How recent Stanley Cup champions found key additions at the deadline

We’re into the final days before the 2026 NHL trade deadline, the last chance for ambitious managers around the league to take some swings and bring in some potential game-changers before the campaign’s home stretch arrives.

It’s been fairly quiet on the trade market to this point, no flurry of moves in the weeks leading up to Friday’s cutoff. But the rumours have been swirling, some familiar veterans looking set to change jerseys — in his latest Trade Board, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos highlighted the likes of Robert Thomas, Elias Pettersson and Nazem Kadri. 

And as we’ve seen in recent years, the players acquired at this time of year can end up having a very real impact on a club’s Cup chances. More than a few times of late, a depth player plucked from the trade market has wound up being the missing piece for an eventual champion, has come up with a pivotal moment to help them win it all. As we approach another deadline, it’s worth revisiting that recent history to get a sense of what’s at stake here. 

Of course, there will be one key difference for this year’s Cup hopefuls and their deadline plans. Starting this post-season, teams will be required to dress lineups during the playoffs that comply with the league’s salary cap, closing a prior loophole that allowed teams to use long-term injured reserve to add talent at the deadline before ultimately dressing playoff lineups that exceeded the cap ceiling.

Three champions over the past half-decade benefitted from that loophole: the 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2023 Vegas Golden Knights, and the reigning champion Florida Panthers just last year. 

In 2021, star winger Nikita Kucherov missed the entire regular season while recovering from hip surgery. As the league’s LTIR rules allowed Tampa Bay to exceed the cap to the amount of Kucherov’s cap hit ($9.5 million), the Bolts were able to add at the deadline. Then, No. 86 returned for Game 1 of the playoffs. His club won the Cup with a playoff roster that amounted to more than $90 million, well over that year’s regular-season cap ceiling of $81.5 million.

In 2023, Vegas went down the same path, with veteran Mark Stone on LTIR as the deadline approached. The winger similarly returned for the post-season, and Golden Knights’ Cup-winning playoff roster sat just above that year’s $82.5-million ceiling. It was the same story for last year’s Panthers squad, who utilized Matthew Tkachuk’s LTIR status to make some adds of their own, saw him return for Game 1, and dressed a post-season lineup well over the league’s $88-million ceiling.

This time around, it won’t be so simple. Regardless of a team’s injury status in March, playoff participants will have to comply with the cap in April, May and June. By the end of this week, we’ll find out just how much that impacts the business teams are able to get done.

Before we get there, let’s look back at how the league’s recent champions utilized the deadline to fuel their Cup runs:

2025 Champion: Florida Panthers

Key deadline additions: Seth Jones, Brad Marchand

The reigning champs are as clear-cut an example as any in recent memory of just how much the deadline can swing things for a contender. The 2025 Cats made two additions ahead of the deadline and both wound up being crucial to their post-season run. GM Bill Zito first brought in Seth Jones from Chicago, acquiring the defender and a fourth-round pick in exchange for goalie Spencer Knight and a conditional first-round pick — Chicago also retained a portion of Jones’ salary, reducing his $9.5-million cap hit to a more manageable $7 million. Then the Cats brought in veteran Brad Marchand, acquiring the winger from Boston for a conditional second-round pick, with the Bruins retaining 50 per cent of his salary, too.

Both additions had an immense impact. Jones slotted in as a crucial piece of the club’s blue line, skating a team-leading 25 minutes per night to close out the regular season, and a team-leading 25:30 throughout the playoffs. Marchand, meanwhile, emerged as a pivotal offensive contributor during Florida’s run — forming a dangerous third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, No. 63 put up 10 goals (third-most on the team) and 20 points (sixth-most on the team) through 23 playoff appearances, while potting a team-leading three game-winning goals.

2024 Champion: Florida Panthers

Key deadline additions: Vladimir Tarasenko, Kyle Okposo

A year prior, the Cats didn’t make quite as hefty a deadline splash, but Zito still managed to bring in a couple talented veterans to bolster the forward corps. The club acquired veteran sniper Vladimir Tarasenko from Ottawa for a conditional fourth-round pick and a third-round pick, with the Senators agreeing to retain salary and reduce the winger’s cap hit. Florida also brought in Kyle Okposo from Buffalo, sending defender Calle Sjalin and a conditional seventh-round pick to the Sabres.

