Grading Every NHL Team's 2025 Trade Deadline Activity
Now that the 2024-25 NHL trade deadline is over, it is time to start taking a look at the moves that were made and hand out some grades.
Grades are based on what each team’s expectation was going into the deadline, the moves they made, the moves they did not make, and the value they received.
If your team was selling, did it get good long-term value for the players it sold? Did it sell the right players?
If your team was buying, did it address its needs and do everything it can to try and make a big run at the Stanley Cup?
Let’s get to it.
Anaheim Ducks
1 of 32
The Ducks did pretty much what was expected and nothing more.
Veteran defenseman Brian Dumoulin was the one obvious rental player they had to shop, and they did fairly well in getting a second-round pick and a prospect for him.
Goalie John Gibson was really the only other player to watch here, but his injury situation might have derailed any possibility of that.
They were smart to not force a Trevor Zegras trade, and unless somebody gave them an offer they could not possibly refuse for a player with term there just was not much else to sell off here.
Solid—even if unspectacular—trade deadline.
Grade: B
Boston Bruins
2 of 32
The Bruins needed to sell, so they get some credit for doing that and not having any delusions as to what they are this season or where they are going.
Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo and Brad Marchand all went prior to the deadline in what was a pretty significant reset for the organization.
There was some good, and there was some bad to come out of that.
Collecting a first-, second- and fourth-round pick, as well as a really high-end prospect in Fraser Minten for Frederic and Carlo was really solid business by Don Sweeney.
But only getting a second-round pick (that could become a first if conditions are met) for Marchand is a shockingly low return, even when you take into account Marchand’s injury.
There is nothing wrong with moving on from Coyle, but does getting Casey Mittelstadt back in return do anything here? He is more of the same with what Boston already has at center, and while he is younger than Coyle his contract runs for one extra year. They really need him to find his game in Boston.
Grade: B-
Buffalo Sabres
3 of 32
The Sabres had one of the more, let’s say, interesting trade deadlines.
Instead of dealing pending UFAs Jason Zucker and Jordan Greenway, both of them were signed to multiyear contract extensions.
They also made one of the bigger deals on Friday by sending Dylan Cozens to the Ottawa Senators for Joshua Norris. Norris is two years older and slightly more expensive against the cap on his long-term deal ($7.9 million versus $7.1 million), but he might also be a slightly better player when healthy.
Even so, the Sabres look very similar to what they were before the trade deadline. And it’s not good.
The other big question here is whether or not Cozens will become the latest young player to leave Buffalo and excel elsewhere. It has happened too many times in recent years, and if he goes to Ottawa and blossoms that is going to be a huge black mark on the Sabres organization and player development system.
Grade: C
Calgary Flames
4 of 32
The Flames made their one big deal a couple of weeks before the deadline, sending Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier and a second-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for forwards Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost.
Neither player is a star, but they could be solid middle-six forward options in the short-term as both are under team-control (Farabee is signed long-term and Frost is an RFA after this season). They also did not cost a lot to acquire in terms of assets.
Other than that, it was an extremely quiet deadline for the Flames after spending the previous year selling off several veterans. They simply did not have a lot of players to move, and they were not in a position to buy rentals.
Grade: B
Chicago Blackhawks
5 of 32
The rebuild marches on. Big time. Taylor Hall, Seth Jones, Petr Mrazek and Craig Smith were all sent packing, while pending UFAs Ryan Donato, Pat Maroon and Alec Martinez stayed.
Not getting anything for them might be a bit of a miss in a seller's market, and only getting a late third-round pick for Hall seems a little underwhelming given some of the other prices paid around the NHL.
The biggest move here was the decision to trade Jones to the Florida Panthers, getting goalie Spencer Knight and a first-round pick back in return. Retaining some money on Jones’ deal is going to sting for the next few years, but Knight has a chance to maybe solve their goalie issues and they now have five first-round picks over the next three years, including two in each of the next two years. It is a solid return for a contract that seemed to be unmovable without significant salary retention or taking another bad contract in return.
Dealing Jones and goalie Petr Mrazek takes more than $7 million off of the salary cap for next season (after taking into account Knight’s contract) and leaves the Blackhawks with a mountain of unused space for the summer.
They need to use it efficiently to try and move this rebuild forward.
Grade: B-
Colorado Avalanche
6 of 32
The Avalanche roster looks completely different from the one that started the season.
