The NHL trade deadline showed that the race to succeed the Florida Panthers as Stanley Cup champions after they went back to back and fell short this season is wide open.
The Colorado Avalanche are rightfully the betting favorites, 5-2 on BetMGM Sportsbook, since they have been atop the league since October. Reacquiring center Nazem Kadri, who was part of their 2022 title run, while also shoring up forward and defensive depth only better positioned them for a deep playoff run.
But plenty of other contenders made trades to take a shot at hoisting hockey’s hallowed trophy, including the Central Division rival Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild. The Eastern Conference-favorite Tampa Bay Lightning made a relatively minor addition but one that could help take them back to the final.
“There’s a lot of good hockey teams in the National Hockey League, and only one team is going to be happy at the end of it,” Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said. “We understand that has to happen on the ice. You can talk about it — the deadline, who wins this? Who wins that? None of it matters. It’s what happens on the ice.”
All the top contenders made at least one trade
Colorado got Kadri from Calgary, at a reduced price because the Flames retained 20% of his $7 million salary, for forward Victor Olofsson, the rights to unsigned pick Max Curran, a conditional 2028 first-round pick and conditional 2027 second-rounder. The Avalanche even got a fourth-rounder with Kadri.
Dallas earlier this week fortified its defense by acquiring 6-foot-8 Tyler Myers from Vancouver, and filled a need up front by getting Michael Bunting from Nashville.
Minnesota’s blockbuster move came back in December, winning the sweepstakes for Quinn Hughes. This week, Wild focused on adding depth with center Michael McCarron, forward Bobby Brink and defenseman Jeff Petry.
Tampa Bay got Corey Perry from Los Angeles, adding a winger with edge to a group brimming with talent. Carolina had skill and speed but lacked obvious toughness, so the Hurricanes sent a late, conditional draft pick to Philadelphia for modern-day enforcer Nicolas Deslauriers.
Vegas did its big-game shopping in January by landing defenseman Rasmus Andersson from Calgary. The Golden Knights would never bypass a deadline, though, and GM Kelly McCrimmon got shutdown center Nic Dowd from Washington.
Edmonton, which has made consecutive trips to the final and lost to Florida each time, made moves to try to keep the puck out of its own net. The Oilers paid a hefty price for forwards Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach and got defenseman Connor Murphy in a separate deal with Chicago.
Some big trades did not happen
The Buffalo Sabres came close to landing St. Louis forward Robert Thomas, in his prime at 26 and signed through 2031. They got even closer to adding big defenseman Colton Parayko, with a deal worked out with the Blues for him.
Neither happened.
“I don’t comment on unfinished business,” GM Jarmo Kekalainen said.
Parayko invoked his no-trade clause, nixing the trade. Kekalainen’s only regret in the trade falling through was how it might be perceived as a knock on Buffalo or the team, which is in position to snap an NHL-record 14-season playoff drought.
“Buffalo is a great city,” said Kekalainen, who arrived in Buffalo as a senior adviser in June and was promoted to GM when Kevyn Adams was fired in mid-December. “I’ve loved every second of it. We have a great hockey team that’s winning games and the fun atmosphere, electric building and I would think that our players are loving it here.”
The New York Rangers also held on to U.S. gold medal-winning center Vincent Trocheck, and Philadelphia did not trade Rasmus Ristolainen, who played defense at the Olympics for Finland. Those teams set asking prices high, and it was a seller’s market in general.
“Sometimes, the ask for some of the elite players that were available, it wasn’t even a question that we’d do that as an organization because a year from now, it just wouldn’t make the organization any better,” Utah GM Bill Armstrong said.
Brothers get to play together
Nick Foligno couldn’t help but think of his late mother, Janis, upon being traded to Minnesota on Friday to team up with his brother, Marcus, calling it a humbling move.
“Honestly, it feels like our mom’s got a little something to do with that, smiling down on us today,” Foligno said, referring to their mother who died of breast cancer in 2009. “It’s something I don’t take for granted.”
While Nick and Marcus were reunited, another NHL brother tandem was involved in separate trades.
Luke Schenn went first, sent from Winnipeg to Buffalo early Friday morning. Younger brother Brayden went next, from St. Louis to the New York Islanders. Don’t worry, they’ve gotten to experience what the Folignos are now: the Schenns played together with the Flyers for 3 1/2 seasons from 2012-16.
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AP Sports Writers Pat Graham, Aaron Beard and Dan Gelston and AP freelance writer Denis Gorman contributed to this report.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
