Every NHL playoff contender checked a crucial box for stretch run – except one
Welcome to part 7 of Daily Faceoff Stanley Cup Ingredients 2025-26. To catch you up: I’ve crafted a formula consisting of seven common ingredients among recent Stanley Cup champions, using the previous 10 seasons as the sample. You can click here for a more detailed breakdown of the formula and how accurately it has predicted teams going deep in the playoffs.
Two weeks ago, we commenced the annual series by exploring the (fading!) correlation between team weight and championships. Next, we assessed how important point-per-game scorers are to capturing the Stanley Cup. Then, we examined whether elite goaltending remains as important as ever in the spring, studied the link between expected goal differential at 5-on-5 and Stanley Cups and checked the connection between an elite penalty kill and a Stanley-Cup-caliber team. Most recently, we revealed the absolute correlation between having players who already have rings and winning the Stanley Cup.
Next: is the Trade Deadline vital or is its impact on championships overrated?
Stanley Cup Ingredient #7: TRADE DEADLINE ACQUISITIONS
Passion brings out polarized opinions when it comes to sports, and the NHL Trade Deadline isn’t spared. We’ll see just as many fans pounding the table for their team to “go all in” as we will those insisting, “The best deals are the ones you don’t make.”
The truth lies somewhere between those two adages, but if we look at what each Stanley Cup champion did at the deadline over the past decade, almost every one of them was active in trading.
| Season | Champion | Deadline Additions |
| 2015-16 | Pittsburgh | C. Hagelin, J. Schultz |
| 2016-17 | Pittsburgh | R. Hainsey, M. Streit |
| 2017-18 | Washington | M. Kempny, J. Jerabek |
| 2018-19 | St. Louis | None |
| 2019-20 | Tampa Bay | B. Coleman, B. Goodrow |
| 2020-21 | Tampa Bay | D. Savard |
| 2021-22 | Colorado | A. Lehkonen, J. Manson, A. Cogliano, N. Sturm |
| 2022-23 | Vegas | I. Barbashev, J. Quick |
| 2023-24 | Florida | V. Tarasenko, K. Okposo |
| 2024-25 | Florida | B. Marchand, S. Jones, N. Sturm, V. Vanecek |
Stanley Cup correlation: Very Strong
Nine of the past 10 champs made one or more Trade Deadline acquisitions. It’s very clear that adding is important and highly recommended for GMs given its strong correlation to winning Stanley Cups. One micro-trend within the correlation that has shifted: we’re seeing the top teams become more aggressive in targeting players ticketed for major roles as opposed to depth touch-ups. Whether it was Brad Marchand and Seth Jones last season, Ivan Barbashev in 2022-23 or Artturi Lehkonen in 2021-22, all these players were significant contributors during their teams’ Cup runs.
Looking at the teams in or within a realistic range of playoff spots now, let’s refresh our memories as to who did what at the 2026 Trade Deadline.
I’ve excluded teams that were operating as sellers or standing pat as soft rebuilders at the time and have since risen into the race – such as the Nashville Predators. For the sake of the exercise, we’re just looking at teams who saw themselves as buyers on March 6.
2025-26 Trade Deadline acquisitions by playoff “buyer” teams
| Team | Acquisitions |
| Anaheim | J. Carlson |
| Boston | L. Reichel |
| Buffalo | L. Stanley, L. Schenn, S. Carrick |
| Carolina | N. Deslauriers |
| Colorado | N. Kadri, N. Roy, B. Kulak, N. Blankenburg |
| Columbus | C. Garland |
| Dallas | T. Myers, M. Bunting |
| Detroit | J. Faulk, D. Perron |
| Edmonton | C. Murphy, J. Dickinson, C. Dach |
| Los Angeles | A. Panarin, S. Laughton |
| Minnesota | B. Brink, M. McCarron, N. Foligno, J. Petry |
| Montreal | None |
| NY Islanders | B. Schenn, O. Palat |
| Ottawa | W. Foegele |
| Pittsburgh | S. Girard, E. Soderblom |
| Seattle | B. McMann |
| Tampa Bay | C. Perry |
| Utah | M. Weegar |
| Vegas | R. Andersson, N. Dowd, C. Smith |
Can’t say I’ve seen the chart play out quite like this before. It seems every team in playoff contention got the memo and made sure to acquire at least one piece leading up to the Trade Deadline, from marquee additions like the Colorado Avalanche landing Nazem Kadri to minor tinkers like the Boston Bruins trading for Lukas Reichel. But the Montreal Canadiens stand out as the only team among all the contenders not to add at the deadline.
The Habs did acquire Phillip Danault from the Los Angeles Kings in December, and GM Kent Hughes also made splashy trades for Noah Dobson and Zachary Bolduc last offseason, so it’s not like Hughes sits on his hands. Still, Montreal had a clear need for No. 2 center and didn’t fill it, likely hamstrung by failing to move Patrik Laine’s $8.7-million cap hit. The Habs are one of hockey’s most exciting teams, but will they fall flat in the postseason after not completing their puzzle at the deadline?
_____
Previous instalments of Stanley Cup Ingredients 2026
Team Weight
Point-per-game Players
Top-10 Goalie
Expected Goal Differential
Penalty-Killing Efficiency
Stanley Cup Rings
Next up: Applying the formula to determine a Stanley Cup pick
_____
POST SPONSORED BY bet365
_____
Recently by Matt Larkin
- Could Blue Jackets’ Cinderella run end because they lack one key Stanley Cup ingredient?
- Are we sleeping on the Pacific Division teams as Stanley Cup threats?
- Lightning have the single biggest advantage of any projected 2025-26 playoff team
- Scoring depth a more important Stanley Cup ingredient than superstars
- Size is no longer a crucial ingredient among Stanley Cup winning teams