The Strong Teams Got Stronger At The 2025 NHL Trade Deadline

Just six weeks after he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, Mikko Rantanen will now be a member of the Dallas Stars for years to come. That’s the biggest, most shocking deal that went down ahead of the 2025 NHL trade deadline on Friday, Mar. 7 at 3 p.m. ET.

On Friday, Rantanen spoke with host James Duthie on TSN’s TradeCentre broadcast, talking about his decision to pursue another trade and a long-term contract extension with Dallas.

The details are now official. Per the Stars, they’ve sent a package to the Hurricanes includes two conditional first-round draft picks, two third-round picks and rookie forward Logan Stankoven. The contract is an eight-year deal that will carry a cap hit of $12 million per season.

Interestingly, that number would be lower than the deal that the Hurricanes offered, which was believed to be eight years at $12.5 million. But Rantanen’s cash-in-pocket improves because there is no state tax in Dallas.

As a Star, he will also join a number of his Finnish teammates from February’s 4 Nations Face-Off: center Roope Hintz, defenseman Esa Lindell and forward Mikael Granlund, who has seven points in 11 games since coming to the Stars in a trade with the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 1. SFinnish defenseman Miro Heiskanen is also part of Dallas’s roster but has been sidelined since late January following knee surgery.

Heiskanen was placed on long-term injured reserve on Friday and is not expected to return until after the playoffs begin in mid-April. Veteran forward Tyler Seguin has also been out since December following hip surgery. He has reportedly been skating and could return sooner.

2025 NHL Trade Deadline: Western Conference

The Stars want to ensure that they’re still playing when Heiskanen is ready to return. And while they’ve been the top team in the NHL since Jan. 1 with a record of 19-6-1 and a league-leading 3.69 goals per game, other top Western Conference teams were also aggressive in strengthening their rosters ahead of the deadline.

The Winnipeg Jets currently lead the Western Conference with 90 points, six more than Dallas. Thanks to two-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, the Jets have allowed the fewest goals in the league. On Friday, they bolstered their lineup by bringing back veteran energy forward Brandon Tanev, and adding veteran depth defenseman Luke Schenn.

After reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last year, the Edmonton Oilers bolstered their lineup with the addition of puck-moving defenseman Jake Walman and physical depth forward Trent Frederic, who is currently injured. They also signed free-agent defenseman John Klingberg in mid-January. The Oilers have struggled to find their form after the 4 Nations tournament, with a record of 2-5-0 in their last seven games.

Other than Dallas, the Western team that made the most noise was Rantanen’s old squad, the Colorado Avalanche. The 2022 Stanley Cup champions have seen great returns from Rantanen’s replacement Martin Necas, who has 15 points in 14 games with his new team. This week, the Avs acquired arguably the top rental center on the market, Brock Nelson, and further boosted their depth in the middle by adding Charlie Coyle from the Boston Bruins. On the back end, they acquired rental defenseman Ryan Lindgren and brought back veteran Erik Johnson.

Remarkably, the Vegas Golden Knights stayed quiet on deadline day. Known for their bold, out-of-nowhere trades, the only deal consummated by the top team in the Pacific Division was the re-acquisition of original Golden Misfit Reilly Smith from the New York Rangers on Thursday.

2025 NHL Trade Deadline: Eastern Conference

In the East, the tone was set by the two Sunshine State squads who have won three of the last six Stanley Cups.

The most shocking move by the defending champion Florida Panthers may have been their late acquisition of Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand for what’s reportedly a second-round pick that could upgrade to a first. A life-long Bruin who’s currently listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, Marchand was headed toward unrestricted free agency with his 37th birthday on the horizon in May, and had an eight-team no-trade list.

The Bruins’ playoff prospects have looked bleak for months, but it’s still a shock to see Marchand dealt to the division rival that ousted them in their last two playoff years.

The Panthers also made a bold move on Mar. 1, shoring up their defense with the acquisition of Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks. They also brought in goaltenders Vitek Vanecek and Kaapo Kahkonen to back up Sergei Bobrovsky.

Over in Tampa Bay, never-shy GM Julien BriseBois gave arguably the quote of deadline season when he explained why he gave up a package that included two first-round picks in a trade with the Seattle Kraken that brought in former Lightning center Yanni Gourde and winger Oliver Bjorkstrand.

“I’d rather have a lineup full of good players than a bank of a ton of draft picks,” he said Wednesday. “Because I think ultimately, what we’re trying to do is win hockey games. We want to win a lot of hockey games this season, next season, every season. We’re chasing a championship now this season, but we’re going to be chasing a championship next season and for the foreseeable future … So, if I can use those picks to help me accomplish those objectives of winning as many hockey games as possible and chasing championships, I think that’s my job to go ahead and get those transactions done and acquire those players.”

Wedged between the Panthers and the Lightning in the Atlantic Division standings, and with a well-balanced team that looks more suited to playoff success than we’ve seen in the past, the Toronto Maple Leafs were aggressive on Friday in an effort to keep up with their rivals.

When the dust had settled, the Leafs had acquired reliable center Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers for a package that included a first-round pick and prospect Nikita Grebenkin. They also picked up right-shot defenseman Brandon Carlo from Boston for a reported first-rounder and a high-end prospect, foward Fraser Minten. Those are high prices, but necessary to try to get out of a good division that got even tougher over the last week.

It always takes time for the long list of deadline deals to be fully approved and finalized, so more details could still emerge in the hours to come. But as teams turn their minds toward a six-game NHL slate on Friday night and 10 more games on Saturday, the main roster moves ahead of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs are now complete.

As the star of the 2025 NHL trade deadline, Rantanen is expected to make his debut with Dallas against the Oilers at Rogers Place on Saturday (10 p.m. ET).