NHL trade deadline: Recent champs took varying paths

The action is heating up as the NHL's trade deadline approaches on Wednesday.

Over the weekend, goalie Ben Bishop and centre Martin Hanzal found new homes with the Los Angeles Kings and Minnesota Wild after lengthy stays with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Arizona Coyotes, respectively.

Then, on Monday, the league-leading Washington Capitals landed one of the biggest prizes by acquiring defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk from St. Louis, while Alex Burrows went from Vancouver to Ottawa, the Toronto Maple Leafs picked up forward Brian Boyle from Tampa Bay, and the Montreal Canadiens grabbed defenceman Jordie Benn from Dallas.

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For a team like the Wild, making a big move was a gamble. They've enjoyed a brilliant 59-game run under their first-year coach Bruce Boudreau, skating out to the best record in the West. But Minnesota general manager Chuck Fletcher decided to upgrade his roster anyway with a rental in Hanzal.

"We're just putting our chips in the middle of the table for this year," Fletcher told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "We think our players deserve the best chance possible to compete [for the Stanley Cup]."

In dealing a package of picks and prospects for Shattenkirk, Washington appears to have a similar mindset.

But is going all-in the best strategy? Recent history shows that teams have gone on to win the Stanley Cup by taking the route of the Wild and Capitals and making significant trades, or by just making minor roster tweaks in the days and hours leading up to the deadline.

In the past eight years, four teams have won the Stanley Cup. Here are the moves made by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and the Kings.

2008-09 Penguins

GM Ray Shero added key players in Chris Kunitz and veteran Bill Guerin, as well as defenceman Philippe Boucher and fourth-line forward Craig Adams. Kunitz, Guerin and Adams added Stanley Cup experience, having won with Anaheim, New Jersey and Carolina in recent seasons.

2009-10 Blackhawks

The Blackhawks ended a 49-year Stanley Cup drought with a couple of minor moves. A few weeks before the trade deadline, Chicago acquired defenceman Kim Johnsson and University of Minnesota product Nick Leddy from the Wild for Cam Barker. At the deadline, they added veteran defenceman Nick Boynton.

Johnsson suffered a concussion in his eighth game with the Blackhawks and did not perform in the playoffs. Leddy developed and won a Stanley Cup with Chicago three years later. Boynton only saw action in three playoff games.

2010-11 Bruins

GM Peter Chiarelli made two minor moves at the deadline but made important trades a couple of weeks earlier. He acquired depth forwards Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley as well as defenceman Tomas Kaberle in mid-February in separate deals with the Ottawa Senators, Atlanta Thrashers and Toronto Maple Leafs, respectively.

For Kelly, the Bruins gave up a second-round pick. For Peverley, Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler went to the Thrashers. For Kaberle, the Bruins offered up a hefty package — first- and second-round picks and Joe Colborne.

2011-12 Kings

In the most significant move made by a championship team in the past eight years, GM Dean Lombardi landed clutch-scoring forward Jeff Carter from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a first-round selection and defenceman Jack Johnson four days before the deadline.

Carter would score three of the Kings' 16 game-winning goals, including the overtime winner in Game 2 of the final in New Jersey.

2013 Blackhawks

Veteran centre Michal Handzus was added for depth from the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline. He wound up scoring an early shorthanded goal in the Blackhawks' wild 6-5 overtime win in Game 4 in Boston to tie the series 2-2.

2013-14 Kings

Lombardi went back to the well to land Marian Gaborik from the Blue Jackets in exchange for second- and third-round selections as well as forward Matt Frattin.

The Kings were concerned about their offence and Gaborik wound up leading them with 14 goals in 26 post-season games. He scored the overtime winner in Game 1 of the second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks, a series that was extended to seven games.

2014-15 Blackhawks

A few days before the trade deadline, GM Stan Bowman acquired defenceman Kimmo Timonen from the Philadelphia Flyers for two draft picks and centre Antoine Vermette from the Coyotes for a first-round pick and Klas Dahlbeck. On deadline day, Ben Smith and a seventh-round pick were shipped to the Sharks for defenceman Andrew Desjardins.

Timonen and Vermette would struggle at times in their new setting, but Vermette scored the game-winner in Game 5 of the final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

2015-16 Penguins

GM Jim Rutherford made his key moves much earlier last season by replacing head coach Mike Johnston with Mike Sullivan and adding forward Carl Hagelin and defenceman Trevor Daley midway through the schedule.

A spare part in defenceman Justin Schultz was added at the trade deadline and he became an important addition when Daley went down with a knee injury in East final.

So far this year, with the Wild and the Capitals, the conference leaders have decided to make significant moves. Now it will be interesting to see how teams like Pittsburgh, Chicago and San Jose react before Wednesday's deadline.