The wheeling and dealing of the 2024 NHL trade deadline permeated into the New York metropolitan area — two-thirds of it, at least.
As sellers, the New Jersey Devils began taking away parts of a team that has been one of the NHL’s most disappointing sides this year after finishing second in the Metropolitan Division last season.
Across the Hudson, the Rangers made a few tweaks to areas of need in hopes of cementing a push for a deep playoff run. A little further out east, the Islanders decided to stand pat amidst a hot streak that has resurrected their playoff hopes.
Here is how we graded the moves of each local team:
New Jersey Devils: C-
The Devils needed legitimate goaltending all season but waited until it was much too late to pull off a pair of moves — acquiring Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen. They already fired head coach Lindy Ruff and traded Tyler Toffoli to Winnipeg on deadline day as a result of being in sixth place out of eight teams in the Metropolitan Division.
New York Rangers: B-
They addressed one of their biggest needs on the third line by acquiring Alex Wennberg from the Seattle Kraken to fill the void left by the season-ending injury of Filip Chytil. Jack Roslovic will also provide some forward depth amongst the bottom six.
With Jacob Trouba out for two to three weeks, general manager Chris Drury did well to get another blueliner in veteran Chad Ruhwedel. But the Rangers could have used another top-line wing option to line up alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. They were linked to the likes of Jake Guentzel, who was shipped from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Carolina Hurricanes, but the prices were apparently too high — as there was a clear unwillingness to part with the likes of Kaapo Kakko or their top prospects.
New York Islanders: C+
The Islanders stood pat at the trade deadline, which became more and more understandable with every win they stacked on top of each other.
After a five-game win streak, they’re two points out of a wild-card spot with two games at hand on the Tampa Bay Lightning. They are also four points out of third place in the Metropolitan Division.
This feels like the last go for major portions of the team’s foundation if they don’t see this turnaround through, which is why Lou Lamoriello likely didn’t dip into his very slim pool of draft capital and prospects to try and get a little more scoring depth or another defenseman with Scott Mayfield on LTIR.
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