February 14, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers are all over the rumour mill right now. Many fans want to see a huge trade like landing Erik Karlsson because they feel the team must win the Stanley Cup this year to prevent Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl from leaving town once their contracts expire. I wanted to see if big trade deadline deals correlate with winning Stanley Cups, so I looked back at every trade deadline in the salary cap era to find an answer.

The 2006 Stanley Cup Final featuring the Carolina Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers is one of two examples of a final where both teams were active with big trades at the deadline. The Hurricanes added Doug Weight and Mark Recchi; and the Oilers added Dwayne Roloson, Sergei Samsonov, Jaroslav Spacek, and Dick Tarnstrom prior to the deadline. The Oilers had swung big by trading for Chris Pronger and Michael Peca prior to that season. That gamble didn’t result in a Stanley Cup, for what it’s worth.

The other year where both finalists made the biggest deals at the trade deadline was 2014. The Los Angeles Kings pulled off a big deal by trading for Marian Gaborik. However, Martin St. Louis going to the New York Rangers for Ryan Callahan and Roberto Luongo going back to Florida were both bigger deals. St. Louis’s Rangers lost to Gaborik’s Kings in the finals that year.

The 2011 Boston Bruins made (arguably) the biggest deal of the 2010-11 season by adding Tomas Kaberle. They also added Chris Kelly and Rich Peverly, who were both important depth forwards for the Bruins. They lost Blake Wheeler in the Peverly deal, but they won their Cup so it was worth it (as many people would be led to believe).

The 2012 Los Angeles Kings added Jeff Carter at the trade deadline. Carter got 9 points in 16 games with LA that season and added 13 more in 18 playoff games. He was an impact player for the Kings in both of their Stanley Cup victories.

The 2006 Hurricanes, the 2011 Bruins, and the 2012 Kings have been the only three Stanley Cup winners in the salary cap era to make the biggest trades at the deadline and win it all in the same season. If you think that the Oilers trading for Karlsson will guarantee them a Cup win this season, then I have an oceanfront property in Saskatchewan to sell you.

Having said that, the 2007 Anaheim Ducks are the only Stanley Cup winner to not add anyone to their NHL roster at the trade deadline. Teams that win usually do SOMETHING at the deadline. Also, there have been several instances where a deadline acquisition would go on to help a team win a Stanley Cup in future seasons.

Related: Tarasenko Trade Makes Rangers True Contenders

Ken Holland traded for Todd Bertuzzi at the 2007 trade deadline, and the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in 2008. The Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Red Wings in the finals in 2008 after acquiring Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis before that deadline. They added Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin at the 2009 deadline and won the Cup. Kunitz and Guerin were impactful players for the Penguins, but they weren’t as splashy as Olli Jokinen going to Calgary that year.

Speaking of the 2009 deadline, Recchi was dealt once again, this time to Boston. He would help them to a Cup win in 2011. Justin Williams went to the Kings in the three-way trade that brought Patrick O’Sullivan to the Oilers. “Mr. Game Seven” won two Cups with the Kings.

The 2010 Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup with Kris Versteeg (2007 trade deadline) and Andrew Ladd (2008 trade deadline). The Blackhawks absolutely fleeced the Minnesota Wild at the 2010 deadline when they got Nick Leddy and Kim Johnsson for Cam Barker. They also added Nick Boynton at that deadline. They were busy, but they only added veteran defence depth. The biggest blockbuster that year was Ilya Kovalchuk being traded to the New Jersey Devils. They lost to the Kings in the 2012 final.

In 2013, the Blackhawks got Michal Handzus in a year where Jarome Iginla and Jaromir Jagr got traded at the deadline. That was also the year of the infamous Martin Erat for Filip Forsberg trade. Washington didn’t win then, and they gave up a top prospect that turned into an elite goal scorer. Jay Bouwmeester was moved to St. Louis in 2013. He would eventually win a Cup with St. Louis in 2019.

The Blackhawks were much busier in 2015 than they were in 2013. They added Antoine Vermette, Kimo Timonen, and Andrew Desjardins. Keith Yandle was the biggest name moved that season, and that didn’t help the Rangers win. Braydon Coburn was dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning that year, and he won a Cup with Tampa Bay in 2020.

The Penguins won back to back Cups in 2016 and 2017. They did some tweaking of their defence and complementary forwards that year, but the most impactful addition for them turned out to be Justin Schultz. That trade didn’t have the same weight as Dion Phaneuf being traded to Ottawa. The Penguins simply added two veteran defencemen in 2017 while other teams were adding Jarome Iginla, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Ben Bishop.

Related: The Awkward State of the Oilers Defence

The Washington Capitals did the same sort of thing in 2018. They added two bottom of the roster defencemen while other teams added guys like Evander Kane, Paul Stastny, and Rick Nash. The most impactful trade that year turned out to be Ryan McDonagh and JT Miller going to Tampa Bay. McDonagh won two Cups with Tampa Bay. Miller was traded to Vancouver for a first round pick, which was later traded to New Jersey for Blake Coleman at the 2020 deadline on their way to a Stanley Cup.

The St. Louis Blues were about to sell it all in 2019 before Jordan Binnington was recalled. Instead, they added Michael Del Zotto and won the Stanley Cup. The Vegas Golden Knights lost to the Capitals in the final in 2018 and added Mark Stone at the 2019 deadline. They haven’t been back to the final since then. The Columbus Blue Jackets took a huge swing at the 2019 deadline knowing that they were going to lose Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky that summer. They added Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel. Their “all in” strategy at the deadline got them to the second round, but no further.

It was the Tampa Bay Lightning’s turn to win back to back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021. They added third line depth in 2020 with Coleman and Barclay Goodrow while Pittsburgh missed with Jason Zucker and Edmonton really missed with Andreas Athanasiou. The Lightning opted for physical shutdown defenceman David Savard in 2021 while Boston traded for Taylor Hall and lost in round two.

The 2022 Colorado Avalanche added Josh Manson, Arturri Lehkonen, and Andrew Cogliano at the deadline. Those were impactful moves, but they didn’t generate as many headlines as Claude Giroux being traded to Florida. The Panthers won the President’s Trophy last year and went “all in” by trading for Giroux at the deadline. They lost in the second round.

It’s clear that teams that win Stanley Cups typically tinker with their depth positions and try to add experience at the trade deadline. It’s not often that going “all in” and adding the biggest name available leads to instant success though. That’s not to say that it can’t lead to success in future seasons; but making a big trade like a potential Erik Karlsson trade on the premise that the Edmonton Oilers must win this season would be flawed logic. Karlsson could help the Oilers win a Stanley Cup before his contract expires though.