Winners and Losers of the NHL Trade Deadline

The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, where playoff contenders have added pieces to make a deep run, rebuilding squads accumulated assets, and teams in need of a move were idle.

Now, analysts, pundits, and fans will make their evaluations on each franchise's performance on the big day. And that's exactly what we're here to do.

Here are the winners and losers of the NHL Trade Deadline.

6. Losers: Minnesota Wild

There's nothing worse than a professional sports franchise rebuilding on the fly. That's what the Minnesota Wild have done. The team already traded Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins, so many thought they'd deal their stars for assets. Instead, they kept Mikko Koivu (by his choice), were unable to flip defenseman Matt Dumba, and trade talks with the New York Islanders regarding Zach Parise died after news leaked across social media. The Wild sit well out of a playoff spot, and instead of accumulating prospects and draft picks, they opted to keep the roster as is. That's not the right move.

5. Winners: Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers shocked the hockey world this season by emerging as a contender out of the Pacific division. With their rivals creeping up the standings, the Oilers bolstered their lineup by acquiring defenseman Mike Green and winger Andreas Athanasiou from the Detroit Red Wings. Green is a quality player at the blue line, while Athanasiou is the speedy winger that star center Connor McDavid has been dreaming of playing with. The Oilers are no longer the joke of the NHL because they can make some noise this spring.

4. Losers: New York Rangers

At first, it seemed like the New York Rangers won the day by signing winger Chris Kreider to a seven-year contract extension. Those high hopes were dashed just minutes later, as team president John Davidson revealed that prodigy goaltender Igor Shesterkin and winger Pavel Buchnevich were involved in a car accident on Sunday night. Now, Shesterkin, who's played a huge role in the team's rise up the standings, will be out for a month with a broken rib. As a result, the Rangers had no choice but to hold onto Henrik Lundqvist, who would've received some attention for goaltender-needy teams. Those hopes were dashed due to an unfortunate incident.

3. Winners: Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators were in desperate need of a rebuild. After shipping out star defenseman Erik Karlsson for dimes on the dollar, the Senators totally redeemed themselves by trading Jean-Gabriel Pageau for a package of draft picks. Now, the Senators add conditional 2020 first round, 2020 second round, and 2022 third-round selections to their credit. As a result, the Senators now have three first-round picks in the upcoming NHL Draft. That's a huge win for the Sens, as they just expedited their rebuild.

2. Losers: Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche needed to make a move to put them over the edge at the deadline. They did the exact opposite. With Mikko Rantanen and Nazem Kadri out of action for a number of weeks, the Avs replaced them with bottom-line forward Vladimir Namestnikov. Additionally, the team needed to make a move for a goaltender with Philipp Grubauer out with injury. Instead, they stood pat and watched the Vegas Golden Knights steal Robin Lehner of the Chicago Blackhawks out from under their noses. All they have to show for it is acquiring Michael Hutchinson from the Toronto Maple Leafs. That ain't it, solidifying the bad day for the Avs.

1. Winners: New York Islanders

With the Rangers retaining Chris Kreider, the next best forward available was center Jean-Gabriel Pageau of the Ottawa Senators. The New York Islanders sent a bevy of draft picks for a player that was supposed to be a rental, or so we thought. General manager Lou Lamoriello successfully signed Pageau to a six-year contract extension. Now, the Islanders have a face-off winning, penalty-killing magician to make a push for the Stanley Cup. The Isles are the biggest winners of the day.