If you imagine I’m going to go to the 2025 NHL trade deadline, then there won’t be a lot of things happening to you on Friday because all the big moves seem to have been made. I mean, we’ve seen Mikko Rantanen deals, after all, you can’t make a bigger move than that, right?
How wrong am I, are I?
With the cap and seller market rising, the NHL General Manager is on the transaction deadline deadline, not only under Friday’s leadership, but within a few hours after the deadline “end.” Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers? Chin dropper. Did the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leaf bring a lot of deals to the defense? There isn’t any place on my bingo card this year. Buffalo Saber and Ottawa Senator exchanged struggling young stars? We love creativity. Lantanan trades again? Of course, to achieve it.
All I can say is, I hope the salary cap rises every season and there are a lot of teams in the Stanley Cup, and this trade deadline will be the new standard because that’s an absolute explosion. Plus, it feels like there are more than a dozen teams participating in the fight this spring, so we can get one of the most competitive playoffs in years.
Related: What each team does at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline
With all these actions happening on the ice, it is absolutely difficult to judge the game you are currently playing. Some teams traded core players, giving up the well-known white flag of the season. Others get brand new lines, but there is no guarantee that these additions will click in place in a meaningful way. A lot of question marks were answered this week, while creating new questions.
However, being a fan of the NHL is an interesting moment, so I look forward to working hard on THW’s NHL Power Ranking Week 20.
32-21: Red Wings Failed Trade Deadline Test
32. Buffalo Saber (formerly: 27)
31. Pittsburgh Penguin (formerly: 28)
30. San Jose Shark (formerly: 32)
29. Chicago Blackhawks (formerly: 31)
28. Nashville Predators (formerly: 30)
27. Seattle Cleken (formerly: 29)
26. Philadelphia Flyer (formerly: 26)
25. Anaheim Duck (formerly: 25)
twenty four. Detroit Red Wings (formerly: 14)
23. Boston Brown Bear (formerly: 24)
22. New York Islander (formerly: 22)
twenty one. Montreal Canadian (formerly: 21)
If it weren’t for setting the title for fans’ thwarted Sabres in the NHL, I could easily say that this recent era of Red Wings hockey goes back to their last playoff appearance, one of the most confusing games for any team in the league. It seems simple on paper. After decades of playoff decades, it’s time to tear down the team into a foundation, bring back the franchise icon, and lead the reconstruction under Steve Yzerman’s successful general manager, make the right choices and give it the right draft picks, then give it time to develop, and then build a contender to build the next decade of contenders.
Well, as we all know, you have to do more than just take the exam for a successful program. You have to execute it, and Detroit has simply not succeeded so far. His fair criticism of Yzerman as general manager is the nature of his risk aversion, fully demonstrated at this trade deadline. Although his team is in the middle of a playoff hunt, he actually seldom valuablely strengthens his team, which has been icy since the four countries faced a break. While they can still make the playoffs, they will need to skip at least three teams to grab the last wildcard in the East, a tall, demanding a struggling team.
Now for the team that understands the market situation, I will provide some props to Penguin, Islander, Flyer, Clake and Bruins, who have all acquired some big assets in different ways this week. The Bruins, in particular, seem to be making the most of their playoffs by tearing down the core assets of aging, and the Penguins completed a confusing deal that turned into a solid draft pick. Seattle’s assets are also high, and they may return to relevance after largely spinning the wheels to teams in the first few years of the league.
Overall, being a seller has been a great season as most people get the Kings ransom for the players, and that may have only been awarded a third-round pick in the last few years.
20-11: Damage complicates the devil’s future
20. Calgary Flame (formerly: 20)
19. New York Rangers (formerly: 17)
18. Utah Hockey Club (formerly: 19)
17. Vancouver Canucks (formerly: 23)
16. New Jersey Devil (Previously: 13)
15. Columbus Blue Jacket (Previously: 12)
14. King of Los Angeles (formerly: 15)
13. Ottawa Senator (formerly: 16)
12. St. Louis Blues (formerly: 18)
11. Minnesota Wild (formerly: 11)
No team is worse than the Devil’s deadline, which has nothing to do with the move they’ve made to acquire new players. Unfortunately, they lost superstar forward Jack Hughes for the rest of the regular season and playoffs. It’s a devastating blow for a franchisee who is already struggling to keep up with the relatively mediocre metropolitan department. They are still in third place so far, but if they have trouble getting things back on track, the Rangers and Blue Jackets are standing there to grab their place.
After ending a five-game losing streak on Saturday, I also began to feel real attention to the Kings. Los Angeles doesn’t look right since returning from the break, and if the Flames and the Karnaks themselves aren’t that messy, their third place in the Pacific Division would be at risk. They are a team that watches closely for the next week or two because in the playoffs, they shouldn’t lock in their positions, but they’re just not in the place where they need to play now.
10-1: Black Panther stole the show from Dallas
10. Tampa Bay Lightning (formerly: 5)
9. Toronto Maple Leaf (formerly: 4)
8. Edmonton Oiler (formerly: 9)
7. Carolina Hurricane (formerly: 10)
6. The Golden Knights of Vegas (formerly: 8)
5. ColoradoAvalanche (formerly: 7)
4. Winnipeg Jets (formerly: 3)
3. Capital of Washington (formerly: 6)
2. Dallas Stars (formerly: 1)
1. Florida Black Panther (formerly: 2)
Incredibly, the stars have gotten rid of the biggest moves of the 2025 trade deadline, but I still feel the Panthers are the best on any team. The dominant Stanley Cup champion not only won Seth Jones and Marchand, but gave up only one goal in the last four games.
Yes, you read it correctly. The best teams in the NHL got better this week and they are currently experiencing one of the most impressive hockey I’ve ever seen. They look unparalleled now, and feel like the playoffs should just skip the ASA form at this point, because they will only get better if Matthew Tkachuk finally returns to the first game.
The Avalanche also completed the most impressive mid-season overhaul I’ve ever seen, when they were cautious and swapped out the second and third-line centers for new large upgrades. Overall, the team rebuilds their goalkeeper tandem and most of the top six forward corps while trading a true superstar. I’ve never seen anything like that before, and if things click (if the stars or jets slow down, even a little bit), they’re probably the best team in the West right now.
Oh, and if you’re wondering, it feels weird that the Golden Knights have been basically silent for the first time of the deal deadline in the history of the franchise. However, they are still winning the Pacific Division, so they should not be ignored for their upcoming royal family.
2025 NHL Trade Deadline is a To Remember
I really can’t exaggerate the fun of the 2025 deal deadline. I don’t know if we’ll see an active person again, but I really like what we’ve seen this season. The team exerted creativity, and the big moves would define their franchise moving forward, in some cases, sitting in their hands and basically doing nothing (which was just as loud as it was).
Related: 2025 NHL Draft Guide
Hopefully, no matter who you cheer for, this is a fun few days. Rebuilding is exciting when you watch new faces take over your team. The effort is exciting because the Stanley Cup is always the biggest goal. Just make sure to give these new players some time to adjust and then judge them.
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