Winners : think Colorado and Carolina best addressed their needs. The two top end clubs with the beefiest analytic departments and that put the most trust in them.
Vegas went big and I respect the mindset but that's a whole lot of question marks they got to put together in a very short time. Takes more than talent alone to win a Stanley Cup, that talent all needs to pulling on the same rope at the same time with the same goal. And even then sometimes it comes down to a bounce off some guys shinpads for a late goal in a game 7. Lot of health questions.
Losers : Edmonton and Toronto, I dunno it's not really that they didn't make a huge splash or anything. Maybe their GMs think their teams are good enough to just make tertiary depth moves. Maybe they've put themselves in such a bind cap wise they really didn't have much choice. But looking at their rosters I think both needed a top 4 D upgrade and at least one more reliable goalie. McDavid and Matthews are finite assets, shit doesn't go on forever. Not sure keeping a lot of powder dry when there's so much pressure on their teams to win was the correct choice.
Ultimately I don't think you can win a cup on deadline day and that the impact of these moves are usually overstated anyway.
I keep hearing from HFboards that Toronto has ‘pressure’ to win, where does this come from?
The pressure to win is gone, it was there but it took a huge hit and almost disappeared after the Montreal series. That’s when leaf fans (the ones who understand hockey at least) realized that there needed to be huge changes to the team to win.
The pressure was totally off as soon as Dubas was fired (or not resigned, whatever).
This is an assessment year, and decisions on the roster and coaching staff will be made in the off season.
The leafs aren’t in win now mode right now, they are gearing up for a retool
It was literally a joke, implying that Stone will be back for game 1 of the playoffs, fit as a fiddle, and thanks to his LTIR sacrifice just in time for trade deadline, his team will be significantly better in the playoffs than they otherwise would be.
You know, just like the last 2 years.
Ya man, I know. I’m in in the joke, read what I wrote again with that in mind