It’s time for some bite-sized takes, as we’ve rolled out here every season post-deadline.

So with roughly no ado, here’s two sentences on every trade of relative significance made since the start of March, in chronological order.

Made just over a week ago, this trade looks like a decision from a bygone era. Not because the ultra-heavy Kurtis MacDermid isn’t a useful player anymore, but because it was made at a time the Devils were patching holes to contend, rather than digging them to rebuild.

Anthony Mantha isn’t without his imperfections, but with heavy retention, in a year the Knights are trying to defend their Cup title, on a team that’s outside the top 10 in scoring? Yeah, that’s a no-brainer win for Vegas.

In theory, Vladimir Tarasenko – who’s scored over 33 goals six times in his career – makes sense for a team that doesn’t allow goals, but sits outside the top 10 in goals for per game. But I’m not sure this moves the needle beyond that “theory,” as he’s a one-dimensional player on pace for just 22 goals this year a season after scoring only 18 (and he needs an opportunity to even hit those marks).

This gives the Oilers arguably the best 12-player forward group in the NHL. Adam Henrique gives them a look of depth they haven’t had in the Connor McDavid years (so many lineup options!), and Sam Carrick is the type of 4th line passion player teams love in playoffs.

The first of many deadline wins for the Avalanche, Sean Walker gives them three good pairs like they had when they won the Cup, and they get off from that awful Ryan Johansen swing-and-a-miss. It didn’t come cheap, but it so obviously makes them immediately better in a year that matters.

Sometimes both teams win trades, and you can see how that could be the case here. Bowen Byram has legitimate top-pair NHL D-man potential, so he’s a worthwhile guy to take a gamble on, while again, Colorado are in their immediate Cup window, and they filled a serious need at center with a still-young and capable player.

The cost is so marginal it’s tough to blame the New york Rangers for adding some quality depth in a year where they could win their division and more. Alex Wennberg is the type of two-guy they don’t have a ton of, so a good add here.

Noah Hanifin is a major coup for Vegas, and immediately puts them back in the conversation of Cup favourites once they get their injured (or “injured” if you’re skeptical) players back for the post-season. But I do like what the Calgary Flames did here in getting a prospect they like, as the idea of trading for picks that will be effective in four or five years isn’t appealing when you’ve got deals like Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar’s on the books.

Joel Edmundson is a lot of things the Leafs needed, though unfortunately, he’s a left-shot. Still, he’s big and tough and kills penalties and has a pile of playoff experience, so in a year the Leafs are basically saying to their core “It’s up to you guys,” this is a deal that supports them at a reasonable cost.

I love the idea that it’s legal to go “in,” without going “all-in,” as the Predators reminded us here. They’d like to compete down the stretch, be in games that matter, and reward their players for a good season to date (hey, the playoffs are legit possible), so Anthony Beauvillier helps that at very little cost.

They say you need eight or more NHL D-men to go deep on a successful post-season run to the Stanley Cup Final, and Troy Stecher is a legit NHL D-man. Soooo, they got that goin’ for ‘em.

I like this move far more than most people, primarily because he’s a young guy who provides something – in this case energy and force -at the bottom of your lineup. There are so many vanilla players in most NHL lineups, but to me, Brandon Duhaime has obvious post-season utility.

This addition is in the same vein as the above move, where you get a guy who’s hard and hits and seems built for the playoffs. The Avalanche lacked some force, and Yakov Trenin helps fix that along with being young (and kinda mean), all with the ability to finish (has 10 goals already).

It feels like the Lightning recognized they had to do something, didn’t have much in the way of assets to spend, and did the best they could. Yes, Anthony Duclair brings them speed and the potential to score a couple, but he doesn’t feel like their typical post-season-style add that they’ve made the past few years.

I’m not gonna weigh in on the prospects the Pittsburgh Penguins got (because I focus on the NHL), though I get the concept of trading for players who could help their aging core sooner rather than later. Still, with none of them being labelled as “A” prospects by the scouts I’ve talked to, this feels like a big win for the Carolina Hurricanes, who get a legitimate difference-maker on offence for a team that could use one to push them to the next level.

Evgeny Kuznetsov is a crazy talent who hasn’t had a clear head or proper focus over the years, so if he’s able to find it after some time in treatment, it could be a massive gain for the Hurricanes (and even if he’s just OK, the reduced cap hit should make it palatable). And if he were to need more help in the future, I believe there are ways to handle his cap hit so that doesn’t hurt the team.

The Jets are an interesting case study to me, as they’re just loaded with “quite good” forwards, while light on “elite” players and devoid of bad ones. Toffoli provides them another layer of “quite good” scoring, meaning if Connor Hellebuyck can keep enough pucks out, you just need a few guys to have some runs of hot scoring at the right time.

Oh boy, looking forward to seeing Jack Edwards and Pat Maroon interact after their previous interactions. Maroon has a history of playing successful post-season hockey, but he may have slowed down past the point of usefulness as the game around him keeps getting faster.

Love this as forward depth for the Panthers, as Kyle Okposo is a responsible, strong guy who can finish if the puck finds him in the dangerous areas. An excellent playoff add for a team with Cup aspirations.

If you’re Jason Zucker, you probably don’t love that you were going to get traded to a team making a post-season push, and you went to a team that has a hard ceiling on the season of “loses in the first round.” But I appreciate Nashville pushing for all the good that comes with making the playoffs.

I do not understand how the Devils waited until March 8th to get a goalie, in a year where they should be a playoff team but their goalies continually squandered points. Jake Allen is fine for them, sure, but boy I do not get the timing.

I don’t know if Erik Johnson has anything left in the tank but I feel about this like I do Nashville – playing meaningful games and getting into the playoffs matters. So, kudos for trying.

I was a huge Denis Gurianov booster in his early days, big and fast and scoring 20 goals in his rookie season in Dallas. I’m not sure what’s happened since – he’s fallen off considerably – but at just 26 and with raw tools, I like the depth add for the Flyers.

I don’t mind Andrew Peeke, but it does seem like the Boston tried and failed on a few things at the deadline, and settled. Defensive depth is good, but doesn’t seem like this is a significant addition.

Matt Dumba’s play has been in decline, but he does have great tools, and often talented players like that look good in the structure of established teams like the Lightning. Years of adding have cost the Bolts, and they just weren’t able to do what they have usually done.

I actually like Roslovic, AND think this doesn’t work for the Rangers. He’s too much of what they already have to me – an offensively capable guy who doesn’t thrive defensively.

There is the conversation about the great add for Vegas, which comes with some small risk (Tomas Hertl’s knee injury) but is by and large a huge win for a team that’s adding a legit stud en route to defending their Cup title. But there’s also the conversation about the salary cap, and how insane it is that Vegas is going to roll out a healthy playoff lineup worth damn near 100 million, which doesn’t make a lot of people overly happy.

Connor Dewar is a little like all the Leafs’ deadline adds, in that you can see how he adds something they didn’t have and can use, but isn’t significantly impactful. Again, he seems like depth support (for his competitiveness and penalty killing), rather than someone who’s supposed to be a true difference-maker.

As noted a few times up above, teams who want to play more than one round of playoff hockey need depth on D, and Colin Miller has post-season experience. Maybe he’s not impactful, but you could put him in and feel just fine about his ability to not hurt the team.

We get it, the Devils wanted to see if someone else playing goal helps them. Maybe it does, but once again, it feels like too little, too late.