Wild West: Trade Deadline Grades
Grant Campbell
2023-03-06
This week I'm going to review every team in the Western Conference and grade how they did either buying or selling leading up to and on trade deadline day.
Anaheim Ducks – Seller
In:
2024 – 3rd round pick – San Jose
2024 – 3rd round pick – Pittsburgh
2025 – 4th round pick – Minnesota
Out:
Dmitry Kulikov
Rights to Henry Thrun
The team was unable or chose not to trade impending unrestricted free agents, Derek Grant, Kevin Shattenkirk, Anthony Stolarz and Nathan Beaulieu.
When Anaheim signed Klingberg, I'm sure there was some hope that he might be dealt for a 1st or 2nd round pick at the deadline, so a 4th round pick in 2025 has to be a disappointment.
McGinn is signed for two more years at $2.75 million AAV, but if buried in the AHL the cap hit will be $1.625 million per year. One would think he is capable of playing a regular role with this current lineup in Anaheim.
To add insult to injury, Henry Thrun notified the Ducks that he wouldn't sign with them after his last year with Harvard. The Ducks were able to salvage a probable high 3rd round pick from San Jose in 2024.
It's easy to sit back at the beginning of the season and look at six impending UFAs and think that the Ducks would have two or three of those get-back picks in the first three rounds and possibly a few other late-round picks. Pat Verbeek got back one 3rd round and one 4th round pick.
Overall Grade: D
Arizona Coyotes – Heavy Seller
In:
2023 – 1st round pick – Ottawa (conditional) (top-five protected)
2024 – 2nd round pick – Washington (conditional)
2026 – 2nd round pick – Ottawa
2023 – 3rd round pick – Edmonton
2025 – 3rd round pick – NY Rangers (Conditional)
2026 – 3rd round pick – Carolina
2023 – 5th round pick – Vegas
2023 – 6th round pick – Columbus
Michael Kessering
Connor Mackey
Out:
GM Bill Armstrong was able to trade all of his UFAs but had to take on salary to get back to the cap floor. He did that by adding Jakub Voracek who has one more year remaining at $8.25 million AAV with $7.5 million in salary for next season.
The big fish for other teams was Jakob Chychrun who had asked to be traded last season. He was dealt to Ottawa for what should amount to a middle of the 1st round pick in 2023, and 2nd round picks in 2024 and 2026. It was a fairly underwhelming return, but the Coyotes should have one of the better prospect pools in the NHL for the next few years.
The Coyotes now possess four 1st round picks, nine 2nd round picks and nine 3rd round picks over the next three entry drafts.
Armstrong lost some marks in the Chychrun trade but slid in a 3rd round pick in 2025 as a salary cap broker in the Patrick Kane trade from Chicago to the NY Rangers.
Overall Grade: B
Calgary Flames – Status Quo
In:
Out:
Connor Mackey
The Flames were floundering leading up to trade deadline day and were five points out of the playoffs the morning of. GM Brad Treliving was caught in limbo between selling and buying and essentially did nothing.
It was the first time in the history of the NHL that two brothers were dealt for each other with Nick coming to the Flames and Brett going to Arizona. The trade doesn't change much on the Flame’s roster other than add some different chemistry which Calgary is hoping ignites this talented roster and gets them into the playoffs.
Overall Grade: C-
Chicago Blackhawks – Heavy Seller
In:
Andreas Englund
Joey Anderson
2025 – 1st round pick – Toronto (top-10 protected)
2023 – 2nd round pick – Ottawa
2023 – 2nd round pick – NY Rangers (upgrades to a 1st round pick in 2024 if NYR make EC Final)
2025 – 2nd round pick – Dallas
2026 – 2nd round pick – Toronto
2025 – 4th round pick – NY Rangers
2026 – 4th round pick – Ottawa
Out:
2024 – 5th round pick
2025 – 5th round pick
Chicago was unable to move Andreas Athanasiou who is an impending UFA.
While the return might have been underwhelming for trading Patrick Kane, it has to be remembered that the only team Kane was going to accept moving to was the Rangers. In the end, GM Kyle Davidson managed to get back a potential 1st round pick in 2024 (probable 2nd-round pick in 2023) and a 4th round pick in 2025.
Davidson did well to take the salary dump of Nikita Zaitsev and get a 2nd round pick in 2023 and a 4th round pick in 2026 from Ottawa.
Jake McCabe still has two more years at $4 million AAV and Sam Lafferty has one more year at $1.15 million, which probably raised the price a little for Toronto to give up a 1st round pick in 2025 and a 2nd round pick in 2026 along with Joey Anderson.