Both goalies that opened the year, star forward Mikko Rantanen and Casey Mittelstadt are gone.
Martin Necas, Jack Drury, Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle, Ryan Lindgren, Jimmy Vesey and MacKenzie Blackwood are in.
On one hand, the depth of the roster, and especially at forward, is deeper and stronger than it was at the start. Especially down the middle with Nelson coming in from the New York Islanders. That is a significant move.
On the other hand, they traded away the best and most impactful player (Rantanen) and then watched him end up on a team in their own division that they will have to compete against in the playoffs.
Not only that, how much can you really trust Blackwood in the playoffs? He’s been great since going to Colorado, but it is also far above what he has done in recent seasons. Is this real improvement in a better situation, or is there a regression to be had here?
That does not even get into the discussion of whether or not Lindgren will be a positive player on defense after badly struggling with the New York Rangers.
How will all of that balance out?
Grade: C
Columbus Blue Jackets
7 of 32
There is a lot to love about the Columbus Blue Jackets right now. The organization is oozing with young talent, they are ahead of schedule, in a great position to make the playoffs, have multiple first-round draft picks this season and are swimming in salary-cap space.
They are building something here, and if the young players develop correctly—and quickly—this team could be a force soon enough.
That is what makes the relative trade deadline inactivity so underwhelming. Luke Kunin does not really do anything to move the needle, even if he did not cost much to acquire.
It just seems like a missed opportunity.
Grade: C-
Carolina Hurricanes
8 of 32
The Hurricanes' trade deadline is going to be debated for the rest of the season—and potentially for years depending on what happens with them in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
When they initially acquired Mikko Rantanen it looked like they were going to be the big winners and perhaps have the missing piece they needed for their Stanley Cup puzzle.
Then they could not get him re-signed to a long-term contract extension and flipped him to Dallas for Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks and two third-round picks.
When the season began they had Martin Necas and Jack Drury. After all was said and done they turned them into Stankoven, Taylor Hall, and all of the additional draft capital.
Just looking at it all in a vacuum that is probably really good value long-term.
But it might be a loss in the short-term for this season and not get them closer to a Stanley Cup this particular season, while also having to deal with the negative PR that comes from having to immediately re-trade Rantanen.
Grade: C
Dallas Stars
9 of 32
The Stars have been one of the NHL’s best teams this season—and over the past five seasons—and are clearly all-in on trying to win a Stanley Cup.
Trading a first-round pick for Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci seemed like a bit of an overpay, until we saw what the prices actually were for rentals this season. Then they went and added a top-10 scorer in Rantanen, and got him re-signed, and the entire deadline looks like a massive win.
They were able to get some salary cap relief due to the Tyler Seguin and Miro Heiskanen injuries, and they took full advantage of it.
This is a Stanley Cup caliber team when it is fully healthy, and it will be a Stanley Cup caliber team for the foreseeable future.
Grade: A
Detroit Red Wings
10 of 32
Just when it looked like the Red Wings were going to turn their season around and snap their playoff drought, the bottom has fallen out again and it is looking increasingly likely that this will be the ninth consecutive non-playoff season in The Motor City.
Steve Yzerman also did not really do anything of any significance to add or sell.
He dumped Ville Husso’s contract on Anaheim for future considerations, but then took on another ugly goalie contract for next season in Petr Mrazek.
The defense still lacks depth. The 5-on-5 play is still bad. They also watched San Jose turn Jake Walman, a player they gave up a second-round pick so they could dump his contract in the offseason, into a first-round pick.
Grade: D
Edmonton Oilers
11 of 32
Trent Frederic and Jake Walman are very solid depth adds to a team that needed some tweaks around the edges. Walman is an especially significant move because Edmonton’s defense is so top-heavy with the Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm pairing doing all of the heavy lifting.
The only real concern here is whether or not the goaltending situation is good enough for the playoffs.
Stuart Skinner came through in last year’s playoffs after a poor regular season showing, but can you count on that again? That is the one position you do not want to be weak at when the Stanley Cup is the expectation.
Grade: B-
Florida Panthers
12 of 32
With Matthew Tkachuk out for the remainder of the regular season, the Panthers did not pass on the opportunity to add to their roster, bringing in defenseman Seth Jones and forward Brad Marchand.
Jones is an expensive gamble even with Chicago retaining salary, but the Panthers have done a great job rehabbing the careers of defenders that have struggled elsewhere.
