Sharks Acquire Vincent Desharnais
The Sharks have added some depth on the back end, acquiring defenseman Vincent Desharnais from Pittsburgh in exchange for a 2028 fifth-round pick. Both teams have announced the trade.
The 28-year-old’s stay with the Penguins was short-lived as he only spent 10 games with them after being acquired from Vancouver last month as part of the Marcus Pettersson trade. It has been a tough season for Desharnais who has struggled in his first season away from Edmonton. He has played in 44 games between the two teams but has just three assists along with 68 blocks and 73 hits while averaging 15:37 per game.
Desharnais is in the first year of a two-year, $4MM contract signed back in July following a stint in Edmonton where he worked his way up from a minor league deal to eventually landing a regular spot on their third pairing. Now, he’ll try to reclaim a full-time spot in San Jose’s lineup.
While it might seem odd for San Jose to be adding to their roster, Desharnais is a low-cost pickup from an acquisition standpoint while the extra year on his contract isn’t an issue for a team projected to have plenty of cap space for next season. If he can get back to being a full-timer, it’s possible they’ll be better poised to flip him for a stronger return at this time next year. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh sheds a contract they had to take on to facilitate last month’s swap with the Canucks, opening up some extra cap space which it appears they’ll put to use quite quickly.
Predators Assign Kieffer Bellows To AHL
The Predators have opened up a roster spot in advance of their game against Seattle on Thursday. The team announced that winger Kieffer Bellows has been assigned back to AHL Milwaukee.
The 26-year-old got into five games with Nashville after being recalled last month, his first taste of NHL action since the 2022-23 campaign. Bellows was held off the scoresheet in each of those contests while averaging just under 11 minutes a night of playing time. For his career, he has 14 goals and 14 assists in 100 NHL outings.
Bellows has spent the bulk of this season in the minors with the Admirals. Through 41 games with them, he has 14 goals and 15 assists. Those numbers are below his minor league output from a year ago when he had 27 goals and 22 helpers in 52 outings with AHL Toronto, a performance that earned him a one-year, two-way deal this summer after being strictly on an AHL pact last season.
With the demotion, the Predators now have two open roster spots. It seems likely that one or both of those will be filled relatively quickly, perhaps as early as Thursday.
Five Key Stories: 2/25/25 – 3/2/25
The trade deadline is now less than a week away. Not surprisingly, several of the key stories from the past seven days are on the trade front with a handful of teams looking to get a jump on bringing in some help.
Wild Bring Back Nyquist: For the second time in just over two years, the Wild acquired winger Gustav Nyquist before the deadline. In 2023, they gave up a fifth-round pick to get him but this time, the cost was higher as they had to part with a 2026 second-round selection to get him from Nashville. As part of the move, the Predators are retaining half of the $3.185MM cap charge. The 35-year-old had a career year last season, tallying 75 points in 81 games but hasn’t been able to produce anywhere near the same level this year with 21 points in 57 contests before the swap. However, Nyquist had some success with the Wild in 2023 and he should be able to help give them some extra scoring depth for their playoff push.
Done For The Year: After missing almost all of last season after undergoing knee surgery, Canadiens center Kirby Dach will miss roughly the final two months of this year after once again having knee surgery on the same knee. The former third-overall pick had a quiet year, tallying 10 goals and 12 assists in 57 games and will now have lots of rehab on his knee for the second straight year. Meanwhile, the Red Wings will be without a key veteran for the rest of the year after Andrew Copp underwent surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle. He had 10 goals and 13 helpers in 56 games this season while also seeing regular time shorthanded. Detroit, did, however, free up some cap space to replace him when they dealt Ville Husso to Anaheim for future considerations, opening up lots of flexibility for GM Steve Yzerman heading into Friday’s deadline.
