The defending Stanley Cup champions pulled off another blockbuster deal just under the wire at the NHL trade deadline. The Florida Panthers have acquired Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins as they continued to load up for another long and arduous playoff run.
Marchand, formerly the Bruins captain, has previously played the role of villain in playoff series against the Panthers. He will now be a hero in Florida as he brings his skill and tenacity to Sunrise. Marchand has topped 20 goals in each season since 2013-14, and he’s not afraid to stick his nose into the dirty areas of the ice.
Between Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers have two of the biggest irritants in hockey. When Tkachuk returns from injury, that tandem will be appointment viewing this spring.
The Panthers’ division rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, also made a notable move right at the buzzer. They added big defenseman Brandon Carlo from the Bruins, which fills a need on the right side of the blue line. That will give Toronto a better shot against teams like Florida in the postseason.
The biggest deal of the day came when the Dallas Stars acquired sniper Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes. Rantanen played just 13 in Carolina after being traded by the Avalanche earlier this year. In that time, he scored just two goals, but Rantanen has proven to be an elite finisher throughout his career.
The West was an arms race all day as the Stars added Rantanen, and the Colorado Avalanche acquired centers Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle.
In the East, the Tampa Bay Lightning also made their move by reuniting with shutdown forward Yanni Gourde, as well as acquiring Oliver Bjorkstrand in a trade with the Seattle Kraken.
All of the action from a busy NHL trade deadline can be found below.
Panthers acquire Brad Marchand at the buzzer
The Panthers aren’t afraid to take big swings on the trade market, and they did it again on Friday. After serving as a thorn in Florida’s side for years, Marchand will join the club in hopes of helping it win back-to-back Cups. Marchand brings some skill and sandpaper, and he should be an ideal middle-six fit for the Panthers.
Maple Leafs get defensive help with Brandon Carlo acquisition
With other division rivals loading up, the Maple Leafs decided they needed more bulk on the back end. That’s what they got when the landed Carlo from the Bruins. The hulking defenseman fills a need on the right side and can play a shutdown role for the Leafs.
With Brock Nelson now in Denver, Casey Mittelstadt would have been pushed down to the third line in the middle of a disappointing season. That being the case, the Avalanche flipped him for the more steady Charlie Coyle. Meanwhile, the Bruins get a younger player with some term left on his deal.
Maple Leafs add bottom-six center Scott Laughton
Stars land Mikko Rantanen in mammoth deal with Hurricanes
After negotiations that kicked into overdrive in the wee hours of Friday morning, Mikko Rantanen is finally a Star, and he’ll remain one for a while. Not only did Dallas land the top forward on the market, but it also signed Rantanen to an eight-year contract extension. Rantanen now joins a forward group that was already one of the deepest and most talented in the league.
The Sabres and Senators are engaging in a swap of a pair of very talented forwards. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Sabres are trading center Dylan Cozens, defenseman Dennis Gilbert, and a 2026 second-round pick to the Senators in exchange for center Josh Norris and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker.
Cozens is a candidate that may just need a change of scenery to right the ship. After all, Cozens is just two years removed from tallying 68 points (31 points & 37 assists), but has just 11 goals this season. Meanwhile, Norris is an impressive two-way forward that provides some toughness to the Sabres lineup. However, Norris has had three shoulder surgeries at just 25 years old, so it’s a high-risk, high-reward type of acquisition.
The Capitals are improving their forward depth with the acquisition of the veteran winger from the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Capitals are sending a 2025 second-round pick to the Penguins in exchange for Beauvillier.
In Beauvillier, the Capitals get some bottom-six depth in a player that provides some goal-scoring punch. Beauvillier has recorded 20 points (13 goals & seven assists) in 63 games with Pittsburgh.
Avalanche make splash by landing Brock Nelson
The Avalanche made a bold move when they landed forward Brock Nelson in a trade with the Islanders. In exchange for Nelson and forward William Dufour, the Avalanche traded defenseman Oliver Kylington, forward Calum Ritchie, a first-round pick in 2026 or 2027, and a conditional 2028 third-round pick. Kylington ended up being flipped to the Ducks for future considerations in a separate deals.
Colorado was aiming to upgrade the center position on the second line after Casey Mittelstadt has struggled at times since being acquired in 2024. Nelson is a talented playmaker that should see his offensive numbers rise playing with the Avalanche, and could be an asset on the power-play unit.
Devils add Bryan Dumoulin in trade with Ducks
The Devils may have lost Jack Hughes to season-ending shoulder surgery, but that isn’t stopping them from being active at the trade deadline. They are improving their blue line by acquiring defenseman Bryan Dumoulin in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick and winger Herman Traff.
The Ducks are retaining 50% of Dumoulin’s $3.15 million cap hit. The veteran blue-liner was traded to the Ducks by the Kraken this past summer, and has tallied 16 points (two goals, 14 assists) this season.