Marchand is a fascinating—and somewhat hilarious—move because when everybody is healthy, Florida will feature Tkachuk, Marchand and Sam Bennett all on the same roster. That is a recipe for absolute chaos in the playoffs.
They have been in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals and have a chance to repeat as champions. They made sure to do everything in their power to make it happen.
Grade: A-
Los Angeles Kings
13 of 32
Could this be a big missed opportunity?
The Kings are a very good team, they defend relentlessly and they have outstanding underlying numbers across the board. But do they have enough finishers and goal-scorers to compete with teams like Vegas, Dallas and Edmonton?
Their only move was to get Andrei Kuzmenko from the Philadelphia Flyers, and unless he goes on an unexpected heater that is not likely to change much for the Kings offensively.
A fourth consecutive first-round exit—especially if it is against Edmonton—would be a really unsatisfying end to the season and leave the team stuck on its current plateau.
Grade: D
Minnesota Wild
14 of 32
The Wild could have created some additional salary cap flexibility by utilizing LTIR with Kirill Kaprizov, but they have no idea when he will be back. They still managed to make some small additions by getting Justin Brazeau and Gustav Nyquist.
Nyquist is the highest-ceiling addition of the two and adds some capable secondary scoring.
Minnesota deserves credit for the way its navigated through the salary cap headaches the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts have created, and the worst of those headaches will be gone next season. That, combined with the rising salary cap, will really give Minnesota to build a complete roster around Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber.
In the meantime, they still managed to make some small upgrades at a marginal cost.
Grade: B
Montreal Canadiens
15 of 32
The Canadiens went into the deadline with a handful of pending unrestricted free agents in Jake Evans, Joel Armia and David Savard, all of whom figured to have some trade value.
In the end they moved none of them, and actually re-signed Evans to a long-term contract extension.
Not trading that trio is not the end of the world, and re-signing Evans and not losing him for nothing definitely softens the missed opportunity.
Otherwise, it was a quiet deadline with no real improvements and no real mistakes.
Montreal is still on the fringes of playoff contention in the Eastern Conference, even if it seems to be a long shot. It might do this young team some good to play meaningful hockey games down the stretch.
Grade: B
Nashville Predators
16 of 32
Was this the weirdest trade deadline of any team?
Getting a second-round pick for Gustav Nyquist is fair value given the down year he has had offensively.
But taking on Michael Bunting’s contract for the next couple of seasons is a curious move, especially at the expense of Tommy Novak who they might be selling low on. It did, however, get rid of Luke Schenn's contract for next season.
The other angle to that, however, is Pittsburgh may have gotten more value out of Schenn (sending him to Winnipeg for second-and fourth-round picks) than Nashville did by trading him and Novak for Bunting.
Grade: C-
New Jersey Devils
17 of 32
No matter what the Devils did at the deadline it was not going to make up for the season-ending injury to superstar forward Jack Hughes.
That is the sort of injury that can derail an entire season.
The Devils did make a handful of minor moves, adding Daniel Sprong, Cody Glass and Brian Dumoulin to their roster. They are fine additions, and did not cost much in terms of real assets, but they are not going to be enough to help the Devils hang with the Eastern Conference’s top teams without Hughes.
Solid deadline. But also probably a meaningless one in the grand scheme of things.
Grade: B-
New York Islanders
18 of 32
As much as he probably did not want to do it, trading Brock Nelson was the right move by general manager Lou Lamoriello. He also did exceptionally well to get a legitimate prospect in Cal Ritchie and a first-round pick. The Islanders needed to get younger, they needed to get better prospects, and they need more future assets.
The Nelson trade accomplished all of that.
But they also missed a similar opportunity with Kyle Palmieri. They will make an even bigger mistake if they re-sign him. He has already played his best hockey and they do not need another player on a long-term contract over the age of 30. The Nelson trade, however, was a necessity and a strong move.
Grade: B
New York Rangers
19 of 32
What exactly is the plan here?
On one hand, the Rangers were smart to trade pending UFAs Reilly Smith and Ryan Lindgren to help recoup some draft picks and long-term assets.
But beyond that, this roster is still overflowing with holes and question marks. Especially on defense, where they have now really tied themselves down to a lot of these guys that are not good enough. Committing to Will Borgen after seeing him for 15 games was always going to be a huge risk, and none of the other recent additions to the blue line inspire much confidence that they can help fix the Rangers’ 5-on-5 problems either now or in the future.
