The 2024 NHL commerce deadline has come and gone, and it is time to analyze the strikes groups did and did not make. Some groups made a splash — or a number of splashes — whereas others failed to handle some obvious wants with the playoffs looming.

The Vegas Golden Knights have been among the many most energetic groups within the league, and so they made a trio of huge strikes over the past week. Vegas revamped its roster, and assuming it stays wholesome sufficient to achieve the postseason, could have the deepest roster of any membership within the West. Within the East, the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes additionally improved upon already spectacular rosters.

Some groups, nevertheless, missed a possibility over the previous few days. The Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins would possibly’ve fallen behind their most important competitors, and the Tampa Bay Lightning might need whiffed on a pair swings at upgrading their protection.

After every week of wheeling and dealing, listed below are the largest winners and losers from the 2024 NHL commerce deadline.

Winner | Vegas Golden Knights

If a big-name participant was obtainable forward of the commerce deadline, there is a good probability the Golden Knights tried to amass them. Really, even when a participant wasn’t extensively believed to be obtainable, Vegas tried to amass them. That is precisely what Golden Knights common supervisor Kelly McCrimmon did with the intention to land Tomas Hertl from the San Jose Sharks proper underneath the wire on the deadline.

The Golden Knights missed out on Jake Guentzel, in order that they received inventive and turned to an off-the-board possibility. That was additionally after the Golden Knights already added winger Anthony Mantha and defenseman Noah Hanifin earlier within the week. Vegas was decided to go massive recreation searching, and it succeeded in that mission. The Golden Knights added three reputable affect gamers to their roster, and so they now have the deepest roster within the NHL.

Now, they simply have to verify they get wholesome and attain the playoffs.

Loser | Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay got here into the week with a transparent want on the blue line. Mikhail Sergachev is on LTIR, and the staff has struggled with giving up scoring possibilities all season. The Bolts simply missed out on the highest obtainable defensemen at this deadline.

Within the weeks main as much as March 8, Tampa had been linked to Philadelphia’s Sean Walker and Calgary’s Noah Hanifin. The previous wound up with the Colorado Avalanche, and the latter is now a member of the Golden Knights. That meant the Lightning needed to accept former Arizona Coyotes defenseman Matt Dumba, who has actually struggled in 2023-24. Tampa did not quit a lot to amass Dumba, however I am undecided he does a lot to repair the Lightning’s obvious defensive points.

If the Lightning are going to go on one other deep playoff roster with this present core, it seems like Andrei Vasiliveskiy should decide up a lot of the slack relating to protecting the puck out of the web.

Winner | Colorado Avalanche

Avalanche common supervisor Joe Sakic is aware of his staff’s Stanley Cup window continues to be huge open, and he operated aggressively this week. Though the Avs’ did not do something on the precise commerce deadline day, they have been extraordinarily busy all through the week.

In one of many extra enjoyable strikes of the week, Colorado flipped younger defenseman Bowen Byram for Casey Mittelstadt of the Buffalo Sabres. Mittelstadt might be a reputable long-term answer for the Avs on the second line, which has been a problem for some time. It in all probability damage to lose a participant as expert as Byram, however Colorado made up for it by delivery out Ryan Johansen’s contract and including Sean Walker in a cope with the Philadelphia Flyers. That bolstered the blue line with a veteran who’s having an amazing 2023-24 season.

Outdoors of these two vital strikes, the Avalanche additionally improved their ahead depth with the acquisitions of Yakov Trenin and Brandon Duhaime. These two will present some tenacity down the lineup, and the Avalanche someway look much more imposing than they did earlier than this week began.

Loser | New York Rangers

A few Stanley Cup contenders within the East, the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes, made vital strikes forward of the commerce deadline. Just a few extra of them, together with the Rangers, didn’t make any sort of splash.

Though the Rangers are main the Metro Division, they did have room for upgrades on their roster. The truth is, there was rampant hypothesis that they have been searching for a middle and a winger forward of the deadline. In a method, they completed that, however they did so with Seattle’s Alexander Wennberg and Columbus’ Jack Roslovic. Whereas these two will add depth in New York, they do not transfer the needle as a lot as different choices.

