NHL TRADE DEADLINE GRADES COOLING OFF PERIOD

With NHL shopping finished, The Post delivers its report card

So much happened in the weeks leading up to it that the NHL trade deadline was almost anticlimactic by default.

Outside of some drama surrounding the Flyers’ James van Riemsdyk, whose reported trade to the Red Wings was nixed, and the deal of Jordan Greenway to the Sabres, Friday was pretty quiet.

But there were a slew of high-profile moves leading into the deadline, with all three New York-area teams dealing for superstars.

The Post’s Ethan Sears grades the most active teams.

Rangers: A

The Rangers are the NHL’s biggest winners at the deadline after they added Vladimir Tarasenko, Niko Mikkola, Tyler Motte and Patrick Kane to a lineup already packed with stars.

Kane, who finally came to the Rangers on Tuesday after a long dalliance and considerable cap-saving measures, and Tarasenko will add a massive scoring punch to the lineup.

The expectation is now Stanley Cup or bust.

Devils: B+

It might have been better for the Devils to add a bit more sandpaper and playoff experience to a young lineup, but a megadeal that brought Timo Meier from San Jose to Newark is still excellent work from general manager Tom Fitzgerald.

The Devils’ top six is packed to the gills now with Meier, who comes having scored 52 points in 51 games with the Sharks this season, though he has not played since Feb. 18 due to an upper-body injury.

He will be a restricted free agent after this season, but it’s likely Meier will be a Devil for a long time to come.

Islanders: B+

The Islanders made the first big splash of the season at the end of January by acquiring Bo Horvat for Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Raty and a conditional first-round pick, then inked Horvat to an eight-year extension.

Getting the superstar center locked down for the long term gets the Islanders the grade here, and adding rental winger Pierre Engvall to the mix at the cost of a future third-round pick was a necessary move for a playoff run.

Bruins: A

The Bruins were already Stanley Cup favorites, and they bolstered their chances of winning the title for the first time since 2011 by acquiring Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov from Washington, plus Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit.

By trading their firstround pick this season, and conditionally next season, the Bruins are pushing all their chips in to win now, but that looks like the smart thing to do with their NHL-leading record and an older core.

Canucks: C

Filip Hronek is a good defenseman, but dealing away the Islanders’ first-round pick plus their own second was a head-scratching move for the Canucks, who are just now starting to rebuild. The return for Horvat was fine, and Beauvillier has produced since his move to Vancouver, but that draft pick was arguably the most valuable piece of the deal. Getting a third-round pick for Luke Schenn is pretty much as expected, and there are worse things than taking a flier on Vitali Kravtsov, who clearly needed a change of scenery from the Rangers.

Senators: B+

The Senators needed a defenseman and they ended up with Jakob Chychrun, who was likely the best player on the market and is under contract through 2025.

That could help them make a playoff push this year or next, and it came at a relatively low cost compared to what the initial asking price for Chychrun was thought to be when he came on the market more than a year ago.

Flyers: F

We are a little bit confused by the Flyers, who publicly declared themselves sellers, then only traded away Zack MacEwen and Patrick Brown, with the net return of a 2023 sixth-round pick, a 2024 fifth-round pick and Brendan Lemieux. A scuttled trade that would have sent van Riemsdyk to Detroit requires explanation from GM Chuck Fletcher, and means that the pending unrestricted free agent will likely leave Philadelphia for nothing.

They also need to explain keeping Justin Braun, who showed last year with the Rangers that he can help a playoff team.

Maple Leafs: A

Over a two-week span, Toronto GM Kyle Dubas conducted what could almost be described as a roster reconstruction, dealing for Ryan O’Reilly, Noel Acciari, Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty and Erik Gustafsson while losing Engvall, Rasmus Sandin and a handful of depth players and picks.

The result is a team that looks much better equipped to take on the Lightning in an anticipated first-round series, with more toughness and competitive level up and down the roster.

Red Wings: B

From a purely pragmatic standpoint, Steve Yzerman’s moves were understandable. Getting first-round and second

round picks for Hronek is a great return, as is a 2024 first and 2025 fourth for Bertuzzi, who was on an expiring contract.

Getting rid of Jakub Vrana’s contract, which adds more cap flexibility, made sense as well.

But for a fan base starved to win and with the team in playoff contention for the first time in a long time, it’s tough to swallow.

Just look at Dylan Larkin’s emotions in a press conference to announce his own eight-year extension in Detroit on Thursday.

The Red Wings, at some point soon, need to start looking to win now instead of later.

Predators: A

On the other side of the coin, the Predators finally seemed to acknowledge as an organization that a teardown was needed. They dealt away Nino Niederreiter, Tanner Jeannot, Mattias Ekholm and Mikael Granlund, with mostly picks coming back in return.

The five picks they got from the Lightning for Jeannot alone make this deadline a win for GM David Poile, who will be stepping down for Barry Trotz on July 1.

Blue Jackets: B+

This deadline was about accruing picks and cap space for Columbus, which successfully did both.

Offloading Gustav Nyquist to Minnesota, Joonas Korpisalo and Vladislav Gavrikov to Los Angeles and Jonathan Quick — a Blue Jacket for all of a few hours — to Vegas, GM Jarmo Kekalainen brought back a conditional first-round pick and a fifth-round pick in 2023 as well as a third-round pick in 2024 and a seventh-round pick in 2025.

Trading Jakub Voracek to the Coyotes, at the cost of attaching a 2023 sixthrounder, added $8.25 million of flexibility to their cap as well. It’s not exciting, but it is smart.