We’ve finally made it to March 8 and the NHL Trade Deadline, but it sure feels like all the big deals have already been made.
So far, the Colorado Avalanche have made four trades in a span of just two days. Are they done? And who is even left to be traded out there? On Thursday night, Jake Guentzel went to Carolina (we’ll get to that), taking the biggest trade piece off the board, but there’s still some pieces out there. A goalie hasn’t been moved yet. That has to happen today, right?
When trades start happening, we’ll continue to update this page so you can keep track of everything happening around the NHL and with the Colorado Avalanche. If the Avalanche do even more, we’ll have separate pieces on those.
Welcome to the NHL Trade Deadline Deal Tracker.
Trades
- Tampa Bay Lightning Acquire Anthony Duclair and a 7th Round Pick in 2025 from the San Jose Sharks for D Jack Thompson and a 2024 3rd Round Pick
Duclair was mentioned a few times for the Avalanche by some, but I just didn’t see the fit with the wingers that they have. Turns out, they were just looking for some bigger bodies up front. This is a savvy deal for the Lightning, though. Duclair isn’t having his best season, but he’s still got 16 goals and brings some speed to their lineup. He went to the Stanley Cup Final just a year ago, so he’s got experience and knows what it takes to go on a run. It’s all Kucherov in Tampa Bay, so they need some depth scoring. For the price, that’s a solid pickup.
- Pittsburgh Penguins trade Jake Guentzel and Ty Smith to the Carolina Hurricanes for Michael Bunting, forward prospects Vasily Ponomarev and Ville Koivunen, the rights to forward Cruz Lucius, a conditional 1st-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and a conditional 5th-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
I, like everyone else, had the same thought – that’s it?!? Bunting hasn’t come close to recreating what he did in 2021-22 in Toronto, but the Penguins wanted someone that can help in the immediate. I’m sure Sidney Crosby can bank some pucks off him and into the net, but the sad part is that Bunting might be the best piece in the trade. The prospects the Penguins got aren’t any of Carolina’s top prospects, and the 1st round pick is only a 1st rounder if Carolina makes it to the Stanley Cup Final. There’s just no guarantee that happens, and if they do, it’s a late pick either way. On the flip side, this is a slam-dunk deal for Carolina, who were in desperate need of a scorer. I’ve picked them to go to the Final quite a few times over the last four years, but held off this year. Maybe they do finally get it done? They gave up nothing from their roster and added a point-per-game player. Guetnzel with Aho should be fun.
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