The reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, made some of the biggest moves in the NHL March 7 as the league marked its annual trade deadline.
Having already acquired defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks, the Panthers shocked NHL fans by acquiring forward Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins. Marchand, who was the Bruins captain and played in Boston for 16 years, has nearly 1,000 NHL points.
Nobody ever expected Marchand to play anywhere other than Boston. This trade could help the Panthers, who are No. 1 in the Atlantic Division, to win the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row.
Also on deadline day, the Dallas Stars acquired forward Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes. Rantanen was acquired by Carolina from the Colorado Avalanche, where he played for almost 10 years, on Jan. 24. Rantanen has almost 700 points in nearly 10 NHL seasons. Carolina began to explore trading him after he wouldn’t commit to a contract in the days leading up to the deadline.
Dallas, who is currently No. 2 in the Central Division, also acquired forward Mikael Granlund from the San Jose Sharks.
The Avalanche, who currently sit at the No. 3 spot in the Central Division, made another major move in acquiring forward Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders. Nelson, who had been with the Islanders since 2013, has nearly 600 NHL points and is a major addition to Colorado’s offense, especially since they traded Rantanen.
Colorado also acquired forward Charlie Coyle from Boston and two defensemen, Ryan Lindgren from the New York Rangers and Erik Johnson from the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs made some big moves on deadline day as well by acquiring forward Scott Laughton from Philadelphia and defenseman Brandon Carlo from Boston. Laughton had been with the Flyers since 2014 and has nearly 300 NHL points. Carlo, who had been playing for the Bruins since 2016, is a major addition to Toronto’s defense. These two additions to the Maple Leafs’ lineup could help boost their chances of knocking Florida out of the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
With the deadline having passed, teams are no longer allowed to make any trades until their season is over. Only time will tell if the new deadline acquisitions will remain with their new teams or if they will sign with another team during Free Agency in July.
