The NHL Trade Deadline was fast and furious in 2023, with multiple teams making blockbuster deals to try and get the upper hand come playoffs. Although the day of the deadline itself was one of the slowest in recent memory, there were some massive deals in the days leading up to Friday's deadline.
The NHL's Eastern Conference could be the best it's been in decades, and most of the top teams in the conference got even better. As up to seven teams battle for a wildcard spot, every single game is crucial in the next month and a half. The Western Conference is a little more wide open, but most playoff teams stayed pat at the deadline, hoping the talent they already have will be good enough to get the job done in the postseason.
Here are the biggest winners and losers of the NHL Trade Deadline in 2023.
Winner: Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are one of the best teams in National Hockey League history (48-8-5!) and got even better at the deadline. They added smooth skating veteran defenseman Dmitry Orlov from the Washington Capitals, who already has an astounding eight points in his first three games with the Bruins (all wins). They added Garnet Hathaway from the Caps as well to round out the bottom six, and got Tyler Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings after losing Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno to long-term injuries. And all without losing a single important roster player.
The Bruins have only won one Stanley Cup in three tries dating back to 2011, after losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 and St. Louis Blues in 2019, and they're going all-in in 2023. The best team in the NHL got even better at the deadline, and the Bruins are our biggest deadline winners.
Winner: New York Rangers
Welcome to Broadway Patrick Kane. In without a doubt the biggest deal of the NHL Trade Deadline, the Rangers brought in the three-time Stanley Cup Champion to reunite with superstar Artemi Panarin. And they also added Vladimir Tarasenko to bolster one of the most feared top-six forward groups in the NHL. The Rangers struggled for scoring wingers in the depth chart after Panarin and Chris Kreider, but with the additions of two proven snipers in Kane and Tarasenko, the team is primed for another deep postseason run.
Although the goaltending has been shaky as of late with Igor Shesterkin and the defense still leaves some to be desired, hockey fans will be salivating once Kane and Panarin get their chemistry back. The Rangers need to figure out the defensive side of the puck, but once this group meshes, they're going to be as tough an out as any team come playoff time.
Winner: Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are doing everything they possibly can to finally win a playoff round. It's astounding a team this good hasn't won a postseason series since 2004, especially with the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander.
The Leafs were as busy as any team ahead of the deadline, bringing in Ryan O'Reilly from St. Louis, Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty from Chicago, Erik Gustafsson from Washington and Luke Schenn from Vancouver.
The Leafs already have the offense, but they completely shored up the D-core with these moves. General manager Kyle Dubas did his job; it's now up to the players to prove they can win in the playoffs.
Loser: Pittsburgh Penguins
“I think there's a lot of teams that are capable of winning the Cup,” Penguins general manager Hextall said after the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline on Friday. “Yes, I'd say we're one of them.”
That's coming from a GM who traded for a 31-year-old in Mikael Granlund, a 32-year-old in Dmitry Kulikov and a 34-year-old in Nick Bonino. And the team already has one of the oldest cores in the NHL. Sure, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are still producing, but the team is barely holding onto a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, and they've been losing a lot of games lately.
The team has won three Stanley Cups with this core, but it's a longshot they're going to make that four, especially after this deadline. Frankly, it would be surprising if Pittsburgh made the playoffs at all.
Loser: Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are one of the worst teams in the league and stood pat at the NHL Trade Deadline. Even a non-hockey fan can tell you that is not the right move. What GM Chuck Fletcher is thinking is beyond us; he couldn't even find a taker for his best asset in James Van Riemsdyk.
Philadelphia are miles from contention, and also have precious little draft capital, which didn't change at all on Friday. It's good that the city has a great basketball, football and baseball team, because their hockey team won't be competitive for years to come.
Loser: Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks did a great job leveraging a difficult situation with Bo Horvat, getting a first round pick from the New York Islanders for the star centre. Then they traded it away to Detroit for Filip Hronek, a 25-year-old who is admittedly a solid defenseman but isn't at all what this team needs right now.
Vancouver has no idea and never has had any idea how to rebuild a team. This “retool” that management continues to buy into is only continuing to hurt the franchise long-term, and fans of the team are absolutely sick of it.
Of course, Brock Boeser, Conor Garland and JT Miller, three players who could have been moved for a plethora of draft picks, all remain Canucks. The only bright spot is the distant hope that the team will win the Connor Bedard sweepstakes, but even that's a longshot considering the Vancouver loves to string together wins once they're already well out of a playoff spot.
Final thoughts on 2023 NHL Trade Deadline
This was without a doubt one of the most entertaining weeks heading up to the trade deadline I can remember, with multiple legitimate superstar players moving teams. Patrick Kane, Timo Meier, Jacob Chychrun, Vladimir Tarasenko, just to name a few, all got new homes. With just about 20 games for each team before the postseason, it's going to be a frantic race to the finish, and the postseason promises to be absolutely electric in 2023.
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