What the past 10 Stanley Cup winning teams did at the Trade Deadline

Credit: Ivan Barbashev (© Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)

With less than two months until the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline March 8, we’re delivering at least one deadline-focused story every day at Daily Faceoff.

Today we examine what the past 10 Stanley Cup champions did approaching the deadline.

2024 Trade Deadline Countdown: 57 Days

What’s that expression about history again? The past is the best predictor of the future. So does the rule apply to championship-caliber teams approaching the trade deadline every year?

Let’s rewind to the past 10 deadlines and see what each eventual champion did. Did they all behave aggressively? Did they make mere minor tweaks to augment rosters that were already stacked?

(For the sake of the exercise, we’ll use trades made within two months of the deadline, as any deals in that window were made with the stretch run in mind).

2013-14 Los Angeles Kings

Key additions: Marian Gaborik

Gaborik, a veteran on the wrong side of his prime, had endured a miserable season in Columbus, missing time with a sprained knee and a broken collarbone, and GM Dean Lombardi bought low, snagging him for Matt Frattin, a 2014 second-round pick and a conditional third-rounder. Gaborik didn’t take long to hit his stride and become a crucial component of L.A.’s second Stanley Cup run, scoring a league-high 11 goals to go with 22 points in 26 playoff games. The Kings rewarded him with a big contract that he couldn’t live up to, but it was a fair tradeoff for a championship.

2014-15 Chicago Blackhawks

Key additions: Antoine Vermette, Kimmo Timonen, Andrew Desjardins

A 39-year-old Timonen and checker Desjardins didn’t cost much to acquire and only played depth roles on Chicago’s most recent Stanley Cup team, but two-way center Vermette was a big-ticket item when GM Stan Bowman surrendered a 2015 first-round pick to get him from the Arizona Coyotes. The move looked disastrous when Vermette failed to score a single goal in 19 regular-season games as a Hawk, but he saved his best for the spring. Three of his four playoff goals were game winners, including one in overtime

2015-16 Pittsburgh Penguins

Key additions: Carl Hagelin, Justin Schultz

Mike Sullivan took over a floundering Penguins team in December 2015, and they began to thrive off speed, speed and more speed, using stretch passes to spring their fleet-footed forwards. You want wheels? Hagelin, acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in trade for David Perron, was as fast as any player of his generation. He formed the ‘H’ in the ‘HBK’ Line with Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel, arguably the best third line in the league at the time. Meanwhile, Schultz, who had gone from exciting prospect to maligned in Edmonton, found his puck-moving game as a Penguin and made major contributions on back-to-back championship teams, especially in 2017 when Kris Letang missed the entire postseason.

2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins

Key additions: Ron Hainsey, Mark Streit

The Pens opted for more of an “if it ain’t broke…” approach at the 2017 deadline but did add some useful support pieces. The rugged Hainsey played more than 21 minutes a night during the 2017 postseason. Most importantly, he led all Penguins in shorthanded minutes per game, helping them kill almost 84 percent of their penalties that spring. The 39-year-old Streit was merely an insurance piece and played three playoff games.

2017-18 Washington Capitals

Key additions: Michal Kempny

It felt like a low-key depth addition when the Caps scooped Kempny from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2018 third-rounder. Instead, Kempny formed Washington’s top pair with John Carlson and played a useful role in helping the franchise win its first and only championship. Kempny only played 17:42 per contest during that run, but Washington had 53 percent of the shots and 56 percent of the goals with that pair out together at 5-on-5.

2018-19 St. Louis Blues

Key additions: None

The Blues technically picked up Michael Del Zotto for a sixth-round pick, but he didn’t play a playoff game. Really, the foundation of the Blues’ winning team was built in the 2018 off-season when GM Doug Armstrong swung a blockbuster trade with the Buffalo Sabres to land eventual Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O’Reilly.

2019-20 Tampa Bay Lightning

Key additions: Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow

When we think trade deadline and loading up in the current era, I picture what Lightning GM Julien BriseBois did in 2020. He spent two first-round picks to get the guys he knew would bring a hard-hat mentality to every game and help Tampa get over the hump after they had been embarrassingly swept in Round 1 the previous season following a then-record 62 wins. Coleman and Goodrow formed a dynamite third line with Yanni Gourde for back-to-back championship runs. The moves for Coleman and Goodrow established Tampa as a team willing to punt their high draft picks in the name of winning in the present. That’s how confident they are in their ability to develop lower-rated prospects into viable NHLers.

2020-21 Tampa Bay Lightning

Key additions: David Savard

Another year, another Bolts first-round pick surrendered in the name of pursuing a championship. Executing a three-team trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets, with the Detroit Red Wings eating some of Savard’s salary as a third-party broker, Tampa fit Savard into their lineup with some cap wizardry. Savard functioned mostly in a bottom-pair role, providing some thump and shot-blocking acumen.

2021-22 Colorado Avalanche

Key additions: Artturi Lehkonen, Josh Manson, Andrew Cogliano, Nico Sturm

The Avs had yet to escape the second round of the playoffs in the Nathan MacKinnon/Mikko Rantanen/Cale Makar era and Joe Sakic, in what would be his final run in the GM role, decided enough was enough. He surrendered a second-round pick to get heavy blueliner Manson and even gave up one of the team’s top prospects, Justin Barron, plus a second-rounder in the deal for Lehkonen. The moves couldn’t have worked out better. Lehkonen in particular was a playoff star, scoring four game-winning goals, including two in overtime, as Colorado ended a 21-year Stanley Cup drought.

2022-23 Vegas Golden Knights

Key additions: Ivan Barbashev, Teddy Blueger, Jonathan Quick

Barbashev was having a down 2022-23 after a breakout 2021-22, but that did not dissuade GM Kelly McCrimmon from sending prospect Zach Dean to the St. Louis Blues for Barbashev. He formed a stellar top line with Jack Eichel and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Marchessault. Quick’s biggest contribution came in the regular season when he enjoyed a brief hot streak, helping the Golden Knights weather a storm of injuries in net. He won his first four starts and six of his first seven decisions with the team. Laurent Brossoit and, eventually, Adin Hill ended up manning the crease in the playoffs.

Conclusion

If you peruse the list of acquisitions by the past 10 champs, you’ll find plenty of them. Nine of 10 did something to augment their roster at the trade deadline. But you won’t find many if any stars. Even Gaborik was in the midst of a disastrous year when the Kings traded for him.

The takeaway: if you’re needing to bring in a true star at the deadline, perhaps your team isn’t good enough to begin with. The elite of the elite already have powerhouse rosters and shop for support pieces to help them in specific areas of need.

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