LeBrun: How the NHL trade deadline was won — inside 4 teams’ approaches

Winning the trade deadline is not a guarantee of anything in the NHL.

Not with the randomness of the Stanley Cup playoffs in the most parity-filled era in the history of the sport.

The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs were among the busier teams a year ago ahead of the deadline. I liked their all-in approaches at the time. Both teams were knocked out by the No. 8 Florida Panthers, the one playoff team that did nothing at the deadline. Go figure.

The eventual Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights added a key piece in Ivan Barbashev at last year’s deadline, and it proved to be probably the cleverest add of the deadline (they also added Teddy Blueger). But looking back, Vegas was not seen by most as having “won” the deadline 12 months ago.

Again, being busy at the deadline doesn’t always translate.

But it can. The Colorado Avalanche two years ago were busy pre-deadline, and those pieces — Artturi Lehkonen (series-clinching goal in the conference final and Stanley Cup Final), Andrew Cogliano, Nico Sturm and Josh Manson — all fit in nicely en route to a champagne-soaked night in June.

That brings us to this year’s trade deadline and four teams attacking it with sizzling results: the Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes, Winnipeg Jets and Avalanche. Gold medals all around.

The NHL’s 2024 trade deadline has come and gone, bringing disappointment to some fan bases, excitement to others, and sheer shock to the whole hockey world.

How did your team do?

Our writers have scores for all 32 squads ⤵️https://t.co/pH78h1Bvvk

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 9, 2024

Silver medals go to the Panthers and Dallas Stars, who didn’t need to add a lot but found the key pieces they needed. Florida filled a top-six spot with Vladimir Tarasenko and got him for a low price courtesy of his one-team wish list and a culture that has made it a popular destination. The Friday add of high-character veteran Kyle Okposo by general manager Bill Zito was a nice touch, too. The Panthers were already the best team in the Eastern Conference, in my books. Zito didn’t need to do more than he did, particularly being cognizant of not messing with a tight-knit dressing room.

Veteran Stars GM Jim Nill beat out heavy competition for Chris Tanev, the right-shot, top-four add his team was after, and he didn’t have to give up a first-round pick. Dallas is deep up front, and there was no reason to mess with things further.

Back to our four gold medalists. Let’s hear a bit more about how their deadlines went down.

Hurricanes

Most fascinating to me about the chase for Jake Guentzel is that Hurricanes president and GM Don Waddell waited until Wednesday morning to meaningfully engage in the sweepstakes. The Canes let it play out for a bit before getting into the proceedings with Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas.

“The past couple of weeks, I had talked to Kyle — just like I do with all the other general managers — just to see what he was up to,” Waddell told The Athletic on Saturday. “He said he wouldn’t be doing anything until or if they got to a point — and, I mean, they still have a chance — but where maybe it looked like they might not make it (to the playoffs) and that it might be smart to move Guentzel.

“That was the week before, and I let it go. And then things started to come out (reports of teams talking of a trade with Pittsburgh). So I called him Wednesday morning and said, ‘You know, we would have interest.’ And Kyle said he’s not as interested in draft picks as he is in prospects, and he knows we have a slew of prospects. He asked me if I would put a list together and get involved.”

When Waddell mentioned seeing other reports, he was likely referring to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston’s report Tuesday that the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh were talking about a potential three-team deal involving Guentzel going to the Canucks, Elias Lindholm to the Bruins and a package to the Penguins.

Then there were reports of the New York Rangers charging hard Thursday while the Panthers were lurking, though I don’t think they were ever that deep into it, other than making sure they stayed in touch with Pittsburgh in case the market cratered and they could pounce at a reduced rate.

“Thursday it started to heat up a little bit more,” Waddell said of his talks with Dubas. “Like any great player, (Dubas was) trying to get as much as he can. We had to add a few things in there. By Thursday night, we were able to come to a deal.”

But not before some nervous moments during the day, when Waddell went a few hours without hearing from Dubas.

“I put the shoe on the other foot: If I’m sitting in Kyle’s spot, I’ve got to try to maximize his value,” Waddell said. “When there’s multiple teams involved, that’s how you have to do it. So we went three, four hours (Thursday) without hearing anything. I knew that was the process. It didn’t do me any good to try and hound Kyle down. It’s…