Panthers Make A Splash: The Panthers decided to go big with their pre-deadline move, acquiring defenseman Seth Jones and a 2026 fourth-round pick from Chicago in exchange for goaltender Spencer Knight and a 2026 first-round pick (that could become a 2027 first). The Blackhawks are retaining $2.5MM of Jones’ $9.5MM AAV (through 2029-30) as part of the move. Jones recently indicated an openness to be moved to a contender and he gets his wish. He’s been in the number one role for Chicago for quite some time but will go to a club where he won’t be counted on quite as much which might work out well for both sides. Meanwhile, Chicago will get a look at Knight who was once viewed as one of the top young goalies in the league to see if he can be part of their long-term plans while adding another first-round pick and some future cap flexibility as their long rebuild continues.
Suspension Reduced: It’s not often that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will step in and reduce a suspension but he did so in Wild forward Ryan Hartman’s case. After initially receiving a ten-game ban, Bettman opted to lower that to eight games. In his ruling, he noted that despite a fairly lengthy recent history of supplemental discipline, an increase of seven games from his most recent suspension “is excessive in this case and that the quantum of increase should be reduced.” As a result of the reduction, Hartman will be eligible to return to the lineup on Tuesday and with the Wild dealing with some other injury woes on their active roster (suspended players count against the 23-player roster), it also may have made it easier to pull the trigger on the Nyquist deal now over waiting a few more days.
Avs Add A Blueliner: The Avalanche added some depth on the back end, acquiring blueliner Ryan Lindgren, winger Jimmy Vesey, and unsigned prospect Hank Kempf from the Rangers in exchange for winger Juuso Parssinen, blueliner Calvin de Haan, and 2025 second- and fourth-round picks. New York is retaining half of Lindgren’s $4.5MM cap charge in the move. While Lindgren is in the middle of a down season, he has a track record of being a quality defensive defender which should give Colorado a boost at the fourth or fifth slot on their blueline. Vesey also is a more experienced option for an Avalanche fourth line that has undergone plenty of turnover this season. As for New York, they add two more draft picks to the fold and a look at Parssinen, a 24-year-old who had 25 points in Nashville in 45 games just two seasons ago, to see if he can be part of their longer-term plans.
Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.
Oilers Examining Trade Market For Evander Kane
Friday was an important day for the Oilers when it comes to winger Evander Kane. Not when it came to an injury update but rather his no-trade clause. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday (video link), Friday was when Kane’s full trade protection dropped to a partial no-trade clause. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector clarifies (Twitter link) that Kane can now block a trade to only 16 teams and his list has been submitted to Edmonton.
Now with a potential opening to try to trade him, both Friedman and Spector have noted that GM Stan Bowman is gauging the market with the 15 teams he can’t block a trade to.
Kane has yet to play this season. He was injured in last year’s playoff run and underwent abdominal surgery in the fall. He then had knee surgery in January with that injury popping up while recovering from the first procedure. In doing so, his timeline for his return was pushed back and remains murky.
As a result, Edmonton’s trade deadline approach remains up in the air. If Kane isn’t able to return, the Oilers can use his LTIR flexibility (presently around $5.1MM per PuckPedia) to try to add to their roster. But if it looks like he’s going to return or there remains uncertainty regarding his ability to return in the next seven weeks, then their hands are largely tied as they’re effectively capped out.
The 33-year-old is signed through next season at a $5.125MM cap charge so it’s not as if this is a situation where they’re looking at moving an injured player on an expiring contract. Given that and the injury uncertainty, it would be fair to say his market isn’t likely to be particularly robust.
On the other hand, Kane, when healthy, remains an effective power forward. He had 24 goals and 20 assists along with 250 hits in 77 games last season. The year before, he had 28 points in 41 contests in an injury-shortened campaign. When he’s in the lineup, Kane can be a quality contributor offensively while bringing plenty of physicality, attributes that are always appealing, especially at this time of year.
With that in mind, this likely isn’t a situation where Edmonton is going to be interested in paying a big premium to offload Kane’s contract and get out of LTIR. If he is able to return this season, it’s fair to say that they’d be counting on him to play a regular role right away and into the playoffs. But if there’s a way for them to get a lower-cost contributor back that opens up some options leading into Friday’s trade deadline, it’s something that Bowman will need to consider. Now that he knows which teams Kane be moved to, those conversations are underway.
