Below I will review some (not all) of the bigger recent trades.

To Flames: Cody Eakin, 2019 EDM 2nd

To Oilers: Brandon Saad

Winner: Oilers

Breakdown: The Flames could not afford (if they were to be a cup team this year) to have Brandon Saad making 6,210,000 on their roster this year. His rates don't nearly justify that. Kevin had to move on from him, and that's the unfortunate part. This was Saad's worst year, maybe ever. The defending Western Conference Champions had to dump him when his value was at an all time low.

Leon came in with a couple of decent assets and stole him. I'll be honest, I was in on Saad myself. He's an obvious bounceback candidate. Kevin did well (as he usually does) to at least get an early 2nd and a replacement roster player for him, but this had to be a tough pill to swallow for the Flames. The Oilers really took advantage of the situation their division rivals were in. Leon wins this one.

To Blue Jackets: Jacob Markstrom (50% retained this year)

To Oilers: C.J. Motte, Caleb Jones, 2019 CBJ 1st, 2019 CBJ 4th

Winner: Oilers

Breakdown: I was all set to rip on this trade until I noticed the retention. I still might, but not as much. Jesse has admitted there is a lot of risk taking on Markstrom at a shade under 5 mil over 5 years, but he can also wiggle out of that pretty easily. Markstrom's rates are decent this year, but he has Demko breathing down his net and nearly ready to take over the crease. With that said, Markstrom at 2.475 is not bad for this year, at all. Jesse also will have the cash ready for a buyout at years end if need be.

The Blue Jackets jumped the gun a bit on the goalie market. They traded a 1st, 4th, and a couple fillers for a goalie who is not rated THAT well and will likely be a one year asset when all is said and done. They could have done better here. Another factor in this is that Columbus currently rosters Ben Bishop, who is flat out better rated than Markstrom across the board. What Jesse does with Bishop remains to be seen, however.

When all is said and done, this is another awesome move by Leon. I really don't get it from Jesse's side, but he has an entire offseason to clear things up.

To Penguins: Justin Faulk

To Bruins: Cody Ceci

Winner: Penguins

When you factor in either side's roster, cap situation, etc.. it's pretty easy to make sense of it from either side. Ceci has really good defensive rates, and a nice contract. Faulk is the more expensive contract of the two, and isn't rated as well defensively, though he is better offensively to no one's surprise. With that said, Faulk is the far superior player of the two and will likely be rated as such moving forward.

Like I said, I can see how it makes sense for Greg (at least for this year), but the Penguins, to me, are the clear cut winners here. A very nice first move by new Pens GM Ty.

To Wild: 2019 BOS 2nd, 2019 BOS 3rd, 9,000,000

To Bruins: Alex Ovechkin (3,876,924 retained)

Winner: Bruins

This was not a bad move by the Wild. He was trading a one year asset. But wow, what a great get for the Bruins. Arguably the best goal scorer in the sim, added to an already solid roster, while giving up a mid-to-late 2nd as the best asset. Simply a solid win here for the Bruins.

To Wild: Brendan Dillon, Radovan Bondra, 2019 TBL 1st, 2019 TBL 2nd

To Lightning: Jakub Voracek

Winner: Wild

This trade is pretty much dead even to me. I had to pick a winner, so I went with Minnesota. They did well moving a fairly expensive RFA for what they got in return. Tampa Bay has once again parted with their 1st, though I don't expect their pick will be anywhere near the top five this year.

I like Voracek. I think the cost to acquire him was pretty reasonable and fair to both parties. I really like this deal as whole. Well done to both.