{"id":496352,"date":"2026-03-10T11:22:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/496352\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T11:22:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:22:25","slug":"5-worst-trades-of-the-2026-nhl-trade-deadline-the-hockey-writers-nhl-trade-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/496352\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Worst Trades of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline – The Hockey Writers – NHL Trade Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, we looked at some of the best trades<\/a> of what was a relatively quiet NHL trade deadline this season. Today, we\u2019ll be examining the opposite and some trades that haven\u2019t worked out or have the potential to be busts. Here are five deals that have their fair share of red flags.<\/p>\n

Rasmus Andersson to the Golden Knights<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think anyone would have said this was a bad trade when the Vegas Golden Knights made it, but the Rasmus Andersson deal<\/a> has not worked out so far. This trade has had a bit more time to marinate since the Golden Knights acquired him in mid-January, so we have enough of a sample to draw some conclusions.<\/p>\n

Since joining the Golden Knights, Andersson has played in 14 games and totaled a goals above replacement (GAR) of -2.1. His expected numbers haven\u2019t been great, either, as he has an xGAR of -1.6, so his actual results match the expectation. Why hasn\u2019t Andersson succeeded in Vegas? Usage may be one reason.<\/p>\n

Andersson isn\u2019t getting the most difficult assignments among Golden Knights defensemen, but he\u2019s still playing around 35 percent of his minutes against elite competition. He\u2019s not a defensive liability, but his strength comes on the offensive side of the puck. He\u2019s recently moved to the third pair with Jeremy Lauzon, and the early returns are encouraging; they have an expected goals share (xG%) of 59.63 percent in 51 minutes as a pair.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that more sheltered role gets the best out of Andersson. Plus, sometimes, it takes a while for a player who\u2019s traded to adjust to new surroundings. That could easily be the case with him, and there are still 18-20 games left for most NHL teams. There\u2019s still time to turn it around heading into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights did give up Zach Whitecloud<\/a>, a prospect, and a couple of draft picks to acquire Andersson. He wasn\u2019t cheap, so they need him to turn it around before the playoffs begin. If he does, they can make some noise in the West.<\/p>\n

Ond\u0159ej Pal\u00e1t to the Islanders<\/p>\n

Most of the New York Islanders\u2019 surprise success this season comes from Ilya Sorokin<\/a> and rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer<\/a>. This led general manager Mathieu Darche to buy ahead of the deadline, but he hasn\u2019t rewarded the team as well as he could have.<\/p>\n

Related: Grading the Islanders & Devils\u2019 Ond\u0159ej Pal\u00e1t Trade<\/a><\/p>\n

Ond\u0159ej Pal\u00e1t\u2019s play has fallen off a cliff since his prime with the Tampa Bay Lightning. There\u2019s a reason the New Jersey Devils traded him<\/a> and had to attach draft picks to move his contract. That\u2019s because his play is not worth $6 million per year at this point in his career. He also has an extra year on his contract, so that\u2019s a point of concern, too.<\/p>\n

Pal\u00e1t has been a bit better since moving to the Islanders, but that\u2019s not saying much. He was one of the Devils\u2019 worst forwards this season, so the bar was at the floor. Still, he has an xG% of just 45.66 percent since joining the Islanders. The Islanders only gave up Maxim Tsyplakov to acquire Pal\u00e1t, so it\u2019s not like they gave up a blue-chip asset, but it\u2019s difficult to argue that this move improves the team in the long run.<\/p>\n

Brayden Schenn to the Islanders<\/p>\n

Darche may have outdone himself ahead of this trade deadline, and not in a good way. It\u2019s not that Brayden Schenn is necessarily a bad player, but there are a few reasons why this could backfire on the Islanders, and they\u2019re similar to the Pal\u00e1t trade. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JoelSt. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn is congratulated by goaltender Joel Hofer after scoring (Jeff Curry-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

One) Schenn\u2019s skating has clearly declined since his prime. The Pal\u00e1t deal already made the team slower, and so will Schenn. The Islanders play an uptempo style of hockey, so it could affect how they play. Two) Schenn\u2019s shooting ability has also declined in recent seasons. He can still score goals, but he\u2019s not the shooter he once was.<\/p>\n

Three) Schenn\u2019s contract runs through next season at a cap hit of $6.5 million. The Islanders are having a magical run this season, but they\u2019re not in a position to be taking on contracts like Pal\u00e1t and Schenn\u2019s, who both have cap hits of $6 million or higher. They also gave up a first-round pick to acquire Schenn<\/a>, so it\u2019s not like the cost was cheap. This deal could easily backfire on them in the near future.<\/p>\n

Luke Schenn & Logan Stanley to the Sabres<\/p>\n

The Buffalo Sabres nearly acquired one of the best defensive defensemen in the NHL, but Colton Parayko wasn\u2019t open to waiving his no-trade clause<\/a> for Buffalo. That forced GM Jarmo Kekalainen to pivot, and let\u2019s just say he could have done better.<\/p>\n

Logan Stanley has nine goals and 21 points in 59 games this season, but don\u2019t be fooled by the jump in production. He\u2019s shooting 12.2 percent, well above his career average of 4.6 percent. The offensive production is more likely a mirage, and he\u2019s still very much a defensive liability.<\/p>\n

Schenn has not been much better, either. His play has been worth a GAR of -3. Meanwhile, Stanley\u2019s GAR sits at -4, and that\u2019s with him shooting the lights out of the puck relative to his career averages.<\/p>\n

The Sabres gave up Isak Ros\u00e9n, a prospect with top-nine potential, Jacob Bryson, and two draft picks to acquire Schenn and Stanley. The good news is that the Sabres are a good enough team that I don\u2019t think Stanley and Schenn will tank their season, but they are a worse team with them on their blue line.<\/p>\n

Flyers Trading Bobby Brink for David Jiricek<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia Flyers seem like a rudderless ship right now. Are they rebuilding? Are they not rebuilding? What\u2019s the plan here? That\u2019s exactly how I feel about them trading Bobby Brink for David Jiricek<\/a>. I know the Flyers had a surplus of wingers they needed to move, but was trading Brink the right call?<\/p>\n

Brink had 13 goals and 26 points at the time the Flyers traded him. He\u2019s shown some five-on-five upside in his young career, and he\u2019s already an established NHLer. Jiricek was a top 10 pick in the 2022 draft, but it has not clicked for him in the NHL, and it\u2019s fair to question whether it will.<\/p>\n

Jiricek\u2019s skating has held him back, and skating can be one of the most difficult abilities to improve while you\u2019re developing. His decision-making has also been questionable, especially defensively. I could understand trading Brink for another established NHLer, but Jiricek is far from a guarantee to be a regular NHLer. He\u2019s a reclamation project, and it feels like the Flyers fumbled the bag with this one.<\/p>\n

Though these were some of the worst trades of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline, they weren\u2019t as egregious as some trades in years past. We\u2019ll see how they impact their teams moving forward.<\/p>\n

Advanced stats from Natural Stat Trick<\/a>, Evolving Hockey<\/a>, PuckIQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Substack<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Saturday, we looked at some of the best trades of what was a relatively quiet NHL trade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[377],"tags":[23057,1287,5,1768,3327],"class_list":{"0":"post-496352","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hockey","8":"tag-2026-nhl-trade-deadline","9":"tag-brayden-schenn","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-ondrej-palat","12":"tag-rasmus-andersson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116204627979878802","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496352","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=496352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}