Kraken Recall Philipp Grubauer, Assign Niklas Kokko To AHL
Late in January, the Kraken decided to place Philipp Grubauer on waivers to allow him to get some extended time with AHL Coachella Valley to try to get him back on track. It appears they’re content with how he performed as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled the veteran from the Firebirds. In a corresponding move, Niklas Kokko was assigned to Coachella Valley.
Grubauer struggled in his first three seasons with Seattle, failing to record a save percentage of .900. But this year, things went much worse. Prior to his demotion, the 33-year-old put up a 3.83 GAA and a .866 SV% in 21 outings, numbers that are dead last among netminders with at least 20 appearances. That’s hardly the type of performance they’re expecting from someone carrying a cap charge of $5.9MM through the 2026-27 season.
With the Firebirds, Grubauer was better but his numbers were still relatively pedestrian for a long-time NHL veteran. In seven appearances with them, he posted a 2.87 GAA with a .893 SV%. Now that he’s back with Seattle, his likely goal over the next seven weeks will be to try to play well enough to not be considered for a contract buyout this summer.
As for Kokko, he made his first career NHL appearance on Tuesday, making four saves on six shots in half a game against St. Louis. The 20-year-old is in the first season of his entry-level deal and has fared well in the minors, putting up a 2.44 GAA and a .909 SV% in 21 games with the Firebirds. With Coachella Valley in a three-way battle for the top spot in the Pacific Division, Kokko will now get into some meaningful action down the stretch.
PHR Mailbag: AHL Players, Wild, Blackhawks, Ducks, Extensions, CBA
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include what, if anything, is next for the Wild on the trade front, Chicago’s tough season, and much more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in our last two columns.
nolesfan75: Do players like Matthew Phillips and Kailer Yamamoto have any realistic chance of getting another opportunity in the NHL? They both are having strong years at their respective AHL clubs.
It’s unfortunate but it’s hard for smaller offensive players to get any sort of significant opportunity in the NHL once they get labeled as more of a minor leaguer. You’re definitely correct in stating that Phillips and Yamamoto are having strong seasons in the minors but the problem they run into is this. They’re good enough to be impactful players in the AHL but not good enough to be a top-six piece consistently in the NHL. Meanwhile, they’re often viewed as too small to play regular minutes in the bottom six for an NHL team. So, where does that leave them? Basically, they have to hope for a short-term injury to an offensive forward to have an opportunity for a short-term recall and if things go well from there, maybe stick around for a bit.
To make things even harder for them, there might be an NHL team or two who would be willing to give someone like that a chance after the trade deadline to avoid needing to recall someone from their farm team (helping in a playoff push down there). But because Phillips and Yamamoto are big producers in the minors, their respective NHL teams are unlikely to just give them away and weaken their farm team to do right by the player. It’s a tough cycle to get out of which is why these players often move around in free agency each summer, trying to find a new opportunity that gives them a better chance at an NHL look at some point.
letsgonats: Related, do teams target AHL players? Folks like Phillips or Ethan Bear that are all stars at AHL but they are not 21-year-olds but 25–28-year-olds with some NHL experience and can serve as depth. Ethen Frank is “old” at 28 but obviously was buried and stuck in AHL. Do teams try to grab AHL folks and give them the job over existing NHL folks?
There is an annual shuffle of top AHL players that I think at least partially qualifies as a yes to this question. But it’s not necessarily with the idea of having that player displace an NHL regular although they typically promise that the player will get that opportunity at least in training camp. That’s the biggest driver of top AHL players in free agency, just trying to upgrade the AHL teams.
The next level of targets for teams looking at AHL players are young players coming off an AHL contract that a team wants to sign to an NHL deal. Since you’re a Washington fan, I’ll give you a Capitals-specific example, Pierrick Dube. He had a strong first pro year on a minor league deal and that was enough for Washington to have to give him an entry-level contract to secure his NHL rights. There are usually a handful of those moves each summer league-wide.
