The trade deadline has come and gone, and it’s much clearer which teams are the contenders and which are the pretenders. Traditional Western Conference powerhouses in Detroit, Dallas, and Colorado made meaningful upgrades, as did the nouveau riche Anaheim Ducks.

And in the East, the big story was the Penguins, making a clear statement with their acquisition of Marian Hossa that it’s time to start winning in the Steel City. But also noteworthy were the Capitals’ surprise aggressiveness and the Canadiens’ controversial decision to put their goaltending in the hands of rookie Carey Price, a risky maneuver reminiscent of Patrick Roy’s storybook ascension back in 1986.

In this week’s edition of the Power Rankings, we break down each team’s deadline dealings. Statistically, teams are measured from left to right by games played, won-loss record, standings points, goals scored, goals allowed, power play success, and penalty killing success. Please note that the data is up to and including games played on Tuesday night, and that our statistics for special teams effectiveness also take shorthanded goals into account. Each team’s ranking from last week appears in parentheses.

1. Detroit Red Wings (1): Though it doesn’t qualify as a blockbuster, the acquisition of Brad Stuart was wise: He’ll provide valuable size and skill on the Wings’ blue line.
G REC PTS GS GA PP% PK%
65 42–17–6 90 198 140 18.18% 85.66%

2. Dallas Stars (2): Adding prime-time performer Brad Richards makes Dallas a bona fide Cup contender.
67 40–22–5 85 194 162 17.27% 90.24%

3. New Jersey Devils (5): General manager Lou Lamoriello chose not to alter the Eastern Conference leaders’ chemistry very much, only adding steady blueliner Bryce Salvador to the mix.
64 37–21–6 80 167 147 14.56% 85.83%

4. Pittsburgh Penguins (6): Chemistry can be elusive; although Marian Hossa should be a nice fit alongside Sidney Crosby and/or Evgeni Malkin, it’s far from guaranteed.
64 36–21–7 79 184 169 19.66% 82.04%

5. Ottawa Senators (3): The Sens have fallen after a scintillating 15–2 start: It came as little surprise when head coach John Paddock got the axe yesterday. He’ll be replaced behind the bench by general manager Bryan Murray.
64 36–22–6 78 207 188 15.87% 85.42%

6. Montreal Canadiens (4): Giving rookie Price the starting job (and trading Cristobal Huet) might seem like a huge gamble, but the Habs’ Cup hopes are much brighter.
64 34–21–9 77 197 176 23.75% 83.40%

7. Anaheim Ducks (9): The Ducks are 9–1 in their last 10 games; the deadline addition of Marc-Andre Bergeron makes their defense the NHL’s best by a huge margin.
66 36–23–7 79 162 157 14.38% 84.18%

8. San Jose Sharks (8): With All-Star defenseman Brian Campbell coming aboard, San Jose has officially joined the ranks of bona fide Cup contenders.
62 33–21–8 74 157 146 14.38% 88.56%

9. Calgary Flames (12): The Flames stood pat at the deadline; 4–1 in their last five games, they are jelling nicely for head coach Mike Keenan.
64 33–22–9 75 179 178 13.62% 82.33%

10. Vancouver Canucks (11): Acquiring Matt Pettinger from the Capitals (in exchange for Matt Cooke) was a good move: He provides similar grit but is more accomplished offensively.
62 32–22–8 72 161 149 16.85% 83.93%

11. Boston Bruins (13): The Bruins’ success this season can be attributed to Tim Thomas’s exceptional goaltending and Claude Julien’s fastidious coaching.
62 33–23–6 72 164 164 17.02% 82.58%

12. Minnesota Wild (7): The Wild were was strangely inactive at the deadline, making only one minor deal to acquire grinder Chris Simon from the Isles.
63 34–24–5 73 168 169 14.89% 85.38%

13. New York Rangers (16): Rearguard Christian Backman scored seven goals in 61 games (plus-13 rating) last season; look for him to be similarly productive on Broadway.
64 32–24–8 72 162 153 15.23% 83.77%

