth goal in the second, Karlsson’s franchise record 10th goal for a playoff series extended the lead to 5-0 only two minutes into the third period.

    Oettinger had been 3-0 when the Stars were facing elimination this postseason, including Game 7 in the second round against Seattle before stopping 64 of 68 shots the past two games against the Knights.

    That was after Vegas had scored three goals on five shots in the first 7:10 to chase him from Game 3, which was the only lopsided game in the series until the finale. Two of their three regular season game went to shootouts.

    Dallas was only the fifth team to force a Game 6 in an conference final or NHL semifinal after being down 0-3, and the first since the Stars lost to Detroit in a sixth game in 2008. Only two teams got to a Game 7, which both lost – the New York Islanders to Philadelphia in 1975; and the New York Rangers to Boston in 1939.

    Vegas avoided a Game 7 at home against the Stars and coach Peter DeBoer, who is 7-0 in such do-or-die games, including the Seattle series finale two weeks ago. DeBoer was the Vegas coach for its only Game 7 wins – in the second round in 2020 against Vancouver and 2021 in the first round against Minnesota. But he was fired by the Golden Knights after they missed the playoffs last season for the only time in their short existence.