Red Wings Recall Sebastian Cossa, Reassign Erik Gustafsson
The Red Wings announced they’ve called up top goaltending prospect Sebastian Cossa under emergency conditions. To open a spot on the active roster, they reassigned defenseman Erik Gustafsson to AHL Grand Rapids after he cleared waivers yesterday.
Cossa, 23, ranks third among Red Wing farmhands at Elite Prospects and second at McKeen’s Hockey, although both rankings were done preseason. He’s only solidified that ranking with another exceptional year in the minors. The 2021 first-round pick out of WHL Edmonton has a .914 SV% across 115 games in four AHL seasons. That includes a .927 mark in 31 games this season with a 1.99 GAA, five shutouts, and a 24-4-3 record.
Public discourse has somewhat forgotten about the 6’6″ Cossa because of his limited NHL opportunities to date. He’s yet to make a start and only has one career relief appearance, coming into a game against the Sabres in December 2024 at the first intermission and allowing two goals on 14 shots the rest of the way. Nothing in his minor-league track record or development path yet shows he wasn’t worthy of the premier draft selection, though, and goalies taking several years post-draft to develop and make an NHL impact is nothing new.
Unlike most young goaltenders in his situation, though, he doesn’t have a clear-cut path to ‘goalie of the future’ honors in Detroit. 2023 second-rounder Trey Augustine is regarded by some as the better prospect (even first overall in their system, according to NHL.com), and he’s currently putting up a .929 SV% and 22-7-1 record in his junior year at Michigan State. If the 21-year-old opts to turn pro this spring, he and Cossa will likely be put in a direct challenge with each other for backup duties behind John Gibson next season, with Cam Talbot set to hit the open market.
Speaking of Gibson, the upper-body injury he sustained against the Predators on Monday is the reason for Cossa’s recall ahead of tonight’s matchup with the Golden Knights. Cossa will likely back up Talbot while Gibson continues to undergo evaluation, but head coach Todd McLellan made it clear postgame that he doesn’t expect his starting netminder to miss too much time.
Sabres, Blues Shifting Trade Talks To Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko
The Sabres made a big push yesterday to put themselves at the forefront to land top center Robert Thomas from the Blues. It appears whatever they put forth was a best-and-final offer and may not be enough to pry him away. Darren Dreger of TSN followed up this morning on yesterday’s report, saying that talks between Buffalo and St. Louis on Thomas “went the distance” but that it “sounds like the Sabres aren’t willing to part with the necessary pieces.”
That doesn’t mean talks between the two parties have ceased, though. Instead, they’ve transitioned to helping Buffalo address its paucity of right-shot defenders, with the team now expressing interest in Justin Faulk or Colton Parayko.
Faulk is viewed as the likelier of the two to move, presumably because of a slightly lower price tag. He’s been especially hot as of late, with five assists in his last five games, and is one of four Blues skaters to appear in all 60 games so far this season.
Alongside that durability, the soon-to-be 34-year-old has had an impressive year on both sides of the puck. Easily the brightest spot on their blue line, his 11-21–32 scoring line leads St. Louis D-men and is fourth on the team overall. He’s doing that while ranking second on the Blues in blocked shots with 101 behind Parayko’s 148. While his 47.5% Corsi For share at 5-on-5 isn’t all too impressive, the Blues have an even goal differential with him on the ice at 5-on-5. For how much he plays, averaging 22:30 per game in all situations, his -3 rating becomes a strong one on a team with a -52 goal differential.
Buffalo’s entire top four of Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson are lefties. Dahlin and Samuelsson have simply played too well together this season to break up, but it’s clear general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen is eyeing a name to plug into the second pairing alongside Byram or Power while bumping the other down to a third-pairing spot at even strength, giving them left-side depth last rivaled by the Lightning’s three-headed monster of Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, and Mikhail Sergachev during their Stanley Cup runs at the beginning of the decade.
