Winners and Losers from the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

We're calling the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs deadline losers because they're probably going to have to deal with each other in the first round of the playoffs and didn't make a notable splash move to try to overtly improve their rosters.

The Leafs saw weaknesses with their forward and defensive depth and attacked those by adding forward Connor Dewar from Minnesota as well as defensemen Ilya Lyubushkin a week ago and Joel Edmundson from Washington. They also lost defenseman William Lagesson on waivers to Anaheim.

The Leafs lost John Klingberg for the season earlier this year, and Mark Giordano is out with a head injury. They've also been without Conor Timmins, who has had mono. Still, Edmundson and Lyubushkin aren't speed merchants, and even though Lyubushkin was in Toronto previously, the choices are curious. At the very least, they're prepared for a physical series, but beyond that is questionable.

Boston, meanwhile, added defenseman Andrew Peeke from Columbus and three-time Cup winner Patrick Maroon from Minnesota. Although Maroon is out with a back issue, he'll return before the end of the season. You couldn't dream up a player more ideal to put in the Bruins lineup than him, as he's very likely to get under Toronto's (and everyone else's) skin. As if Boston needed help doing that.

Still, these teams are relatively even-up (well, maybe not in goal), and with the aim being to go deep and win it all, both teams opted to tweak things instead. With Florida, the Rangers and Carolina all making sizable improvements, it sticks out in a big way.