The old saying is that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. Well, The NHL’s 2025-26 Trade Season just about did the same, just over a longer period of time than one month. 

Artemi Panarin and Quinn Hughes were the big names dealt a couple months before the deadline and then, once the deadline was actually upon everyone, it passed with nothing more than a light breeze. 

The Washington Capitals sent longtime franchise defenseman John Carlson to the Anaheim Ducks late Thursday night, receiving a 2026 conditional first-round draft pick and a 2027 third-round draft pick in return. That move caught a lot of people by surprise, including Carlson, Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin. 

MacKenzie Weegar went to the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday, with the Calgary Flames getting five pieces (Olli Maatta, forward prospect Jonathan Castagna and three 2026 second-round picks) in return. 

Vincent Trocheck didn’t leave the New York Rangers after nobody wanted to meet GM Chris Drury’s asking price. 

The New York Islanders made a splash roughly 30 minutes before the deadline when they acquired Brayden Schenn from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a first-rounder, a third-rounder and a prospect. According to NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner, Jonathan Drouin is also going to St. Louis in the deal.

Speaking of St. Louis, Justin Faulk was shipped to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Justin Holl, a 2026 first rounder, a 2026 third rounder and Dmitri Buchelnikov. Colton Parayko almost became a former Blue, but he invoked his No-Trade Clause to nix a deal with the Buffalo Sabres. 

And coming in after the deadline (league sources say this move made it into the queue in time), the Calgary Flames have sent Nazem Kadri back to the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs also got a 2027 4th rounder and the Flames got two conditional picks, Victor Olofsson, Max Curran and 20% retention on the Kadri contract.

That was all the “Main Event” moves that were consummated, with plenty of Undercard transactions ruling the day. And as of the writing of this article, according to PuckPedia, there were approximately 34 trades made in total. 

Notably, one team that was expected to be in the thick of things, the New Jersey Devils, did not make any moves. GM Tom Fitzgerald spoke to the media roughly 10 minutes after the deadline and revealed the following…

On whether or not he felt the deadline went as expected: 

“Well, I thought it was gonna be very quiet from the get-go. When you’re talking about trying to make hockey trades, swapping out some young players for maybe more established players or similar ilk as some of the young players, I really thought there could be some traction with teams. But I guess there was just a sense of just a lot of tire-kicking with people and so expect this, kind of, but it wasn’t without effort of trying to see if there was some sort of hockey trade that we could make to help our team.”

On if he was surprised by the lack of movement: 

“I just think and believe that there are teams that are in playoff spots that probably, they would admit, that they didn’t think they’d get there this quick. And there are other teams that, unfortunately aren’t, like us. But still believe in this group and don’t wanna blow the whole thing up. So I just think there was a lot of teams not willing to move pieces because they’re in a playoff spot, or teams didn’t wanna move pieces being out of a playoff spot, but because they believe in those players and wanna give it another go. That’s kind of how I read the whole situation.”

On whether the new CBA rules regarding the playoff salary cap and no more double retention on contracts caused some of the lack of movement: 

“I think it affected it a lot. ‘Cause you’d see a lot of double retentions, right? Moving forward, teams would’ve made more moves, I think, if prices were split in half twice. So I do think that had something to do with it and I think it was obvious by looking at the past and how many double retentions there have been versus this year.”

On whether or not he got close to trading Dougie Hamilton: 

“No, honestly, I did not have Dougie Hamilton’s name out there. Did I get calls from a couple teams assuming that I had Dougie’s name out there? Yeah. But Dougie’s played extremely well for us and he’s a really good player. When we’re playing well, he’s usually playing well and that’s what we expect from him. There was no shopping or putting him out there on the market to see; I didn’t do that. I was in line with his representation. They knew exactly what I wanted to do. I want him to keep playing well for us. There was more noise out there than there actually was.”

On his approach to the deadline, knowing how good the Devils can be versus where they currently are in the standings: 

“Going back, probably two weeks ago, it was evident to me, and my recommendation to ownership was to not go out and spend futures on rentals. Could there be hockey trades to be made? We’ve got some good assets. You poke around with teams, you know what’s out there, everybody’s transparent with one another and who’s available and who’s not. What could get you into a game to make a trade? My focus was purely on the future of this organization moving forward and trying to add to the current group, that a player or two could grow with this group. So, that was my focus, but nothing materialized.”

On if he expects to be back as Devils’ GM next season:

“I sure do. When we talk about the future of Nico Hischier’s contract and what that’s gonna look like, some pieces that possibly could be available down the road, David Blitzer and I are in sync.”

Fitzgerald addressed a number of other topics, but, for the most part, the message is the same. He believes in this team. He wanted to try to make a “hockey trade,” but none materialized. He fully expects to be back and he knows there is work to be done. 

Well, there’s also work to be done around the entire league with the playoffs roughly six weeks away and so much still to be determined. But, for now, trade season is done and that’s a wrap.