The narrative that teams don't add is just patently false anyway. Every Cup winner adds something at the deadline. Tampa traded 3 1st's in two years to win two Cups. Some Cup winners made their trades over the summer to bolster their lineup (ROR, Kessel, etc...) and sacrificed picks and players.
This "solely through the draft" bullshit is just that. Bullshit.
No, that's not true.
I literally the other day went through the Cup winning teams' trade deadline moves back to like 2016. Hardly any of them rent big. Even the teams who gave up firsts did so for players they were intent on keeping long term (Colorado with Lehkonen) or who at least had term (Tampa with Goodrow and Coleman).
None of Washington, Pittsburgh, or St. Louis added hardly at all.
Here it is, I found it -
Avalanche in 2022 -
1) a second and Justin Barron for Lehkonen, who was actually a long term piece and re-signed with the Avalance.
2) A second for Josh Manson.
Two seconds and a middle tier prospect, and they got back a long term piece in Lehkonen. That's smart business.
Tampa in 2021 -
Frederick Claesson for Magnus Chroma. That's it.
Tampa in 2020 -
Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow for firsts - but each had term, and were not UFAs that summer.
St. Louis in 2019 -
Michael Del Zotto for a 6th round pick.
Washington in 2018 -
1) Michael Kempny for a 3rd round pick.
2) Jakub Jerabek for a 5th round pick.
Pittsburgh in 2017 -
1) Mark Streit for a 4th
2) Ron Hainsey for a 2nd
Pittburgh in 2016 -
1) Justin Schultz for a 3rd
2) Carl Hagelin for David Perron and Adam Clendening