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The 2022 NHL trade deadline will, for many reasons, be one of the most memorable in recent NHL history.
The playoff picture was about as clear as it has ever been approaching Monday’s deadline, creating a market in which a number of teams had serious reason to make big swings while numerous teams on the outside were willing to concede and sell. Multiple future Hall of Famers were dealt, as well numerous emerging young talents and five first-round picks. Plus one move between the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights is in dispute.
It was a chaotic trading period, with a lot of teams cementing their status as contenders as others drastically improved their long-term stability. Here are the five teams that made the most out of the situation.
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After winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season, the Colorado Avalanche again have the best record (45-13-5) in the NHL. General manager Joe Sakic could have hibernated until April and still woken up with arguably the Stanley Cup favorite.
Why take the chance, though? The Avs suffered a somewhat unexpected second-round playoff exit in 2021, and other teams were making major additions.
The team’s best move was capturing winger Artturi Lehkonen from the Montreal Canadians in return for defense prospect Justin Barron (a first-round pick in 2020) and a 2024 second-round pick. Barron has shown a lot of quality in the AHL this season and will likely be a solid top-four defenseman in Montreal down the line, but the future is now in Colorado, and it has defense covered long term
On the surface, Lehkonen isn’t exciting, putting up just 13 goals and 16 assists in 58 games this season. That doesn’t tell the full story, though. The Finn is one of the best possession-drivers in the NHL. He’s an elite defensive winger and, on offense, creates a lot of turnovers, cycles the puck and gets to the net front with proficiency.
He was a key member of the Montreal top line that shut down many All-Stars on the way to the Stanley Cup Final last season. And the best part? Lehkonen, on a $1.15 million contract, is just 26 and becomes a restricted free agent in the summer. Colorado will be able to re-sign him beyond this season or turn around and trade him to recover their expenditure.
The Avs also added solid shutdown defenseman Josh Manson from Anaheim for a second-round pick and depth prospect Drew Helleson, won a swap with the Minnesota Wild in which center Nico Sturm was acquired for Tyson Jost, and veteran defensive forward Andrew Cogliano was acquired from the San Jose Sharks for a fifth-round pick.
The Avalanche went from a team heavily reliant on its handful of top stars to one that is stacked in almost every nook of the roster. Their Stanley Cup case is that much stronger.
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For a number of reasons, the Seattle Kraken’s inaugural NHL season didn’t quite work out as hoped. Mistakes were made, but in truth, what the Vegas Golden Knights were able to pull off in getting to the Stanley Cup Final at the first time of asking was an anomaly. Generally, building a roster out of every other team’s leftovers shouldn’t result in a quality team.
To general manager Ron Francis’ credit, he spent the trading period hitting the reset button. Pending free agent Calle Jarnkrok was sent to the Calgary Flames for second-, third- and seventh-round picks. Jeremy Lauzon, a big defenseman who is arguably not even NHL-caliber, was somehow moved to the Nashville Predators for a second-round pick. Forward Mason Appleton was sent back to the Winnipeg Jets for a fourth-round pick. Depth winger Marcus Johansson was sent to the Washington Capitals for fourth- and sixth-round picks plus Daniel Sprong, a young winger who could absolutely score 20 goals in the right environment.
The only disappointment was that veteran defenseman Mark Giordano did not net Seattle a first-round pick, but the deal to send him and depth forward Colin Blackwell to the Toronto Maple Leafs for two seconds and a third is still decent business.
With this quick reallocation of players who were either fringe or were set to leave, Seattle enters the 2022 offseason with a wide-open roster, roughly $34 million in cap space and an embarrassment of draft riches. Including their own picks, the Kraken have a combined seven second-round picks, three third-round picks and six fourth-round picks for 2022 and 2023.
The Kraken cut bait and put themselves in a position to build from the ground up in a more organic fashion.
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The Maple Leafs weren’t as splashy as some other contenders were, but their endeavors were shrewd. Defense was a moderate concern, and Toronto addressed it twice.
In February, the team offloaded Nick Ritchie’s problematic contract and a 2025 second-round pick to Arizona in exchange for Ilya Lyubushkin, a solid shutdown defenseman with a reasonable $1.35 million cap hit for the rest of the season. He’s capable of providing stability on the third pairing.