There aren’t many comparisons to Frank out there. Waivers allow players in his situation to be snapped up if there’s an NHL team that thinks an AHL regular is worthy of a look at the top level and usually, if they’re that confident about that player’s ability to be an NHL regular, they’ll typically try to acquire the player in a small trade beforehand. So while there are some AHL players who are targeted for various reasons, it’s not too often that they’re being looked at as pieces to join an NHL roster full time.
Zakis: What, if anything, will the Wild do? Or be able to do?
I was really hoping that I could get away with pushing this question into this column as I figured that Minnesota would wait until closer to the trade deadline when they might have more clarity on the status of injured forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek. Oh well.
Realistically, my logic still holds true today though. If one of them can’t return before the end of the regular season, the Wild will have the ability to spend several million to try to add another upgrade or two before Friday’s trade deadline. But if not, they’ll be in a spot where they need to cut down to close to the minimum-size roster to get back to cap compliance. At that point, they’re in a money-in, money-out situation which greatly affects what they’ll be able to do.
I don’t think they’re quite done yet up front beyond the Gustav Nyquist acquisition but that will probably be their biggest move of this stretch. With the struggles of their penalty kill, I suspect they’ll have their eye out for a fourth liner who can kill penalties. In a perfect world, that player would be a center but any shorthanded upgrade would be a welcome one.
It’s worth noting that Minnesota doesn’t have a first-round pick or a third-round selection this year, nor do they have second-rounders in 2026 and 2027 so their trade chips are somewhat limited here, assuming their top youngsters are off the table. But a mid-round pick for a checker making $1MM or less is something I still expect them to do regardless of what happens with Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek. Anything else will be dependent on one of them being out for the rest of the regular season.
Unclemike1526: When Brossoit makes it back to the Hawks, Soderblom will have played too many games to be sent down without passing through waivers. IMO, no player is more improved in the NHL this year than Soderblom. Last year whenever the other team crossed the red line, Soderblom would drop on his knees and wait for the other team to just shoot it over his shoulders. Now that he actually stays on his feet the change has been remarkable.
So, faced with having to keep three Goalies, is there any chance they can move Mrazek when he has next year remaining at $4 million bucks? Would a team need a G bad enough to take that on? Brossoit has no value having been hurt all year and Soderblom might be a keeper. One has to go IMO or we’ll have the same problem again next year as they’ll all have contracts. Thanks again.
I’m glad I got the Seth Jones question out of the way last week and as it turns out, that trade makes this question that much more important. With Spencer Knight now in the fold, Chicago has four netminders under contract for this season. Three are signed already for next year and Arvid Soderblom has done more than well enough to earn a contract for 2025-26 as well. For this year, I’m skeptical that Laurent Brossoit is going to return and they can just run with three goalies for the final seven weeks of this season so it’s not necessarily a problem just yet.
Petr Mrazek has a $4.25MM cap charge for next year which is on the high side but he’s also going to be on an expiring contract. I think it’s possible that there will be a team or two who doesn’t like the idea of signing a UFA to a multi-year deal but could afford an overpay on a short-term contract. If those are out there, then yes, I think Chicago can move him. And with two retention slots opening up on July 1st, the Blackhawks could use one to pay down part of that contract and actually get a bit of value in return (likely a mid-round draft pick). If it doesn’t happen, he’s probably on waivers and in the minors in October.
Assuming that Chicago intends to give Knight a long look, I suspect their ideal tandem for next year is him and Soderblom. Brossoit coming off an injury-riddled year has minimal value so he’d either be the third-string option or on waivers and in the minors himself assuming he’s healthy by training camp. If he and Mrazek were both in the AHL, I expect one would then be loaned to another team with the other partnering with Drew Commesso in Rockford. There’s a way to get through this with the four but if they can find a taker for Mrazek or Brossoit (which seems less likely given the injury trouble), that would certainly help things.
samwise1313: Are the Blackhawks going in the right direction?
From a longer-term standpoint, I think so. They already have one of the stronger prospect pools in the league and with nine picks in the first two rounds between the next two drafts (four first-rounders and five second-rounders), they’re set to make it even stronger pretty quickly. I think they’d be a bit disappointed with how things have gone in Rockford but they’re at least in a play-in spot so there’s a chance that young group gets a bit of a postseason taste. So as far as the long-term future goes, they’re doing alright.
