Winners & Losers of the 2025 Trade Deadline

[Czechboy]

AVS improved with every trade including Blackwood months ago. They look poised for a cup run. Stars did the same and are deep.

My oilers are losers... I don't mind the guys they got or the price they paid but we are not a better team than the one that entered the playoffs last year. Still no 2RD and I don't trust Pickard/Skinner to win a cup.

The plan is for McDrai to score a lot.. same as it ever was.

 

[DJJones]

It's time to move on. The Bruins realized this and got a haul cause it was a sellers market. The attitude of if we just sneak in anything can happen isn't going to produce long term results. Plus, if we just miss out we're giving up an earlier pick instead of giving up the Florida pick.

What world are you living in? We literally did that last year. The young guys are over achieving and you want to trade players with term for a marginal benefit?

Get that forever tanking nonsense out of here

 

[a mangy Meowth]

I get why they did it but for this year Rantanen+Middlestadt vs. Necas+Drury+Nelson+Coyle is at best a push IMO. Adding Lindgren was a very underratedly awful move that will make them worse.

Blew basically every asset they had to make it happen

Irrelevant.

The point I am contesting is that the roster is worse than at season start. THAT is categorically false. I'd say it's significantly better and more balanced.

Lindgren is playing on the 3rd pairing he's fine

 

[Raistlin]

Vancouver being a loser is expected

Their owner is beyond stupid

We’ve had a deadlines where our GM has said. “We ran out of time”
“We couldn’t make up our mind”
We had other deadlines where we were clearly out of it and we extended absolute trash

We gave Tanner Pearson a franking extension at the deadline a few years ago with trade clauses while our GM complained about not having enough cap room for Hughes

We have a bottom 5 offense in the league right now
Their owner just handcuffs management as he is DEATHLY afraid of draft picks
He hates them more than he hates paying workers on his farms

if he had a market and Allvin chose to hang onto him, thats a massive L, but I can totally see that he has a very low market value post Miller trade. In that case, I'd rather hope that he rebounds in the next month and have him as a self rental. You cant give up on the season when you are tied in WC2, Blues lost Parayko for the season and didnt sell either being even further away from WC.

 

[HuGo Sham]

people calling the habs losers cracks me up.
Hughes decided he'd let a rebuilding team stay together
and keep learning how to win - Suzuki requested this.

Habs have 12 picks this summer.
They didn't need more mid picks or seconds if it meant
breaking the team up. It might not make sense to 99.9% of you,
but it makes sense to the teammates in the room.

Are they losers because they didn't get more 3rds and 4ths (maybe a 2nd) in the 3rd year of a rebuild?
Or are they winners because they remained patient and didn't make panic moves and allow 2nd youngest team in the league to still learn from this unexpected playoff run?
Pick a lane with your hot takes.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

people calling the habs losers cracks me up.
Hughes decided he'd let a rebuilding team stay together
and keep learning how to win - Suzuki requested this.

Habs have 12 picks this summer.
They didn't need more mid picks or seconds if it meant
breaking the team up. It might not make sense to 99.9% of you,
but it makes sense to the teammates in the room.

Are they losers because they didn't get more 3rds and 4ths (maybe a 2nd) in the 3rd year of a rebuild?
Or are they winners because they remained patient and didn't make panic moves and allow 2nd youngest team n the league to still learn from this unexpected playoff run?
Pick a lane with your hot takes.

Well, you've convinced me. Habs had an incredible trade deadline. Big winners!

 

[qc14]

Irrelevant.

The point I am contesting is that the roster is worse than at season start. THAT is categorically false. I'd say it's significantly better and more balanced.

Lindgren is playing on the 3rd pairing he's fine

I will admit I did forget they traded for Blackwood in-season which does push things over into being better than they were to start the year.

I think the Rantanen and Nelson deals were fine -- not good but fine -- and I do totally get why they did them. I do not like the Coyle or Lindgren deals for them. They spent a whole lot of assets to make all of those moves happen.

 

[HuGo Sham]

Well, you've convinced me. Habs had an incredible trade deadline. Big winners!

where did I say they're winners?
reading comprehension is your friend.
I was providing context for some of the hockey geniuses here

 

[a mangy Meowth]

They spent a whole lot of assets to make all of those moves happen.

We used a bunch of picks that we would have definitely spent on terrible prospects who would struggle to produce in the AHL. We cannot draft, and we need to go for cups while MacKinnon is sub-35 y/o

 

[Jetcetera]

I dont think the jets are losers. It's disappointing and they certainly aren't winners but they didn't sell the farm for a rental and made an already deep team even deeper.

 

[TheForsbergShow]

I get why they did it but for this year Rantanen+Middlestadt vs. Necas+Drury+Nelson+Coyle is at best a push IMO. Adding Lindgren was a very underratedly awful move that will make them worse.