The bigger move was acquiring Giordano from Seattle. The blueliner is a former Norris Trophy winner who, despite being 38, is still a very good top-four defenseman. Once a top offensive contributor, Giordano now only provides secondary offense but remains a tremendous suppressor of opposition offense. He reunites with former Calgary Flames defensive partner TJ Brodie, and the two will hold down Toronto’s second pairing. Blackwell, also included in the deal with the Kraken, can provide secondary offense on a bottom-six line.
Acquiring those two without giving up a first-round pick is a win, as the cost was two second-round picks and a third-round pick, the latter of which was promptly replaced when depth defenseman Travis Dermott was sent to Vancouver.
Look, the Leafs haven’t won a playoff round since 2004, and until this group gets over that hurdle—to say nothing about the first Stanley Cup since 1967—nobody is going to care. That being said, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander are all under the age of 26, while John Tavares and Morgan Rielly are signed long term and will be big contributors for the majority of their deals.
GM Kyle Dubas was able to make multiple upgrades to the roster without conceding a first-round pick or any of the team’s notable prospects. It’s a pragmatic approach that allows the Leafs to make a justified run for the Stanley Cup this season while still maximizing the team’s long-term potential.
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The Montreal Canadiens had a very good deadline period, but their blueprint was kind of obvious. A fire sale was the only option.
The Anaheim Ducks, in contrast, were in a much more difficult situation. The vibes in Anaheim have been great this season, with the team outperforming expectations. Up until very recently, they were in the mix for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson and wingers Rickard Rakell and Nic Deslauriers were all pending unrestricted free agents. It would have been easy for new GM Pat Verbeek to buy into this group of players, take a stab at squeaking into the playoffs and try to retain some of them beyond this season.
Instead, he bravely but accurately assessed that this isn’t the time to go for it. The big deal was Lindholm’s departure to the Boston Bruins in return for a first-round pick, two second-round picks and defense prospect Urho Vaakanainen, a former first-round pick-turned-reclamation project. Lindholm, 28, signed a massive eight-year contract with the Bruins, and it took a lot of discipline by Verbeek to not commit similarly to a long-time Ducks top-pairing defenseman who will be in his 30s by the time the Ducks are ready to fly.
Rickard Rakell, a two-time 30-goal scorer whose game has dropped off somewhat after injuries, returned maximum value to Anaheim, with the Pittsburgh Penguins sending a second-round pick, a decent goaltender prospect in Calle Clang and depth forwards Zach Aston-Reese and Dominik Simon. Manson was sent to Colorado for a second-round pick and Drew Helleson, a defense prospect who signed in Anaheim upon the trade and has upside as a third-pairing defenseman. Deslauriers, a fourth-liner, earned the Ducks a third-round pick from Minnesota.
The Ducks are now armed with two first-round picks in 2022 and eight second-round picks over the next three seasons. Through drafting and trading, the Ducks will be able to augment their roster around young stars Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Jamie Drysdale and Mason McTavish with players whose career arcs better match the team’s trajectory.
Expect them to be in the mix for the Arizona Coyotes’ Jakob Chychrun over the summer, among others.
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The Calgary Flames emerged as a top team in the West early in the season. Head coach Darryl Sutter had them locked in defensively, with Jacob Markstrom in net cleaning up any leftover messes. The team’s top offensive forwards, Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau and Andrew Mangiapane, were getting the puck in the net with ease. The Flames were cruising for a while.
However, the team’s lack of forward depth remained an elephant in the room. Another offensive forward was needed, as the Flames were overly reliant on the aforementioned trio. GM Brad Treliving moved quickly to make the first real move of the deadline, acquiring winger Tyler Toffoli on February 14 in return for Tyler Pitlick, prospect Emil Heineman, a 2022 first-round pick and a fifth-round pick. Toffoli, signed through 2024, has delivered, with eight goals and seven assists in 17 games.
Versatile forward Calle Jarnkrok was reeled in from Seattle for a second-, third- and seventh-round pick. Jarnkrok can play all three forward positions and provides secondary offense along with high-caliber defensive play. He can hold his own on a second-line role, doing the dirty work for more skilled players, or he can be an overwhelming presence in a checking role in the bottom six.
Ryan Carpenter was acquired from Chicago in return for a fifth-round pick. He excels as a defensive center on the fourth line.
The Flames’ forward group still falls behind those of a few other playoff contenders, but these moves bridge the gap significantly in a way that gives them four legitimate lines. With their defensive austerity and goaltending, Calgary is comfortably the second-best team in the Western Conference behind Colorado and is a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
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