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Five Key Stories: 3/3/25 – 3/9/25

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The trade deadline has come and gone and as is always the case, deadline week was a whirlwind across the NHL.  We’ll compile as much of the news as we can into our key stories.

Busy Week For Utah: While Utah wasn’t overly active on the trade front aside from unloading Shea Weber’s contract to Chicago to open up cap space for next season, they were the busiest team in the league on the contract extension front.  They went into the week with five full-time regulars as pending unrestricted free agents and came out of it with just one.  Getting new deals were center Alexander Kerfoot (one year, $3MM), defensemen Ian Cole (one year, $3MM including bonuses) and Olli Maatta (three years, $10.5MM), plus goaltender Karel Vejmelka (five years, $23.75MM).  As a result of their moves, Utah now has over $22MM in cap room for next season, per PuckPedia, with only a few roster spots to fill.  The team also lost goaltender Connor Ingram to another stint in the Player Assistance Program; he will be out indefinitely.

Atlantic Shuffle: The top three teams in the Atlantic Division already have some separation from the pack in the standings and all three made moves to shore up their rosters.  After adding blueliner Seth Jones from Chicago last week, the team moved winger Matthew Tkachuk to LTIR for the rest of the season and used that cap space to add winger Brad Marchand for a second-round pick that could become a first-round selection depending on Florida’s playoff success and Marchand’s usage in those games.  Meanwhile, their cross-state rival in Tampa Bay paid a pair of first-round picks and more to Seattle to pick up winger Oliver Bjorkstrand and center Yanni Gourde, making their forward group a lot deeper in one swap.  Toronto elected to make a pair of moves to keep pace, first sending a first-rounder and winger Nikita Grebenkin to Philadelphia for center Scott Laughton and a pair of later-round selections.  They then dealt a first-round pick and center Fraser Minten to Boston for blueliner Brandon Carlo while flipping rearguard Conor Timmins and center Connor Dewar to Pittsburgh to clear up the salary cap space to make the move.

It wasn’t just the contenders who were making moves.  On top of moving Marchand and Carlo, Boston’s sell-off continued as they swapped centers with Colorado, acquiring Casey Mittelstadt and a second-round pick from the Avs in exchange for Charlie Coyle (other smaller pieces were also in the swap).  Lastly, Buffalo and Ottawa got in on the fun, making a rare in-division swap of core centers.  The Senators picked up Dylan Cozens, defenseman Dennis Gilbert, and a second-round pick for Josh Norris and blueliner Jacob Bernard-Docker.  Both Cozens and Norris are 25 or younger and on long-term contracts with a cap hit starting with a seven.  Ottawa then used the cap space to make a literal last-minute move (agreed to 27 seconds before the deadline) that saw them pick up winger Fabian Zetterlund from San Jose as part of a six-piece swap that saw winger Noah Gregor, center Zack Ostapchuk, and a second-round pick go the other way.

Rantanen Moves Again: After Colorado struck a deal to make a big splash up front when they added Brock Nelson from the Islanders for a first-round pick and prospect Calum Ritchie, the Stars found a way to make an even bigger splash.  After the deal was off-and-on throughout deadline day, Dallas picked up winger Mikko Rantanen from Carolina in exchange for winger Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third-round selections.  As part of the swap, Rantanen immediately agreed to an eight-year, $96MM contract extension, the richest contract given to a winger in terms of AAV in NHL history.  Rantanen wasn’t able to agree to terms with Colorado on a new deal which saw him flipped to Carolina in late January.  He didn’t seem to be willing to sign with them before the deadline so the Hurricanes made sure they didn’t lose him for nothing while a deep Dallas squad just got even better, landing the top player available.

