Have the teams who've won it all lately been the ones making a huge splash at the deadline? Because it feels like most of those "all in" teams get eliminated early.
Seems like the teams who win cups make shrewd deals when they arise, but aren't really loading up on deadline day.
Who was the last big "all in" type TDL acquisition that actually helped his team win a cup? I mean on the level of McDonagh. The guy who comes to mind is Marian Gaborik with the Kings. Seems like every year whoever loads up most becomes instant favorites, only to fall well short.
That depends. The "all in teams" don't always win but it helps their chances. Off the top of my head
Pens dealt for Hossa and got to the SCF -and I cannot argue they'd have made it that far without him
NYR dealt for Nash and sustained incredible success through his tenure
Lightning dealt for Sydor and won in 2004 -I cannot argue we'd have won it without him
You mentioned Gaborik to LA -I cannot argue they'd have won without him
The Oilers traded for Pronger and although he wasn't a TDL player they made the SCF - No way they make it that far without him
The Penguins traded for Kessel and he CERTAINLY helped them win 2 Cups
I'm not trying to say we "need" to make a move but to be perfectly blunt I put our odds as follows
Round 1 vs wild card or Toronto 75% confident we win
Round 2 vs Boston - I'm about 50% confident we win
Round 3 vs Metro winner- I'm about 40% confident we win if it's a pain in the ass team like New Jersey or if it's Pittsburgh. I'm confident in 50/50 if we play the Caps
Round 4 vs West winner - 65% sure we win it all because we've historically matched up very well against the West and depending on who we face it could be over in 5 and I really do think we can catch a lucky break this year unless it's Nashville or Winnipeg
It's not that I don't think we can win. It's that I'm not even sure we're making it out of the East.
Going all in helps the odds and if we don't win it this year it's fine. We don't have to panic. It just means we come back next year with a huge chip on our shoulder and WITH an improved defense.