Which team won with Friday’s trades ahead of roster freeze?

Another Friday night last week brought more NHL roster movement, as one week after Quinn Hughes was dealt to Minnesota, the Montreal Canadiens acquired Phillip Danault from the Los Angeles Kings while the Columbus Blue Jackets landed Mason Marchment in a deal with the Seattle Kraken.

Friday was the last day before the NHL’s annual holiday roster freeze, so there was some timing-induced incentive for teams to get some shopping done then.

For Montreal, a reunion with Danault adds a standout defensive presence to a team that badly needed some help at the center position, while Columbus general manager Don Waddell has long coveted Marchment, who will add physicality and size to the Blue Jackets down the wing.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL defenseman Colby Cohen discussed which team did the most to improve their overall standing with the major moves from Friday.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Danault’s going back to Montreal for a second-round pick, a split between Danault and the Kings… You had the Blue Jackets adding Mason Marchment in a deal with the Seattle Kraken. So four GMs make a trade on Friday night… Is there one GM who you think came out looking better than the rest out of these swaps?

Colby Cohen: You get a guy [Danault] off your roster who makes $5 million and has zero goals and who had eight goals the season before, we’re talking about a span of 110 games with 8 goals for a $5 million player. I would say there’s a lot of good work in this trade. I also look at getting him for a second-round pick, who can really potentially turn the corner with a fresh start. You don’t just forget how to play hockey, right? I think it’s a win-win for both of these teams… Columbus, they don’t play with enough jam. They need a little bit of heaviness, right? And Marchment is a guy who can come in and provide a little extra goal-scoring.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…