Signing Max Domi to a one-year contract paid off for Chicago as he got them a 2nd round pick in 2025 from Dallas. Last season he was practically given away at the deadline by Columbus.
As of today, the Blackhawks have six 1st round picks, eight 2nd round picks and five 3rd round picks over the next three entry drafts.
Overall Grade: B+
Colorado Avalanche – Slight Buyer
In:
Out:
Andreas Englund
2025 2nd round pick
From most indications, Gabriel Landeskog should be back for the playoffs which was good news for the Avalanche as they didn't feel the need to go out and make a huge splash in the trade market.
They brought back 36-year-old Jack Johnson to add some depth to their defense and help them defend their Stanley Cup title that he was part of last season even though he didn't dress in the playoffs.
The fairly big move was adding Lars Eller which should be a pretty big upgrade in their bottom six. Eller has a Stanley Cup in Washington and has played 96 playoff games with 49 points.
Colorado has all three of their 1st round picks, but no 2nd round pick and just one 3rd round pick over the next three years.
Overall Grade: C+
Dallas Stars – Slight Buyer
In:
Evgeni Dadonov
Out:
2025 – 2nd round pick
The Stars were in a bit of a tough spot as their window with the likes of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski and Ryan Suter is rapidly closing but they still can't mortgage the farm on this season.
The team traded for two rentals in Max Domi and Evgeni Dadonov. Dadonov has four career playoff games after 466 regular season games. Domi has 24 playoff games with nine points after 561 regular season games. Neither comes with plenty of playoff acumen but they could provide some timely offense if played in the top six. Their arrival will more than likely push down Wyatt Johnston, Ty Dellandrea and perhaps Mason Marchment to the bottom six.
Denis Gurianov was never going to find the Gurianov of the 2019-20 playoffs in Dallas, so it was an easy trade for Montreal to complete and take a chance on him.
The 2nd round pick for Domi might seem even more expensive when looked back at in a year or two.
Overall Grade: C
Edmonton Oilers – Slight Buyer
In:
Patrick Puistala
2024 – 6th round pick – Nashville
Out:
Michael Kesselring
Reid Schaefer
2023 – 1st round pick
2023 – 3rd round pick
2024 – 4th round pick
The big trade for the Oilers was getting Ekholm from Nashville, but the price tag was expensive. The 32-year-old Ekholm has three years remaining after this year at $6.5 million AAV with Nashville only retaining 4% of the salary which is $250k per year. Ekholm will surely help, but he won't single-handedly solve the defensive issues that the Oilers have. The Oilers essentially gave up Tyson Barrie who has one more year under contract at $4.5 million, their 32nd overall pick in 2022, Reid Schaefer and their 1st round pick in 2023.
I thought they would get a little more back for Jesse Puljujarvi than they did in receiving 22-year-old Patrick Puistola from Carolina who is playing in the Finnish Liiga and had 40 points in 58 games this season.
Nick Bjugstad was added from Arizona for a 3rd round draft pick in 2023 and 23-year-old defenseman Michael Kesselring. Edmonton also received 24-year-old defenseman Cam Dineen.
The Oilers are definitely better, but if they don't make it to the Western Conference Final, the price tag will have been pretty steep, especially if the contract of Ekholm doesn't age well in years three and four.
Overall Grade: C+
Los Angeles Kings – Slight Buyer
In:
Erik Portillo
Out:
2023 – 1st round pick (conditional on the Kings making the playoffs this season. If they don't Columbus will get a 2nd round pick in both 2023 and 2024)
2023 – 3rd round pick
2024 – 5th round pick
The Kings addressed their goaltending and added impending UFA Joonas Korpisalo and Erik Portillo. Korpisalo should be an upgrade over the struggling Jonathan Quick or Phoenix Copley as he has a 91.3 save percentage and a GSAA of 7.44 in 29 games this season.
Erik Portillo is a 22-year-old goalie from Sweden who is currently playing in his third season at the University of Michigan.
Gavrikov is an impending UFA and should help bolster the back end for the Kings. His arrival might diminish the ice time of Sean Durzi and Alexander Edler.
If the Kings don't make the playoffs or get knocked out in the first round, the quality of draft picks they gave up could hurt them, moving forward.
Overall Grade: C
Minnesota Wild – Slight Buyer
In:
2023 – 2nd round pick – Vegas
2025 – 4th round pick – Toronto
2023 – 5th round pick – Boston
2024 – 5th round pick – Buffalo
Out:
Nikita Nesterenko
2024 – 3rd round pick
2023 – 4th round pick
2025 – 4th round pick
2023 – 5th round pick – Boston (acquired above)
The Wild did well, by adding four roster players that should be upgrades in Johansson, Sundqvist, Nyquist and Klingberg.
