The days leading up to the 2024 NHL trade deadline included some massive swaps, with contending teams hoping to bolster their Stanley Cup Playoff chances, and rebuilding teams looking to add to their draft capital and prospect pools.
Friday’s final flurry included 23 completed trades featuring 33 players, none more of a shock than the Vegas Golden Knights acquiring All-Star center Tomas Hertl from the San Jose Sharks.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2024 NHL trade deadline:
WINNERS
A top-six forward, a top-nine forward and a top-pairing defenseman. Getting one of those three would be a victory at the deadline. Landing two of them would be even better. Yet the Golden Knights got all three by landing Anthony Mantha, Noah Hanifin and unexpectedly getting Tomas Hertl in a series of moves that sets them up to win a consecutive title.
Moving Mark Stone to long-term injured reserve was polarizing. For skeptics, it was viewed as convenient that the Golden Knights’ captain was hurt around the trade deadline for a second consecutive season. For proponents, they saw it as the Golden Knights being proactive at a time in which the team had lost four straight and eight of their last 10, while also dealing with injuries beyond Stone.
Placing Stone on LTIR along with getting the Calgary Flames and Washington Capitals to retain salaries for Hanifin and Mantha, respectively, is what allowed them to be in a position to make the move to get Hertl. It sets the Golden Knights up to have Hertl for the next six seasons, with the idea they could get an extension done for Hanifin before the playoffs.
Even if the Golden Knights don’t win the Cup this year, having Hertl and possibly Hanifin sets them up for the long term considering what is facing them this offseason. The Golden Knights have a number of financial decisions to make with players like William Carrier, Jonathan Marchessault, Alec Martinez and Chandler Stephenson. But the big message here is that the Knights are most definitely all in to win again. — Clark
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