Faulk and Parayko carry the same cap impact at $6.5MM. The former is easier to acquire, though not just because his somewhat weaker defensive reputation contributes to a lower price tag, but also because of his contract. He’s only signed through next season and has a 15-team no-trade list. Parayko, one year younger, is under contract through the 2029-30 season and, like Thomas, has a full no-trade clause that gives the Blues less maneuverability. With so much time left on his contract, the Blues are also in less of a rush to move him and squeeze value out of his deal.
Parayko, long regarded as a top-five shutdown defender in the league, has sat out of the Blues’ last two games due to back spasms. He’s also having quite a difficult season, amid being a virtual non-factor for Team Canada at the Olympics. His 14 points in 58 games are on pace for the worst offensive output of his 11-year career. His 44.9% Corsi For share at 5-on-5 ranks last among Blues defenders, and they’re getting outscored 54-38 with him on the ice at even strength.
At age 32, there’s likely some trepidation about committing for the rest of the decade if this season is more than just a flash in the pan. Faulk, whose contractual situation lies more in line with other targets Buffalo has expressed interest in, like Rasmus Ristolainen, is the more plausible outcome if the Sabres and Blues to manage to connect on a deal before Friday afternoon.
Wild Activate Jonas Brodin From Injured Reserve, Reassign Matt Kiersted, Tyler Pitlick
8:15 PM: As anticipated, the Minnesota Wild have activated Brodin from injured reserve (Twitter Link), while Kiersted as well as today’s unclaimed Tyler Pitlick are headed to the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Not having played since January 12, Brodin will rejoin longtime teammate Jared Spurgeon in what has become an eventful day for Minnesota, as they acquired Michael McCarron from Nashville for a 2028 second rounder.
Kiersted and Pitlick, both with NHL experience, will be welcome additions back to Iowa, currently ranked last in the AHL.
3:30 PM: Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin is expected to return to the lineup tonight against the Lightning, Joe Smith of The Athletic reports. He’ll need to come off injured reserve. Minnesota didn’t have an open roster spot entering today, but has assigned D-man Matt Kiersted to AHL Iowa, per PuckPedia, giving them the flexibility to activate Brodin.
Brodin, 32, has been out for the past seven weeks after undergoing a minor lower-body procedure in mid-January. Thanks to the Olympic break, he only missed 14 games. It was his second multi-game absence of the season after missing four games with a related lower-body issue in December.
Minnesota’s defense is now at full health for the first time since early December as they jockey for playoff seeding in the Central Division with the Avalanche and Stars. They’re 7-2-1 in their last 10, but those two regulation losses have come in their last two games, dropping contests to the Mammoth and Blues by a combined score of 8-3. They’ll have Brodin back in their top four on a familiar pairing with captain Jared Spurgeon as they try to end that brief slide against a Lightning team reeling from a 6-2 loss to the Sabres over the weekend.
Now in his 14th season in Minnesota, Brodin remains as high-end a defensive piece as ever. His ice time is under 22 minutes per game for the first time in six years, due in part to Quinn Hughes‘ acquisition pushing him out of the de facto #1 slot on the Wild’s left side, but he’s maintained a +13 rating in 42 games while starting 54.8% of his 5-on-5 shifts in the defensive zone. That’s his highest figure since 2020-21, and it’s come with him controlling 48.6% of shot attempts but 52.4% of expected goals.
Kiersted, 27, heads back to Iowa after serving as an extra defenseman for the Wild’s first three games out of the break. The Minnesota native has suited up four times for the Wild this year in addition to posting a goal and seven points in 33 games for Iowa.
Avalanche Recall Jason Polin, Artturi Lehkonen Week-To-Week
8:00 PM: Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen will be week-to-week with his injury, reported by Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette. The 30-year-old had not yet missed a game this season, on a career high pace with 42 points in 59 games.
1:00 PM: The Avalanche announced today that they’ve recalled forward Jason Polin from AHL Colorado. He fills one of two open spots on the Avs’ active roster after today’s news that Lehkonenwill miss at least a few games after taking a puck to the face last night.
