Re-Ranking Brad Marchand and the Best NHL Trade Deadline Moves in the Past Decade

The Florida Panthers just completed another successful championship run, becoming the third different team in the salary-cap era to win back-to-back Stanley Cups.

An aggressive management that has not been afraid to take major swings at impact players is one of the many reasons for their continued success. One of the most consequential moves for this year's championship was the trade deadline addition of veteran forward Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins.

Even though he appeared in just 10 regular-season games, Marchand ended up being an ideal fit in the Panthers lineup and came through with a sensational playoff performance that saw him score 10 goals with 10 assists (20 total points) in 23 playoff games. That includes six goals in the Stanley Cup Final series itself.

That sort of playoff performance makes him one of the most successful trade deadline additions of all time, and especially in recent memory.

But how does it compare to other recent additions?

Let's rank him with some of the other best, most impactful trade deadline additions of the past 10 seasons.

We are including players who were acquired not just on deadline day, but within a week or two of the deadline.

Contributions that season are obviously significant, but if that player also contributed to future success beyond that season, it also contributes to their impact and ranking.

9. Mattias Ekholm to Edmonton, 2023

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The Oilers have not yet won a Stanley Cup with Ekholm on their roster, but they have appeared in two Cup Finals and won seven playoff series in his three postseason runs with the team. He has been a significant contributor to that.

His acquisition was significant because it not only gave the Oilers another bona fide top-pairing defender to go with Evan Bouchard, but it also signaled an all-in type of investment from management that had not always been there during Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl's careers.

They had a glaring hole defensively, and Ekholm helped fix that.

He remains a significant part of their defense, and for the cost of a late first-round pick, Tyson Barrie and a prospect (Reid Schaefer), it was well worth the price.

8. Jake Guentzel to Carolina, 2024

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There are two things keeping this from being way higher on the list: The Hurricanes ended up losing in the second round the year they acquired him, and they ended up losing Guentzel in free agency. He was strictly a rental, and one that did not help bring a championship to Carolina.

But that doesn't mean it wasn't a great addition.

In his brief time with the Hurricanes, Guentzel was an absolute force offensively, scoring 12 goals and 22 assists (34 total points) in 28 games (regular season and playoffs combined).

He was tremendous, and for a very brief period of time, a perfect fit in Carolina.

The biggest thing about this trade might have been something more subjective than his production. It was about the mindset.

Spending big assets to acquire a rental player out of character for the Hurricanes at the time, and signaled that they were willing to take major swings at going for a championship. They needed a big-time finisher, and they went for the biggest one that was available that season. It did not produce a championship, but the mindset was perfect.

7. Justin Schultz to Pittsburgh, 2016

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When the Penguins acquired Schultz just before the 2016 NHL Trade Deadline, he was a lightning rod for criticism in Edmonton.

Solid enough offensively, but a mess defensively.

A lot of it was his shortcomings as a player, but most of it was him being placed into the wrong role and being asked to be the type of player he wasn't. When he arrived in Pittsburgh, he was in a complementary role, and went on to play a significant part in a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion.

While he had his moments during the team's 2016 championship run, his best play came one year later when he took on a far larger role in the absence of Kris Letang.

Schultz finished the regular season with 51 points (a career-high), was top-10 in the Norris Trophy voting and had 13 points while playing 20 minutes per night for a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion.

He cost them only a third-round pick to acquire.

6. Ivan Barbashev to Vegas, 2023

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Ivan Barbashev's trade from St. Louis to Vegas at the 2023 deadline has snuck under the radar a little bit, and it shouldn't.

All Vegas gave up to acquire him was Zach Dean (a 22-year-old with nine games in the NHL at this point), while Barbashev was an immediate impact player on a Golden Knights team that went on to win the Stanley Cup that season.

He scored seven goals with 18 total points during that championship run and has become a regular contributor in the years that followed. He hasn't duplicated that initial postseason run, but it was a huge part of their championship.

5. Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow to Tampa Bay, 2020

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The Lightning went all in at the 2020 NHL trade deadline, sending away multiple first-round picks and prospects to acquire both Coleman and Barclay Goodrow in separate trades.

Those two ended up joining Yanni Gourde on the team's third line to produce a game-changing trio that helped win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021.

When Coleman and Goodrow were on the ice together during 5-on-5 play in the 2020 and 2021 seasons (regular season and playoffs combined), the Lightning outscored their opponents by a 48-32 margin and consistently tilted the ice territorially.

The Lightning paid a steep price for both in terms of assets, but banners hang forever and nothing that they gave up matched the production and impact they received from this duo over the next couple of seasons.

The Lightning ended up losing both players to free agency, but they accomplished the goal of making an already contending team even better.

4. Mikko Rantanen to Dallas, 2025

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Long term, the jury is still very much out on how Mikko Rantanen will fit in with Dallas and how impactful it will ultimately be, especially with his new contract.

In the short term, it was pretty darn impactful.

Rantanen was the biggest reason the Stars were able to get through this year's first-round series against his former team (the Colorado Avalanche), finishing the playoffs with 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in 18 games. That included two hat tricks, one of which involved him single-handedly leading a third-period, Game 7 comeback.

If the Stars are going to break through their Western Conference Final ceiling and win a championship, they are going to need a game-breaking forward to step up and take over games.

Rantanen has that type of ability.

They saw flashes of it this season, even if it did not produce the championship they are after.

3. Sam Bennett to Florida, 2021

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So much of the Panthers' roster has been pieced together through trades, and Bennett was another major deadline acquisition back in 2021. They got him from the Calgary Flames for a second-round pick and Emil Heineman, and it's been a steal ever since.

While his regular season numbers are pretty much what you'd expect from a middle-six forward, he has played a huge role in establishing the Panthers' physical identity, while also being one of the best playoff performers in the league over the past few years.

Since arriving in Florida, he's averaged 31 goals per 82 playoff games, and is coming off a Conn Smythe performance in 2025 that saw him score a league-leading 15 goals ... four more than any other player in the playoffs.

Now it's going to get him a potentially huge contract in free agency this summer.

It may not be with the Panthers, but he's a big part of their back-to-back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances and back-to-back championships.

2. Mark Stone to Vegas, 2019

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From the moment they arrived in the NHL, Vegas' DNA has been about big names, blockbuster trades and going all in to win every season.

Salary cap? Always ways around that.

Draft picks and prospects and what they mean for the future? Who cares. Cross that bridge when you get to it.

All that matters is winning, and winning right now, this season.

One of their biggest trade deadline moves—among many—was in 2019 when they acquired Mark Stone from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Erik Brannstrom, Oscar Lindberg and a second-round pick. In terms of talent and overall production since then, it's been a laughably large win for the Golden Knights.

In terms of overall team impact, it's the same story.

Even though Vegas did not win the Stanley Cup that season, the Golden Knights have won the fifth-most playoff games in the NHL since that deal—including a Stanley Cup—while Stone has averaged 30 goals per 82 playoff games and been a force of a two-way player. He was at his best during Vegas' 2023 Stanley Cup run, recording 24 points in 22 games.

1. Brad Marchand to Florida, 2025

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Whether Brad Marchand re-signs in Florida remains to be seen.

It is also not a given that he will duplicate this postseason success or be a good investment in his next stop, wherever that might be. He is, after all, going to be another year into his late 30s, and nobody stays productive forever.

But none of that is of any concern to the Panthers, given the impact he made this postseason.

As far as pure rentals go, this is everything a team could hope for.

He was a big-name player who not only fit in perfectly to the team's style of play and culture, but was also a wildly productive contributor to a championship.

Calling it the best trade-deadline move of all time might be a little bit of a reach (Ron Francis and Butch Goring might like a word). But it is certainly in the discussion, and i's the best trade deadline addition of the past 10 years.