NHL trade deadline 2020-21: Winners and losers
Breaking down the winners and losers after the NHL trade deadline.
The Lightning acquired a top-four defenseman in David Savard, who eats heavy minutes and is a shutdown-type player. He was one of the best blue liners on the market and the defending Stanley Cup champions got even deeper on the back end.
The Sabres accumulated draft picks through the Brandon Montour and Eric Staal trades, but the haul they got for Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar was underwhelming: Anders Bjork and a second-round pick in 2021.
The Maple Leafs acquired a versatile forward in Riley Nash, a veteran winger in Nick Foligno to shore up their middle-six, a depth defenseman in Ben Hutton and insurance goaltender in David Rittich. They checked all their boxes.
The Jets are No. 2 in the all-Canadian division and were hoping to acquire an impact-type defenseman, but their only acquisition was Jordie Benn for a sixth-round pick. Not exactly inspiring.
The Islanders added a five-time 20-goal scorer in Kyle Palmieri, veteran forward Travis Zajac and depth defenseman Braydon Coburn. All three seem like solid fits for Barry Trotz's club.
The Panthers cleared cap space in an effort to make a bigger splash, but they weren't able to do it. Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour were their only two additions, and it's unclear how much of an impact each of them will have.
Steve Yzerman pulled off the move of the day when he acquired Richard Panik, Jakub Vrana, a first-round pick in 2021 and second-round pick in 2022 for Anthony Mantha. That's a massive haul.
The Flyers were stuck in between buyers and sellers and ended up trading Erik Gustafsson and Michael Raffl for a fifth-round pick in 2021 and seventh-round pick in 2022. Meh.