Colorado also has Joel Kiviranta unavailable as he’s in concussion protocol, so the Avs needed to make a recall today in order to have 18 skaters on hand for tonight’s contest against the Ducks. Polin will draw into the lineup for the third time this season after appearing on back-to-back nights during his last call-up in November.
The 26-year-old winger isn’t much more than a fringe recall option to plug-and-play on the fourth line in case of injury, just like he’s doing now. Colorado signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan a few years back. He’s been an AHL fixture since then, but has totaled 11 NHL appearances over the last three seasons, scoring once with a +2 rating while averaging just 6:45 of ice time per game.
In the minors, the 6’0″, 198-lb Polin is having his best-ever showing. He’s set a new career high with 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 39 games. The former NCAA West Second Team All-American is now up to 24 goals and 50 points in 127 career minor-league outings.
Islanders Linked To Conor Garland
4:24 p.m.: Myers is no longer part of conversations between the Islanders and Canucks, Rosner reports. Whether that’s because he invoked his no-movement clause is unknown.
3:11 p.m.: The Islanders are in “serious discussions” to acquire winger Conor Garland from the Canucks, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports. Defenseman Tyler Myers could also be headed to the Isles in the deal if he’s willing to waive his no-movement clause, something that’s been holding up a deal ever since he was removed from Vancouver’s lineup to avoid an injury risk last week.
The Isles aren’t alone in their push to acquire Garland this week, particularly among their competitors in the Eastern Conference playoff race. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal had the Isles’ pursuit of Garland this morning, along with the Bruins and Senators as interested parties. As we covered over the weekend, there’s a connection between Garland and Sens head coach Travis Green, who used to oversee him in Vancouver.
Nonetheless, Rosner’s reporting indicates the Islanders have at least emerged as frontrunners, even if it’s not a done deal. The Isles have been looking to add players with term after adding Ondrej Palat and Carson Soucy in a pair of trades before the Olympic break, and are open to moving a first-round pick to do so, general manager Mathieu Darche said in January.
The Isles have persisted through a pair of early-season blows that saw defender Alexander Romanov and winger Kyle Palmieri – both important supporting pieces – sustain season-ending injuries (although Romanov could be an option to return in a first-round playoff series). Soucy and Palat emerged as cheap replacements weeks later, but the Isles have gone 6-2-0 since acquiring them to boost their playoff chances up to around 75%, per MoneyPuck.
That has Darche looking to reward his team for pushing through the blows dealt by the Romanov and Palmieri injuries, and he’s comfortable sparing the assets to do it with the success he had in restocking the organization’s cupboards at last year’s draft. Now armed with a franchise cornerstone on defense in Matthew Schaefer, he’ll need to assess what he’s willing to move to boost an offense that ranks 21st in the league at 2.92 goals per game.
Garland would go a long way toward doing that and, with the six-year, $36MM extension he signed last summer yet to kick in, is far from a rental option. In addition to boosting their forward corps this season, he becomes a controllable insurance policy for next year and beyond in case they can’t manage to come to agreements with pending UFAs Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau before July 1.
That’s assuming the 29-year-old’s struggles this season are more a product of him being on a last-place team in Vancouver rather than individual decline. The 5’10” winger has never been an exceptional finisher, relying more on consistent shot volume to hover around 20 goals a year. Even so, his shooting percentage is down to 6.8 this year, resulting in him only lighting the lamp seven times through 49 games. On the whole, his 25 points make for his worst per-game showing since his rookie year in Arizona back in 2018-19.
Between 2019 and 2025, though, Garland was incredibly consistent. Aside from a career-best 0.80 points per game rate in the shortened 2020-21 season, his average stayed in a relatively small window between 0.57 and 0.68. Just last season, his 19 goals and 50 points were only a few short of setting a career high in each category.
Myers isn’t a pure rental either, but is a shorter-term pickup with another year left after this one at a $3MM cap hit. His shutdown ability is less of a need with the Isles already boasting the fifth-best defense in the league, but they could view him as a short-term upgrade over Scott Mayfield , who’s struggled to control possession in his third-pairing role. That’s in spite of Mayfield having better boxcar stats across the board this season, but Myers has dealt with a much more difficult workload in higher deployment.
If the Isles were to acquire both, they’d have to move out a contract if Vancouver isn’t retaining any salary, even with Garland’s current $4.95MM cap hit before it jumps to $6MM next season. That could be winger Anthony Duclair if he’s willing to waive his no-trade clause – David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported over the weekend that they were shopping him.
Kings Circling Back On Patrik Laine
The Kings were reported to have a degree of interest in Canadiens winger Patrik Laine last month after losing Kevin Fiala to a season-ending leg injury at the Olympics. Those talks quickly fizzled out, but after another rash of injuries in L.A., they’ve demonstrated renewed interest in the former 40-goal scorer, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.
As things stand, the Kings’ injury list has effectively derailed their chances of making the playoffs, even after swinging a trade for Artemi Panarin last month. One of their better scoring options, Andrei Kuzmenko, had surgery to repair a torn meniscus last weekend and is effectively done for the regular season. They also recently lost Joel Armia to injured reserve and are now dealing with an upper-body injury to Quinton Byfield.
That’s a third of the Kings’ regular forwards unavailable, not including Trevor Moore, who’s currently dealing with an illness. To no surprise, they’re 1-3-0 coming out of the break while only averaging 2.25 goals per game. They fired head coach Jim Hiller on Sunday and promoted associate coach D.J. Smith as the interim head coach to finish out the year, but lost 4-2 to the Avalanche in their first game under Smith last night.
As things stand, the Kings are only four points out of a playoff spot with a game in hand, but have three teams – the Predators, Sharks, and Oilers – to leapfrog in that order – to get back into the picture. The crowded field leaves them with a 27.7% chance of making the playoffs at this stage, per MoneyPuck.
Scoring isn’t just a recent problem for the Kings, though. L.A.’s offense has clicked at just 2.52 goals per game, fourth-worst in the league. Their 16.8% success rate on the power play isn’t much better at 26th out of 32 teams. Panarin has yet to score since his acquisition, but does have three assists in four games.
Still, the situation is untenable with Fiala and Kuzmenko now out long-term. That’s led general manager Ken Holland to consider a reclamation hail-mary project like Laine, who will carry little to no acquisition cost thanks to his exorbitant $8.7MM cap hit destroying most of his trade value. The Habs, in desperate need of cap flexibility to augment their roster at the trade deadline, have been trying to move him for weeks to no avail. He hasn’t played since late October due to core muscle surgery, but has been practicing in a non-contact jersey since January, so he’s on the verge of a return and could be simply held out of the lineup for trade protection at this point.
Laine was a non-factor to start the year with one assist and a -3 rating in five games. He was nonetheless an effective secondary scoring presence in a more limited role in Montreal last season despite missing nearly 30 games with a left knee sprain. He had 20 goals and 33 points in 52 games for the Habs last year. That works out to a 0.38 goals per game figure that would currently lead the Kings.
If healthy, the pending free agent could get a long leash in the Kings’ top nine and feature on their top power-play in an effort to give them enough offense to eke out a heater over the last few weeks.
Panthers To Activate Tomas Nosek From LTIR
Panthers center Tomáš Nosek will draw into the lineup tonight against the Devils, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters, including the team’s Jameson Olive. He’ll need to come off long-term injured reserve to make his season debut, but that will be a smooth move after Luke Kunin cleared waivers yesterday and headed to AHL Charlotte, which opened up a roster spot.
Nosek, 33, was close to testing free agency last summer after initially signing with the Cats in 2024, serving as a fringe fourth-line option in their second of back-to-back Stanley Cups. On the morning of July 1, he opted to stay in South Florida on a one-year, league minimum deal. With the Panthers losing Nico Sturm in free agency, he was expected to step back in as their full-time fourth-line option down the middle. That all changed when Nosek didn’t report to training camp due to what the team called a significant offseason knee injury that required surgery, saying he would miss several months.
While several months turned into nearly the entire regular season, Nosek will get back into the fold for the stretch run before having the chance to test free agency again in July. The veteran of nearly 500 games suited up 59 times for the Cats last year, recording a goal and nine points with a +4 rating while averaging 9:49 of ice time per game.
The Czech pivot has never been anything more than a bottom-of-the-lineup piece, but is a well-respected role player who saw significant shorthanded deployment earlier in his career, particularly in his two-year run with the Bruins from 2021-23. He averages seven goals and 19 points per 82 games for his career – along with 92 hits – and is quite strong in the dot at 54.0%.
With Florida now needing a miracle to break through a crowded East wild-card race, it wouldn’t be out of the question to see Nosek flipped for a depth pick if a contender has interest. If not, he’ll be a much-needed additional veteran piece to aid an ailing Florida bottom-six group that’s without Jonah Gadjovich and Cole Schwindt.
Blues Leaning Toward Trading Jordan Binnington
This week is shaping up to be a transformative one for the Blues. Amid mounting interest for forward cornerstone Robert Thomas, they’ve also been fielding more sparse interest in starting goaltender Jordan Binnington over the last several months. That appears to be coming to a head now as NHL Network’s Brian Lawton reports they’re “ready to move on” from Binnington and that it “feels like a move is a forgone [sic] conclusion.”
That’s a sharp change in direction from the feeling surrounding Binnington as of late, which was that they were listening to offers but weren’t close to seriously considering a move. He’d been left off most trade boards or ranked rather low on them as a result. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta had him as a “bubble player” outside of his top-40 as of an update this morning. He was down at 24th on TSN’s most recent Trade Bait list and 43rd on Chris Johnston’s list for The Athletic yesterday.
In all likelihood, his and Thomas’ futures in St. Louis go hand in hand. It makes little sense for a team teetering between a moderate retool and an aggressive rebuild to move one player of either’s caliber and importance but not the other. As such, it’s natural that there would be an increased willingness to shop Binnington amid some intriguing offers for Thomas in the last few days from the Mammoth and Sabres, which has general manager Doug Armstrong seemingly leaning toward a move in that department as well.
Binnington’s trade value is hard to gauge. On one hand, he’s on a desirable contract for an established but inconsistent starter with a cap hit of $6MM that expires after next season. He’s also coming off exceptional performances as Team Canada’s starter on the international stage in back-to-back years. guiding Canada to a championship at last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off and putting up a .917 SV% in five games en route to a silver medal at last month’s Winter Olympics. He’s also a Cup champion and Calder Trophy finalist with a largely above-average track record in the playoffs.
That shouldn’t completely shroud the fact that Binnington has been the NHL’s worst starter this season, bar none. The Blues’ skater core has been below-average but not catastrophic defensively. Binnington’s .867 SV% and 8-18-6 record in 31 starts this year are more individually damning than representative of the team in front of him, especially when considering backup Joel Hofer‘s .899 SV% in a similar workload. The analytics back that up – Binnington’s -23.8 goals saved above expected are the worst in the league, per MoneyPuck.
The latter’s hot streak as of late and intriguing track record as a prospect only make moving on from Binnington a more natural position to take, especially if St. Louis has a chance to squeeze more return value out of him now with an acquiring team getting to take two swings at a playoff run with him before he reaches free agency. Hofer has another year left at $3.4MM before becoming an arbitration-eligible free agent. He’s now up to even in GSAx on the year after a rough start similar to Binnington’s and has a 14-11-3 record to show for it. That includes a .905 SV% in his last 15 outings, matching his career average to this point.