But this season hasn’t been a great one. The results have been ugly under both coaches and even Connor Bedard’s sophomore year hasn’t seen him take a big step forward as expected. I didn’t have an issue with them getting some veterans to avoid having a bunch of young guys in spots they’re not necessarily ready for but they haven’t done well at moving the needle, so to speak. In terms of progression, there hasn’t been much which is not what you want to see from a rebuilding squad. In that sense, it feels like a bit of a wasted year but in the long run, they’re still on the right track when it comes to asset accumulation.
Metropolitan Notes: Provorov, Devils, Michkov, Capitals
While there’s believed to be mutual interest in a contract extension between the Blue Jackets and pending UFA defenseman Ivan Provorov, there hasn’t been much traction in discussions, reports Pierre LeBrun in a recent piece for The Athletic (subscription link). He adds that Columbus and Provorov’s camp exchanged offers back in January but they were not close to an agreement while it’s believed that they haven’t circled back on talks since then. Provorov was widely viewed as a prominent trade candidate heading into the season but with the Blue Jackets continuing to be in the mix for a playoff spot, it would be risky for them to move him now, even though they’d be running the risk of losing him for nothing this summer in free agency. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides at least have a follow-up discussion about a possible new deal in the days leading up to Friday’s trade deadline.
More from the Metropolitan:
- While the Devils have been known to be looking for centers for most of the season, Gabriel Trevino of NJ Advance Media relays that they’re also looking to add scoring help although a move is unlikely to come until right before the deadline. He adds that New Jersey is in a spot where they’re open to accepting rentals or longer-term fits. However, while the latter would cost more to acquire, defenseman Simon Nemec is not someone the team intends to move despite the fact he has spent the bulk of the year in the minors, something he hasn’t been happy They’re projected to have less than $1.7MM in cap room available on deadline day, per PuckPedia, so they’ll need to get creative if they’re going to add an impact player to their roster.
- The NHL announced that Flyers winger Matvei Michkov has been named Rookie of the Month for February. He’s the first rookie this season to get the nod twice after also winning in October. Michkov had ten points in seven games last month while he’s the rookie leader in goals (19) league-wide while being tied for the lead in points with 44.
- The Capitals are looking to add depth both up front and on the back end before Friday’s trade deadline, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). With Washington leading the way in the Eastern Conference, it’s understandable that their preference would be to avoid doing anything to shake up the core of their group. They have $3.65MM remaining in their LTIR pool, per PuckPedia, meaning that if they want to make a couple of additions while still leaving room for injury replacements, they’re going to be primarily looking at low-cost pickups.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Tampa Bay Lightning
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR is looking at every NHL team and giving a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Atlantic Division, next up is the Lightning.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Current Cap Hit: $86,676,870 (under the $88MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Conor Geekie (three years, $886.7K)
D Emil Lilleberg (one year, $870K)
Potential Bonuses
Geekie: $525K
Lilleberg: $80K
Total: $605K
Geekie was a key pickup in the Mikhail Sergachev trade back at the draft. He spent the first half of the season with the big club but was sent down after struggling. That makes it unlikely that he reaches his ‘A’ bonuses while at this point, a low-cost second contract seems likely unless he can establish himself as a core piece over the next two years.
Lilleberg has already signed an extension so we’ll cover that later on. For here, it’s worth noting that his bonuses are tied to games played so he’ll hit most if not all of his number.
Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level
F Cam Atkinson ($900K, UFA)
F Michael Eyssimont ($800K, UFA)
F Luke Glendening ($800K, UFA)
F Gage Goncalves ($775K, RFA)
G Jonas Johansson ($775K, UFA)
D Nicklaus Perbix ($1.125MM, UFA)
After being bought out by Philadelphia, Atkinson was a low-cost flyer to see if he could provide Tampa Bay with some depth scoring. That hasn’t happened and at this point, it’d be surprising to see him land a guaranteed contract this summer. If so – or if he earns one off a PTO – it’s likely to be for the minimum. Glendening has been as advertised – a reliable faceoff player who can kill penalties but brings little offense to the table. There’s still a role for him beyond this year but it’s likely to be at or near the minimum of $775K once again.