Connor Dewar, Mason Shaw, Calen Addison and Ryan Reaves could see their roles diminish.
GM Bill Guerin was able to act as a third-party broker in two separate trades and by retaining salary added a 4th round pick in 2025 and a 5th round pick in 2023 (which he was able to turn into Gustav Nyquist).
The only roster player moved was Jordan Greenway to Buffalo and Minnesota was able to get back a 2nd round pick in this year's draft and a 5th round pick in 2024.
In my mind, Minnesota did the right thing as they improved their roster and depth, but at the same time gave up very little to do so.
Overall Grade: B+
Nashville Predators – Sellers
In:
Reid Schaefer
Rasmus Asplund
2023 – 1st round pick – Edmonton
2025 – 1st round pick – Tampa Bay – conditional
2023 – 2nd round pick – Pittsburgh
2024 – 2nd round pick – Winnipeg
2024 – 2nd round pick – Tampa Bay
2023 – 3rd round pick – Tampa Bay
2023 – 4th round pick – Tampa Bay
2024 – 4th round pick – Edmonton
2023 – 5th round pick – Tampa Bay
Out:
2024 – 6th round pick
2025 – 7th round pick
David Poile is going out with a bang as the GM of the Predators and leaving his successor Barry Trotz an additional eight draft picks in the first four rounds over the next three drafts.
What made these transactions different from most deadline deals, were that Niederreiter, Ekholm, Granlund and Jeannot all still had control or term left in their contracts. Niederreiter had one year remaining at $4 million AAV, Ekholm had three years at $6.25 million (the Predators will retain $250k per year), Granlund had two more years at $5 million AAV and Jeannot was due to become an RFA.
Incoming roster players are Tyson Barrie who has one year remaining at $4.5 million and perhaps 24-year-old Cal Foote can become a regular on defense.
Poile freed up about $11 million in cap space for next season and signalled a re-tool for a franchise which added an extra 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th round pick in the 2023 draft, two 2nds and a 4th round pick in 2024 and an extra 1st round pick in 2025.
What will happen with Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen, Roman Josi, Ryan McDonagh and Juuse Saros this off-season?
Overall Grade: A
San Jose Sharks – Slight Seller
In:
Fabian Zetterlund
Nikita Okhotiuk
Shakir Mukhamadullin
Rights to Henry Thrun
2023 – 1st round pick – New Jersey
2024 – 2nd round pick – New Jersey – conditional (could become the 1st round 2024 NJ pick if NJ gets to the EC Finals this season)
2025 – 4th round pick – Winnipeg
2024 – 5th round pick – Pittsburgh – conditional
2023 – 7th round pick – Pittsburgh
2024 – 7th round pick – New Jersey
Out:
Scott Harrington
Michael Eyssimont
2024 – 3rd round pick
2024 – 5th round pick
2024 – 5th round pick – Colorado
This was GM Mike Grier's first trade deadline in that role with San Jose. It became fairly evident that the Sharks weren't going to be able to re-sign Timo Meier and with one more year of RFA eligibility, they made the move and traded one of their best players.
The return for Meier was a 1st round pick in 2023, a possible 1st round pick in 2024 (probable 2nd round), Fabian Zetterlund and Shakir Mukhamadullin essentially. Zetterlund is 23-years-old and in his rookie NHL season where he has six goals and 14 assists in 48 games. Mukhamadullin was the 20th overall pick in 2020 and is now 21-years-old and in the KHL. He had six goals and 19 assists in 67 games this season on defense.
After review, the return for Meier is fairly underwhelming from the fact that it's so unlikely that any of the draft picks (more than likely late round picks) or Zetterlund or Mukhamadullin will be a top-six forward or a top-two defender. One could argue that they did the best of a bad situation and got back what they could. If they had got Alexander Holtz or Dawson Mercer it would have been a different conclusion.
The trade for the rights to Henry Thrun who is at Harvard and made it clear he wouldn't be signing with Anaheim is intriguing as the Sharks gave up a 3rd round pick. It sounds like San Jose is appealing to Thrun but they still need to sign him and have him play in the NHL to make the trade a positive.
Overall Grade: C
St. Lous Blues – Seller
In:
Zach Dean
2023 – 1st round pick – NY Rangers – conditional
2023 – 1st round pick – Toronto
2024 – 2nd round pick – Toronto
2023 – 3rd round pick – Ottawa
2024 – 4th round pick – NY Rangers – conditional (probable 3rd round pick)
Out:
Niko Mikkola
2025 – 7th round pick
The Blues dealt Tarasenko and Mikkola to the NY Rangers in early February and got back a 1st round pick this year and a probable 3rd round pick as well (if the NY Rangers miss the playoffs it remains as a 4th round pick). They also got back 26-year-old Sammy Blais who had been in St. Louis before. Both Tarasenko and Mikkola were due to become UFAs but if Tarasenko plays the way he can it's a bargain of a price.
Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari were traded to Toronto, with some salary brokered by Minnesota as a 3rd party. The Blues received back essentially a 1st round pick in 2023, a 2nd round pick in 2024 and a 3rd round pick in 2023. I thought the Blues did fairly well on this deal.
Ivan Barbashev had 60 points last season and has been a bit disappointing this year with just 34 points in 63 games. As an impending UFA, the Blues were able to get back Zach Dean from Vegas. Dean was the 30th overall pick in 2021 and has 51 points in 39 games this year in the QMJHL as a 19-year-old who just turned 20.
The Blues did take on Jakob Vrana from Detroit at 50 percent of his $5.25 million salary for this year and next. If Vrana can resolve his issues and turn things around he could be a good addition to the roster. Those are big ifs that 31 other teams appeared reluctant to take on.
Overall Grade: B
Seattle Kraken – Status Quo
In:
Jaycob Megna
Out:
2023 – 4th round pick
GM Ron Francis stood pat this trade deadline and it was probably the correct move. He added Jaycob Megna for a 4th round pick a few weeks before the deadline to add some depth to their defense. The Kraken do need to improve in certain areas, but it looks like Francis is content to make the playoffs this year and grow with what they have and be patient for the time being.
Sometimes the best move is the move not made.
Overall Grade: B
Vancouver Canucks – Buyer and Seller
In:
Aatu Raty
Vitaly Kravtsov
Josh Bloom
2023 – 1st round pick – NY Islanders (conditional)
2023 – 3rd round pick – Toronto
2023 – 4th round pick – Detroit
2024 – 4th round pick – New Jersey
Out:
Will Lockwood
2023 – 1st round pick – NY Islanders (conditional)
2023 – 2nd round pick
2026 – 7th round pick
With the Canuck's pro scouting batting about .250 the past decade, I'm going to hedge my bets and say that one of Beauvillier, Raty, Kravtsov or Hronek will meet the expectations of what we think they can be.
I didn't like to see Horvat leave, but felt that Patrik Allvin received some pretty good value in Beauvillier, Raty and the 1st round pick in 2023.
The hope in Vancouver was that Luke Schenn might get back a 2nd round pick but the reality was always going to be a 3rd round pick and that's what they got back from Toronto.
I think the most intriguing deal was getting Vitali Kravtsov from the NY Rangers for just a 7th round pick and Will Lockwood. He should get a better chance in Vancouver than in New York and now it is up to him to take advantage of it.
Getting Filip Hronek from Detroit angered a few Canuck fans as it went against the rebuild hope and was more of a re-tool manoeuvre. The price was steep in giving up the 1st round pick they had received from the Islanders and a 2nd round pick in 2023.
Overall Grade: C+
Vegas Golden Knights – Slight Buyer
In:
Out:
Zach Dean
2024 – 3rd round pick
2025 – 7th round pick
Barbashev and Blueger might be upgrades for Vegas in the forwards, but Quick will more than likely be in a backup role and impart some playoff advice as he has played 92 career games so far.
The Golden Knights might have overpaid for Barbashev in giving up Zach Dean, but it will be a small price to pay if Vegas can get to the WC Finals. After his first four games in Vegas, Barbashev had five points.
Overall Grade: C+
Winnipeg Jets – Slight Buyer
In:
Out:
2024 – 2nd round pick
2025 – 4th round pick
Niederreiter was a good addition to the forwards and it cost them a 2nd round pick. These types of deals only look good in retrospect if the team gets past the second round. Otherwise it's a waste of a fairly high pick. This deal is two-fold as Winnipeg needs help to make sure they get to the playoffs and that makes it worth it for them.
Namestnikov brings experience and depth but that is about it. It's never a good sign when a team like Tampa Bay jettisons a player from their roster in preparation for the playoffs.
Overall Grade: C+
The winners in my eyes were Nashville, Chicago and Buffalo while Anaheim and Calgary missed the memo a little. Teams like Seattle got a good grade from me, because they recognized what they are this season and didn't need to trade future capital this year.
A lot of true grades rely on how well some of these teams end up doing in the playoffs. The Western teams have it easy this season as only two or three have real pressure to win at all costs with the current lineup.
Thanks very much for reading and if you have any comments or suggestions, please leave them below or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15
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