The NHL Trade Deadline has passed, and the arms race is complete. After assessing all the upgrades made league-wide…Who is your updated Stanley Cup pick, post deadline?
Here’s what our Daily Faceoff Roundtable has to say:
MATT LARKIN: It almost feels forced to say anyone other than the Dallas Stars. Not only did they secure a Hall-of-Fame-level talent in Mikko Rantanen, but they also locked him up for the next eight years, keeping their win-now window cranked open for years to come. The Stars have already been a final-four team two years running, and adding Rantanen to that forward group makes them the clear class of the West – and perhaps the entire NHL – following the deadline. It hurts to lose Logan Stankoven, but Rantanen was worth pretty much any price with the extension factored in.
STEVEN ELLIS: My pre-season pick was the Dallas Stars, and I’m sticking with it. You have an elite goaltender, solid defense and now the scariest top nine of any team in the league. Adding Rantanen was absolutely huge, and while they’ll miss Stankoven in the long run, getting Rantanen signed long-term was massive. Also, with Matt Duchene looking like the odd-man-out in the summer, he’ll be extra motivated to go all-in. Dallas, you’ve build a powerhouse – don’t let it go to waste.
SCOTT MAXWELL: I’m tempted to go with the Stars after acquiring Mikko Rantanen to join their already loaded forward depth group, but I still don’t love their defense core enough, especially if Miro Heiskanen’s injury slows him down this season. On top of that, they have a lot of good teams to go through to get to the Stanley Cup Final. My pick is the Florida Panthers. They were probably my Stanley Cup favourite going into the trade deadline, considering that their underlying numbers were excellent at both ends of the ice, and while some teams made bigger additions, I believe that they maintained their lead with their additions of Seth Jones and Brad Marchand. Neither player are what they used to be, but Marchand fits the team build of annoying to play against to perfection, and Jones is a perfect replacement for Brandon Montour, especially on their power play. On top of that, it doesn’t feel like any team close to them in the East got just as much better than the Panthers. They’ve been firing on all cylinders lately, and now they’re even more built for the playoffs and will be frustrating for any team to play against.
PAUL PIDUTTI: Whoa, a lot of love for Dallas right now! I’m headed East with my updated Cup choice, specifically to Tampa Bay. They were relegated to fringe contenders the last few seasons, but it’s hard not to be scared of Julien BriseBois’ latest version. Winners of 10 of their last 11 games, the Lightning went from having a deadly top-six to a deadly top-nine with the acquisitions of Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde. The longtime core of Andrei Vasilevskiy, Nikita Kucherov, and Victor Hedman are energized and performing at a high level. The shrewd choice of bringing in Jake Guentzel over captain Steven Stamkos continues to pay dividends. Potentially dealing with Toronto and Florida in the first two rounds is no picnic, but the red-hot Bolts are still in the mix to win the division and earn an easier Round 1 opponent. It’s easy to love Tampa’s chances down the stretch and into the post-season right now.
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