How every contending team’s GM has behaved at past NHL Trade Deadlines

Credit: Brad Treliving (© Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)

With less than three weeks until the March 8 NHL Trade Deadline, we’re delivering at least one deadline-focused story every day at Daily Faceoff.

Today, we explore the past deadline trading history of every GM currently in a buyer position to see what it might mean for this season.

2024 NHL Trade Deadline Countdown: 18 days

Think of the NHL Trade Deadline as a poker table. Understanding the game doesn’t solely apply to the hand each player may have, right? It’s just as important to read your opponents.

Predicting what happens each year at the deadline isn’t as simple as observing which contending teams have the best assets to offer the seller teams. The personalities of the people in charge matter, too. Sometimes, a GM on a stacked contender prefers to stand pat or make minor tweaks. Other GMs go all-in with swashbuckling trades even when their teams are middling. A select few GMs have an ability to pull off blockbuster deals even when it appears they don’t have the cap space to do so.

If past behavior predicts future behavior: can the current NHL GMs’ recent trade-deadline history tell us what to expect from them in the next few weeks? Let’s explore it.

But first, a few rules for the exercise:

(a) In the spirit of this analysis, we’re only examining on teams positioned as buyers. We want to know which contender is likely to make The Big Move. Almost any GM on a team missing the playoffs will be active in selling off assets. It’s what they do when they’re in buyer mode that tells us who they really are. Some GMs on teams still in the hunt were excluded if they are already known to be taking on a seller or retool posture – such as St. Louis Blues’ GM Doug Armstrong.

(b) Each GM analyzed must have experienced a least one Trade Deadline in the big chair.

(c) The profiles are based on trades made in the salary-cap era (2005-06 onward) and within two months of the deadline.

Tier 1: THE COWBOYS

These GMs fearlessly go all-in and will sacrifice futures gladly in the name of chasing championships.

PATRIK ALLVIN

(Vancouver Canucks, 2022-present)

Notable acquisitions: Elias Lindholm, Filip Hronek

Allvin works alongside the ultimate trade cowboy in Jim Rutherford, so it’s no surprise to see Allvin become the league’s most prollific trader since he took over as Canucks GM. He’s already made the biggest 2023-24 splash by securing the top center on the market in Lindholm. Allvin is such a wild man that traded a first-round pick to land Hronek last year, 30 days after acquiring it in the Bo Horvat deal.

JULIEN BRISEBOIS

(Tampa Bay Lightning, 2018-present)

Notable acquisitions: Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow, Brandon Hagel, Nick Paul, David Savard, Tanner Jeannot

The BriseBois playbook is to publicly express concern over having no cap space, then pull off a stunning feat of financial gymnastics to land a key piece of a championship puzzle. Since Tampa’s development system has been peerless over the past decade and a half, turning mid-tier prospects into impactful NHLers, BriseBois gives zero f—s about draft picks. He gave up five for Jeannot alone last year. The Bolts don’t even pick in the first round again until 2026.

CHRIS DRURY

(New York Rangers, 2021-present)

Notable acquisitions: Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Andrew Copp, Frank Vatrano, Niko Mikkola

Don’t sleep on Drury. He’s navigated two deadlines since taking over the Rangers’ GM job and has made multiple major trades in both. With third-line center Filip Chytil out for the year, we can bet on Drury paying up for a big-ticket forward for the third consecutive season.

LOU LAMORIELLO

(New York Islanders, 2018-present)
(Toronto Maple Leafs, 2015-2018)
(New Jersey Devils, 1987-2015)

Notable acquisitions: Ilya Kovalchuk, Bo Horvat, Jaromir Jagr, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Andy Greene, Tomas Plekanec, Brian Boyle, Marek Zidlicky, Bryce Salvador, Ken Klee

The Isles sit four points out of a Wildcard spot and have a 10.5 percent chance of making the playoffs. But good luck explaining that to Lamoriello. We’ll assume he considers the Isles’ buyers until he says otherwise. He has never proven afraid to take a swing at the top prize on the market – not even last year, when, with a middle-of the-road team, he punted a first-round pick, top prospect Aatu Raty and Anthony Beauvillier to land Horvat.

