Ranking the NHL Trade Deadline additions that could make the biggest impact this season

There were not a lot of big names that moved during the 2025-26 NHL Trade Deadline but there are still some players that could impact the remainder of the season and playoffs.

The 2025-26 NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and for the most part it was a total snooze fest when it came to major deals. That is also fairly common in recent years. We get weeks and months of rumors, speculation and hype, subtle hints about shockingly big names being available, and then it is usually just expected names and pending free agents that get dealt.

I wrote a few breakdowns of the deadline deals at my various other jobs. Check some of them out.

• Winners, losers from 2026 NHL Trade Deadline [Yardbarker]

• Report cards for all 32 NHL teams at 2025-26 NHL Trade Deadline [Bleacher Report]

Now I am going to take a different look at some of the moves and rank the trade deadline additions that could have the biggest impact for the remainder of the season.

This only involves players that were moved in the week leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline.

1. Nazem Kadri, Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche were already one of the best teams in hockey, and getting Kadri could be the type of move that puts them over the top.

Whether he plays in a second-line role or third-line role is mostly irrelevant. The important thing for the Avalanche is they now go three-deep down the middle and can run out a trio of centers that includes Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson and Kadri.

That is, quite simply, a championship-level group.

MacKinnon is a potential MVP this year.

Nelson is having an outstanding two-way season that already includes 30 goals and Selke-caliber shutdown play defensively.

Now you add in a two-way player like Kadri into that mix and I am not sure there is a team in the Western Conference, or the NHL for that matter, that can match it.

Colorado’s depth has already been outstanding this season, and when neither MacKinnon or Nelson has been on the ice during 5-on-5 play they have still outscored teams by a 48-36 margin and had a massive scoring chance and territorial edge. Just a dominant team from top-to-bottom. Kadri just makes it that much better.

Even Minnesota and Dallas, the two other top contenders in the Western Conference, are not that deep down the middle.

Between last year’s trade for Nelson, and this year’s moves for Kadri and Nicolas Roy, Colorado has pretty much depleted all of its major draft pick assets over a three-or-four year stretch. But this is what a team in its championship window should be doing. Those late first-round picks have far more value to them as trade chips than they do as actual picks. Cash them in for immediate help and go for it. Banners hang forever.

2. John Carlson, Anaheim Ducks

This was probably the one trade that came out of nowhere and delivered a real WOW factor with it.

Carlson is arguably the best defenseman in Washington Capitals history, but with the team starting to slip out of playoff contention, and with him being an unrestricted free agent after this season, they made the decision to move him to the Anaheim Ducks for first-and third-round picks.