Blew basically every asset they had to make it happen

Conveniently left out a new goaltending duo that helped stop the bleeding early in the season. But yes, I am sure the avs will gravely miss Mittelstadt getting like 1 shot a game and playing 13 minutes a night cause he did absolutely nothing since November.

Saying their roster is worse than what it started with is just flat out wrong.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

where did say they're winners?
reading comprehension is your friend.
I was providing context for the hockey geniuses on here.



*I'm using genius, very very loosely here

Wait a second - are you saying they weren't winners? You're confusing me here.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Jets and Capitals have been leading their respective conferences all year.

Jets added Tanev & L. Schenn, Caps added Beauvillier. If you put together the best 22 men rosters without any dead cap space, these teams are valued at around 82-83 million.

Teams in the arms race will be icing rosters worth north of 90 million and/or would be over 90 million without retention.

Both of these teams are now underdogs.

Canes are a tough out but not a serious cup contender type of team. Which is extremely disappointing at this stage.

If they were neck and neck with all these teams that spent big you might have a point.

There’s really no basis for saying they’ve fallen behind, until they start losing to those teams.

Reminder in 2018 the Caps big trade deadline add was … Michal Kempny

 

[FinPanda]

I don't think Carolina is necessarily either. They did lose Rantanen, but when you think what the in the end they got for Necas, is big. They did screw this year on the cup hunt but getting 2 first rounds picks + Stankoven for Necas? Thats huge.

So Carolina is kinda both, a winner and a loser. It will be determined later with the picks, but I think they did well considering the circumstances they were in.

 

[Sky04]

Vancouver doing nothing is literally a joke. Pick a f***ing direction.

Elias Pettersson said he would cry if they traded anyone because everyone there makes him feel safe so they held pat.

 

[gary559]

Still think both Florida teams were the best this deadline, Dallas keeping it interesting tho.

 

[HuGo Sham]

Wait a second - are you saying they weren't winners? You're confusing me here.

Your confusion is probably related to real life issues, not my hockey opinions.

I know you're trying to be clever. Good luck with that

 

[qc14]

We used a bunch of picks that we would have definitely spent on terrible prospects who would struggle to produce in the AHL. We cannot draft, and we need to go for cups while MacKinnon is sub-35 y/o

Spending the picks was not the problem. It was using them on one player who doesn't move the needle in Coyle and another who IMO actively hurts the team.

Conveniently left out a new goaltending duo that helped stop the bleeding early in the season. But yes, I am sure the avs will gravely miss Mittelstadt getting like 1 shot a game and playing 13 minutes a night cause he did absolutely nothing since November.

Saying their roster is worse than what it started with is just flat out wrong.

I posted again that I totally forgot Blackwood was midseason and that yes that pushes things to the other direction for me. Doesn't change the fact that I didn't like their deadline.

Mittlestadt has been having a horrible year -- 34 points in 63 games with only 82 shots. Coyle has 22 in 64 with 92 shots and more TOI. He is not an upgrade there at all.

 

[qc14]

I don't think Carolina is necessarily either. They did lose Rantanen, but when you think what the in the end they got for Necas, is big. They did screw this year on the cup hunt but getting 2 first rounds picks + Stankoven for Necas? Thats huge.

So Carolina is kinda both, a winner and a loser. It will be determined later with the picks, but I think they did well considering the circumstances they were in.

If you're supposed to be competing for a cup and your team is worse than when you started the season you're a loser

 

[FinPanda]

If you're supposed to be competing for a cup and your team is worse than when you started the season you're a loser

It's not said Rantanen was making a massive difference in Carolina though. He had some strong games but could tell, his heart and motivation wasn't there.

 

[Divine]

Forgot to mention, HOW have the Oilers again done nothing about their goaltending situation? Man oh man

Pretty sure their GM is waiting until McDavid walks next summer to free up the cap space they need to get a goalie and really making a run at it

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Pretty sure their GM is waiting until McDavid walks next summer to free up the cap space they need to get a goalie and really making a run at it

Lmao actual
Then they can trade for Shestyerkin

 

[Divine]

Losers:

Divisional format.

Carolina/NJ got worse and one of them likely advances because they get to play each other. Similar thing with Edmonton/LA.

Meanwhile 2 of Florida/Tampa/Toronto and 2 of Dallas/Jets/Avs have to play each other in the first round.

 

[gary559]

Vancouver doing nothing is literally a joke. Pick a f***ing direction.

I hate to say it but I'll speak my mind, they chose their direction, the wrong one, with multiple signs that they should turn back but have decided to stick with Brock. It hurts. I understand where the sentimental part comes in but he's not that guy. Better to take an L and move a depreciating asset than to keep it and pray for a miracle.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

Your confusion is probably related to real life issues, not my hockey opinions.

I know you're trying to be clever. Good luck with that

Well now you're just being mean.