Eyssimont had a breakout effort last season, notching 25 points despite playing primarily in their bottom six (often the fourth line). He hasn’t been able to produce at a similar rate this year which will hurt him a bit on the open market. Even so, as a fourth liner who can play with some jam and bring potentially a little offensive upside, he could jump closer to the $1.3MM range on his next contract. Goncalves has cleared waivers twice already but has spent more time with the Lightning than the Crunch so far. He has arbitration rights which could give the Lightning pause if they think a hearing could push him past the $1MM mark or so but he’s a candidate to take less than his qualifying offer of around $813K for a higher AHL salary or even a one-way NHL salary.
Perbix is the most notable of Tampa Bay’s pending free agents. While he has largely had a limited role this season, he had 24 points last year while logging a little over 17 minutes a night. Considering he’s still young (he’ll be 27 in June), big (6’4), and a right-shot player, his market could grow quickly from teams looking for a depth addition with a little upside, meaning that more than doubling this price could be doable.
Johansson remains a below-average NHL netminder but that’s something the Lightning knew when they signed him in 2023. The goal for them was getting someone at the minimum salary. Johansson’s staying power could give him a shot at a few more dollars but he’ll remain in the six-figure range.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Mitchell Chaffee ($800K, UFA)
D Ryan McDonagh ($6.75MM, UFA)
D J.J. Moser ($3.375MM, RFA)
D Darren Raddysh ($975K, UFA)
F Conor Sheary ($2MM, UFA)
Sheary received this deal coming off two strong years with Washington but things haven’t gone anywhere near as well with the Lightning. He scored just four goals last season and has spent most of this year in the minors, carrying a pro-rated $850K charge while down there. He’s a buyout candidate this summer although they could elect to hold onto him and take the $850K charge again next year instead of putting some money onto the 2026-27 books. Chaffee has established himself as a regular on the fourth line and is in a similar situation as Eyssimont was a year ago. Assuming that keeps up, he could push to land a $500K raise or so in 2026.
McDonagh’s contract was once deemed too expensive for Tampa Bay which resulted in them moving him to Nashville in 2022 for a very minimal return. Two years later, they gave up more value to reacquire the final two seasons of the agreement which is something you don’t see too often. But it reflects the need they had to bring in a veteran dependable defender which is what McDonagh is at this point of his career. He’s not a true top-pairing piece at this stage of his career nor is he enough of an offensive threat to provide value relative to his price tag. But if he can still hold down at least a top-four spot by the end of next season, he could still land a contract in the $4MM to $5MM range, perhaps a one-year deal which would allow for some incentives.
Moser was another piece of note in the Sergachev trade after being one of the more underrated blueliners with Arizona. The structure of the bridge deal gives him a $4.075MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights and assuming he’s still a full-timer in Tampa’s top four, he seems like a strong candidate to push past the $5MM mark on his next contract. Raddysh has become a capable producer of secondary scoring from the back end although he gives some of that back with his defensive play. Those players don’t always have the best markets year-to-year but barring a big drop in performance or playing time, he should be able to double this at a minimum in 2026.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Zemgus Girgensons ($850K, UFA)
F Nikita Kucherov ($9.5MM, UFA)
D Emil Lilleberg ($800K in 2025-26 and 2026-27, RFA)
Kucherov continues to be one of the top point-producing forwards in the NHL. He’s around $2MM below the highest-paid winger (Artemi Panarin) but that’s about to change with this upcoming UFA crop which will only widen that gap and give Tampa Bay even better value in the short term. Assuming he doesn’t slow down over the next three years, he could be someone conceivably pushing for a deal in the $14MM range himself even at 34. Girgensons saw his production drop in the last couple of years with Buffalo but it has cratered even more this year. Still, he’s a capable penalty killer and can play with some grit. That for $100K above the minimum isn’t bad value.
