NHL Trade Deadline Recap
Ryan D’Amico
Staff Writer
The NHL had many trades at the 2023 Trade Deadline, many helping some teams in the quest for a Stanley Cup and some teams trading away some key pieces. The Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers and the New Jersey Devils all added good pieces to help their teams going into the playoffs. But some teams such as the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings and some other teams traded players to contenders as they are not in a position to win this year. Many other teams made trades that the media saw as good and some made trades that looked a little weird at first but seemed to be a good fit on what they needed.
Some teams like the Bruins, who are considered by far the best team in the league, added even more to their already stacked roster. They added two defenseman Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway from the Washington Capitals and a forward Tyler Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings. The Hurricanes wanted another scorer to add to their arsenal so they went and traded for Jesse Puljujarvi from the Oilers and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere from the Arizona Coyotes. The Oilers who have really needed a defenseman for the past couple of seasons, finally traded for one in Mattias Ekholm from the Nashville Predators and they also added depth in Nick Bjugstad from the Coyotes. Lastly, the Devils added forward Curtis Lazar from the Vancouver Canucks who can play wing or center which is a great addition for the team. These teams added many key pieces they will need going into the playoffs and seasons ahead. There are still many teams that made trades but next is all of the teams that didn’t make trades to necessarily upgrade their roster in the short-term.
Teams like the Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks and some other teams didn’t put any key pieces together or get much from the trade deadline. The Flyers aren’t having the best year overall even when it comes to offseason signs and deadline trades. During the off-season the Flyers couldn’t sign a star winger like Johnny Gaudreau, who had been linked to the team during free agency, and the Flyers only added ex-New York Ranger and Carolina Hurricane Tony DeAngelo during the offseason, and the lack of additions to Philadelphia have showed in the standings this season. They ended up just trading for Zack MacEwen, a forward from the Los Angeles Kings and traded for some picks in upcoming years. Another team that didn’t do too well during the season so far and up to the deadline is the San Jose Sharks. They got a decent amount for forward Timo Meier from the New Jersey Devils but also didn’t get to deal defenseman Erik Karlsson who is on an expiring contract, and several contenders had showed interest in Karlsson at the deadline. Some teams like the Flyers and Sharks who did not make moves to contend this trade deadline can wait until the 2023 offseason in order to find the next addition who will take their team to the next level.
Contact Ryan at ryan.damico@student.shu.edu