What in all probability stings probably the most for the blueshirts is the truth that they have been reportedly in discussions with the Pittsburgh Penguins about getting Jake Guentzel when the Carolina Hurricanes swooped in and made a deal occur. The Canes are the Rangers’ largest competitors within the division, and so they clearly received higher this week.

Winner | Carolina Hurricanes

We shift from the staff that missed out on Guentzel to the staff that wound up buying him in a hefty deal that noticed Michael Bunting going the opposite method. The Hurricanes do not usually pay up for leases on the commerce market, however they made a worthwhile exception for Guentzel.

It looks like Carolina, pretty much as good because the staff has been for the previous few years, is consistently searching for a little bit bit extra scoring. Effectively, the staff received it by buying Guentzel. The previous Penguin has hit the 20-goal mark in every of the final seven seasons, and he has scored at the very least 30 objectives three completely different occasions. Guentzel is the kind of participant the Canes have wanted.

Carolina common supervisor Don Waddell additionally swung an attention-grabbing commerce for veteran middle Evgeny Kuznetsov, who has battled well being points and brought a step again lately. A 3rd-round decide was a little bit wealthy for my blood in that deal, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a comparatively low-risk, high-reward transfer for the Hurricanes. They’ve made themselves one of many top-two groups within the East.

Loser | Los Angeles Kings

The Kings are in the identical boat because the Rangers, however possibly even to a extra excessive diploma. The groups round them on the prime of the convention, together with the Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars, all made upgrades. In the meantime, Los Angeles stood pat.

The Kings had apparent wants on the wing and in objective, and so they failed to handle both of them in even probably the most minor of how. Possibly the scoring difficulty corrects itself when the staff’s scoring share regresses to the imply, however there isn’t any assure that occurs. Are the Kings snug heading into the playoffs with Cam Talbot and David Rittich as its goaltending tandem? They higher be as a result of that is what they have now.

The trail to the Stanley Cup within the West is a gauntlet, and now the Kings appear to be a notch or two behind their largest competitors.

Winner | Florida Panthers

Florida was already the NHL’s greatest staff coming into the commerce deadline, and it in all probability would have been effective doing nothing in any respect. Nonetheless, common supervisor Invoice Zito refused to take a seat on his palms and made a few low-cost strikes that can enhance his roster.

A few days earlier than the deadline, the Panthers acquired winger Vladimir Tarasenko from the Ottawa Senators for a third-round and a fourth-round decide. That is nothing for a staff in win-now mode, and Tarasenko may thrive in Dawn. Even when Tarasenko is not the perennial 30-goal scorer he was once, he’s totally able to placing up numbers alongside Aleksander Barkov.

On deadline day itself, the Panthers received Buffalo Sabres captain Kyle Okposo for virtually nothing. Okposo is not going to maneuver the needle a ton, however he’ll give the staff a wonderful fourth-line presence. On prime of all this, Florida additionally performed a wonderful piece of enterprise by signing Gustav Forsling to an eight-year contract price simply $5.75 million per season.

Loser | Boston Bruins

There may be some hand-wringing in Boston after this commerce deadline — and for good cause. The Bruins made some attention-grabbing choices with out making their roster noticeably higher whereas, as famous above, the Panthers and Hurricanes made upgrades.

On Friday, the Bruins started their day by buying veteran fourth-liner Pat Maroon from the Minnesota Wild. His effectiveness may be up for debate, however Maroon has received the Stanley Cup thrice. If Boston had executed one thing else, which may have been an honest transfer, however the staff’s solely different acquisition was defenseman Andrew Peeke from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Peeke addition was particularly puzzling as a result of it price the Bruins a third-round decide, and he has had a depressing 2023-24 season.

The Bruins are nonetheless one of many prime groups within the East, and so they’re third within the NHL in level share, nevertheless it seems like they missed an actual alternative to shore up this roster forward of the postseason.