Lilleberg’s new deal is actually a dip in pay off his entry-level pact but gives him guaranteed money via a one-way salary no matter what. Assuming he remains a regular with the Lightning during that time, his arbitration eligibility could put him in line to double (or even triple) that price tag on his next contract.
Jets Activate Morgan Barron Off Injured Reserve
The Jets will welcome back a forward for their game tonight against Philadelphia. In their announcement of the projected lines for the contest (Twitter link), the team noted that Morgan Barron is expected to play, meaning he has been activated off injured reserve. To make room on the roster, forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan was reassigned to AHL Manitoba, per the AHL’s media site.
Barron has missed a little more than a month with an upper-body injury sustained in late January. However, with the long break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, he’ll wind up missing just eight games due to the issue. The 26-year-old has five goals and three assists in 52 contests this season while chipping in with 85 hits in 10:27 of playing time per night. Barron also takes a regular turn in the penalty kill rotation for Winnipeg so his return should also help on that front. He’s expected to suit up on the fourth line alongside Rasmus Kupari and Alex Iafallo.
As for Anderson-Dolan, his recall was relatively short-lived after being up on Wednesday, his first recall of the season. The 25-year-old is in the first season of a two-year, two-way deal signed last summer but he has struggled considerably with AHL Manitoba, notching just 13 points in 38 games with the Moose. For comparison, he had 47 points in 54 minor league contests in 2021-22, his last season as a regular in the minors. He’ll now have to wait at least a little longer to make his Jets debut.
Wild Acquire Gustav Nyquist From Predators
After being scratched earlier in the day for trade-related reasons, it felt like only a matter of time before the Predators traded winger Gustav Nyquist. That move has now happened as they have dealt him to the Wild in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick. Both sides have announced the swap. As part of the move, Nashville is retaining half of his $3.185MM cap hit. To make room on the roster, Minnesota has assigned Liam Ohgren to AHL Iowa, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link).
It’s the second time that Minnesota has acquired Nyquist in a move before the trade deadline after they picked him up from Columbus back in 2023 but at that time, the acquisition cost was only a fifth-round selection. Meanwhile, it’s actually the third time that the 35-year-old has been a near-deadline pickup as back in 2019, Detroit moved him to San Jose for a pair of draft choices.
Nyquist signed a two-year deal with the Preds back in 2023 on the heels of a solid playoff showing with Minnesota that saw him pick up five assists in six postseason appearances. Things couldn’t have gone much better for him last season as he wound up blowing past his previous career highs in assists and points, tallying 52 and 75 respectively in 81 games. He followed that up with four points in their first-round exit to Vancouver in the playoffs.
With his 2023-24 performance and Nashville’s big spending spree over the summer, expectations were high for Nyquist heading into this season. However, as has been the case for a lot of the Predators’ players, he has underachieved. Through 57 games this season, he has just nine goals and 12 assists despite still logging 17:39 per game of ice time.
Minnesota finds itself in the bottom half of the league offensively with key injuries to players like Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek playing a part in that. Nyquist should have an opportunity to jump into a middle-six role and at least deepen the lineup while ideally being able to provide them with a boost in their secondary scoring. They’re paying a fairly high cost to get Nyquist at half price so they clearly expect that the change of scenery will help get him going again.
With the move, Nashville has now used its three salary retention slots with the others being on Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Johansen, whose grievance for his contract termination was held last week. If that termination is upheld by Friday, the Predators could get that third slot back but it seems unlikely a ruling will come that quickly. In the meantime, they now have eight picks in the first two rounds between the 2025 and 2026 drafts, positioning themselves well to add some young impactful talent to the cupboard relatively quickly.
Meanwhile, Minnesota now has roughly $6.6MM remaining in its LTIR pool, per PuckPedia (Twitter link). That’s with Kaprizov in LTIR and Eriksson Ek on regular injured reserve. Assuming both players return before the end of the season, the Wild will need to clear around $2.4MM in salary off their books to get back into cap compliance. Accordingly, unless they know one of their veterans won’t be back until the playoffs start, the Wild will be hard-pressed to make any other additions without clearing out some money either beforehand or as part of that trade.
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