Ranking the top trade deadline pickups still playing in Stanley Cup Playoffs
Mikko Rantanen is not the only new guy still doing great things in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as Ryan Dixon provides his ranking of the eight best deadline acquisitions.
In extremely rare cases, trade deadline pickups can alter a team’s fortunes — not just for a single spring, but for years to come. And, given the way he’s played in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it’s easy to believe Mikko Rantanen will be the next name to join the short list of players who’ve done it.
After beginning the playoffs with a single assist in four games, Rantanen has been a beast for the Dallas Stars, notching 18 points in his past seven outings. Overall, he leads the league in points (19) and goals (nine).
‘Moose’ has lowered his antlers and ripped through the post-season.
Obviously, Rantanen and the Stars have some work to do — they’re still nine wins from their ultimate goal — before we can mention him with the all-time deadline pickups. Still, it’s worth flagging a couple of names of players who made big-time contributions over multiple years after being late-season acquisitions.
Butch Goring remains the go-to example of a player who landed in a new spot and pushed that team over the top. Of course, once he helped get the New York Islanders up the mountain, they stayed there for quite a while.
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The Isles got Goring from the L.A. Kings on March 10, 1980 when he was 30 years old. That spring, the two-way centre helped New York — which had a great young corps that had lost out before the Cup final in five straight springs — get over the hump with 19 points in 21 games. The next year, Goring’s 20 points in 18 games helped the Islanders repeat as champions and earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy. New York, of course, wound up winning four consecutive titles and — from the underappreciated-records file — 19 straight playoff series with Goring in the lineup.
From both an instant and long-term impact perspective, it’s hard to see anybody challenging that legacy.
That said, Ron Francis — like Rantanen — was a truly elite player who changed teams at the deadline and impacted his new club’s fortunes for a nearly 10-year period. Francis was dealt from Hartford to Pittsburgh three days after his 28th birthday on March 4, 1991. The Pens won the first of back-to-back Cups four months later and Francis recorded 100 points in 97 career playoff games with Pittsburgh from 1991 to 1998.
At the start of the next decade, the Colorado Avalanche were in search of a follow-up Cup to pair with their 1996 triumph. One year after dealing for legendary Bruin Ray Bourque at the deadline, the Avs went out and got 31-year-old Rob Blake from Los Angeles on Feb. 21, 2001. Blake wound up leading all defencemen in scoring that spring with 19 points in 23 games and played an absolutely staggering team-high 29:26 per night for Colorado. The Avs defeated the New Jersey Devils in seven games to capture the team’s second title and get that career-closing ring for Bourque.
The next season, Blake finished third in Norris voting and helped Colorado get all the way back to Game 7 of the Western Conference final, where the Avs ultimately fell to Detroit. In all, Blake played 68 career post-season contests with the Avalanche, recording 43 points and seeing an average of just over 27 minutes per game.
We’ll have to see if the 28-year-old Rantanen — who inked an eight-year extension on deadline day that will make Dallas home for a long time — wins a Cup in his first go with a new team the way Goring, Francis and Blake did. It’s worth nothing, however, that unlike any of those three guys, Rantanen landed with a championship pedigree on his resume thanks to a 2022 title in Colorado.
Given all the above, it will come as no surprise Rantanen tops our list of the best 2025 deadline pickups by teams still competing for the Cup in Round 2. He’s not the only new guy doing great things in the playoffs, though, and our ranking of the eight best deadline acquisitions will illustrate that point.
1. Mikko Rantanen, Dallas Stars
What’s left to say? Rantanen has been everything the Stars could have hoped for and more, recording back-to-back hat tricks in Game 7 of their decisive win over the Colorado Avalanche in Round 1 and Game 1 of their second-round matchup with the Jets. The big winger has recorded three-or-more points in five of Dallas’ past seven games.
His team is one win from the Western Conference final and he’s putting together a spring for the ages.
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2. Seth Jones, Florida Panthers
Remember, Florida has played four playoff games without Aaron Ekblad due to a pair of different suspensions. Jones has stepped into the breach in a big way, averaging nearly three minutes more of ice time per night (26:18) than any other Panther. Jones has also buried a couple goals, including the game-winner in a critical Game 4 victory over Tampa Bay in Round 1.
3. Brad Marchand, Florida Panthers
How is it that a guy who appeared destined to be a career Bruin already seems like he was born to play for the Panthers? Marchand started to heat up toward the end of Round 1 and his productive play spilled into the second-round tilt with Toronto. Marchand is tied for the team scoring lead with eight points in nine outings and his Game 3 overtime winner versus the Leafs was a season-saver for the Cats.
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4. Cody Ceci, Dallas Stars
The Stars acquired Ceci on Feb. 1, just days after stud D-man Miro Heiskanen went out of the lineup to have knee surgery. At the time, Dallas didn’t know precisely how long Heiskanen would be sidelined and, as it happens, Tuesday night’s win over Winnipeg was his first game back since the procedure.
While it might be a stretch to say Dallas wouldn’t have survived Round 1 without Ceci, the big blue-liner played an important role on the club while Heiskanen was out. In the 10 post-season games Heiskanen missed, Ceci played 22:54 per night. Only Thomas Harley (27:11) and Esa Lindell (25:00) saw more ice for the Stars.
Ceci, who went to the Cup final with Edmonton last spring, has also kicked in three assists.
5. Taylor Hall, Carolina Hurricanes
Hall has been picking up steam, scoring the game-winner for Carolina in its Game 4 victory over Washington and grabbing three points in his past two outings. The Hurricanes need production up and down the lineup to survive and Hall has a respectable six points in nine contests this spring.
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6. Mikael Granlund, Dallas Stars
Meet the man who, 24 hours ago, probably would not make this list. A hat trick, however, can change the conversation around you in a hurry and Granlund’s three-goal game on Tuesday night propelled Dallas to a 3-1 series lead on the Jets.
While Granlund only had a single goal before his Game 4 outburst, he’s a dependable middle-six contributor who can play whatever game the night calls for.
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7. Brandon Carlo, Toronto Maple Leafs
It was understood, when Carlo landed with the Leafs, that he didn’t exactly bring a “wow” factor. The name of the game for the big, right-shot defenceman is playing a steady brand of hockey and — even if four other Leafs blue-liners are averaging more ice time — Carlo has provided that. It’s also worth noting his playing partner, Morgan Rielly, is having a strong spring and you have to think playing beside the reliable Carlo has helped the former excel.
8. Logan Stankoven, Carolina Hurricanes
What better way to bookend this list than with two guys who were traded for each other? Carolina, of course, originally hoped Rantanen would be doing for the Canes what he’s doing for the Stars when it originally acquired him from Colorado in January. When it became clear a long-term marriage wasn’t in the cards, a quick pivot sent Rantanen west to Texas and Stankoven to a Hurricanes organization he’s kind of a perfect player for.
Stankoven — who got a big taste of playoff action as a rookie last year in Dallas — opened the post-season with a two-goal game and is one of those players who will need to kick in goals throughout the playoffs to push Carolina to new post-season heights.
