Which NHL trade-deadline additions have provided early returns for their new teams?

We’re a week past the trade deadline, and some players have already gotten settled in and are playing well with their new team.

Tyler Yaremchuk and Steven Ellis talked about which trade deadline adds have brought in early returns for their new teams on Daily Faceoff Live.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Man, does Dmitry Orlov ever look good. He’s got to be one of the guys people are looking at as a good early return.

Steven Ellis: Yeah, he’s the number one guy for me. Just watching him the last few games, and seeing the way he’s smiling, he looks so happy to be there. You go from a situation where he’s playing with some good guys in Washington that were a part of that Cup run, but he’s playing on a team that’s one of the strongest teams we’ve ever seen. They’re looking so good right now.

He’s playing key minutes, he’s playing on the power play. He’s got nine points in six games! This is a guy that doesn’t put up a ton of points either, so that’s pretty impressive. So I’m liking what he’s doing there, he’s playing the best hockey of his career.

The one guy I’d also like to mention there is Rasmus Sandin, a guy who I wouldn’t say took his place, but he’s out there playing in Washington this year. I was very high on this player through junior, through the AHL, and with his time with the Leafs I thought there was some good potential there. He was kind of just a guy that plays on the left side that just got lost, played some time on the right side, and then the Leafs kept adding defensive depth and he was just the odd man out.

But I think that he’s going to be someone that’s going to be a huge player for the Capitals long-term. He’s thriving there right now, he’s got five points already in three games, and he’s going to be playing on a team that still has a few years of playoff contention left, so I like him there. But those are the two guys that I’ve been really impressed with.

Tyler Yaremchuk: You know what I find interesting as I give my answer here is remembering the last couple of deadlines. David Savard goes to Tampa, they paid a ton for him, and he was just kind of average, right? And then Ben Chiarot goes to Florida, and then that move didn’t really work out. He did not live up to the price they paid.

But now you look at this year. Orlov looks great, and I’ll go with a couple more defensemen that have fit in seamlessly. Jakob Chychrun scored again last night. Two goals, two assists in four games since joining the Ottawa Senators. That has been a dream fit for them, not only on the ice, but off the ice as well. We talked earlier in the week about how important it is for organizations like the Sens and the Sabres to find guys who want to be there, find guys who take a lot of pride in putting on that sweater.

Chychrun has been perfect, and in Edmonton, Mattias Ekholm. He’s come in, he’s made life easier for Darnell Nurse, who really struggled through the first couple months of the season. He’s now been that perfect veteran defense partner for Evan Bouchard, who’s played his four best games of the season since Ekholm slid into the lineup.

It’s interesting, over the past couple years, there was the notion that maybe defensemen at the deadline isn’t something you want to pay a premium for. But you look at this year, Orlov, Ekholm, Chychrun, they’ve all been worth the price, if not more.

Steven Ellis: Yeah, I agree. The trade market was obviously very busy this year, but it was also strange with some of the values that were going around out there. But this year was kind of the year of the defenseman. That’s kind of funny because in the year where Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly were traded, we’re looking and talking about the defensemen being the ones shinging.

You can watch the full episode here…