Who Got Better at the Deadline?

Heading into the NHL Trade Deadline, there were only a handful of teams that could legitimately be considered Stanley Cup contenders.  Now that the deadline has come and passed, I'm not sure if that list has actually grown or not.  But what I do know is that some teams absolutely put themselves in a better position to make a run into June...or beyond.

One team that's absolutely set itself up for "beyond" is the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights.  Frankly, I'm not entirely sure how Vegas is able to continually add big names with their big contracts, yet somehow still stay under the salary cap (Mark Stone can't be making that much money!).  This year, they did it again, adding Noah Hanifan (to give them four top-pair defensemen) and making the shocking last-minute move to get Tomas Hertl, who has six years remaining on his contract, from San Jose.

Vegas is currently in a fight just to make the playoffs, and the Knights' chances of getting in certainly improved.  And the Stanley Cup Playoffs are as much about getting in as anything else, so I'm not counting them out if they get there.  But they know that even if they do, they're still not as good as Vancouver, Colorado or even Winnipeg.  With Hanifan and Hertl in the mix beyond the final six weeks of this season, though, they're poised to remain among the top teams in the West next season and beyond.

Another team that made itself better at the Deadline was the Golden Knights' Stanley Cup Final opponent last season--the Florida Panthers.  The Panthers were already one of the best teams in hockey.  Adding Vladimir Tarasenko to a roster that already included Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe made them that much better.  They also added a bottom-six forward in Kyle Okposo.  The Panthers didn't need to do much, but the moves they did make firmly established them as one of the favorites to come out of the East.

It'll by no means be easy for the Panthers to return to the Stanley Cup Final, though.  Because they're not the only team in the East that got better.  In fact, two of the teams they defeated in the playoffs last season also set themselves up for another deep postseason run.  Those teams are the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins.

Carolina has been chasing the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division all season.  Their chances of catching them went up as soon as they won the Jake Guentzel sweepstakes (the Rangers were also in on Guentzel).  They also took a flier on Evgeny Kuznetsov, whose career in Washington came to an unceremonious end.  If they get the version of Kuznetsov who helped the Capitals win the Cup in 2018, he and Guentzel are exactly the type of players who'll fit in seamlessly with the Hurricanes.

The Bruins, meanwhile, got Pat Maroon, so they might as well just cancel the playoffs and give Boston the Cup right now!  I kid, obviously, but the three-time Cup winner is a good addition.  They could've used someone with his toughness last season, when they got upset by the Panthers.  They're also likely thinking about a potential first-round series with Toronto, where somebody like a Pat Maroon could definitely make an impact.

That leaves the New York Rangers.  For weeks, the Rangers have made it known that they needed a top-line right wing and a third-line center.  They got the third-line center in Alex Wennberg, but the trade for a top-line right wing never materialized.  They watched Guentzel go to Carolina, and Anaheim's asking price for Frank Vatrano (who was previously a Rangers Deadline acquisition a few years ago) was too high, so they ended up with Jack Roslovic of the Blue Jackets instead.  No offense to Jack Roslovic, but he's not exactly who they were looking for.  Especially with the Panthers and Hurricanes both getting better.

I do get Rangers GM Chris Drury's thought process here.  He wasn't leveraging the team's future by trading away multiple prospects and/or draft picks (not to mention a high-upside NHL player in Kaapo Kakko) for a rental.  So, Drury was keeping the 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 Rangers in mind, while also betting that the 2023-24 team, which was already pretty good, is still good enough to make a Cup run with the pieces he did add.  This is the exact opposite approach than the Rangers used the last two seasons, when they made the splashy trades for Tarasenko and Patrick Kane.  Neither of those seasons ended with them lifting the Stanley Cup, so why not try it this way?

Out West, meanwhile, it wasn't just Vegas making moves.  Like the Rangers, Colorado didn't make a big splash.  The Avalanche did make some minor trades, though, improving their depth.  There's also rumblings that they'll get their captain, Gabriel Landeskog, who's been out all season due to injury, back for the playoffs.  That would be just as big an addition as anybody they could've traded for.

Everybody in the West will be chasing Vancouver, though.  The Canucks' didn't do anything at the Deadline.  Because they didn't need to!  Which is because they didn't wait until the Deadline.  They struck first and got Elias Lindholm at the All*Star Break, so he's been a Canuck for a month already!  Like the Panthers and Golden Knights, they were already damn good and got a whole lot better!  The Canucks don't have to worry about making the playoffs.  They're thinking Stanley Cup, which is why they struck early to land Lindholm.

Then there's Edmonton.  We already knew the Oilers have loads of talent.  That talent is top-heavy, however.  So, they addressed their depth, bringing in Adam Henrique (another Rangers target), among others.  While it makes them deeper, does it make them deep enough?  I'm not sure.  My guess is probably not.  They do seem better equipped to make a deep playoff run than they did even a week ago, though.

Only one team will end up winning the Cup.  Obviously.  So, at least seven of the eight teams I've mentioned will be disappointed at the end of the season.  And I didn't even talk about teams like Toronto, Tampa Bay, Dallas and Winnipeg.  All of them can also make a legitimate case as a Stanley Cup contender, as well.  Because, don't forget, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are sometimes just as much about who has a hot goalie as anything else.

With that in mind, it wouldn't surprise me if none of these teams end up even playing for the Cup!  Look at the Panthers last year.  They only got in because Pittsburgh lost to Chicago in the last game of the season, and nobody had them beating the Bruins.  Let alone winning the East!  If I had to bet, though, it would be one of the contenders who made themselves better at the Deadline who end up hoisting the Stanley Cup in June.