The 2022 NHL trade deadline has passed. Some teams got better. Some teams didn’t. One team might have made both the best and worst trades of the deadline by itself.
Here’s a look at the winners and losers of the 2022 deadline, from the players who controlled their fate to the teams that took fate into their own hands. A full 32-team report card will arrive later this week.
Wyshynski: The Avalanche took their swing at acquiring Claude Giroux from the Philadelphia Flyers, but he had other plans. So rather than go all in for another top six guy, the Avs smartly addressed a couple of their smaller but glaring needs.
I’ve been screaming since the offseason that the Avalanche had to address their lack of veteran forward depth, having lost a few key players in the past year. They did that and more by acquiring Artturi Lehkonen from the Montreal Canadiens at a steep cost — prospect Justin Barron was likely part of the Giroux package — but with 50% salary retention. The Sharks retained 50% on Andrew Cogliano, who hopefully has some fourth-line contribution left in his tank. Nico Sturm brings more physicality than Tyson Jost.
Meanwhile, they pulled off a great trade in snagging defenseman Josh Manson for the Ducks, who addresses a lack of physicality and defensive zone play that will be vital against the crashing forecheckers from Calgary and (maybe) Vegas. Manson also didn’t cost what Ben Chiarot did for Florida. The rich got richer at the trade deadline. These are the types of moves one looks back on fondly during a championship parade.
Shilton: If general manager Jim Nill truly believed Dallas could win a Stanley Cup this season, then not trading John Klingberg and/or not making any notable moves before the deadline would be understandable. But the Stars are not built for that type of success this season (especially not with Miro Heiskanen out indefinitely with mononucleosis). So why is Klingberg, a pending unrestricted free agent who has been publicly sour about the lack of a new contract and would fetch a solid-to-good return on the trade market, still with the team?
We witnessed some serious returns for other rental defensemen. Mark Giordano pulled two second-rounders and a third out of Toronto. Ben Chiarot drew a first-rounder from Florida. So did Hampus Lindholm from Boston. There were options that Nill could have exercised to improve Dallas for the future. Now Klingberg is probably going to walk for nothing and keeping him won’t, in all likelihood, change the Stars’ fate this season.
Shilton: Unlike the GM in Dallas, the new GM in Anaheim knows what he doesn’t want — and it’s pending UFAs.
To top off the deadline, Verbeek grabbed Evgenii Dadonov and another second-round selection from Vegas — assuming the trade actually goes through, after an issue was found involving his no-trade clause.
That’s quite a haul for the Ducks. It not only sets them up in future drafts, but it makes room for Verbeek to get a look at more players Anaheim already has in its ranks. That will be crucial to decisions made moving forward as he guides the Ducks out of this rebuild and back toward playoff contention.
Loser: Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon
Wyshynski: The Golden Knights’ salary cap had been an absolute mess well before they added Jack Eichel‘s $10 million hit this season. They’ve been living on the edge, making specious cap-impacted deals for the past few offseasons, costing them good players and better teammates.
That cap management hindered their ability to add reinforcements at the deadline or seek to shore up their goaltending. Instead, they were forced to trade winger Evgenii Dadonov to the Ducks to open $3.375 million in salary-cap space, hoping it will help them bring back some of their injured stars as they hang on to a playoff berth for dear life.
But wait! In a twist that could only happen to the Golden Knights during this hellish stretch of the season, the trade is being disputed by the National Hockey League Players’ Association, as Anaheim might have been on Dadonov’s limited no-trade list. Sources told ESPN that the Golden Knights claim that no-trade clause wasn’t disclosed by the Senators when they traded Dadonov to Vegas last offseason. There also are questions about whether Dadonov and his agent submitted a list before this season. Now, it’s an NHLPA and NHL entanglement that has put the trade in limbo.
If it does eventually go through, consider this asset management: The Golden Knights traded a 2022 third-round pick and defenseman Nick Holden for Dadonov last summer in a deal that didn’t make a ton of sense at the time given their cap crunch. Now they’ve traded him to the Ducks along with their choice of a 2023 or 2024 second-round pick. So that’s a second, a third and an NHL defenseman for 62 games of Dadonov. It’s not a first, second and third for Tomas Tatar in 2018, but it’s still bewildering.
If the Dadonov trade doesn’t go through? Now they have a disgruntled player who is still taking up $5 million in cap space.
Wyshynski: The Bruins won the Hampus Lindholm derby with a massive offering to the Ducks, trading them a 2022 first-round pick and second-round picks in 2023 and 2024 along with defenseman Urho Vaakanainen in the multiple-asset deal. Then they signed him to an eight-year, $52 million deal with a no-movement clause through 2026-27.
Lindholm is not the player he once was, but he is still better than anything the Bruins have had on their left side since they let Torey Krug walk. They could pair him with Charlie McAvoy or have him anchor his own unit. Whatever the case, GM Don Sweeney finally landed the defenseman the Bruins have been chasing.