More Extensions: Rantanen’s extension wasn’t the only big one Dallas gave out.  While they were initially trying to sign center Wyatt Johnston to an eight-year deal, they had to pivot following Rantanen’s acquisition, ultimately settling on a five-year, $42MM agreement.  Meanwhile, many other extensions were agreed on throughout the week.  In terms of rentals signing to be pulled off the trade market, Montreal inked center Jake Evans (four years, $11.4MM) while Buffalo signed wingers Jordan Greenway (two years, $8MM) and Jason Zucker (two years, $9.5MM).  Other notable deals from teams that weren’t likely to move the players had an agreement not been reached included Washington signing goaltender Charlie Lindgren (three years, $9MM), Columbus re-signing winger Mathieu Olivier (six years, $18MM), and New Jersey re-upping defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic (five years, $20MM).

Bad News for New Jersey: While they were happy to get Kovacevic’s deal done, not much else went right for the Devils this past week.  First, they lost star center Jack Hughes for the remainder of the season and playoffs after he underwent shoulder surgery.  He was immediately moved to LTIR to give the club more cap flexibility although they weren’t able to use much of it.  Next, defenseman Dougie Hamilton was listed as out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.  Lastly, they learned that blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler’s lower-body injury will keep him out for at least the rest of the regular season.  Those three key absences will make locking down a playoff spot considerably tougher.  New Jersey made a handful of moves to add some extra depth before the deadline with the more notable moves being the acquisitions of defenseman Brian Dumoulin from Anaheim and center Cody Glass from Pittsburgh.

Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.

Snapshots: Hintz, Lavoie, Canucks, Husso

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Stars forward Roope Hintz has returned to Dallas to be further evaluated after sustaining an upper-body injury on Saturday against Edmonton, notes Robert Tiffin of D Magazine (Twitter link).  Head coach Peter DeBoer stated that the early indications are that the injury isn’t a long-term one while it appears as if a fracture has been ruled out as well.  Hintz had been on quite the hot streak recently; going into yesterday’s game, he had 17 points in his last eight appearances and was anchoring the top line.  While it appears the worst-case scenarios are going to be avoided, they’ll be without him tonight against Vancouver and likely a little longer than that.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Golden Knights have placed winger Raphael Lavoie on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, relays Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). After an adventurous stint on the waiver wire to start the year, the 24-year-old has played primarily with AHL Henderson, tallying 21 points in 32 games.  Lavoie has made nine appearances with Vegas on a pair of recalls but has been held off the scoresheet while logging just over 10 minutes a game.  Lavoie’s placement will keep him out of the lineup until at least Thursday.
  • The Canucks have reversed their goalie move from yesterday, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Arturs Silovs from AHL Abbotsford while sending Nikita Tolopilo to Abbotsford. The move allowed Silovs to start yesterday against San Jose where he allowed four goals on 28 shots.  Silovs has a 3.85 GAA with a .858 SV% in nine outings with Vancouver and is set to be the primary backup with Thatcher Demko back on injured reserve.  But to keep him fresh, the Canucks could send him down periodically to get a spot start in with Abbotsford.
  • A day after sending him back to the minors, Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego announced that the Ducks have once again recalled goaltender Ville Husso to the big club. He was acquired for future considerations last month to add some goalie depth and has a 2.84 GAA along with a .908 SV% in 17 AHL contests this season while compiling a 3.69 GAA and a .866 SV% in nine NHL contests.  Husso is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Post-Deadline Notes: Armia, Ferraro, Blue Jackets, Flames

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The Canadiens elected to stand pat at the trade deadline, a small sign of confidence in their group that has gotten back to the edge of the playoff picture since the 4 Nations Face-Off.  But in doing so, it appears as if they opted not to make at least one move of some significance as Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports that they could have landed a second-round pick for winger Joel Armia.  The 31-year-old has 11 goals and 14 assists in 63 games this season but also has been one of the most-used players shorthanded while carrying a $3.4MM cap charge (which they may have had to pay down to make the move).  Armia is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Other notes from the recently passed trade deadline:

  • Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro had been in trade speculation going all the way back to last season but remained with San Jose through the deadline. Part of the reason for that might have been the asking price as Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now suggests that GM Mike Grier was seeking a first-round pick plus another asset for the 26-year-old.  Ferraro has 11 points along with 101 blocks and 136 hits in 65 games while logging over 21 minutes a night and has one year left on his contract that carries a $3.25MM AAV.
  • Going back to the start of training camp, Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell had talked openly about being willing to take on a contract or even act as a third-party retainer to add some assets. Neither of those wound up happening.  He told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that they had a pair of trades lined up on Thursday that would have seen them be a third-party retainer fall through plus another on Friday so it wasn’t for a lack of effort that they weren’t able to utilize any of those retention slots.
  • The Flames were hoping to act as a third-party broker heading into the deadline, relays Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Herald. However, it doesn’t appear that any options were available to Calgary on rental contracts.  While they had options to act as a retainer for a contract that ran through next season, Calgary was not willing to take on dead money beyond this year, keeping their salary cap flexibility as much as possible.

Blackhawks Notes: Donato, Soderstrom, Sorensen

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On Friday, the Blackhawks rekindled discussions about a possible contract extension with pending unrestricted free agent forward Ryan Donato and while an agreement wasn’t reached, Chicago elected to hold onto him anyway.  Scott Powers of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the deal that the team put on the table was a three-year offer worth somewhere around $4MM per season.  That would effectively double his current price tag while the term is low enough that he’d be off the books when some of their younger core will be heading toward pricey second contracts.  The 28-year-old has a career-best 23 goals and 25 assists through 62 games this season despite not even averaging 16 minutes a night.  He’ll now have to weigh if he can do better than that on the open market or if he’s better off staying in a place he knows he fits with.

More from Chicago:

  • Also from Powers’ piece, he notes that the Blackhawks will look at signing defenseman Victor Soderstrom for next season. Acquired as part of the trade that saw Chicago pick up Shea Weber’s contract earlier this week, the 24-year-old returned to play in Sweden this season and has fared quite well, tallying 36 points in 48 games with Brynas.  Soderstrom has 53 career NHL games under his belt with Phoenix (who drafted him 11th overall in 2019) and 170 outings in the AHL.  But if Chicago views him as more of a depth option on a two-way deal, Soderstrom could elect to stay and play a prominent role at home.
  • During his post-deadline press conference (video link), GM Kyle Davidson noted that with the deadline now gone, they will turn their focus to a decision on their head coach. Anders Sorensen is the interim bench boss following the early-season dismissal of Luke Richardson but the team doesn’t have an inclination of what route they intend to go with Sorensen just yet.  The team has played to a 12-19-7 record, good for a .408 points percentage compared to the .346 they were at before the change.

Penguins Sign Chase Pietila

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The Penguins have signed one of their prospects from their most recent draft class.  The team announced that they’ve signed defenseman Chase Pietila to a three-year, entry-level contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but the deal will begin next season.

The 21-year-old was a fourth-round pick (111th overall) back in June in his final year of eligibility.  He spent two years with USHL Youngstown, the second of which saw him break through with 36 points along with 125 penalty minutes in 60 games in the 2022-23 season.

From there, Pietila moved on to Michigan Tech where a solid freshman year that saw him notch 22 points in 40 games got him on the draft radar.  This season, he potted seven goals and 15 assists in 36 contests and is wasting little time getting his professional career started now.

As a result of the deal starting next season, Pietila won’t be eligible to suit up for Pittsburgh at all down the stretch.  However, he is eligible to sign an ATO agreement with either AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton or ECHL Wheeling and will likely do so in the coming days.

Post-Deadline Transaction Restrictions

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While the trade deadline has come and gone, there will still be quite a few transactions made between now and the end of the season.  However, many of those have new restrictions placed on them which are as follows.

Waivers

Teams can still waive players after the trade deadline.  However, if they’re claimed, the player is automatically ineligible to play for the remainder of the season.  We will likely still see some waiver activity closer to the end of the year if a player who is on recall and is AHL playoff-eligible needs to clear to return to the minors.