While Okposo didn’t necessarily wind up a crucial piece of the Cats’ run, collecting two assists through 17 playoff appearances, Tarasenko put up 14 points through 19 regular-season games down the stretch and added nine points through 25 playoff appearances. But it was in the East Final that the former St. Louis Blues standout truly made his impact, Tarasenko scoring the game-winner in Game 6 to book the Panthers’ ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.

2023 Champion: Vegas Golden Knights

Key deadline additions: Ivan Barbashev, Jonathan Quick, Teddy Blueger

The 2023 Knights, who were able to swing big because of Mark Stone’s LTIR status, ended up adding one crucial piece of their championship squad. Around the edges, Vegas brought in veteran netminder Jonathan Quick from Columbus in exchange for Michael Hutchinson and a seventh-round pick (with the Jackets retaining 50 per cent of Quick’s cap hit), and added depth pivot Teddy Blueger from Pittsburgh in exchange for blue-line prospect Peter DiLiberatore and a third-round pick. But the true game-changer was the acquisition of Ivan Barbashev, who joined the Golden Knights from St. Louis in exchange for forward prospect Zach Dean.

While Quick and Blueger weren’t central factors in the club’s Cup run, Barbashev wound up as one of the squad’s most important contributors. Forming an elite top line with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault (the latter of whom eventually claimed the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP), Barbashev put up 16 points through 23 games to close out the regular season, before potting seven goals and 18 points through 22 playoff appearances — both sums finishing in the top five among Vegas’ playoff scorers. 

2022 Champion: Colorado Avalanche

Key deadline additions: Artturi Lehkonen, Josh Manson, Andrew Cogliano, Nico Sturm

Another banner year for deadline adds, the 2022 Avs came up with a slew of campaign-altering moves at the deadline. Up front, the club acquired forward Artturi Lehkonen from Montreal in exchange for defenceman Justin Barron and a second-round pick; added Andrew Cogliano from San Jose for a fifth-round pick (with the Sharks retaining 50 per cent of the depth forward’s salary); and brought in Nico Sturm from Minnesota in exchange for Tyson Jost. On the back end, defenceman Josh Manson was acquired from Anaheim, the Avs sending defender Drew Helleson and a second-round pick to the Ducks.

Cogliano and Sturm chipped in as dutiful depth contributors for the club. Lehkonen and Manson, though, wound up as especially important additions for Nathan MacKinnon’s side. Manson slotted in as a solid top-four stalwart on Colorado’s blue-line, infusing a steady defence-first, physical presence into a back end brimming with offensive talent. On the other side of the sheet, Lehkonen became a clutch contributor for his new club — the winger posted eight goals and 14 points through 20 playoff appearances, and led the league with four game-winning goals during the post-season, too. The most important of those game winners: the one potted in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, to clinch the title for Colorado.

2021 Champion: Tampa Bay Lightning

Key deadline additions: David Savard

The 2021 Bolts — the third among these five teams who benefitted from the LTIR loophole — entered the deadline with seemingly limited options. After bringing in Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow at the 2020 deadline en route to the first of the Lightning’s back-to-back Cups, Tampa headed into the 2021 deadline with seemingly little room to operate. Alongside some smaller deals, Kucherov’s LTIR situation allowed the Bolts to make one key add — the club brought in veteran defender David Savard from Columbus in a three-team swap that saw the Blue Jackets receive a first-round and third-round pick, and Detroit receive a fourth-rounder as well. Some cap gymnastics allowed the Lightning to get Savard at 25 per cent of his usual cap hit, with both Columbus and Detroit retaining salary on the blue-liner.

Brought in because he seemed built for the grind of post-season hockey — a big, tough, defence-first veteran — Savard’s transition was somewhat rocky. He played all of Round 1 against Florida, only a pair of games in Round 2 against Carolina, before returning for all of Round 3 against the New York Islanders and the Cup Final against Montreal. Still, he managed to come up with a crucial moment on the post-season stage — in Tampa Bay’s final game of the campaign, with the championship on the line, the defender set up Ross Colton for the only goal in a hard-fought, 1-0 Game 5 win, clinching the Bolts’ first title in 16 years.