The 2024 NHL trade deadline season saw a handful of teams make all the right moves up to the cutoff and others not doing what they should've done at first glance. Adam Proteau explains his choices, while Ryan Kennedy and Michael Traikos give theirs.

The NHL’s 2024 trade deadline has come to pass. With it comes the urge to break down the winners and losers of deadline day (read: week or so). 

Most of these deals will need years to figure out who truly succeeded and failed on deadline day, but we're going to go ahead and label three winners on draft day, and three losers.

Trade Deadline Winners

1. Vegas Golden Knights

Let’s be clear here – we’re talking about the winners of the moment. There could be a time when some of our “winner” teams regret what they gave up in preparation for a deep Stanley Cup playoff run. 

But right now, teams like the Golden Knights made all the right moves to address their immediate needs. The Golden Knights have to be considered a winner, as they’ve added three above-average players – defenseman Noah Hanifin and wingers Anthony Mantha and Tomas Hertl – without taking away anything from the roster.

The trade for Hertl cost prospect David Edstrom and a first-round pick, but Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon ensured his top nine forwards are as skilled as about any team in the NHL. 

McCrimmon has earned a reputation as a shrewd operator, and his moves at this year’s deadline confirm he knows how to build an elite hockey team.

2. Carolina Hurricanes

Like the Golden Knights, the Hurricanes were savvy at the deadline, bringing in a pair of veterans – winger Jake Guentzel and center Evgeny Kuznetsov – without removing a lot off the NHL roster. Winger Michael Bunting – the only roster player the Hurricanes surrendered – wasn’t working out with them as well as expected anyway. With all due respect to Bunting, Carolina got significantly better with the two deals GM Don Waddell did pull off.

With Kuznetsov and Guentzel aboard, Carolina now has a boost in Cup-winning experience, and their top two forward lines are excellent. Waddell did give up a number of draft picks and prospects in the two deals, but Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is motivated to win and win now, and Waddell’s decisions reflect that desire to win it all this season. As a result, the Hurricanes are a true elite team and one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

3. Calgary Flames

Not all of our “winners” this year were playoff favorites. Absent some miracle, the Flames aren’t going to be a playoff team, but Calgary GM Craig Conroy did well with the assets he had to move out. 

For defensemen Hanifin and Chris Tanev, and forward Elias Lindholm, Conroy got two first-round picks, one second-rounder, two third-rounders, one fourth-rounder, prospects Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo and roster players Artem Grushnikov and Andrei Kuzmenko.

That’s a hell of a haul for Calgary. While the Flames are more likely to not be a playoff team this season, the focus on the future is clear. Conroy deserves kudos for holding out for the best deals he could get. He had no choice but to move out Tanev, Lindholm and Hanifin, and his fire sale may continue this summer. But for now, Calgary is in a much better place as far as their future goes, thanks to Conroy’s solid work.

Here's which teams Ryan Kennedy and Michael Traikos selected as their winners:

Trade Deadline Losers

1. Los Angeles Kings

The Kings are in a brutal battle for one of the wild-card playoff berths in the Western Conference, but Kings GM Rob Blake did not make a single move at the deadline. 

We’re not saying teams must make deals to be successful, but even a depth addition or two would’ve positioned the Kings to be ready for a long playoff run. The Kings have shown this season they’re a Jeykll-and-Hyde group, and Blake really should’ve been in the market for a third-pair defenseman or a slightly above-average forward.

The Kings looked great to start the season, but their struggles of late – that caused Blake to fire coach Todd McLellan and install interim bench boss Jim Hiller – needed to be addressed by the deadline. With the moves Pacific Division teams in Vegas, Edmonton and Vancouver have made, Los Angeles needed to answer back. The fact they didn’t do that speaks volumes about their sinking status in the West.

2. Columbus Blue Jackets

The Jackets were in pure seller mode at the deadline, and all they were able to do was (a) make a relatively meaningless trade for journeyman goalie Malcolm Subban; (b) ship out defenseman Andrew Peeke for AHL D-man Jakub Zboril and a third-round pick, and (c) move forward Jack Roslovic for a conditional fourth-rounder. If that seems like a “meh” bunch of assets coming Columbus’ way, that’s because it is.

Ideally, interim Jackets GM John Davidson would’ve moved many more players out of Columbus, most notably defenseman Ivan Provorov and goalie Elvis Merzlikins. Deals for those two veterans could still come in the summer, but it all felt so underwhelming for Columbus. Look at another subpar team in the Philadelphia Flyers to see how a rapid-style rebuild should be done, and for Jackets fans’ sake, the person who does get the permanent GM job needs to be much more aggressive than the team has been thus far.

3. New York Islanders

The Islanders were another team that didn’t make even a single trade leading up to this year’s deadline despite being in the thick of a wild-card playoff race.

It’s true the Islanders were all but completely capped out. Still, at a time when their Eastern Conference rivals were improving their chances of playoff success, the Isles should’ve done something, if only make a depth move in anticipation of a playoff run.

We’ve got to repeat ourselves – not every team had to make a trade to avoid a “loser” label from us, but there were certain teams that simply just aren’t good enough to keep up with the Joneses in the battle of above-average teams in the East. The Isles are one of those teams. Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello may ultimately be proven right to have held back from making trades, but as it stands, it looks like he and the Islanders could watch their rivals bypass them.

Here's which teams Ryan Kennedy and Michael Traikos selected as their losers: