Trade Deadline Primer: Los Angeles Kings
As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Los Angeles Kings.
After three straight seasons languishing at the bottom of the NHL’s Pacific Division, the Los Angeles Kings’ long-term plan under GM Rob Blake seems to be finally starting to bear fruit. The Kings are currently sitting second in the Pacific, ahead of the rival Vegas Golden Knights, and have been a surprisingly competitive team this season, with many of their players either having resurgent seasons or reaching new heights in terms of production. This has led to a shift in approach towards the trade deadline for the Kings. Whereas most observers probably would not have expected the team to be too active beyond some light selling, the team’s performance this year has vaulted them into definite buyer status. They’re probably not going to go big-game hunting and be mortgaging their future for an expensive rental, but fans should expect the team to at the very least be engaged in the conversation surrounding potential reinforcements for their squad.
Record
32-19-7, 2nd in the Pacific
Deadline Status
Buyer (but not an all-in buyer)
Deadline Cap Space
$6.3MM today, $6.3MM in full-season space, 47/50 contracts used, 1/3 retention slots used
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: LAK 1st, LAK 2nd, PIT 3rd, LAK 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th
2023: LAK 1st, LAK 2nd, LAK 3rd, PIT 3rd, LAK 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th
Trade Chips
Despite having scored three goals in the past two games, Andreas Athanasiou is a potential candidate to be traded at this deadline. After a moderately successful season last year where he posted 10 goals and 23 points in 47 games, Athanasiou has filtered in and out of the lineup and been unable to show any consistency. His raw numbers of 12 points (including eight goals) in 21 games aren’t bad, but it’s clear coach Todd McLellan doesn’t trust him to be a lineup staple, and his current slot as the left winger on the Phillip Danault line is a spot he’s set to lose once Viktor Arvidsson returns from injury. The whole situation, combined with Athanasiou’s expiring $2.7MM cap hit, makes him the perfect candidate to be traded at this deadline, and he would specifically fit as a means of balancing salary if the Kings pursue an expensive veteran addition. Athanasiou on the ice offers blazing speed and potential 30 goal upside (he scored 30 in 2018-19) but his inability to put together his rare tools into a consistent complete package means his days in Los Angeles are likely numbered.
Should the Kings pursue a major player at the deadline, one of the likelier pieces for the selling club to receive from Los Angeles is 2017 11th overall pick Gabriel Vilardi. Vilardi, 22, is a big center who has struggled with injuries throughout his career, both as a professional and when he played in the OHL. Vilardi has been productive this year with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. He has 15 goals and 37 points in 37 games, and he flashed that skill at the NHL level last season when he had 10 goals and 23 points in 54 games. Vilardi profiles as a potential top-6 center and should be able to help the Kings acquire a valuable veteran player should the team choose to go down that route.
If the Kings want to go a cheaper route when acquiring reinforcements for their squad, they could potentially trade a less important young player such as Carl Grundstrom. Grundstrom, 24, came to Los Angeles as part of the Kings’ trade of Jake Muzzin and has been a regular member of their bottom-six for the past two seasons. Offensively he doesn’t jump off the page, with 11 points in 34 games this year and 11 points in 47 last year, but he was once a highly-regarded two-way prospect and perhaps another team could view him as a piece with more upside to be unlocked. He’s the kind of player who may fit as in player-plus-pick deal for a less in-demand veteran due to him being a capable NHL player under the age of 25 with some pedigree as a former well-regarded prospect.
Others to watch for: F Lias Andersson, D Olli Maatta, F Alex Turcotte
Team Needs:
1) Scoring/Power Play Help
Beyond Anze Kopitar‘s 51 points in 58 games, the Kings are missing a slam-dunk scorer and instead rely on a more offense-by-committee approach. That has worked for them pretty well so far this year, especially as the Arvidsson-Danault-Trevor Moore line has emerged as an absolute force, but there is still room for improvement. The Kings’ power play ranks 5th-worst in the NHL, at 16.4%, the lowest mark for any team currently sitting in playoff position. For the team to be truly considered a playoff contender they need to improve their scoring, and to do that they can add a proven scorer or even a powerplay specialist, like the Arizona Coyotes’ Phil Kessel, for example. But regardless of what direction Blake chooses to go at the deadline, it’s clear that improving the power play should be a priority.
2) Defensive reinforcements
Just as the Kings’ power play has struggled, their penalty kill has been similarly bad. The team currently kills off 75.8% of opposing power plays, 8th-worst in the NHL. The Kings’ defense has a star in Drew Doughty and veterans such as Maatta and Alexander Edler, but beyond that trio, their defense is missing pieces with much NHL experience or an accomplished defensive resume. Playoff hockey is extraordinarily difficult and physically intense, and the Kings’ defense might not be equipped to hold up to that pressure. Adding a veteran defenseman or two to take the load off of young players like Sean Durzi and Tobias Bjornfot could be a very helpful move as the Kings look to cement their status as a playoff team down the stretch.
Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Trade Candidate: Braden Holtby
With the trade deadline now a few weeks away, we continue our look at some of the players who have a good chance of being on the move between now and March 21st.
Braden Holtby‘s first season away from the Washington Capitals, the only team he had ever known, the team he backstopped to a Stanley Cup in 2018, did not go well. Holtby signed a two-year contract worth $4.3MM per year with the Vancouver Canucks, and the team was optimistic that he would replace Jacob Markstrom‘s starts and help ease Thatcher Demko into his role as a starting goaltender. Holtby’s play was far poorer than those expectations demanded, and he was eventually bought out by the team after only one season, a season where he posted a .889 save percentage and an eye-popping 3.67 goals against average in 21 games. But this season, Holtby has been impressive for the Dallas Stars, and he owns a .913 save percentage in 24 games as the Stars battle for position in the Western Conference’s playoff race.
Contract
Holtby is in the lone season of his one-year $2MM contract with the Stars. His entire contract is in base salary, no signing bonus, and he will be an unrestricted free agent in July. He has no protection against trades in his contract.
2021-22
Holtby began the season brilliantly, with save percentages between .926 and .964 in his first four starts, with the Stars winning three out of those four. Holtby’s numbers came down to earth a bit after that, but overall he has remained steadily above .910 as a whole for his season’s numbers. Holtby faced a minor lower-body injury in early February and largely has ceded the starting role to Jake Oettinger, but despite those two factors he has still provided the Stars with excellent value for the contract they signed. Holtby’s season represents his first venture above the .900 mark in save percentage since 2018-19, and the Stars have to be satisfied with the performance he has given them so far this season.
Looking a bit deeper into his numbers, Holtby has a .922 even-strength save percentage, higher than many goalies considered to be quality starters such as John Gibson, Robin Lehner, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Connor Hellebuyck. But his save percentage on the penalty kill of .827 is one of the lower marks in the league and brings down his save percentage as a whole. The Stars do not have a great penalty kill, ranked 19th in the NHL at 78.9%, so one has to wonder if Holtby’s numbers could be even better on a team that is stronger in that area.
Season Stats
22 games started, 10-10-1 record, .913 save percentage, 2.78 goals against average, 3.0 goals saved above expected.
Potential Suitors
Goaltending is an interesting situation when it comes to the trade deadline, because it can be far easier to determine a team’s need in that position compared to others. That being said, so much of successful goaltending is mental, so much relies on a goalie’s confidence and belief in himself. So acquiring a goalie at the deadline can be tricky. High-profile goaltending trades at deadlines have sometimes borne fruit, like when the Vegas Golden Knights acquired their current starting goalie in Lehner, but it has also backfired in the past, like when the Los Angeles Kings traded Erik Cernak, among other assets, to acquire Ben Bishop from the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s a mixed bag, so historically speaking acquiring Holtby has some risk. But looking across the league, there are definitely teams in need of goaltending.
The team getting the most attention surrounding its goaltending right now is the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are a star-studded team and are in a market that desperately wants to see them make their first playoff run with this core of players. It was believed that Jack Campbell would be the guy to get them there, and Campbell is truly a beloved player in Toronto, but his play recently has not been inspiring. Nor has the play all season of backup Petr Mrazek, who has an .890 save percentage. For a team that so badly needs to make noise in the playoffs, adding a Stanley Cup-winning goalie could be the move they need to shore up the side of the game that has decided many a playoff series on its own.
Another potential suitor for Holtby is one that would excite many fans of the team and neutral observers alike- the Washington Capitals. Vitek Vanecek has been brilliant this season, to the tune of a .921 save percentage, but the team has also started Ilya Samsonov in 28 games and gotten a .901 save percentage from him. For a team that expects to make the playoffs, that won’t cut it. The Capitals should be comfortable with Vanecek starting in the playoffs, but uncomfortable at the prospect of Samsonov playing should Vanecek be unavailable, as he was in the team’s playoff loss to the Bruins last season. So what better player to cure the Capitals’ discomfort than Holtby, the goalie who in 2018 cured their longstanding discomfort over having never won a Stanley Cup?
One clear potential suitor for Holtby is the Edmonton Oilers. Much has been made about the struggles of their goaltending, and for good reason. They have a team with high-quality players but no goalie to give them the saves they need to win. They don’t have much room to work with under the cap, but with retention they could definitely fit Holtby in. He would be a major upgrade over both of the incumbent goalies in Edmonton and would also provide them with much-needed playoff experience. It’s a match that makes a lot of sense, and the acquisition cost should definitely fit GM Ken Holland’s desire to retain his team’s first round pick.
A final potential suitor for Holtby may come as a surprise: the New York Rangers. It may surprise a few readers because the Rangers are currently backstopped by a Hart Trophy candidate in Igor Shesterkin. But the move could make sense. The team’s backup, Alexandar Georgiev, owns a .897 save percentage this season. He is simply not a viable insurance policy to a Shesterkin injury come the playoffs. The Rangers have had too strong of a season to lose it all if Shesterkin goes down. Adding Holtby at a price that would not be unreasonable (goalies rarely get traded for significant assets, especially at the deadline) could be a smart bit of business for GM Chris Drury.
Likelihood of a Trade
The Stars are still in the mix for a playoff spot, so potentially subtracting a goalie like Holtby would in theory hurt their odds of making it. But the team seems set on Oettinger as their number-one goaltender, and they have Anton Khudobin waiting in the wings to take Holtby’s role as a backup in case of a trade. Khudobin hasn’t been great this season, but he’s an experienced player who the Stars would trust as a backup, given their prior commitments to him. Holtby isn’t an overwhelmingly likely candidate to be traded, like the Montreal Canadiens’ Ben Chiarot is, but it’s not difficult to see why he could be on the move
Trade Deadline Primer: San Jose Sharks
As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the San Jose Sharks.
The Sharks are a team in transition. From 2015-16 through the 2018-19 season, the Sharks made the playoffs each year, winning six playoff series in the process. But a Stanley Cup championship eluded them, and since falling to the Blues in the 2018-19 Western Conference Final the Sharks have not been back to the playoffs, finishing in the league’s basement in each of the past two seasons. Longtime GM Doug Wilson has stepped away from the team on indefinite medical leave, and assistant GM Joe Will has a host of decisions to make in his boss’ absence as the trade deadline nears. The Sharks are unlikely to make the playoffs this season, and as a result, it is up to Will to navigate the Sharks’ decision-making process with several players of note hitting unrestricted free agency. They are probably going to be sellers, but how far will they go?
Record
24-25-7, 7th in the Pacific
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$16MM today, $21.7MM in full-season space, 47/50 contracts used, 0/3 retention slots used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: SJS 1st, SJS 3rd, SJS 4th, BUF 5th, SJS 6th, SJS 7th, ARZ 7th, MIN 7th
2023: SJS 1st, SJS 2nd, SJS 3rd, SJS 4th, SJS 5th, SJS 6th, SJS 7th
Trade Chips
The discussion surrounding the Sharks’ trade deadline approach has rightfully revolved around center Tomas Hertl. Hertl is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and he has spent his entire career with the Sharks since being drafted by the team in the first round of the 2012 draft. Hertl is a top-six center, occupying the sweet spot in between being a low-end first-line center and being an elite second-line option. Hertl had an offensive breakout in 2018-19, when he scored 35 goals and 74 points in 77 games, and he has been hovering just under the point-per-game mark for the past two seasons. He has 22 goals and 42 points in 52 games so far this year, and 30 goals and about 65 to 70 points is a reasonable expectation for Hertl, who is right in his prime as a 28-year-old player. Hertl isn’t a suffocating defensive presence but he also isn’t a slouch in that area either, and he drives play well enough to handle being the centerpiece of his own line. He’s a truly valuable player, the kind of player numerous NHL clubs would like to add. But Hertl’s virtues complicate his status as a trade chip, as the Sharks are “taking a run” at keeping Hertl, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The Sharks have good reason to want to extend Hertl, he’s a fantastic player for all the reasons previously mentioned, but should the two camps not be able to arrive at a deal before the trade deadline, expect Hertl to return a significant bounty of assets to the Sharks from whatever team acquires him.
After Hertl, the Sharks don’t have any additional players who profile as true difference-makers set to be available at the deadline. That’s not to say they don’t have some attractive assets, though. One of those assets is Alexander Barabanov. Like his frequent linemate Hertl, Barabanov is also a pending unrestricted free agent. After a long career in the KHL, Barabanov first made his way into the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but struggled there and was traded to the Sharks. With the Sharks, Barabanov found immediate success, posting 7 points in 9 games for the big club in 2020-2021, and this season he has found chemistry with the Sharks’ scorers to the tune of eight goals and 27 points in 48 games. He’s enough of a skilled offensive player to be able to fit on one of a team’s scoring lines and has been productive this year. He should be able to provide a team with some solid secondary scoring and the ability to play higher in the lineup should a more accomplished skill player have trouble with injuries. His cap hit is only $1MM, which makes him an ideal candidate for teams tight up against the upper limit of the salary cap. If a team needs some scoring depth at a cheap price, (both on the cap sheet and in terms of acquisition cost) Barabanov is a solid option.
One more winger the Sharks could shop to other teams is veteran Andrew Cogliano. Cogliano has an expiring $1MM cap hit, like Barabanov, but his play style could not be more different. Cogliano is now 34 years old, and whereas he once could reliably provide thirty-plus points of offense he now has seen that production mostly dry up. He has only four goals and 14 points on the season, but at this point he wouldn’t be acquired for his offense. It’s his penalty killing, reliability, and veteran leadership that gets him paid these days, and those three things that he brings to the table are coveted by many general managers across the league. Cogliano probably won’t return much for the Sharks, but for a team looking to add some reliable reinforcements to their special teams and their bottom-six, Cogliano is a proven, respected player to target.
Others to Watch For: G James Reimer, F Ryan Dzingel, D Jaycob Megna
Team Needs
1) Draft Picks
The Sharks, like many teams struggling on the fringes of the NHL’s playoff races, need more talent. Due to management’s uncompromising chase of a Stanley Cup this past decade, the Sharks have seen their pipeline of young talent erode. They have had some quality players emerge from their system, like Mario Ferraro, but in total young players like him have been few and far between. The Sharks now have an improved prospect system, ranked 14th leaguewide by the Athletic’s Scott Wheeler (subscription required) but they still could use more should some of their prospects not pan out as hoped. When approaching this season’s trade deadline, a priority should be adding to the team’s stable of draft picks, a collection that is currently missing the additional valuable picks that many other rebuilding clubs can boast.
2) Investment in Young Goalies
A goalie, perhaps more than any other player on the ice, can change a team’s fortunes in any given game. With the decline and then eventual departure of Martin Jones, the Sharks lost the player they once believed would be their long-term answer in net. This past offseason, the team traded a 2nd round pick for the Coyotes’ Adin Hill, but he has not had an ideal season for the Sharks. He has played in 24 games and has a .901 save percentage, which is not a confidence-inspiring number. To put it simply, the Sharks need more options to decide who will be their goalie long-term. The Sharks do not have a blue-chip goaltending prospect in their system, and since the 2016 draft, they have only selected two netminders. One has to wonder if developing goalies has been an organizational priority in the past, but from the perspective of the deadline, that isn’t relevant. What matters is that the Sharks need to make finding a long-term goalie a priority, and they can start at this trade deadline.
Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Trade Deadline Notes: Domi, Kubalik, Canadiens Injuries
As the trade deadline nears, the player on the Columbus Blue Jackets perhaps drawing the most attention is forward Max Domi. In a conversation with Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne of Sportsnet, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen addressed the situation with Domi, a pending unrestricted free agent. He spoke on the fact that although Columbus internally expected to be in the mix for a playoff spot, that did not mean that they would be focused on being a “buyer” at the deadline. He referred to his approach to the trade deadline as one with “the big picture in mind,” and when asked about Domi specifically Kekalainen said that Domi had an “inconsistent” season and that the team would “see where [they’re] at in two weeks.”
Given Kekalainen’s firm stance on the team taking a “big picture” approach to the trade deadline, it would be fair to characterize Domi as a likely trade candidate given his contract situation. It is unclear whether Domi fits into the Blue Jackets’ long-term plans, and Kekalainen’s non-committal answer when asked about Domi’s future in Columbus can be viewed as an indication that the player’s days with the organization are numbered. Domi has always been a talented offensive player, his 72 point season for Montreal in 2018-19 is an indication of that, but he has not fit in Columbus. He has 18 goals and 50 points in his 100 games as a Blue Jacket. That’s a 41 point pace, decent enough, but a far cry from the 72-point form he flashed with the Canadiens and likely not enough to warrant receiving a similarly-priced extension on the $5.3MM against the cap he currently costs. Those factors combined with Kekalainen’s recent comments reinforce the idea that we are fast approaching the end of Domi’s time as a Blue Jacket.
- Like the Blue Jackets, the Chicago Blackhawks also have to consider the long-term fits of certain players on their roster. As the deadline approaches, one name being discussed is Dominik Kubalik. In a piece detailing the Blackhawks’ overall trade deadline situation, Mark Lazerus and Scott Powers of The Athletic add some more detail to the team’s situation with Kubalik. (subscription required) They assign Kubalik an “80%” likelihood of being traded, and report that a source indicated the Blackhawks’ asking price for the Czech Winger to be a second-round pick. Kubalik is an interesting trade candidate because of his scoring pedigree and relative youth. He scored 30 goals as a rookie and 17 goals and 38 points in 56 games last season, which is a 25-goal, 55-point pace. That’s strong production for a player who had not played North American professional hockey before arriving in Chicago. But Kubalik has been a bit less productive this season, with only 11 goals and 21 points in 57 games, and he is due a qualifying offer of around $4MM if a team wants to retain his rights as a restricted free agent. The Blackhawks’ new GM Kyle Davidson indicated that he would be embarking on a long-term rebuild of the team, so perhaps Kubalik becomes one of his first major moves to add draft capital to support that endeavor.
- Despite their recent run of success, the Montreal Canadiens are going to be sellers at this year’s trade deadline. Their team has been ravaged by injuries this season, and it has impacted the team’s approach to making trades at that deadline. Veteran players such as Jonathan Drouin, Christian Dvorak, Joel Edmundson, or Jake Allen could very well be in the wider deadline conversation as trade season heats up, but each has been dealing with their own injuries that have kept them out of the lineup and out of that spotlight. But that could change soon. The team announced that a host of players, including the names listed above, were able to practice under a non-contact designation. The list of players is as follows: Jake Evans, Jeff Petry, Paul Byron, Edmundson, Drouin, Dvorak, and Allen. If this group of players manages to find their way back into coach Martin St. Louis’ lineup before the trade deadline, that could change the team’s approach to the deadline drastically. GM Kent Hughes would have more healthy players to be able to potentially shop, and teams eyeing the Canadiens’ roster for potential upgrades would have a set of additional options whose health situations would be far less murky. So, regardless of the team’s appetite to trade any of these players, this progression in their health situations puts the team closer to having more options as the March 21st deadline approaches.
Snapshots: McBain, Oilers Goaltending, Kotkaniemi
When a team makes a draft pick to select a player who is NCAA-bound, they make the pick with the understanding that there is a potential risk of that player graduating from college and then being free to sign with another team. On that front, the Minnesota Wild have a dilemma that centers around Jack McBain, the player the team drafted 63rd overall in 2018. McBain is currently a star player for Boston College, where he has 18 goals and 29 points in 22 games this season. He is clearly a quality prospect, but the issue for the Wild is the situation surrounding their control over the rights to sign him. McBain is nearing the end of his tenure at Boston College, and is therefore very close to being able to decide for himself where he wants to sign, similar to Jimmy Vesey, who is an example of this happening in the past.
Why is this complicated for the Wild? Because McBain is a Toronto, Ontario native without much natural connection to the Wild other than being drafted by them. As Jeff Marek of Sportsnet states on Hockey Night in Canada, McBain could very well “chart his own course” and test free agency. The issue for the Wild, then, is what to do with the rights to McBain they still hold. Do they keep him with the intent on signing him, risking the potential of him leaving for nothing? Or do they explore the possibility, as Marek states they might, of trading his rights in a deadline deal to mine as much guaranteed value from their dwindling team control as possible. It’s most definitely something to keep an eye on as the deadline inches closer.
- As mentioned in the team’s Trade Deadline Primer, the Oilers’ goaltending situation should be their key priority when approaching the trade deadline. The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman examined that situation in more detail. (subscription required) The Oilers are in dire need of improvement in the crease, and the team could look to add outside help at the deadline. Nugent-Bowman floats four names as potential trade targets: Semyon Varlamov, Ville Husso, Braden Holtby, and James Reimer. He notes that Oilers’ GM Ken Holland “won’t send away top assets for rentals,” but also highlights the importance of the Oilers improving their play in net. Varlamov, Husso, Holtby, and Reimer would all be definite improvements over Koskinen and Smith, but the responsibility is on Holland to strike a deal if that improvement is to be secured.
- The Carolina Hurricanes caused a firestorm this offseason when they acquired center Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the Montreal Canadiens via an offer sheet, a means of player acquisition rarely used by NHL front offices. But in order to do so successfully, they had to pay Kotkaniemi $6.1MM over one year, making it so if the Hurricanes want to retain Kotkaniemi’s rights this offseason, they must issue him a similarly-expensive qualifying offer. Kotkaniemi has had an up-and-down season, and has 11 goals and 22 points in 52 games, a 17-goal, 35-point pace over 82 games played, production that is not typically deemed to be worthy of a cap hit north of $6MM. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that the Hurricanes and Kotkaniemi have had “productive talks” on the framework of a long-term contract extension, a deal that Seravalli speculates could be worth between $4MM and $4.5MM over a six or seven year term. If those talks end up in a contract with that term and cap number, it would be indicative of a significant vote of confidence in the 21-year-old Kotkaniemi, who has so far had a bit of a rocky NHL career.
Trade Deadline Primer: Edmonton Oilers
As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Edmonton Oilers.
There is a lot of pressure on the Edmonton Oilers this season. The team boasts two of the NHL’s premier offensive talents, but has been unable to find any sort of consistent play, and as a result is on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. They sit a point behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild-card spot (with two extra games played) and two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division. The Oilers got off to a blazing start, but then went on a brutal stretch of games that ended up costing coach Dave Tippett his job. The season is now in the hands of interim coach Jay Woodcroft, and as the deadline nears the heat is on GM Ken Holland to fix the issues with his roster in order to provide Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl with the best chance to truly threaten for a Stanley Cup for the first time in their careers.
Record
30-22-4, 4th in the Pacific
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$1.96MM today, $1.96MM in full-season space, 43/50 contracts used, 1/3 retention slots used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: EDM 1st, EDM 2nd*, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, EDM 7th
2023: EDM 1st, EDM 2nd, EDM 3rd, EDM 4th, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, EDM 7th
* Per the terms of the offseason Duncan Keith trade, if the Oilers make the 2022 Stanley Cup Final and Keith is inside the Oilers’ top-four highest time-on-ice for defenseman during those first three rounds of their playoff run, the Chicago Blackhawks will receive Edmonton’s 2022 2nd instead of the 2022 3rd they are currently owed.
Trade Chips
Much of the conversation surrounding the Oilers this season concerns their goaltending, and it’s not difficult to see why. Their tandem of Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen has been challenging, to say the least. Smith, 39, has an .891 save percentage so far this season. Koskinen, 33, has been slightly better, with a mark of .904 in 31 starts. Koskinen is more important for the deadline, though, because of his cap hit. He is on an expiring contract that has a $4.5MM cap hit, a number that the Oilers would likely be eager to ship out in order to facilitate adding additional players to a roster without much wiggle room under the cap. The issue with trading Koskinen, though, is that he has trade protection on his contract. Koskinen is allowed to submit a no-trade list of 15 teams, per CapFriendly, and that reality combined with his play this season could make him a difficult asset to move despite how beneficial it could be for the Oilers.
Pivoting from goaltending, if the Oilers do wish to make upgrades to their team at the deadline they could potentially need to part ways with players on their NHL roster to make a deal work. One of those players who could be moved is winger Kailer Yamamoto. Yamamoto, 23, is the 22nd overall pick from the 2017 draft who has flashed great offensive talent at the NHL level but has yet to put together his game on a more consistent basis. After a brilliant 27-game stretch with the Oilers in 2019-2020 where he had 26 points, Yamamoto struggled to re-capture that offensive spark. He has only 20 points in 55 games this season and had 21 points in 52 games last season, marks that are clearly lower than what a five-foot-eight, skilled offensive player would be expected to produce at the NHL level. But despite those struggles with consistency, Yamamoto remains a somewhat tantalizing offensive talent who has scored at a high level earlier in his career. Given his age and status as a former top prospect, Yamamoto could be a player other teams target to receive in return for the player they send to the Oilers.
If the Oilers need to create some cap space in order to faciliate bigger additions at the deadline, but moving Koskinen’s contract proves to be impossible given his no-trade protection or $4.5MM cap hit, a player who could be shipped out instead (for more modest savings) is center Kyle Turris. Turris is a longtime NHL veteran who was the 3rd overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft and starred with the Ottawa Senators from 2011-12 season to the 2017-18 campaign, when he was included in the blockbuster Matt Duchene trade. Since that point, Turris has struggled to maintain his form as an NHL scoring center. He was bought out of a massive extension with the Nashville Predators, and signed a two-year contract with the Oilers in the 2020 offseason with the idea that he could be a strong third-line-center for the club. Since signing, Turris has continued his struggles and has only nine total points in his 50 games in Edmonton over two seasons. With a cap hit of $1.65MM, he would provide some relatively minor (but still potentially crucial) savings for the Oilers if he is shipped away at the deadline.
Others to Watch For: F Tyler Benson, D Tyson Barrie, D Dmitri Samorukov
Team Needs
1) Quality Goaltending
The Oilers are desperate to make noise in the playoffs this season, something that has not really happened in the McDavid-Draisaitl era. In order to make noise in the playoffs, teams typically need exceptional goaltending. What the Oilers have received from their Koskinen-Smith tandem this season has been far from exceptional, as mentioned before. If Holland is serious about wanting his team to earnestly compete for a Stanley Cup, they simply must have a different goalie starting playoff games for them this spring. Barring some unforeseen miracle, a long playoff run will probably not be possible with Koskinen or Smith minding the crease.
2) Defensive Reinforcements
Evan Bouchard has impressed this season, but if the Oilers are to be Stanley Cup contenders they will need to add some help to their defense. Darnell Nurse is a star, and Keith has had a great career, but as currently constructed their defense is a flawed unit that rarely does its goaltending many favors. We all know that playoff hockey is a different beast than the regular season grind, and perhaps adding some muscle and experience to reinforce a defense populated with offensively-oriented players like Barrie and Bouchard could make for a more well-rounded unit.
3) Additional Scoring Depth
Looking at the situation from a strictly on-ice perspective, Evander Kane has been an important addition for an Oilers team with some issues getting reliable scoring outside of their two offensive dynamos. Adding more experienced offensive scorers to this roster could help them down the stretch as they are currently a bit too reliant on their dynamic power play to create goals. Adding some additional scoring depth should not be the first priority for Holland’s deadline, goaltending is far more crucial, but the team’s issues scoring sustainably at five-on-five is something to definitely keep an eye on.
Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Capitals Issue Injury Updates On Carl Hagelin, Joe Snively
The Washington Capitals have announced updates to the injury situations of two of their wingers. Per the team, Carl Hagelin had surgery on his left eye, and will be out “indefinitely.” Additionally, rookie Joe Snively underwent a procedure to address an issue in his left wrist and, according to the team, will be out “four to six weeks.”
This news comes as the Capitals jockey for position in the Eastern Conference’s playoff picture. The team has a middling 5-5-0 record in their last ten games and with 69 points is set as the clear second wild-card team at the moment, meaning they are pencilled in for a potential playoff matchup against juggernaut teams like the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, or Carolina Hurricanes.
With the losses of Hagelin and Snively, the Capitals lose two wingers with clear roles on their NHL roster. Hagelin, 33, has been an important veteran bottom-sixer for the team since the 2018-19 season and has three goals and 14 points in 53 games so far this year. Hagelin is a veteran of 713 NHL games and coach Peter Laviolette is sure to miss his mature two-way play as the team battles for a higher seed down the stretch.
Joe Snively, on the other hand, has only 12 NHL games to his name, but is potentially a more disappointing loss for the Capitals. The former Yale Bulldog is a 26-year-old undrafted rookie who has had an impressive seven points in those 12 games at the NHL level, building off of his productive 35 game run this season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, where he has 15 goals and 38 points.
The Capitals have a deep team and have won their past two games in impressive fashion without either Snively or Hagelin. But despite that recent success, this is clearly a team that would prefer to have those two in the fold, and this update to their injury situations will come as a disappointment to the Capitals faithful.
Trade Deadline Primer: Vegas Golden Knights
As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Maybe more than any other season in their franchise’s brief history, this season seems to be one where the Vegas Golden Knights are truly pushing all their chips to the center of the table, going all-in on winning a Stanley Cup. Since losing their battle for the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl to the Montreal Canadiens to end their 2020-2021 season, the Golden Knights have been aggressive in pursuit of upgrades to their team. This offseason, they made one of the biggest trades the NHL has seen in the past few years, landing superstar center Jack Eichel from the Buffalo Sabres to fill a longstanding need for a star first-line center. With Eichel in tow, the task for coach Pete DeBoer’s side is clear: win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, anything else will be disappointment, and GM Kelly McCrimmon and his front office enter trade deadline season with that mission in mind.
Record
30-21-4, 4th in the Pacific
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$5.15MM today, $5.15MM in full-season space, 47/50 contracts used, 0/3 retention slots used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: VGK 1st*, VGK 2nd, NYR 3rd, VGK 5th, CHI 5th, VGK 6th, VGK 7th
2023: VGK 1st*, VGK 2nd^, VGK 3rd, BUF 3rd**, VGK 4th, VGK 5th, VGK 6th, VGK 7th
* Whether Vegas owns their 2022 or 2023 1st rounder depends on where they finish this season. Should their 2022 pick end up inside the top-10, Buffalo would receive Vegas’ 2023 1st. If it is outside the top-10, Buffalo receives Vegas’ 2022 1st.
^ Vegas’ 2022 2nd round pick belongs to the Sabres unless Vegas’ 2022 1st round pick is inside the top-10, then the Sabres will instead receive Vegas’ 2024 2nd.
** Vegas receives Buffalo’s 2023 3rd round pick unless Vegas’ 2022 1st round pick is inside the top-10. If that happens, Vegas will instead receive Buffalo’s 2024 3rd round pick.
Trade Chips
The curse of the Golden Knights’ winning ways is that they typically find themselves with little room to work with below the salary cap. This year’s team is no different, and the aggression with which the Golden Knights’ front office has pursued upgrades for their team has left the team in a unique situation for this deadline season. The Golden Knights are, of course, cap compliant despite adding Jack Eichel‘s significant salary, but that was not done without a cost. Captain Mark Stone is on long-term injured reserve, as is defenseman Alec Martinez. Stone is expected to be out until the playoffs begin, in a similar way to how Nikita Kucherov‘s injury situation was handled last season. Martinez, on the other hand, is expected to return to the lineup eventually. That return gives Vegas essentially zero extra cap space to work with for this deadline season. That means that the team is in a situation where money entering the roster must be matched by money exiting the roster, making finding potential trade fits that much harder. 
That being said, should they choose to make upgrades at the deadline, the ideal candidate to be moved would be Evgeny Dadonov. Dadonov has not scored a point since January and his $5MM cap hit, if moved, could pave the way for Vegas to add a legitimate difference-maker to bolster their roster. Dadonov in total has 10 goals and 21 points in 53 games for Vegas since arriving in an offseason trade with the Senators, and he has two seasons left on his contract, a contract that also provides him with some trade protection. So it would definitely be a difficult deal to make, and Vegas could very well need to add sweeteners for a team to take on Dadonov’s contract. But if the team is set on going all-in on a Stanley Cup this season moving Dadonov is definitely their clearest way to the cap room required to add a useful player.
If moving Dadonov proves too difficult in an environment where cap space is at a premium, the other player Vegas could move to facilitate the addition of another player could be Mattias Janmark. Janmark, 29, was traded to Vegas at last year’s trade deadline and enjoyed a reasonably successful run with the team as a rental, scoring five points in 15 regular season games and eight points in 16 playoff games, including a game-7 hat-trick that clinched a series victory over the Minnesota Wild. Janmark has posted similar numbers this season, with seven goals and 17 assists, but he suffered an upper-body injury in a February 25th game versus the Coyotes and has not played since. Janmark’s injury combined with his expiring $2MM cap hit means that he is not immediately useful on the ice but incredibly useful to the Golden Knights as a salary-matching trade-chip at the deadline. So if Vegas can find a way to fit an addition at a cap number under Janmark’s cap number, expect him to be shipped away to facilitate that addition.
Others to Watch For: F Reilly Smith, F Nolan Patrick, G Laurent Brossoit
Team Needs
1) Cap Flexibility
The Vegas Golden Knights’ entire existence as a franchise has been marked by a consistent tendency to pursue aggressive upgrades to their roster. This is a team that has traded for two star players who captain other teams ,(Eichel and Max Pacioretty) and signed another as a free agent. (Alex Pietrangelo) They traded for Robin Lehner despite having Marc-Andre Fleury, the closest thing Vegas has to a franchise icon, on their roster. This is clearly a front office that wants to do something, and will do anything it takes to get an edge. But to do that they need space under the cap to make moves, which they are sorely lacking right now.
2) More Consistent Goaltending
By trading Fleury this offseason, the Knights made it clear that Lehner would be their franchise goaltender going forward. The 30-year-old Swede is an accomplished goaltender who can clearly be a #1, but he has been inconsistent this season, with a .907 save percentage, and he has also battled injuries. If Vegas is absolutely sure they need to win a Cup this season, perhaps they find a surer hand to play as Lehner’s backup instead of Laurent Brossoit and his .903 save percentage.
3) Cheap Depth Players
As has been mentioned ad nauseam, Vegas is all-in on winning a Stanley Cup this year. To win a Stanley Cup, there is very little margin for error. A team needs to be designed with great intent and coached to embody an identity that each player buys into. The players currently playing in Vegas’ bottom-6 as depth pieces, players like Michael Amadio and Jonas Rondbjerg, are decent enough players, but probably not the players coach DeBoer would want in a high-leverage playoff situation. The Knights at full strength are only an injury or two away from them, so a dark-horse priority going in the deadline for Vegas could be adding some more reliable and playoff-proven depth.
Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Winnipeg Jets Activate Nikolaj Ehlers
The Winnipeg Jets have announced that star winger Nikolaj Ehlers has been activated off of long-term injured reserve. Ehlers, 26, has been out since a January contest versus the Washington Capitals where he had a knee-on-knee collision with Dmitry Orlov. That collision caused a knee injury that has kept him out of a significant portion of games for the Jets.
Before the injury, Ehlers was producing decently well for a Jets team in need of his scoring touch. He had 13 goals and 25 points in his 34 games played. But the Jets have disappointed this season, and since his absence they have continued to languish on the fringes of the Western Conference’s playoff race.
On a positive note, though, Ehlers seems to have avoided any significant damage with his knee injury. In a sports world where season-ending knee injuries are all too common, seeing Ehlers return to the Jets this quickly (especially after watching Ehlers need to be helped off the ice by a trainer in the immediate aftermath of his collision) should be uplifting for a Jets fanbase that has not been given a whole lot to celebrate in recent weeks. Additionally, Ehlers did get to spend time in his native Denmark during his recovery, as reported by Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun, and perhaps the fresh start brought on by Ehlers’ return can help spark the Jets’ playoff chances.
In an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff affirmed his faith in his team’s ability to re-enter the playoff conversation, saying that he is “comfortable” with this year’s team and willing to trust them in their chase of the playoff spot most observers expected them to more convincingly earn this season. Cheveldayoff’s interview underscored his patient approach to such high-pressure situations like a trade deadline and a playoff race, meaning that Ehlers’ return will be unlikely to have a significant impact on the way the Jets approach the deadline season. Instead, Jets fans will have to settle on his return having a significant impact on the ice, because regardless of what management does moving forward it is clear this Jets team just got a major, immediate boost.
Blackhawks Make Front Office Changes
After announcing that Kyle Davidson would be the franchise’s next GM earlier this week, the Blackhawks have made further adjustments to their front office. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the team has parted ways with two longtime executives: Mark Kelley and Ryan Stewart. This comes as the Blackhawks begin plotting a change of course as a franchise, with Davidson stating to the media that the team was planning on “more of a rebuild” of the club. The Blackhawks are currently 20-27-8, they do not figure to be in this season’s playoff race, and the departure of two long-term fixtures in the team’s front office adds to what has been a season of significant upheaval for one of the league’s most historic franchises.
For both Stewart and Kelley, rebuilding is not something they have had much experience with in their careers. Both have been with the Blackhawks for fifteen years, and both were working for the team for each of its three Stanley Cup victories in the salary cap era. In a story he penned about Stewart last year, Scott Powers of The Athletic wrote that Stewart was “responsible for a staff that scouts a wide array of amateur and pro players, including drafted pros in North America and Europe and potential free agents.” As for Kelley, as VP of Amateur Scouting for the past fifteen years he also had a significant role in the team’s cultivation of young talent. Drafting is an inexact science, and it is difficult to pin any draft success or failure on one person, given how scouting for an NHL team is very much a team process. That being said, as managers responsible for overseeing much of the team’s scouting operation, both Stewart and Kelley bear at least some responsibility for the state of the team’s roster and prospect system.
With their departures Kelley and Stewart leave a significant hole in the Blackhawks’ scouting operation. The club lacks draft capital thanks to the offseason trade for Seth Jones and the organization as a whole has a prospect pool that is not considered to be among the league’s deepest or most talent-rich. In order for Davidson to be able to execute on his grand plans to rebuild the franchise, the pipeline of young talent feeding Chicago’s roster needs to be strong. These moves, therefore, are part of the larger process to re-shape Chicago’s established order on that front. As for what the team will do from here, Mark Lazerus of The Athletic reports that the Blackhawks will have Director of Player Personnel Mike Doneghey oversee amateur scouting while the pro scouts will report to Davidson himself.