The 2023 NHL trade deadline was unlike any other in the league’s 106-year history. With 63 trades between Feb. 17 and March 3, most of which came two or three days before the deadline, hockey fans hesitated to blink out of fear that they’d miss something.
Patrick Kane: New York Rangers
After 16 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Kane has moved to the New York Rangers.
During his time in Chicago, Kane won:
—The Stanley Cup three times
— The Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP
— The Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer
— The Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP during the regular season
— The Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player in the league, as voted by the players
— The Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year
Kane has been dealing with a hip injury for a couple of season now and will likely need surgery to repair it. Many believe that this has affected his play, as he has some of the worst defensive statistics in the NHL. He is, however, still scoring at a high level.
It was no secret that Kane wanted to be traded to the Rangers. And, with the no-movement clause in his contract, he had the right to choose whether and to where he was traded. He now joins former linemate Artemi Panarin, with whom he had immense success in Chicago.
Jonathan Quick: Columbus Blue Jackets, then Vegas Golden Knights
No, that was not a typo. Jonathan Quick spent 18 seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, then 19 hours with the Columbus Blue Jackets before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Reports indicated that Quick was not happy being dealt to the last-place Blue Jackets. The Golden Knights have struggled with goaltending injuries this season, so it was a natural fit — except that the Golden Knights and Kings are natural rivals.
Quick won the Stanley Cup twice with the Kings, in addition to the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He holds the NHL record for the highest save percentage over the course of a season, with 0.946.
Jakob Chychrun: Ottawa Senators
There has been two years’ worth of trade rumors involving Jakob Chychrun, but those all came to an end Wednesday when the Arizona Coyotes traded him to the Ottawa Senators.
Teams were interested in Chychrun because of his contract. He has two years left after this one, making $4.6 million per season. That’s much less than most comparable defencemen make in the NHL.
Coyotes management has been criticized since making the trade, as many believe that the team should have been able to get more for Chychrun. They got a 2023 first-round pick, a conditional 2024 second-round pick and a 2026 second-round pick.
Mattias Ekholm: Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers lead the NHL in goals scored this season, but they’re the 12th-worst team in the league in goals against. General Manager Ken Holland attempted to fix that by trading Tyson Barrie, an offensive defenceman, for Mattias Ekholm, a two-way defenceman.
In exchange for Ekholm and a sixth-round draft pick, the Oilers gave up Barrie, blue-chip prospect Reid Schaefer, a first-round pick and a fourth-round pick.
Tanner Jeannot: Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning picks up one or two players like Tanner Jeannot at every trade deadline. Last year, it was Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul. The year before, it was Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow. They always have room for tough physical forwards. But they don’t always pay as much as they did for Jeannot.
The Nashville Predators acquired first-, second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-round picks in exchange for the undrafted 25-year-old who, just three years ago, thought he’d never make it to the NHL.
This was Barry Trotz’s first move as a member of an NHL front office. The Predators announced Sunday that David Poile, the only general manager the team had ever had in its 25-year history, would retire at the end of the year and be replaced by Trotz, who coached the team for their first 16 years of existence. Trotz and Poile worked together on this deal and the others that the Predators made at the deadline.
Timo Meier: New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils fans have been married to the idea of acquiring Timo Meier for months now. The team is currently in the midst of a breakout year, currently sitting in third place in the league despite not having made the playoffs since 2018. Timo Meier boosts an already dominant forward group in New Jersey.
Meier was one of nine players involved in the trade, which also included four draft picks.
Dmitry Orlov: Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are all-in this year, and they showed that with their trade deadline acquisitions.
The Bruins, who, Thursday night, became the fastest team in NHL history to reach 100 points, acquired Orlov, a dominant two-way defenseman, and Garnet Hathaway, a tough bottom-six forward, for Craig Smith and three draft picks. They later added to the mix, sending a first- and a fourth-round pick to the Detroit Red Wings for Tyler Bertuzzi.
Honorable mentions
Other big names that were traded leading up to the deadline include:
— Vladimir Tarasenko, New York Rangers
— Ryan O’Reilly, Toronto Maple Leafs
— John Klingberg, Minnesota Wild
— Max Domi, Dallas Stars
— Mikael Granlund, Pittsburgh Penguins
— Jakub Voracek, Arizona Coyotes