Every season we get excited for the NHL trade deadline, as it’s when most of the high-profile trades occur in the NHL.
Some seasons it’s hectic at the deadline, while others it’s quiet. This year was a mixed bag, it wasn’t overly busy but we did see some big moves go down.
Here are our top five NHL trades made at the deadline to consider for your NHL betting. We have chosen to focus on teams who have made the playoffs or look very likely to do so as the trade impact the teams are hoping for will be instant.
That said, the top five trades were arguably all made by playoff teams anyway, as teams not making the playoffs were selling mainly assets.
1 Jake Guentzel to Carolina Hurricanes
The biggest trade to go down during this year’s trade deadline was, without a doubt, Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Guentzel didn’t want to talk about contract expansions at Pittsburgh and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season (hence the reason the Penguins offloaded Guentzel), but that’s another problem for another day as far as Carolina are concerned.
Firstly the Hurricanes will be hoping Guentzel can help them win a Stanley Cup, then the matter of contract extensions might come into play.
Guentzel is one of the top goalscoring wingers in the league, and Carolina are in need of improvement on the goalscoring end; defensively they are one of the best in the league.
Having also picked up Evgeny Kuznetsov from the Washington Capitals, this is the Hurricanes’ best chance of a Stanley Cup in a long time if all these added pieces fit the puzzle.
Jake Guentzel eligible to return from injury which means his #Hurricanes debut will be this week pic.twitter.com/7o96smIYa6
— Bob Pompeani (@KDPomp) March 10, 2024
2 Tomas Hertl to The Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights made some big moves prior to the deadline day, firstly they signed two players, Anthony Mantha and Noah Hanifin, but left the best until last when they made the move for Tomas Hertl, arguably one of the only remaining Sharks players who has remained consistent in recent years.
The Golden Knights are well within the rules despite being currently 15 million over the salary cap. It’s complicated, but its essentially how they have been competitive in the NHL since day one. They already won one Stanley Cup and they’re not even 10 years into their franchise.
Either way, Tomas Hertl will be a fine addition to this team. He, along with the two other players Mantha and Hanafin will freshen up the roster and should make for competitive ice time in a few positions, which is always a good thing in any team.
3 Vladimir Tarasenko to The Florida Panthers
Another blockbuster trade this deadline week saw former Stanley Cup winner with the St. Louis Blues, Vladimir Tarasenko traded to the Florida Panthers from the Ottawa Senators.
Things haven’t worked out for Tarasenko in Ottawa as he signed a one-year contract at the start of this season and was subsequently sent packing for a conditional 2024 4th-round pick and a 3rd-round pick in 2025.
Tarasenko is still a mean forward and has scored 41 points in 57 games so far this season, so he will bring depth to an already very strong team (arguably the strongest in the league). The Panthers are adding a super playoff player and veteran to their roster, which should only help them in their pursuit of lord Stanley.
Vladimir Tarasenko picks it off to get his first as a Panther 😼 pic.twitter.com/oKq6cks0tK
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 9, 2024
4 Elias Lindholm to Vancouver Canucks
Although this trade didn’t go down at the deadline (it happened one month prior) it still ranks as one of the top trades for us, as the Canucks are starting to see the early season success wain a little and needed to bring in backup to improve their team before the run in to the post-season.
Lindholm has been in Calgary since 2018, so far this season he put up 32 points in 42 games for the Flames, and since joining the Canucks his numbers haven’t been as high as the coaches would have liked, having put up 7 in 17 games. In his defense, he does average almost 3 minutes less on the ice for the Canucks than Flames, but there is definitely room for improvement.
Lindholm can help this team go deep in the playoffs, he is a player who can definitely get you out of a sticky situation.
5 Adam Henrique to Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are the Stanley Cup favorites at +400 Stanley Cup betting odds this season. Everyone knows it’s because of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but they haven’t done so well in the past, except this year things are different.
This season they have a much better defense than previous seasons, but arguably they could still be lacking in the crease. Adam Henrique will add much-needed depth to their bottom six. Henrique will be hungry for a new challenge, having spent seven seasons with the Anaheim Ducks (only ever making it to the playoffs once in that time).
Henrique has scored 42 points on 60 games thus far this season, overall it’s a solid trade for the Oilers here, although we do think they needed to focus more on the goaltending side of things.
