Do trades at the deadline actually help?

How many of the trades leading up to the deadline actually help a team? Here’s a recap of what happened last year leading up to the trade deadline.

Montreal acquired Mathieu Schneider and a 3rd rounder and sent a 2009 2nd rounder and a 2010 3rd rounder to Atlanta. Habs made playoffs but lost in 1st round.

Islanders acquired Dean McCammond and 1st rounder (was Sharks 26th pick that they turned into #12 Calvin deHaan) in exchange for Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli. Senators missed the playoffs, lost Comrie while Campoli is still in Ottawa.

Pittsburgh acquired Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi and send Ryan Whitney to the Ducks. Penguins win the Cup and Kunitz was a solid contributor. Ducks get Whitney which allows them to trade the Human Rake to Philly. Good deal for both teams.

Stars send Doug Janik to Montreal for Steve Begin. Insignificant deal.

New Jersey acquired Niclas Havelid and Myles Stoesz from Atlanta for Anssi Salmela. Devils lose in first round and Havelid doesn’t re-sign.

Columbus acquired Antoine Vermette from Ottawa for Pascal Leclaire and a 2nd rounder (Robin Lehner, another goalie). Columbus made the playoffs for the first time, but lost in first round. Leclaire has been hurt and lost his starting job. Neither player has made an positive impact this season.

Calgary acquired Jordon Leopold from Colorado for Lawrence Nycholat, Ryan Wilson and Montreal’s 2nd rounder (Stefan Elliot). Flames made playoffs, but lost in first round again. Wilson has been solid in Colorado this year, and is very physical. The Flames sent Leopold to Florida for the rights to Jay Bouwmeester. Both teams benefitted.

Buffalo acquired Mikael Tellqvist from Phoenix for a 4th rounder this summer. Phoenix wins because Tellqvist is useless.

Boston got Steve Montador from Anaheim for Petteri Nokelainen. Neither made impact last year, but both are serviceable. Helped both teams.

Flames grabbed Olli Jokinen a 3rd rounder (which they traded to Florida in Bouwmeester deal) from Phoenix for Matt Lombardi, Brandon Prust and Calgary’s first rounder this year. Coyotes win this deal hands down. Lombardi is contributing and it looks like they will get a top-20 or maybe top-15 pick this year. Flames turned Jokinen into Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins. Ask Flames fans if they’d like Lombardi and their first instead of those two now!

Boston received Mark Recchi and a 2nd in 2010 from Tampa Bay for Matt Lashoff and Martins Karsums. Good deal for Boston, and Lashoff hasn’t progressed in Tampa.

Penguins grabbed Bill Guerin from the Islanders for a conditional pick that turned out to be a 3rd rounder. Guerin was a good soldier for Penguins in Cup win. Easy win for Pittsburgh.

Phoenix nabbed Scottie Upshall and a 2nd rounder in 2011 from the Flyers for Daniel Carcillo. Flyers lost in first round, while Upshall scored 8 goals after trade in Phoenix, and was their leading goal scorer this year before blowing his ACL. Phoenix wins easily.

Rangers acquired Nik Antropov from the Leafs for a 2nd rounder (Kenny Ryan) and a conditional pick in 2010. Leafs got something for a guy they didn’t want and Rangers lost in first round. Antropov is gone too. Nobody wins this one.

Rangers grabbed Derek Morris from Phoenix for Dmitri Kalinin, Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes. Prucha is only one still with the team, so Phoenix gets the nod. Deal didn’t do much for either team.

Sabres took Dominic Moore from the Leafs for a 2nd rounder (Jesse Blacker). Sabres missed the playoffs, and didn’t re-sign Moore. Leafs win cause they got something. Still can’t believe Moore is worth a 2nd rounder two years in a row.

Ducks grab Erik Christensen from Atlanta for Eric O’Dell. No winner.

Florida picks up Steve Eminger from Tampa for Noah Welch and a 3rd rounder (they traded pick to Detroit). Florida missed the playoffs and didn’t re-sign Eminger and Welch is in the minors. No winner.

Columbus grabbed Kevin Lalande from Calgary for a 4th rounder (traded pick). Nothing trade right now.

Chicago took Sammy Pahlsson, Logan Stephenson and conditional 2009 pick from Anaheim for James Wisnewski and Petri Kontiola. Pahlsson and Wisnewski have both helped their teams. Pretty even deal.

Ducks sent Travis Moen and Kent Huskins to San Jose for Nick Bonino, Timo Pielmeier and conditional pick in 2010. Sharks lost in first round and Moen signed in Montreal. Deal didn’t help either team.

Oilers acquired Patrick O’Sullivan and a 2nd rounder (Brian Dumoulin) from Carolina for Erik Cole and a 5th rounder (Matt Kennedy). Cole didn’t do much in Carolina, but they went to conference final. O’Sullivan has been inconsistent in Edmonton. Edmonton got something for a guy they would lose, so I guess they get the edge.

Oilers acquire Ales Kotalik from Buffalo for 2nd rounder (Brian Dumoulin). Oilers didn’t make the playoffs, so I’d say they lost the deal.

Leafs acquired Olaf Kolzig, Jamie Howard, Andy Rogers and a 4th rounder. (I have no idea what happened to this pick. It was #118 and no one was chosen. Seriously I can’t find it anywhere. Weird) from Tampa for Richard Petiot. This was a nothing trade that was about money. League should be fined for allowing it to happen.

So when you look back at last year, Pittsburgh was the obvious winner, with Kunitz and Guerin, but the Phoenix Coyotes did very well as well acquiring Upshall, Lombardi and they still have a first rounder coming this year.

I wonder if any teams will truly benefit from this year’s trades. What do you think?