Trades

While the term ‘trade deadline’ would imply a hard cap on trades now, that’s not the case.  However, similar to players claimed on waivers post-deadline, those players are ineligible to play down the stretch.  Over the next week, we will likely see a player or two traded for future considerations to add someone for their AHL team; their trade deadline is exactly one week after the NHL deadline on March 14.  Rights to unsigned players will also likely be moved in the coming weeks.

Signings

A player not on an NHL reserve list that signs can play down the stretch during the regular season but is ineligible to play in the playoffs.  We see this typically with college free agent signings who get into a game or two for the stretch run, but technically a player on an AHL contract can sign an NHL deal and play with that team until the playoffs.

AHL Eligibility

For a player to be assigned to the minors, that player must have been on an AHL roster at the trade deadline.  Otherwise, even if the player is waiver-exempt, he is ineligible to play in the minors.  An exception can be made for a player needing a conditioning loan from a long-term injury.  This rule is why there were so many ‘paper transactions’, moves to put a player in the minors before the deadline to keep them eligible to play there down the stretch.

Recalls

This is the one that comes into play the most after the deadline.  Teams are limited to four non-emergency recalls between now and the end of the season.  Players recalled from paper transactions count against the four, so several teams will have less than four to work with immediately.

An emergency situation is created when a team has fewer than 12 healthy forwards, six healthy defensemen, or two healthy goaltenders available.  In those cases, a player can be recalled under emergency conditions if the team has cap space to do so.  However, when that team gets the injured player(s) back, the recalled player must return to the minors.  Otherwise, his recall is converted from an emergency one to a regular one and would count against the limit of four.

Pretty much every team will still be involved in transactions of some sort over the next few weeks, but they’ll have to be mindful of these restrictions when they make them.

Islanders Activate Mike Reilly And Matt Martin

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The Islanders made a pair of roster moves leading into tonight’s game against San Jose.  Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News relays that defenseman Mike Reilly was activated off LTIR while winger Matt Martin was activated off injured reserve.

Reilly has been out since the beginning of November when he suffered a concussion.  However, that hasn’t been what has kept him out this long.  While undergoing testing as a result of the concussion, it was discovered that the 31-year-old had an undiagnosed heart defect.  Fortunately, Reilly told reporters including Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link) that the issue has been corrected and there are no long-term concerns.  He has been skating with the team lately but despite the activation, he’s not expected to play against the Sharks.

Reilly has played in 11 games this season and had been playing a regular role before suffering the concussion.  He didn’t record a point in those outings while averaging 15:45 per game.  For his career, he has 122 points in 411 appearances over parts of 10 NHL seasons.

As for Martin, he last played in mid-January and had been dealing with a lower-body injury.  The 35-year-old eventually earned a contract off an extended PTO but his role has been quite limited this year when he has played.  Through 24 games, he has just one assist along with 68 hits in less than eight minutes a night of ice time.

Sonny Milano Suffers Setback In Injury Recovery

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Friday was a fairly quiet day for the Capitals on the trade front with their only move being the acquisition of winger Anthony Beauvillier from Pittsburgh.  There’s another winger that they were hoping to get back soon but that’s no longer the case for Sonny Milano.  Speaking with reporters Friday including Sammi Silber of The Hockey News, GM Chris Patrick indicated that the winger suffered a fairly significant setback in his recovery from an upper-body injury.

The 28-year-old has been out since early November and has played in just three games with Washington this season, being held off the scoresheet.  However, he had been a capable depth scorer in recent years, reaching the double-digit goal mark in three straight seasons, the last two of which came with the Caps.

It looked as if Milano was well on his way toward returning as he had been skating for several months and participating in non-contact drills but Patrick noted that it’s back to the drawing board in terms of a plan for his recovery.  Given how long he has been out for, his availability for the rest of the season is certainly now in question.

