Playoff teams additions at the deadline

*Photo from the Detroit News*

   Another NHL trade deadline has come and go, and quite a lot of moves were made. I can't really write about all of them, but I figured I would write about the teams in the playoff picture and the improvements they made, division by division. 

*Photo from The Athletic*

East Division

The East is one of the more loaded divisions, with the top 3 teams separated by just a couple points, with the Bruins hanging back by a few. The Capitals added Anthony Mantha and Michael Raffl, improving their scoring to make them one of the better offensive teams in the league. The Islanders made the splash for Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac earlier in the week, and also acquired defensemen Braydon Coburn. The Penguins got Jeff Carter, while the Bruins added Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, and Mike Reilly. 

*Photo from the Toronto Star*

Central Division

The Carolina Hurricanes did nothing, but the other teams in playoff position did. The Lightning added David Savard for the defense, the Nashville Predators acquired Erik Gudbranson for their defense, in addition to keeping Mattias Ekholm. The Florida Panthers were the big buyers in the Central, landing Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour through trades, and signed Nikita Gusev after his contract was terminated. 

*Photo from the Chicago Blackhawks Twitter*

West Division

The West was mostly quiet. The Minnesota Wild and St.Louis Blues had quiet deadlines, not buying or selling much of anything. The Vegas Golden Knights got middle 6 help with an acquisition of Mattias Janmark. The Avalanche added a few pieces, with goalie Devan Dubnyk, defensemen Patrik Nemeth, and center Carl Soderberg.

*Photo from The Athletic*

North Division

Like the West, the North was mostly quiet during the deadline. The Jets added a depth defensemen in Jordie Benn from the Canucks, and that was it for them. The Maple Leafs were the big story, as they added more pieces to become the clear cut favorites in the North. David Rittich was added to the goalie picture with Frederik Andersen's status unknown, Ben Hutton was added as defense help, and Nick Foligno was added to the middle 6.