NHL Trade Deadline Recap

Written By Avi Friedman

The 2025 trade deadline is responsible for a mass amount of franchise stars such as Brad Marchand, Mikko Rantanen, and Brock Nelson, heading to new teams. In this article, we are going to highlight the most notable trades that took place, along with breaking down the biggest winners and losers of the trade deadline.

Full Trade Details:

  • Florida Panthers acquire forward Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins for a conditional 2nd-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

  • Toronto Maple Leafs acquire defenseman Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins for forward Fraser Minten, a conditional 1st-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a 4th-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

  • Dallas Stars acquire forward Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Logan Stankoven, a conditional 1st-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, a conditional 1st-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft, a 3rd-round pick in 2026 and a 3rd-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

  • Colorado Avalanche acquire defenseman Erik Johnson from the Philadelphia Flyers for forward Givani Smith.

  • Colorado Avalanche acquire forward Charlie Coyle and a 5th-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft from the Boston Bruins for forwards Casey Mittelstadt and William Zellers, and a 2nd-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

  • Toronto Maple Leafs acquire forward Scott Laughton, a 4th-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a 6th-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft from the Philadelphia Flyers for forward Nikita Grebenkin and a 1st-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

  • Winnipeg Jets acquire forward Brandon Tanev from the Seattle Kraken for a 2nd-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

  • Detroit Red Wings acquire goalie Petr Mrazek and forward Craig Smith from the Chicago Blackhawks for forward Joe Veleno.

  • Ottawa Senators acquire forward Dylan Cozens, defenseman Dennis Gilbert and a 2nd-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft from the Buffalo Sabres for forward Josh Norris and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker.

  • Edmonton Oilers acquire defenseman Jake Walman from San Jose Sharks for conditional 1st-round pick in 2026 NHL Draft and forward Carl Berglund.

  • Colorado Avalanche acquire forwards Brock Nelson and William Dufour from New York Islanders for forward Calum Ritchie, defenseman Oliver Kylington, a 1st-round pick in the 2026 or 2027 NHL Draft and a 3rd-round pick in 2028.

  • Florida Panthers acquire defenseman Seth Jones and a 4th-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft from the Chicago Blackhawks for goaltender Spencer Knight and a 1st-round pick in 2026.

  • Minnesota Wild acquire forward Gustav Nyquist from the Nashville Predators for a 2nd-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Winners:

  • Colorado Avalanche:

    The Avs continue to make their presence well known in the Stanley Cup race, landing valuable additions right before the playoffs. In the past month, the Avs have aqcuired Martin Necas, Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle, and Erik Johnson, providing the necessary depth to make a serious playoff run. Nathan MacKinnon is having another dominant MVP season, which makes this Avs team dangerous in April.

  • Florida Panthers:

    Florida has acquired Seth Jones and former Bruins captain Brad Marchand at the trade deadline. These two shocking trades put the Panthers in a great position to win back to back Stanley Cups. The presence of Brad Marchand is going to be invaluable since he is going to partner with Mathew Tkachuk and Sam Bennet to not only provide goals and scoring opportunities, but become a real menace and antagonizer to anyone facing them.

  • Dallas Stars:

    Dallas only made one move during the deadline, but it was a big one landing Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen is a total All-Star that has already been traded once this season to the Hurricanes, although they could not come to an agreement on a contract extension which is what landed him in Dallas. The Stars were already one of the best teams in the league before the deadline, and after this acquisition, I am choosing the Stars to win the Stanley Cup this year.

Losers:

  • Carolina Hurricanes:

    In the span of a month, the Hurricanes essentially lost two All-Stars and got nobody back in return. When the initial blockbuster trade that send Rantanen to Carolina and Necas to the Avs, Rantanen only had one year left on his contract with the Hurricanes and clearly did not go there by choice. It was made clear that Rantanen had no intentions of re-signing with the Canes after his one year expired, forcing the Canes to trade him to the Stars after about 3 weeks of playing on the team. The Canes still have a solid roster and will make the playoffs, but their roster took a deep hit that is too much to recover from.

  • Boston Bruins:

    Bruins GM Don Sweeny is under heavy criticism from locals and fans around the league for his performance in this years deadline. In this years cycle, the Bruins traded away Trent Frederic, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo, and their captain Brad Marchand. All of these players are going to be extremely valuable to their new teams for a variety of reasons, and the current Bruins are essentially left in the wind. The crazy part is that the Bruins were only 4 points away from a wild card spot in the playoffs at the time of the deadline, but I suppose their General Manager wanted to start the rebuild immediately.

  • Winnipeg Jets:

    The only reason the Jets made my losers list is because I would have wanted them to add a couple depth pieces to bring into the playoffs. The Jets have had a magical year so far, leading the NHL in points and setting franchise records all year long. If the Jets were able to acquire a player like Charlie Coyle or Brock Nelson, I feel that they would have solidified their position as best team in the NHL going into the playoffs. As the saying goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Avi Friedman
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