J.T. Miller has been productive since coming over from Vancouver, but trading a young player in Filip Chytil for a big-money player on the wrong side of 30 is the type of move the Glen Sather Rangers always made. It did not work well.
None of the real issues here were really addressed.
Grade: D
Ottawa Senators
20 of 32
The big move here was swapping Joshua Norris for Dylan Cozens, and at the moment it might seem like a lateral swap. But Cozens is younger and still has some untapped potential. There is a chance that could be a big long-term win for the Senators.
The other big move, and the one that may not get as much attention, was getting Fabian Zetterlund from the San Jose Sharks. Zetterlund is an underrated player that can score 20-25 goals and gives the Senators a big depth upgrade at forward.
There are still some questions on defense, but credit to the Senators trying to make some moves and potentially snap their playoff drought.
Grade: B
Pittsburgh Penguins
21 of 32
The Pittsburgh Penguins may not openly admit it, but they are rebuilding. It may not be a total sell-off, and they might have hopes of rebuilding quickly, but it is still a rebuild and they are still accumulating picks and younger assets.
After trading Anthony Beauvillier, Michael Bunting, Cody Glass, Luke Schenn and Vincent Desharnais over the past couple of weeks, and Lars Eller, Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor earlier in the season, the Penguins are now up to 30 draft picks over the next three years, more than any other team in the league.
They have also dramatically improved their farm system over the past year from where it was when Kyle Dubas first took over the team.
They still need to hit on those draft picks or make smart trades involving them to bring in other players, but they are now loaded with long-term assets and future salary-cap space.
They did not trade any of the big names, but they were also under no pressure to move either Rickard Rakell or Erik Karlsson.
Grade: B
Philadelphia Flyers
22 of 32
By shipping out Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost and Scott Laughton, the Flyers cleared out some significant salary-cap space for next season, while also giving themselves more long-term assets including prospect Nikita Grebenkin, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2027 third-round pick.
That should have been the goal at this deadline as the rebuild rolls on. They achieved it.
The real intrigue will come from what the Flyers do with that additional salary-cap spending this offseason. There should be incentive to aggressively move it forward.
Grade: B
San Jose Sharks
23 of 32
This ended up being an everything must go sort of sell off.
Mikael Granlund, Cody Ceci, Fabian Zetterlund, Nico Sturm, Vitek Vanecek, Jake Walman and Luke Kunin were all traded over the past few weeks, netting the Sharks several more long-term assets including two first-round picks.
The Walman trade was the real strong work for general manager Mike Grier. He originally got a second-round pick from the Detroit Red Wings for taking his contract, then put Walman into a situation where he could succeed and boost his value, and then flipped him for a first-round pick.
Getting first- and second-round picks for simply eating some salary for a few months is the exact sort of work a rebuilding GM should be doing.
It was a similar story with the way they rebuilt Granlund’s value after acquiring him as part of the Erik Karlsson trade and getting a first-round pick for him.
Grade: B
Seattle Kraken
24 of 32
Another disappointing season for the Kraken resulted in some selling at the deadline.
Jared McCann was the big name to watch here, but the Kraken kept him...as they should have done unless they were given an offer that was impossible to turn down. McCann is still an outstanding player and big-time goal-scorer that has a team-friendly contract for the next few years.
The good news is the Kraken did pretty well for themselves in the trades they did make, getting multiple first-round picks and an NHL player in Michael Eyssimont for Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde, and then getting a second-round pick for Brandon Tanev.
The Kraken’s NHL roster is worse than it was going into the deadline, but this season was not going anywhere anyway. The extra assets might give them a chance to help re-stock the roster in the future.
It may have happened a couple of months before the trade deadline, but getting Kaapo Kakko from the New York Rangers for Will Borgen was also a big short-term and long-term win.
Grade: B
St. Louis Blues
25 of 32
The Blues were not in a position to buy and they had relatively little to sell. So they did not really do anything.
The Blues' only in-season trades were earlier in the season to get Cam Fowler from Anaheim, Scott Perunovich from the Islanders and sending Pierre-Olivier Joseph to Pittsburgh.
In other words...pretty boring.
Fowler has been decent enough since joining the team from Anaheim, and they did not do anything stupid at the deadline, so that gets them a solid grade.
