OK, everyone. Breathe.
The NHL Trade Deadline is over, and almost all the heavy hitters made significant moves at some point. Whether it was addressing depth, or, like Vegas did, acquiring just about everyone humanly possible, there was no shortage of excitement.
So, who’s the favorite to win the Stanley Cup now after everything’s been processed? Here’s what our Daily Faceoff Roundtable has to say:
SCOTT MAXWELL: I’m just going to jump the gun here and get this pick out of the way before everyone else does, but it has to be the Vegas Golden Knights. They added a middle-six winger, a top-six center and a top-four, possibly top-pair defenseman to their roster without giving up anyone on their actual roster, which by the way, is an almost identical roster to the one that won the Stanley Cup last season. I’ve identified Mantha as a sneaky scoring depth add for any team and he’ll do just that on a loaded Vegas team. Hanifin gives them a stacked blueline that, when healthy, pushes the likes of Nicolas Hague or Zach Whitecloud out of the lineup.
And then Tomas Hertl is an out of nowhere add at this deadline to completely stack their center depth. Hertl and Jack Eichel are strong top-two centers, William Karlsson is an elite shutdown third-line center, Nicolas Roy should probably be a top-nine center at this point in his career, and if any of them get hurt, Chandler Stephenson can play in any of those roles in a pinch. The Cup can’t be won on paper, but the Golden Knights might be the biggest on-paper Cup contender we’ve seen in the cap era, or very close to it.
STEVEN ELLIS: Yeah, I can’t disagree with Scott on the Vegas Golden Knights. They’re going to be so hard to beat. I just can’t believe they managed some of the deals they did, especially the Hertl one. They’ve got some of the best depth going right now and two goaltenders capable of leading the way. The fact they didn’t have to sacrifice a single notable active NHLer is massive. They’re just built different, man. I don’t want to bet against them.
MIKE GOULD: I’m gonna go with the Carolina Hurricanes. I’ve been bullish on their chances all season long and I love how they finally pushed in a bunch of chips for a top target in Jake Guentzel. They still have some question marks in goal — is Freddy Andersen going to be 100% after missing so much time? — but I think their defensive group is strong and they have a ton of forward depth, especially if Evgeny Kuznetsov rediscovers some of his past offensive flair under Rod Brind’Amour. I love the Western Conference arms race but I wonder if those teams might tucker each other out in the playoffs. It’s Carolina’s time.
MATT LARKIN: I love the Vegas villainy. And I’m proud of Carolina for finally stepping up to add the elusive game-breaking forward in Jake Guentzel. But the busiest team at the deadline doesn’t always win the Cup. Often, the truly elite teams are already strong enough that they only need to make a tweak or two. And I feel great about the Dallas Stars. They already have that enviable star core of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen and Jake Oettinger. They have tremendous veteran depth down their lineup, led by Matt Duchene, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. They have some truly exciting young pieces breaking through in Wyatt Johnston, Thomas Harley and Logan Stankoven. Now they add the best defensive defenseman available in Chris Tanev? Hell yes. This team is STACKED, so incredibly balanced, and I like them to win it all this June.
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