14. Nashville Predators (10): The injuries are mounting for the Preds, and only Brandon Bochenski and Jan Hlavac were added. If they reach the playoffs, it’ll likely be a fourth consecutive first-round ouster.
64 32–24–8 72 184 176 13.48% 86.64%

15. Buffalo Sabres (17): The Sabres responded well to the offseason departures of co-captains Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, but Tuesday’s trading of Brian Campbell might be Buffalo’s death knell.
63 30–24–9 69 186 170 16.91% 87.12%

16. Philadelphia Flyers (15): It’s an unlikely coincidence that Vaclav Prospal was traded to the Flyers just two weeks after publicly criticizing Lightning head coach John Tortorella in a live interview that was played on the Tampa arena’s scoreboard.
63 31–25–7 69 191 178 20.78% 86.23%

17. Phoenix Coyotes (19): It will be interesting to see whether Wayne Gretzky can extract consistently strong performances from Marcel Hossa, whose talent far exceeds his results to date.
63 32–26–5 69 169 167 15.73% 85.66%

18. Colorado Avalanche (18): Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote are joining a 10th-place Avs team that must do some very heavy lifting just to reach the playoffs, much less compete for the Cup.
64 32–26–6 70 171 173 11.83% 81.62%

19. Carolina Hurricanes (22): It’s unclear what the ‘Canes were trying to accomplish by trading fast-rising forward Andrew Ladd (nine points and a plus-10 rating in his last nine games) for Blackhawks underachiever Tuomo Ruutu.
66 33–28–5 71 195 206 14.60% 77.14%

20. St. Louis Blues (14): Former Devils agitator Cam Janssen now gets the opportunity to play for his hometown team; he hasn’t suited up yet this season, but he was recently cleared to play.
63 28–25–10 66 158 171 11.65% 84.98%

21. Columbus Blue Jackets (25): In contention for a franchise-first playoff appearance, general manager Scott Howson wisely decided not to operate as a “buyer” at the deadline, instead trading unrestricted-free-agents-to-be Adam Foote and Sergei Fedorov for futures.
64 29–26–9 67 153 160 15.36% 87.84%

22. New York Islanders (20): First-line center Mike Comrie signed a one-year, $4 million contract extension; had he and general manager Garth Snow not found common ground, it’s likely that he would have been dealt away.
64 30–27–7 67 155 182 11.83% 86.05%

23. Chicago Blackhawks (23): New acquisition Andrew Ladd could be a great fit on the ‘Hawks’ top line alongside rookies Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
62 29–27–6 64 174 177 12.64% 85.20%

24. Washington Capitals (21): The Caps were surprise buyers at the deadline, landing Sergei Fedorov and Cristobal Huet. Though they’re five points behind Carolina, they’re now the favorites to win the Southeast.
64 29–27–8 66 179 193 15.00% 81.62%

25. Toronto Maple Leafs (27): Mats Sundin’s refusal to waive his no-trade clause held up the Leafs’ expected rebuilding effort and raised questions as to whether he’ll be back in 2008–09.
64 27–28–9 63 175 197 13.45% 80.22%

26. Edmonton Oilers (28): With no veteran UFAs-to-be of note — and with little hope of reaching the playoffs — the Oilers predictably stood pat at the deadline.
64 29–30–5 63 160 190 13.24% 86.62%

27. Florida Panthers (26): In the end, the Panthers decided to hold on to captain Olli Jokinen, a good choice given his relatively reasonable cap cost ($5.25 million).
65 28–30–7 63 170 185 18.07% 82.00%

28. Atlanta Thrashers (24): Though they’re still technically in the playoff hunt, the Thrashers wisely traded Marian Hossa for three good prospects and a first-round pick.
64 29–31–4 62 162 204 15.08% 82.90%

29. Tampa Bay Lightning (29): Lightning general manager Jay Feaster finally admitted his forwards-first strategy wasn’t working and dealt Richards.
62 25–30–7 57 175 202 15.84% 83.40%

30. Los Angeles Kings (30): The Kings’ rebuilding effort is already starting to bear fruit, and by season’s end, they should rise into the low 20s in our Power Rankings.
64 26–34–4 56 182 210 17.28% 80.58%

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.