Grade: C
Tampa Bay Lightning
26 of 32
Say this for the Lightning—they are not afraid to trade first-round picks to get the players they want.
They dealt away two more first-rounders to get Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde from Seattle, giving the Lightning some much-needed secondary scoring.
Tampa Bay still has the star power at the top of its lineup, but its depth has been a major concern all season. It might not be a concern any longer after getting those two. The Lightning have had a lot of success dealing away first-rounders at the deadline in recent years, landing Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow a few years ago to help them win back-to-back Stanley Cups, and then getting Brandon Hagel for two first-rounders two years ago.
Whether or not they actually win remains to be seen, but the Lightning should be considered contenders once again. Having Bjorkstrand, a proven 20-25-goal scorer, for another full season after this also really helps with the value they received.
Grade: A
Toronto Maple Leafs
27 of 32
If you look at each Toronto trade individually there is a lot to like about getting both Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo.
They are good players that fill needs, and they are both under contract beyond this season.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of that, or necessarily with the price they paid.
The only criticism here might be whether or not they got enough of an impact player. It does not always get a lot of attention among the narratives that always follow around the Maple Leafs for their playoff shortcomings, but goal-scoring tends to be one of their biggest problems. Especially when it comes to their depth beyond their top-four forwards. It might still be a problem even after getting Laughton.
Grade: B-
Utah Hockey Club
28 of 32
Utah's only move of significance was to acquire a fifth-round pick Aku Raty, Victor Soderstrom and Shea Weber's contract. It is mostly a paper transaction that does not really change much of anything other than shed some salary cap space.
Utah is on the fringes of playoff contention, but not really in a position to add. It should be well-positioned to make a big move in the offseason, but the deadline was extremely quiet.
Grade: C
Vancouver Canucks
29 of 32
The Canucks did a little bit of everything leading up to the deadline.
They finally traded J.T. Miller and received a promising young player in Filip Chytil and a first-round pick. They used that pick to get Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor, and acted quickly to get both of them signed to long-term contracts.
They also flipped Carson Soucy for a mid-round pick, and also held on to Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser.
They sold. They bought. They stood pat.
They did it all.
Are they better? That is certainly up for some debate, but not selling low on Pettersson was probably smart, while shedding Miller’s contract is probably a long-term win. Pettersson (Marcus) and O’Connor should also be solid depth additions long-term.
Not moving Boeser, and not getting him re-signed, is probably the most questionable move or non-move here. But it did not seem to be for a lack of effort. Heaving general manager Patrik Allvin talk and it seemed pretty clear there was simply not much of a market for him. There is not much they can do about that. For the most part, they seemed to come out ahead on the moves they did make.
Grade: B-
Vegas Golden Knights
30 of 32
The usually bold Golden Knights were relatively reserved at this year’s deadline, only adding Reilly Smith from the New York Rangers for a third-round draft pick.
Smith was one of Vegas’ original misfit players from their expansion era, and perfectly fills the need they had for a middle-six forward. He never seemed to have any interest in leaving Vegas in the first place, and has struggled in Pittsburgh and New York since then. Perhaps getting back to the Golden Knights will help him re-establish his former form. Solid player. Good value. Strong trade.
Grade: B
Washington Capitals
31 of 32
The Capitals have been one of the best teams in the league this season and are writing quite a story for themselves as Alex Ovechkin continues to chase down Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record.
They have made two in-season trades, and both involved their divisional rival the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They acquired Lars Eller for a third-round pick earlier in the season to add some center depth, and then picked up winger Anthony Beauvillier just before the trade deadline for a second-round pick.
That is a steep price for the player Beauvilier is, but he helps add some depth scoring to the bottom-six. The draft picks are not really a focus for the Capitals right now as they have a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup.
Neither move is a game-changer, but they are small little upgrades and do not disrupt the chemistry of the team too much.
Grade: B
Winnipeg Jets
32 of 32
Winnipeg has been one of the NHL’s best teams this season and is in a great spot in the Western Conference. As long as starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck is healthy and playing at a Vezina and MVP level they are going to have a chance most nights and against almost any team in the league.
They also have some outstanding top-line players.
The issue is the secondary players behind them, especially at second-line center.
The front office really did not do much to address those needs, arguably overpaying for Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev.
Very underwhelming performance from a general manager that tends to be quiet and not proactive. Especially given the competition they will have in the Western Conference playoffs.
Grade: D
