After several months of inactivity on the trade market, the last three days saw many players and draft picks switch teams before Monday's 3 p.m. ET NHL trade deadline.
Most of the top blockbuster deals happened over the weekend, but more than 20 trades went down Monday.
One trend we saw over the last week was nearly every top contender making at least one meaningful trade. The Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers are among that group.
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Which teams made the best and worst moves? Here's a look at the notable winners and losers from the trade deadline.
Winners
Florida Panthers
The Panthers have one of the league's best teams (top record in the East) and they're going all-in to win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Boston Bruins
Florida got busy last week, acquiring defenseman Ben Chiarot from the Montreal Canadiens. The Panthers upgraded up front by acquiring Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux on Saturday. Florida also added depth defenseman Robert Hagg in a deal with the Buffalo Sabres over the weekend. Chiarot and Giroux are two big upgrades and give Florida excellent depth at pretty much every position.
The cost to bring in these players was substantial. If you combine last year and this season's trade deadline deals, Florida has no first-round picks in 2022, 2023 and 2024. They also have only one second-round pick and two third-rounders left over that span.
Florida will be a very tough out come playoff time.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The two-time defending champs always find a way to upgrade at the trade deadline, and they did it again last week by acquiring middle-six forward Brandon Hagel from the Chicago Blackhawks. The cost was pretty steep -- two first-round picks and two prospects. But Hagel is a great fit for the Lightning as a 21-goal scorer at just 23 years old. He'll be a restricted free agent this summer.
Tampa Bay also brought in veteran forward Nick Paul from the Ottawa Senators, giving head coach Jon Cooper even more bottom-six options. Riley Nash was acquired from the Coyotes for more center depth, too.
The Lightning are aiming to become the first back-to-back-to-back champs since the Islanders nearly 40 years ago. After adding some quality depth over the last few days, it's hard to pick another team to come out of the Eastern Conference this spring.
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks fell out of the playoff race over the last couple weeks and wisely decided to become sellers. They traded defensemen Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm, as well as center/winger Rickard Rakell and left winger Nicolas Deslauriers. AHL defenseman Kodie Curran also was included in the Lindholm trade with the Boston Bruins.
In return, they acquired a boatload of assets.
That's an impressive haul for a team already stacked with a quality prospect pool (fifth-best in The Athletic's rankings). The Ducks' retool will go into overdrive with all of these draft picks. The future is bright in Anaheim.
Seattle Kraken
The Kraken have struggled in their first year of existence, but the newest expansion team did a pretty good job acquiring assets for veteran players at the trade deadline.
Seattle wasn't able to get a first-round pick for veteran defenseman Mark Giordano, but it did acquire two second-round picks and a third-round selection from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Shipping out defenseman Jeremy Lauzon to the Nashville Predators for a second-round pick was amazing value for the Kraken. They also got three draft picks, including second- and third-round selections, for upcoming UFA forward Calle Jarnkrok. Marcus Johansson was able to fetch the Kraken two draft picks and a young NHL player (Daniel Sprong).
The Kraken are well positioned to add premium talent to their prospect pool with four 2022 second-round picks and three 2023 second-round picks.
Calgary Flames
The Flames did most of their work well ahead of the trade deadline. They acquired center/winger Calle Jarnkrok from the Kraken last week and brought in winger Tyler Toffoli as part of a deal with the Vancouver Canucks on Valentine's Day. Calgary added depth forward Ryan Carpenter in a trade with the Blackhawks, too. Jarnkrok adds experience, versatility and playmaking to Calgary's bottom-six forward group. Toffoli has already proven to be an excellent fit with eight goals and seven assists in 17 games since the trade.
Calgary has a very good team and a legit chance to make its first Western Conference Final appearance since 2003-04.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche own the league's best record and are the overwhelming favorite to win the Western Conference for the first time since 2001. After a couple painful playoff exits in recent seasons, Colorado stepped up at this trade deadline to improve its depth at a couple positions.
