NHL arms race heats up as East contenders go all-in ahead of trade deadline

Since the introduction of the salary cap during the 2005-06 season, parity has been one of the bedrocks of the modern NHL. The cap was instituted in part to deter large-market teams from monopolizing the league through free agency and to restore competitive balance.

And for sixteen years, this principle largely operated as intended. This year, the Eastern Conference powers are all going all-in — with several teams bottoming out in an attempt to secure Connor Bedard this summer — while the Western Conference is sitting idly by. The East is absolutely loaded amid a heated arms race, creating the circumstances for what could be a playoff bloodbath for the ages.

Prior to Monday’s games, the Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers are the six best teams in the NHL on points (Vegas is ahead of New York on points percentage) and all six teams have either notably improved, or in Carolina’s case, have the assets and cap space to make a major acquisition ahead of Friday’s deadline.

The Bruins

Let’s start with the league-leading Bruins, who are threatening to break the all-time record for points and win percentage through an 82-game regular season. People often like to discuss team identities, but the reality is hockey is subject to so much random variation that these concepts are often just ideas. Boston is built different.

Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo both told me earlier this month that the Bruins pride themselves on having mobile defensemen who are encouraged to join the rush, while creating ample opportunities for their forwards. Lindholm is having a career-best season while paired with Carlo, and Charlie McAvoy is firmly among the league’s top defensemen. And now the Bruins just gained another mobile defenseman with Cup-winning experience in Dmitry Orlov, who was logging just under 23 minutes per game with the Capitals.

It barely cost the Bruins a thing. Boston acquired Orlov and depth forward Garnet Hathaway for Craig Smith, a 2023 first-round pick, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick. Boston understands a simple concept — not all first-round picks are created equal! If the Bruins are confident they can win the Stanley Cup, and they should be, then the projected 32nd pick in next summer’s draft, plus some ancillary picks and Smith — who never fit into the Bruins plans — account for virtually nothing.

The league’s best team just got markedly better, but it won’t be an easy pathway to the final.

The Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is in the middle of a crucial season of his tenure. Despite building teams that have thrived in the regular season, the six consecutive entry-round losses in the postseason have unfortunately defined this iteration of the roster. Everything rides on advancing past the first round and beyond, so Dubas dug into his bag and acquired Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues, in exchange for 2023 first and third-round picks, a 2024 second-round pick, Mikhail Abramov and Adam Gaudette. Toronto also received prospect Josh Pillar in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick, sent to Minnesota for brokering the deal by retaining 25 percent of O’Reilly’s salary.

We’ll have a deeper dive on how O’Reilly has fared with the Maple Leafs this week, but it’s already paid immediate dividends. Playing his first four games with John Tavares and Mitch Marner, O’Reilly exploded for a hat-trick against the Sabres last Tuesday and Toronto’s second line can flummox opponents with three forwards who can score and create in abundance with two elite faceoff men.

Marner has been one of the NHL’s best defensive forwards and remains a premier playmaker as well. O’Reilly was paired with Tavares and Nylander against the Kraken on Sunday and the Maple Leafs cooked one of the NHL’s best offensive teams in the process. Acciari has stabilized the fourth line, he hasn’t had a bad game with the Maple Leafs yet and Toronto’s bottom-six has benefited from the domino effect.

One of the common themes thus far is that the East’s elite have been reticent to give up real roster players, preferring to deal picks and prospects instead. Dubas said he wanted to reward this year’s group and we imagine many of his peers feel the same way.

The team also added some quality depth pieces on Monday, acquiring defenceman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty from the Blackhawks

The Devils