Shilton: Yes, the Maple Leafs landed Mark Giordano to bolster the blue line. That was a priority. But Toronto did nothing to improve its lackluster goaltending situation, although it wasn’t for complete lack of trying.
On Sunday, GM Kyle Dubas did sign Finnish netminder Harri Sateri — fresh from an Olympic gold-medal win — to a one-year deal. Per NHL rules, though, Toronto had to place Sateri on waivers in order to add him to the roster. Arizona, of course, claimed Sateri, leaving the Leafs no better off. And Dubas didn’t complete any transactions to add another goaltender before the deadline.
So, Toronto is where it is. Beleaguered goalie Petr Mrazek also was placed on waivers on Sunday, which Dubas clarified was for cap-related purposes, and Mrazek cleared, so he’s still around. That doesn’t help the Leafs much, though. Mrazek has allowed four or more goals in each of his past four starts (1-2-1), and he was recently usurped by rookie Erik Kallgren. It appears Kallgren (who is 2-1-1 with a .930 SV%) will have to continue carrying the load for now, at least until Jack Campbell is up and running.
Toronto’s starter has been sidelined by a rib injury, but he returned to the ice this week. Can Campbell attain his previous form and be the top-end goalie he was early in the season? The Leafs can only cross their fingers and hope.
Shilton: After 24 hours of wheeling and dealing, the Kraken now hold 34 picks in the next three entry drafts. That’s … a lot of choices. It should translate into a whole lot of fun for Seattle’s scouting staff, which will basically be building this franchise from the ground up with its recommendations (both in draftable players and trade candidates). Talk about having an impact!
Wyshynski: One questions the philosophy of GM Lou Lamoriello at their own peril, but … seriously?
The Islanders have been one the biggest disappointments of the season. Lamoriello’s response at the deadline was not only not to move a single player from this roster but to extend forwards Cal Clutterbuck and Zach Parise in new contract deals. There were no takers for goalie Semyon Varlamov or any of the forwards with term? Maybe these end up being summertime moves. For now, the Islanders’ deadline paralysis was as baffling as their season has been.
Wyshynski: The temptation was no doubt there to really push hard for someone like J.T. Miller of the Vancouver Canucks, a former Ranger who would have been an ideal acquisition at the deadline. Instead, the Rangers and GM Chris Drury made a series of smart smaller moves that could add up to something positive come playoff time. They traded for Panthers winger Frank Vatrano, Jets forward Andrew Copp, Canucks forward Tyler Motte and Flyers defenseman Justin Braun.
Copp was a coup. He cost a bit — a 2022 second-rounder that could become a first and another 2022 second-rounder — but he’s one of those players who can be effective down the lineup or playing up with the skilled stars, as was the case with the Jets this season. Braun, meanwhile, is a win-at-all-costs defensive defenseman with 100 games of playoff experience, something in short supply on their blue line.
Shilton: The inaction from GM Tom Fitzgerald here is a head-scratcher. The Devils aren’t in the playoff hunt this season, so they had some players who have been moved, including Pavel Zacha or P.K. Subban or even Damon Severson, and yet, New Jersey did nothing.
Now, you might argue it’s better to complete no trades than to make a bad move. That’s true. Fitzgerald noted on Monday he wasn’t going to trade a player like Severson just because he has one year left on his deal, for example, when Severson is helping New Jersey win games now. It’s just that the Devils aren’t collecting victories that often, and the choice to stand pat is different when you’re a perennial contender or up against the salary cap or have already acquired a boatload of future draft choices. That’s not what the Devils have been up to, either.
As it is, New Jersey will enter the final stretch of this season near the bottom of its division and having made no strides in any direction. Fitzgerald might well like his team. Maybe he just has a lot of patience. But in his results-oriented business, patience only stretches so far, for so long.
Shilton: Everything’s coming up Flower!
Monday couldn’t have played out much better for Fleury. He put his time in with Chicago — a place the veteran clearly enjoyed playing — and now he gets to reunite with old teammate Bill Guerin in Minnesota and chase another Stanley Cup. At 37 years old, those opportunities are increasingly rare. While Fleury had some control over a new landing spot, the fact Minnesota is a contending team that could make room (by trading Kaapo Kahkonen), satisfy the Blackhawks in return (with a conditional first-round pick) and offer a fellow veteran goalie (in Cam Talbot) to pair Fleury with … it seems like a great match.
There’s no pressure for Fleury to carry the load immediately; he can ease into the role and figure out getting his family settled, if needed. Minnesota has needed a spark to help it climb out of a recent funk too. Given Fleury’s reputation as the league’s most beloved teammate, this deal also was a pretty big winner for the Wild.
Loser: Other big-name trades
Wyshynski: We had some players such as Sharks center Tomas Hertl and Stars center Joe Pavelski who re-signed with their teams — and another in Filip Forsberg who appears on his way to doing so with Nashville. We had other players like Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller of the Canucks and Jakob Chychrun of the Arizona Coyotes who are likely summertime moves.
