Part 1: Who Really Runs the NHL Trade Deadline?<\/p>\n
For 20 years now, I\u2019ve had to pay very close attention to the trade deadline and the time leading into it. Over that span, I\u2019ve come to certain conclusions \u2014 and through the help of AI giving me a script to run the numbers, I\u2019ve put together a four-part series that I\u2019m starting today.<\/p>\n
Part 1: Who Runs the Trade Deadline<\/p>\n
Part 2:\u00a0What Teams Are Better Buyers or Sellers<\/p>\n
Part 4:\u00a0How Market Size Affects the Deadline<\/p>\n
Part 5:\u00a0Deadline Activity vs. Playoff Success<\/p>\n
The Teams Who Trade the Most \u2014 and Why It Matters<\/p>\n
Over the last 10 seasons, there are definite patterns, and the same teams shape the deadline every year. \u00a0By tracking trade involvement from February 1 through the trade deadline (early March), patterns form that reveal who acts as sellers, who waits as buyers, and who barely moves at all. \u00a0This part isn\u2019t about one deadline.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s about\u00a0organizational behavior.<\/p>\n
Each team in a trade = +1(Three-team trades = +1 for each team)<\/p>\n
This captures early framework deals, cap retention, and deadline-day execution \u2014 the full market, not just the final hours.<\/p>\n
NHL Trade Involvement Rankings<\/p>\n
February + Deadline (Last 10 Seasons<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n
38<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
Arizona\/Utah<\/p>\n
36<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
Anaheim Ducks<\/p>\n
35<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
Chicago Blackhawks<\/p>\n
34<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
Columbus Blue Jackets<\/p>\n
33<\/p>\n
6<\/p>\n
Ottawa Senators<\/p>\n
32<\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
Buffalo Sabres<\/p>\n
31<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
San Jose Sharks<\/p>\n
30<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n
29<\/p>\n
10<\/p>\n
New Jersey Devils<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
11<\/p>\n
Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
12<\/p>\n
Detroit Red Wings<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
13<\/p>\n
Calgary Flames<\/p>\n
26<\/p>\n
14<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Kings<\/p>\n
26<\/p>\n
15<\/p>\n
Nashville Predators<\/p>\n
25<\/p>\n
16<\/p>\n
Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n
25<\/p>\n
17<\/p>\n
Toronto Maple Leafs<\/p>\n
24<\/p>\n
18<\/p>\n
St. Louis Blues<\/p>\n
24<\/p>\n
19<\/p>\n
New York Rangers<\/p>\n
23<\/p>\n
20<\/p>\n
Carolina Hurricanes<\/p>\n
23<\/p>\n
21<\/p>\n
Boston Bruins<\/p>\n
22<\/p>\n
22<\/p>\n
Vegas Golden Knights<\/p>\n
22<\/p>\n
23<\/p>\n
Florida Panthers<\/p>\n
21<\/p>\n
24<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Jets<\/p>\n
21<\/p>\n
25<\/p>\n
Colorado Avalanche<\/p>\n
20<\/p>\n
26<\/p>\n
Dallas Stars<\/p>\n
20<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n
19<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
Washington Capitals<\/p>\n
19<\/p>\n
29<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n
18<\/p>\n
30<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Penguins<\/p>\n
17<\/p>\n
31<\/p>\n
New York Islanders<\/p>\n
16<\/p>\n
32<\/p>\n
Seattle Kraken<\/p>\n
10<\/p>\n
The Teams That Control the Market<\/p>\n
At the top of the list sit familiar names: the Montreal Canadiens, Arizona\/Utah, Anaheim Ducks, and Chicago Blackhawks.<\/p>\n
These teams haven\u2019t been deadline shoppers over the last ten years \u2014 instead, they\u2019ve tended to set the deadline infrastructure.<\/p>\n
February belongs to sellers \u2014 as we just saw with Panarin. \u00a0Rebuilding or flexible teams understand that leverage peaks before desperation. Acting early allows them to…<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators, and Buffalo Sabres consistently appear near the top. Even when they\u2019re competitive, they stay transactionally flexible.<\/p>\n
Buyers Move Less \u2014 But Louder<\/p>\n
Contenders tell a different story. \u00a0The Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, and Vegas Golden Knights trade less \u2014 but strike harder.<\/p>\n
Quiet February<\/p>\n
Targeted deadline-day moves<\/p>\n
Fewer trades, bigger impact<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t build the market….They finish it.<\/p>\n
At the bottom sit organizations that value stability above all else. The New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Tampa Bay Lightning consistently trade less, trusting internal solutions and chemistry…but these teams, especially Tampa, tend to male some smart impactful trades…as we will see later in this series.<\/p>\n
The trade deadline isn\u2019t chaos like it appears. \u00a0There are patterns. There are tendencies.<\/p>\n
Who has leverage<\/p>\n
Who controls retention<\/p>\n
Who sets the board<\/p>\n
March reveals the final, and often riskier, big swings..<\/p>\n
GM-specific deadline behavior<\/p>\n
Deadline trades vs. playoff success<\/p>\n
Who consistently overpays \u2014 and who wins<\/p>\n
And finally, the trades that have actually turned into playoff success<\/p>\n
WHAT SAY YOU>? \u00a0Comment please and I will respond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Part 1: Who Really Runs the NHL Trade Deadline? For 20 years now, I\u2019ve had to pay very…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8870,58,5,4,107,548],"class_list":["post-447486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-eklund","tag-featured","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-rumors","tag-nhl-trade-deadline"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116019482118846375","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}