Sabres Making Aggressive Push For Robert Thomas
The Sabres are a late but aggressive entrant in talks to acquire center Robert Thomas from the Blues, reports Darren Dreger of TSN. Their offer contains multiple first-round picks or equivalent pieces, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic relays. However, talks haven’t progressed far enough yet for the Blues to ask Thomas to waive his no-trade clause, per Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic.
Thomas is the best player still available at the deadline, both in terms of short-term and long-term impact. It was viewed as pure speculation by many that he’d actually be made available amid St. Louis’ retool, but the Blues have evidently received multiple offers strong enough to their liking in recent days to seriously consider pulling the trigger on a move. The Mammoth is the other club that’s been consistently tied to Thomas over the past week.
Even amid something of a down season for Thomas, it’s hard to imagine his trade value has taken much of a hit. He’s still put up 12 goals and 35 points in 42 games. That’s similar on a per-game basis to what other top options Nazem Kadri and Vincent Trocheck have done this season, but Thomas is significantly younger and has consistently been one of the league’s assist leaders for several years now.
The 26-year-old is in year three of eight on his contract, which carries a fair-value cap hit at worst of $8.125MM. He had full trade protection kick in this season – the first year he was eligible to receive it – so all of this hinges on Thomas greenlighting a move to the Sabres, who currently have an 88.6% chance of ending their playoff drought at 14 seasons, per MoneyPuck.
Buffalo doesn’t have any additional first-rounders past their own, but they do have a plethora of recent first-round draft choices to leverage in trade talks. Among forwards alone who are still on entry-level deals, there’s Zach Benson, Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund, Isak Rosen, and Konsta Helenius. Helenius, the 14th overall pick in 2024, has shown enough at the AHL level already to paint himself as a potential long-term replacement for Thomas as St. Louis’ first-line center. Whether the Sabres would be willing to leverage either Bowen Byram or Owen Power from their long list of top-four-capable left-shot defenders remains to be seen, but that shouldn’t be ruled out either if they’re looking to keep cap space open for looming extensions for Benson and Alex Tuch.
Blackhawks Recall Ethan Del Mastro
The Blackhawks have recalled defenseman Ethan Del Mastro from AHL Rockford, per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720. He fills the roster spot vacated by yesterday’s trade of Connor Murphy to the Oilers.
Del Mastro, 23, was a fourth-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2021. Since then, he’s been steadily climbing the depth chart, demonstrating some real shutdown upside as a fringe top-four option or bottom-pair staple. In 161 AHL games since his pro debut in 2023, he has a 9-55–64 scoring line and a +23 rating, a top-32 figure in the league during that timeframe (min. 100 GP). This year, he has a 2-16–18 line with a +8 rating in 45 outings.
He’s gotten some NHL looks before, including a 24-game run last year that seemed to put him in contention for a full-time role as soon as this season. That hasn’t happened, due in part to their late-summer signing of Matt Grzelcyk plugging up the left side, but he did get a call-up back in December that resulted in a pair of appearances.
In January, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times ranked Del Mastro as the #10 prospect in the Hawks’ system. He noted that Wyatt Kaiser‘s and Louis Crevier‘s breakthrough campaigns this year have slightly limited his pathway toward regular time among Chicago’s glut of defense prospects, but he’s had a strong enough season in the minors to continue putting him in the conversation.
As a result, Del Mastro’s stint on the roster is only likely to last until Kaiser can return from injured reserve, unless Chicago trims another defender from its ranks by Friday’s trade deadline. Kaiser sustained a lower-body injury shortly before the Olympic break and is on track to return sometime this month. For now, Del Mastro’s got a shot to challenge fellow youngster Kevin Korchinski for ice time on the Hawks’ bottom pairing behind Grzelcyk and Alex Vlasic, attempting to leapfrog him on the depth chart before Kaiser’s activation potentially forces Chicago into a decision over who to send back to Rockford.