KELLY MCCRIMMON

(Vegas Golden Knights, 2019-present)

Notable acquisitions: Ivan Barbashev, Robin Lehner, Alec Martinez, Mattias Janmark, Nick Cousins

The Golden Knights are all-in, every year, at all costs. The acquisitions above don’t include Mark Stone, who was acquired at the deadline while McCrimmon was assistant GM, not to mention Jack Eichel, whom McCrimmon acquired in November 2021. The Golden Knights are so hellbent on winning in the present that they won’t merely punt picks, like Tampa; Vegas actively punts its best prospects, almost every season.

DON SWEENEY

(Boston Bruins, 2015-present)

Notable acquisitions: Rick Nash, Hampus Lindholm, Taylor Hall, Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, Charlie Coyle, Marcus Johansson, Garnet Hathaway, Nick Ritchie, Ondrej Kase, Drew Stafford, Lee Stempniak, John-Michael Liles

Sweeney’s soft-spoken public persona connotes a more conservative personality, but his resume says otherwise. His Bruins are almost always in the Cup hunt, and he has repeatedly moved heaven and earth to bring in veteran help, particularly over the past few seasons.

BILL ZITO

(Florida Panthers, 2020-present)

Notable acquisitions: Claude Giroux, Brandon Montour, Sam Bennett, Ben Chiarot

The Panthers were pin-drop quiet at the 2023 deadline, but that was partially because they blew through so many assets with their aggressive upgrades in 2021 and 2022. Zito has taken big swings in two of this three deadlines as a GM. He’s more likely a cowboy than not in any given year when his team is in the hunt.

Tier 2: PICK THEIR SPOTS

They’re usually active, but the ambitiousness of their trades varies year to year.

KEN HOLLAND

(Edmonton Oilers, 2019-present)
(Detroit Red Wings, 1997-2019)

Notable acquisitions: Mattias Ekholm, Todd Bertuzzi, Andreas Athanasiou, Mike Green (twice), Tyler Ennis, David Legwand, Marek Zidlicky, Brad Stuart, Kyle Calder, Brett Kulak, Dmitry Kulikov, Derick Brassard

We may think of Holland as a Trade Deadline cowboy given his long resume of splashy moves dating back to the pre-salary cap days. But if we’re talking (a) cap era and (b) acquisitions actually made at or near the deadline: Holland picks his spots. He went for it last year with the Ekholm trade. Other years, he swings minor deals to add depth.

STEVE YZERMAN

(Detroit Red Wings, 2019-present)
(Tampa Bay Lightning, 2010-2018)

Notable acquisitions: Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller, Ben Bishop, Braydon Coburn, Dwayne Roloson, Eric Brewer

I’m not counting the Jakub Vrana and Jake Walman deals here even though they were made on deadline day, as they weren’t made with a buyer’s posture. When Yzerman has a powerhouse team, he’s willing to pay up and land some high-impact players. He doesn’t do it every year, however, and we haven’t really seen him in deadline buyer mode yet since he took over the Red Wings, who haven’t made the playoffs in eight years. Maybe that changes in the coming weeks with his team occupying an Eastern Conference Wildcard spot.

Tier 3: WILD CARDS

They’ve displayed cowboy potential but haven’t been buyers at the deadline often enough yet to develop patterns.

TOM FITZGERALD

(New Jersey Devils, 2020-present)

Notable acquisitions: Timo Meier

Fitzgerald arguably belongs in the cowboy tier. Last season, his first with a playoff-bound team, he scored a blockbuster deal for Timo Meier. But I can’t declare him a full cowboy based on one deadline. Let’s see what his followup is this season.