Last week they acquired rugged defenseman Josh Manson from the Ducks. On Monday, the Avs brought in Artturi Lehkonen from the Canadiens and Andrew Cogliano from the Sharks. Lehkonen is an excellent defensive forward and a bit underrated. Cogliano adds veteran depth and experience to the bottom-six.
The Avalanche gave up plenty of draft picks and a couple second-tier prospects to make these moves. They don't have a second-rounder until 2025. But the Avalanche's window to win a title is right now. They wisely went all-in to get back to the Cup Final.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins' failure to upgrade up front with more scoring depth, either at center or right wing, could come back to haunt them in the playoffs. However, they are without question a better team with the additions of defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Josh Brown.
Why the Hampus Lindholm trade bolsters Bruins' Stanley Cup chances
Lindholm gives Boston a much-needed top-four defenseman with an excellent two-way skill set. He can play in all situations and log 20-plus minutes against quality competition. The Bruins also signed him to an eight-year, $52 million extension, which locks up a strong defensive core of Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk all through at least 2023-24.
Brown gives the Bruins depth on the right side of the blue line, plus excellent size and toughness at 6-foot-5 and 217 pounds.
The Bruins aren't the favorite to win the Eastern Conference, but they're a team no one will want to face given their experience and defensive prowess.
Losers
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers didn't do much at the trade deadline -- only adding Canadiens defenseman Brett Kulak and center Derek Brassard. In all fairness, Edmonton didn't have a ton of salary cap space or enough assets to make a huge splash, but this team has won five consecutive games with a great chance to secure a playoff spot in the Pacific Division. The least management could have done was add something more than depth pieces.
The Western Conference has one elite team -- the Colorado Avalanche. The Oilers could make a deep run with a little luck, and if they come up just short of the conference finals or Stanley Cup Final, we'll look back at the trade deadline and say more should have been done to upgrade the roster.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have a well-rounded roster and might be the best team in the Eastern Conference. They didn't really need to make any meaningful upgrades at the trade deadline. Getting middle-six forward Max Domi from the Blue Jackets is a decent addition but doesn't really move the needle.
While the Hurricanes were mostly quiet at the deadline, much of their competition in the East -- the Lightning, Panthers, Leafs, Penguins, Rangers and Bruins -- all made meaningful upgrades. Based on the playoff format, the Hurricanes won't have to play any of those Atlantic Division teams until the conference finals -- if they even make it that far -- but Carolina's path to the Cup Final is definitely harder now than it was a week ago.
Dallas Stars
The Stars have climbed back into the playoff race with six wins in their last 10 games. Dallas is only one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference with three games in hand.
But the Stars decided to do nothing at the trade deadline. Dallas getting back in the playoff hunt made trading top-four defenseman John Klingberg unlikely, but now he's able to leave in the summer as an unrestricted free agent.
The Stars have scored the fourth-fewest goals at 5-on-5. Acquiring Vladislav Namestnikov from the Red Wings is unlikely to move the needle.
Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes were expected to be major sellers but did not make any substantial trades.
Jakob Chychrun was the top defenseman rumored to be available but didn't get moved. He's signed through 2024-25, so the Coyotes have plenty of time to find a good return for him, but they also failed to take advantage of the huge demand for quality defensemen and the high prices paid for them at this deadline.
Holding on to Phil Kessel also made no sense. His playoff history and offensive talent would have upgraded many contending teams' scoring depth. Now he can leave in free agency over the offseason for nothing. Restricted free agent forward Lawson Crouse also was not dealt.
The Coyotes made several trades this season, but the opportunity to do more and continue stockpiling premium assets for their ongoing rebuild was largely missed.
Jake DeBrusk
DeBrusk's trade request went public in late November and the Bruins weren't able to find a deal to their liking for the 2015 first-round draft pick.
Now the Bruins have to hope DeBrusk becomes a consistent contributor offensively, which would raise his trade value. It's a hard bet to make, though, given DeBrusk's frustrating inconsistency. After finishing February with seven goals in his last five games of the month, DeBrusk has opened March with one goal in nine games (none in his last six matchups).
DeBrusk didn't get what he wanted, but it should be a little easier to trade him in the offseason after he signed a two-year, $8 million extension Monday.