Guentzel and Hanifin lead trade team

38 players were traded during the NHL Trade Deadline and the week leading up to it, highlighted by the Vegas Golden Knights adding both Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanifin.

We at The Hockey News were wondering if a team made up entirely on players who were traded could make the playoffs. To test this theory, we created a 33rd NHL team in NHL 24 Franchise Mode and simulated a season.

We added Vladimir Tarasenko and Joel Edmundson to our team as they were also traded on deadline day and we needed a sixth defenseman.

We created a Custom League and added our new team - the Toronto Trade Deadline - as the NHL's 33rd franchise. 

Results of our simulation are below. 

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Despite rostering some solid players our team clearly lacked a superstar player. The Trade Deadline did not make the playoffs and had quite a disastrous year, finishing 31st overall. 

Our team finished in the top 15 in goals per game, but could not keep the puck out of our own net, finishing third-worst in goals against per game.

Based on plus/minus the Duclair - Henrique - Zucker line and the Edmundson - Peeke defense pair did not have good seasons.

Guentzel led the team in both goal scoring and points, only he and Tarasenko eclipsed the 30-goal mark. 

With only four players finishing above fifty points and no one scoring at a point-per-game pace this team evidently lacks the high-end skill needed to compete in the NHL. 

Our goaltending duo had decent seasons considering the quantity of shots they faced. Vanecek finished with a respectable .912 save percentage, while Allen had an .896, both are higher than their real life counterparts.  

All of these players continue to chase a Stanley Cup in real life after being traded, something they unfortunately could not do in Franchise Mode.