Then we had players like Phil Kessel, Braden Holtby, Tyler Bertuzzi, Paul Stastny and Jeff Petry who were rumored to be on the move but never moved. There was some star power at the deadline in Fleury and Giroux. But for the most part, the flat salary cap meant a lot more singles than home run swings.
Winner: Player empowerment
Wyshynski: If there’s one takeaway from the 2022 NHL trade deadline, it’s how much player empowerment played a key role. Giroux had a full no-movement clause. According to veteran Philadelphia reporter Anthony SanFilippo, Giroux wanted to leverage that into a guarantee that the Flyers would bring him back in the offseason, agreeing to expand his trade options. Reportedly, they wouldn’t, so he didn’t and would only go to Florida, taking away any leverage from Philly. (Please note that GM Chuck Fletcher and Giroux’s agent, Pat Brisson, both deny this was the case.)
Fleury agreed to join the Chicago Blackhawks when they gave him their word he would have approval over any trade they’d make with him, despite not having a no-move clause. He was presented with a chance to play for former teammate and Minnesota GM Bill Guerin, and he accepted. Seattle captain Giordano had modified trade protection and the team’s backing to choose his next destination, and he ultimately chose to play for the Maple Leafs.
This didn’t make for the most thrilling trade deadline, but it was certainly a moment when veteran players gladly controlled the narrative.
Shilton: Brett Kulak and Derick Brassard were the best Edmonton could do, eh? It really felt like this team deserved more.
The Oilers have worked hard to turn a corner in recent weeks. After losing six of eight games, Edmonton responded with five straight wins in which they scored four or more goals in each. More notably, the Oilers’ goaltending seems to be (somewhat) stabilized and they’re back to sitting third in the Pacific.
So, why did GM Ken Holland do so little to reward his group for their efforts? McDavid and Draisaitl are in their prime, right in front of you. And there are clear indications of buy-in throughout the lineup to gain ground and maybe make a push in the crowded Western Conference field. It just seems like a missed opportunity by Holland to let the deadline pass and not capitalize on the momentum Edmonton has generated.
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Check out the unconventional but hilarious locations in which Kevin Weekes broke NHL trades throughout the week.
Wyshynski: There’s nothing general managers hate more at the NHL trade deadline than juicy details of deals that didn’t happen leaking out to the media.
The Maple Leafs were engaged in trade talks that involved Marc-Andre Fleury. News and notes about those talks were reported by TSN.
“I’ve never had that in our time here, where conversations on something that didn’t happen are out a day later,” said Toronto GM Kyle Dubas, referring to Chicago GM Kyle Davidson. “We rely on other teams to keep that confidential, so it’s disappointing.”
Wyshynski: There isn’t a team that made a move that I loved and a move that I loathed more than the Panthers did at the trade deadline.
Acquiring Claude Giroux is an absolute coup — a veteran leader with loads of playoff experience, top-line production and lineup versatility. On top of it all, a star who has dreamed about winning a Stanley Cup for so long that his pillow has etchings on it. Did they luck out by only having to give up Owen Tippett, a conditional first-rounder in 2024 (!) and a third-rounder in 2023, because Giroux — for whatever his reasons — would only play for the Panthers? Absolutely, but that’s hockey: How do you think the Rangers ended up with Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox?
I also liked the trade for defenseman Robert Hagg.
Unfortunately, I did not like that move they made for another defenseman: Ben Chiarot.
I’ve been told incessantly by Montreal fans that the analytics don’t properly tell the story of Chiarot this season. The Panthers had better hope so because, based on the numbers, that story was written by Stephen King. Even if you believe Chiarot can reclaim what made him a solid defender before this season — and without a functional Shea Weber next to him, that’s not likely — this was an overpayment. Like, a torrid housing market level of overpayment. They gave up a conditional first-rounder (top-10 protected in 2022, unprotected in 2024 if necessary) at a deadline when players like Josh Manson, Mark Giordano and Rickard Rakell moved without a first-rounder being sent the other way. Quinnipiac’s Ty Smilanic isn’t a bad prospect, either, and he was included in the deal. You could argue this is around the same price that Tampa Bay paid for David Savard last deadline. You also could argue that Savard is a better player or at least was having a superior season.
Again, a lot to like and not to like from Florida at the deadline. But you can’t say the Panthers weren’t aggressive, and maybe that pays off in their first playoff series win since 1996.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.
Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.
The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.
Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.
LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.
Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.
Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.
Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.
Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.
After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.
BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.
Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.
Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.
CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.
Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.
Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.
Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.
The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.
Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.
Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.
Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.
RANGERS 5, RED WING 2
DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.
Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.
Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.
The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.
Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.
KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1
MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.
Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.
Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.
Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.
BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.
Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.
Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.
Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.
Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.
OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.
Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.
Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).
Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.
Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.
BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.
Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.
Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.
Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.
The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.
Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.
KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4
SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.
Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.
Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.
Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.
Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.
Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.
Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.
A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”
All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.
“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”
Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.
“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”
After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”
San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.
“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”
The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.
“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.
Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.