Milano is currently on LTIR with his $1.9MM AAV contributing to more than half of their current LTIR room which stands at $3.175MM, per PuckPedia.  Washington is likely to use a good chunk of that when Ryan Leonard’s season comes to an end as it’s widely expected they’ll try to bring him in for the stretch run and playoffs so even if Milano was cleared to return before the playoffs, it’s likely they’d keep him stashed on there anyway for cap compliance purposes.  Regardless, it’s fair to say that the second season of Milano’s three-year deal has not gone the way anyone would have hoped.

Metropolitan Notes: Gudbranson, Gritsyuk, Stillman

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Columbus wasn’t overly active as expected leading into Friday’s trade deadline but they’re close to getting an addition on the back end.  Jeff Svoboda of the Blue Jackets’ team site relays (Twitter link) that defenseman Erik Gudbranson has been fully cleared to practice.  While that means he’s still probably at least a few days away from returning, his looming return will be a welcome one.  Gudbranson has been out since suffering a shoulder injury in the third game of the season back in October.  He was originally expected to be out until sometime in April but instead, it appears that he’ll be available to return several weeks ahead of schedule, effectively serving as a deadline addition.  Once he’s activated in the coming days, Columbus will have nine blueliners on its active roster.

More from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Speaking to reporters yesterday at his post-deadline press conference, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald told reporters including James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now that he’s actively trying to sign Russian forward Arseni Gritsyuk. The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick in 2019 but has become a productive forward in the KHL, notching 38 points in 45 games this season while also missing time due to a knee injury.  His deal expires on June 1st but if his club team – SKA St. Petersburg – were to release him before then at the conclusion of their regular season and playoffs, he’d be free to sign with New Jersey before then.  If that were to happen early enough, Gritsyuk could conceivably burn a year of his contract right away and potentially suit up in the playoffs for the Devils.
  • After assigning him to the minors yesterday upon clearing waivers, the Hurricanes announced that they’ve once again recalled Riley Stillman from AHL Chicago. Despite being promoted on numerous occasions, the 26-year-old has only played in three NHL games this season along with 20 outings with the Wolves where he has five points.  Stillman is likely to continue to serve as a depth defender but with recall limits now in effect, it’s unlikely he’ll be shuffled down daily as he was earlier this season.  Accordingly, while yesterday’s demotion keeps him playoff-eligible in the minors, he’ll probably have to pass through waivers again later to get back down there as he’s likely to remain on Carolina’s roster for 30 days, the threshold in which he’ll become waiver-eligible again.

Devils Recall Daniel Sprong, Assign Seamus Casey To AHL

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The Devils have done some roster shuffling in advance of their game on Sunday against Philadelphia.  The team announced that they’ve recalled recently-acquired winger Daniel Sprong from AHL Utica while they’ve also assigned defenseman Seamus Casey to Utica.

Sprong is joining his third NHL team of the season.  He started with Vancouver after inking a one-year, $975K contract over the summer but after struggling in limited action to start the season, he was flipped to Seattle in November for future considerations.   Things weren’t much better there either and in early January, he passed through waivers unclaimed and had been in the minors since.

On the season, the 27-year-old has two goals and three assists in 19 NHL outings while averaging just over 12 minutes a night.  Sprong has been much more productive in the minors, however, tallying 11 goals and 14 assists in 19 games with AHL Coachella Valley.  New Jersey will now get to see if that can translate to being more of a contributor for them down the stretch.

As for Casey, the team’s release indicates that his demotion came before Friday’s trade deadline, keeping him eligible to play down the stretch for the Comets.  He has played in 10 games with the Devils this season and has been productive in limited minutes, notching four goals and an assist in a little under 12 minutes a night of playing time.  He also has 15 points in 22 appearances with Utica and should go back to playing a prominent role for them for their stretch run as they look to try to make a late run to sneak into a playoff spot in the North Division.

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