CHRIS MACFARLAND

(Colorado Avalanche, 2022-present)

Notable acquisitions: Lars Eller, Jack Johnson

MacFarland obviously had a big influence on the moves Joe Sakic made along the way to building the 2021-22 Stanley Cup champions, but MacFarland didn’t technically inherit the captain’s chair until July 2022. He’s only navigated one deadline, during which he was more of a thrift shopper than a big spender.

Tier 4: MODERATE SPENDERS

More often than not, they’ll land intermediate-level pieces to help their squads, but they don’t have a history of big-game hunting at the deadline.

ROB BLAKE

(Los Angeles Kings, 2017-present)

Notable acquisitions: Joonas Korpisalo, Vladislav Gavrikov, Troy Stecher

Blake was very conservative in his first several seasons as Kings GM, accruing assets for his rebuild. Since the Kings shifted to contender mode, he’s made plenty of big off-season trades (Kevin Fiala, Pierre-Luc Dubois) and signings (Phillip Danault, Viktor Arvidsson), but last season marked the first time Blake became an assertive spender at the deadline. Was it a one-off, or will he go all-in again in hopes of righting the ship during this turbulent season?

KEVIN CHEVELDAYOFF

(Winnipeg Jets, 2011-present)

Notable acquisitions: Paul Stastny, Kevin Hayes, Nino Niederreiter, Sean Monahan, Dylan DeMelo, Cody Eakin, Joel Armia, Drew Stafford, Tyler Myers

As you can see, ‘Chevy’ has been busy at many a Trade Deadline. He kicked in a first-round pick to chase glory when he landed Stastny in 2018 and Hayes in 2019. But Cheveldayoff’s Jets never seem to land the guy, instead opting for middle-six forwards and middle-pair blueliners. Sean Monahan applies this season.

BILL GUERIN

(Minnesota Wild, 2019-present)

Notable acquisitions: Marc-Andre Fleury, Jacob Middleton, John Klingberg, Gustav Nyquist, Marcus Johansson

For most of Guerin’s tenure as GM, he has sought out depth pieces at the deadline, the exception being his move for Fleury a couple years back. The Wild are four points out of a playoff spot, but Guerin isn’t the type to pack it in unless he has no choice, and his team is heating up.

JIM NILL

(Dallas Stars, 2013-present)

Notable acquisitions: Mats Zuccarello, Evgenii Dadonov, Max Domi, Vladislav Namestnikov, Jamie Oleksiak, Kris Russell

Nill is the third-longest tenured GM in the league and has maintained a consistent profile: he adds complementary pieces, not game breakers. That may be the case again this season. The Stars have plenty of high-end talent but could stand to get deeper, especially on defense.

BRAD TRELIVING

(Toronto Maple Leafs, 2023-present)
(Calgary Flames, 2014-2023)

Notable acquisitions: Tyler Toffoli, Calle Jarnkrok, Erik Gustafsson, Derek Forbort, Curtis Lazar, Michael Stone

Everyone loves tying the Leafs to every big name available at the deadline, and previous GM Kyle Dubas was consistently active in headline-maker trades. But Treliving has never been a big deadline mover and shaker aside from in 2022. Will he break his pattern this season or stick to his guns?

DON WADDELL

(Carolina Hurricanes, 2018-present)
(Atlanta Thrashers, 1999-2010)

Notable acquisitions: Keith Tkachuk, Vincent Trocheck, Alexei Zhitnik, Brady Skjei, Max Domi, Nino Niederreiter, Pascal Dupuis, Sami Vatanen, Jani Hakanpaa, Eric Belanger

Once in a blue moon, Waddell goes on a wild deadline spending spree. He landed Tkachuk, Zhitnik, Dupuis and Belanger within days of each other when his Atlanta Thrashers were in the hunt in 2007. In 2020, he secured Trocheck, Shea and Vatanen on the same day. But Waddell has been quiet more years than not. He can’t afford to be this year. The Canes need to break through.

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