3:00 p.m. ET Monday, March 2nd—

The National Hockey League trade deadline came and went, prohibiting all teams from making any further transactions until after the Stanley Cup Finals.

The deadline is normally a hectic time for general managers and their assistants, for this is the last chance they have to either clean house in preparation for next year or to build up their rosters for a Cup drive. Often, this is where GMs keep or lose their jobs, as moves will alter the future of the team. A few teams, such as the Boston Bruins, made key moves on Monday.

“I think the addition of Connelly may give the little boost that [the Bruins] need to get into the playoffs,” said BHS junior Jill Leavey, a proud Bruins fan.

Other hockey fans grew passionate only after the deadline had passed.

“Right now, the [New Jersey] Devils are going through an active rebuild of the team, doing different parts at a time,” said junior Jake Drucker. “Now that their defense and goaltending is set, they have more room for their promising prospects to come up.”

Fortunately, many NHL analysts believe that both the New York Rangers’ and New York Islanders’ GMs did a good job this year in bolstering their  teams. As the Rangers and Islanders both sit near or on top of the Metropolitan Division, the postseason looks like an easy grab at this point. The question going into Monday afternoon: how can they win the championship?

The Rangers made a big, possibly damaging deal Sunday afternoon. They landed All-Star Defenseman Keith Yandle, minor-league Defenseman Chris Summers, and a 2015 fourth round pick from the Arizona Coyotes. But the price for this package was high: the Rangers sent away top prospect Anthony Duclair, Defenseman John Moore, a 2015 second round pick, and a 2016 conditional first round pick. Yandle is the guy they have been looking for to quarterback their struggling powerplay unit, which has only been three for their last twenty-five man-advantages, and he also further solidifies their already strong defensive group.

However, Duclair may prove to have been too valuable to trade away, for he impressed teams across the league with his outstanding performance in the World Juniors Championship for Team Canada. Also, not having a first round pick for yet another year may diminish the Rangers’ list of promising prospects. Additionally, the Rangers traded Forward Lee Stempniak to the Winnipeg Jets for Forward Carl Klingberg and received Forward James Sheppard for a 2016 fourth round pick. For the near future, the Rangers certainly look like a championship juggernaut.

The Islanders also made some strong moves, which will help add to their depth in their forward lines and improve the goaltending when Jaroslav Halak needs a night off. They sent out a 2017 conditional seventh-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forward Tyler Kennedy, who has a reputation of firing lots of shots on net. Analysts think that he could definitely add to the already strong third and fourth lines of the Islanders, which have just like the first two lines been putting pucks in the net all season long. Plus, the Isles traded away Backup Goalie Chad Johnson and a 2016 conditional third round pick for Goalie Michal Neuvirth. Neuvirth is a great pickup because he has proven himself as an effective starting goalie in the league, so the goaltending will still be solid for the games that Halak cannot start. They also made a few smaller deals exchanging minor leaguers and draft picks with other teams. With those deals in mind, the Islanders appear ready to make a run deep into the playoffs.