Kraken sent Gourde, Bjorkstrand to Lightning
Lightning GM Julien BriseBois knows his window to win is open right now, so he was willing to ship off valuable future assets to land Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Gourde is an excellent defensive forward, and Bjorkstrand can provide some offense in a middle-six role.
Tampa’s forward group looks quite formidable now, but Seattle made out of this deal quite well too. Landing a pair of first-round picks, a second-round pick and a young depth piece like Michael Eyssimont is good work.
Panthers land backup goaltender by acquiring Vitek Vanecek
The Panthers improved their blue line by acquiring defenseman Seth Jones and a 2026 fourth-round pick from the Blackhawks in exchange for goaltender Spencer Knight and a 2026 conditional first-round pick. As a stipulation of the deal, the Blackhawks are retaining a portion of Jones’ salary. Meanwhile, the first-round pick moves to 2027 if the Panthers trade their 2026 first-round pick prior to the 2025 NHL Draft.
Jones is embarking on his 12th NHL season season after playing for the Blue Jackets and Predators prior to being traded to the Blackhawks in 2021. The veteran defenseman has tallied 27 points (seven goals, 20 assists) in 42 games this season. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks may have gotten their goaltender of the future in Knight, who is still just 23 years old.
Preds trade Gus Nyquist to Wild for second-round pick
With Kirill Kaprizov out of the lineup, offense has been harder to come by for the Minnesota Wild, so GM Bill Guerin acquired veteran winger Gus Nyquist from the Nashville Predators. Minnesota sent Nashville a 2026 second-round pick while the Preds are retaining 50% of Nyquist’s $3.185 million cap hit.
Nyquist has had trouble producing this season, but he just tallied a career-high 75 points in 2023-24.
The Avalanche needed some defensive depth, and they got it in the form of veteran Ryan Lindgren. A reliable defensive defenseman for most of his career, Lindgren hasn’t been as effective this season as injuries have taken their toll. Colorado also added winger Jimmy Vesey, who will play a fourth-line role.
In exchange, the Rangers will get two replacement depth pieces, Juuso Parssinen and Calvin de Haan. They also receive second- and fouth-round picks in 2025.
Canucks add Pettersson, O’Connor from Penguins
Sharks send Granlund, Ceci to Sharks
The Stars are one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, and those odds should only improve with Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci in the fold. Granlund, 32, is having a resurgent season in San Jose. He has 15 goals and 30 assists in 52 games. That has him on pace for 70 points, which would be a career year. With Tyler Seguin on LTIR, that freed up the cap space for the Stars to acquire Granlund and Ceci.
Granlund should slot right into the Stars’ middle-six, perhaps on a line with former Nashville Predators teammate Matt Duchene, and Ceci provides a veteran presence. In return, Dallas sent a 2025 first-round pick and a conditional 2025 third-round pick to the Sharks.
Rangers acquire JT Miller from Canucks
The JT Miller soap opera in Vancouver has finally reached its end. The Canucks sent Miller, along with defenseman Erik Brannstrom and prospect Jack Dorrington, to the New York Rangers. Forward Filip Chytil, defenseman Victor Mancini and a conditional first-round pick went back to Vancouver.
Miller was a 100-point player just last season, and the Rangers have been missing some dynamic playmaking at the top of their lineup this year. Miller can bring that, but the big question is whether his disappointing start in 2024-25 was due to the drama between himself and Elias Pettersson. Either way, New York did get notably better with this deal.
The Canucks were able to free up a few million dollars in salary cap space while acquiring Chytil, who will bring some speed and skill in a depth forward role.
The NHL trade deadline for the 2024-2025 season has come and gone, and there were some significant moves made by teams looking to bolster their rosters for a playoff push. Two of the biggest deals involved the Florida Panthers acquiring Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins and the Dallas Stars trading for Mikko Rantanen.
The Panthers made a splash by acquiring veteran forward Brad Marchand from the Bruins in exchange for a package of draft picks and prospects. Marchand, known for his scoring touch and agitating style of play, brings a wealth of experience and skill to a Panthers team looking to make a deep playoff run. The addition of Marchand gives the Panthers a formidable top line alongside Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, making them a dangerous team to face in the postseason.
On the other hand, the Dallas Stars made a bold move by trading for Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen. In exchange, the Stars sent a package of players and draft picks to the Avalanche, including top prospect Ty Dellandrea. Rantanen, a dynamic winger with a knack for scoring goals, adds another dimension to the Stars’ offense and gives them a legitimate top-line threat to complement Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.
Both Marchand and Rantanen are expected to make an immediate impact on their new teams and help solidify their respective playoff aspirations. The Panthers and Stars are hoping that these blockbuster trades will pay off as they look to make a deep run in the postseason and compete for the Stanley Cup.
Overall, the NHL trade deadline was an exciting time for fans as teams made moves to improve their rosters and position themselves for success in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how these acquisitions pan out as the season progresses and the postseason approaches.
