Despite what the national talking heads might have said, the Carolina Hurricanes may have won the trade deadline.
Since dealing Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars, the Canes are 8-2-0 (the team was 7-6-1 with him) and are on the verge of clinching a seventh consecutive playoff appearance.
The new trio of players that the team has brought in have all clicked and look to be fitting in seamlessly with the locker room and the team's style of play, which bodes well for April.
Since Taylor Hall arrived alongside Rantanen from the Chicago Blackhawks in January, he's looked like a real impact player for the Canes.
While he wasn't getting rewarded, he was constantly generating good looks, was hard on pucks and just generally all around it.
"He's been really good since he showed up here, but hadn't quite gotten rewarded for what he'd been doing," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour.
However, it seems like something clicked for him in mid March and since then, he's been on an absolute tear.
Hall, 33, has eight goals and 14 points in 23 games with the Hurricanes now, including having a point on each of the team's last five power play goals.
"I think I'm really starting to get there," Hall said. "You can say that you're feeling good after 5-10 games, but it's just a lot of reps and it's a lot of reading off of players and knowing. I think all three of our D pairs play different styles too. So just being able to read off of KK, Rosy, who I've been with for the last few games, it's just part of being a hockey player, being an athlete, just letting your brain do the work and you just go play. That's what I'm kind of feeling now. It's really fun to just contribute.
He's helped to boost the team's second line and is third in team scoring since arriving.
Logan Stankoven was the player the team acquired from Dallas in the Rantanen trade and while he's still just a rookie, he's been coming along.
"There's a lot of things that get thrown at you and you try to adapt as much as you can without thinking too much," Stankoven said. "It was a bit hard at times to try and not think too much. I'm trying to fit in and play hard with the guys. I'll just keep learning."
Stankoven, 22, is a hard-on-pucks type of player, who isn't afraid to go to the net or into the corners despite his smaller stature.
Since coming to Carolina, Stankoven has two goals and five points in 10 games, including
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