Devils Place Marc McLaughlin On Waivers
The Devils announced they’ve placed center Marc McLaughlin on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Utica. The transaction implies he’s ready to come off the injured non-roster list after sitting out the entire season to date with an undisclosed injury.
McLaughlin, 26, found his way to the New Jersey organization last season by way of a minor trade with the Bruins, with whom he began his professional career as an undrafted free agent out of Boston College in 2022. After recording just 14 points in 68 AHL games in 2023-24, he hit the same mark in 34 appearances last year before the trade. He finished out the season with six assists and a +5 rating in 16 games for Utica, also recording an assist in two NHL games for the Devils.
The Massachusetts native has 28 NHL games to his name and has suited up at least once in four consecutive seasons. With so much time missed, that streak is in jeopardy. He has a career 6-1–7 scoring line with a -3 rating while averaging 9:54 of ice time per game. Teams have controlled 48.0% of shot attempts with McLaughlin on the ice at even strength.
A strong defensive-minded center at the minor-league level, he won’t do a ton to help Utica’s scoring woes (2.40 goals per game) but should help the struggling AHL club shore up its two-way game. After signing a two-way extension to remain with New Jersey last June, he’ll be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer.
Bruins Activate Elias Lindholm From Injured Reserve
The Bruins activated center Elias Lindholm from injured reserve today, per the NHL’s media site. He’ll suit up for Team Sweden this afternoon in their preliminary-round opener against the host Italians at the Olympics.
While there is a trade moratorium during the Olympics and added restrictions on some transactions like waiver placements and reassignments, IR activations are not affected by the roster freeze. Since Boston entered the break with an open roster spot after reassigning Matthew Poitras to AHL Providence last week, there’s no corresponding transaction required.
Lindholm missed the final three games of Boston’s pre-Olympic schedule with an upper-body injury but was only ever listed as day-to-day. He missed a lengthier stretch back in November, sitting out 10 games, but that was because of a lower-body issue.
Now in the second season of the seven-year, $54.25MM commitment he landed from the B’s in free agency in 2024, Lindholm has fared much better in 2025-26 than in year one of the deal. Through 44 games, he tossed up 11 goals and 37 points. That works out to 0.84 points per game, his most productive rate since his career-best 42-goal, 82-point campaign with the Flames in 2021-22 that also saw him finish as the Selke Trophy runner-up.
Lindholm will begin his first time at the Olympics as Sweden’s second-line center between the Devils’ Jesper Bratt and the Red Wings’ Lucas Raymond, per Adam Johansson of Expressen. The well-regarded two-way pivot has been left off their top penalty kill units in favor of Joel Eriksson Ek, Adrian Kempe, Alexander Wennberg, and Pontus Holmberg, though, so his ice time will presumably end up closer to 15 minutes per game than 20.
Coming out of the break, there won’t be many pieces more important than Lindholm in guiding the Bruins to what would have been seen as an unexpected playoff berth last fall. He’s their third-most productive forward behind David Pastrňák and Morgan Geekie, and ranks second in time on ice per game behind the former.
Poll: The Red Wings’ Biggest Need At The Deadline
The Red Wings weren’t exactly sluggish heading into the Olympic break. They still mustered a 5-3-2 record in their last 10. But after holding the Atlantic Division lead for a good chunk of the season, that recent pace wasn’t enough to keep them from getting leapfrogged by the red-hot Lightning and Canadiens. Now, they sit in third place in the division with a six-point gap between them and first place, while both Tampa and Montreal have games in hand on them.
The question is whether their recent run of wild-card level play is more representative of their roster than their 18-5-2 run between December and mid-January that vaulted them into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. A look at most underlying numbers says the former is true. They’re the only team in playoff position in the East with a negative goal differential (-1) and are 11th in the conference in that regard. Their possession numbers, while improved from a years-long stretch of being in the basement, are still below average. At 5-on-5, they’re 17th in the league in Corsi for percentage (49.9%), 23rd in scoring chance percentage (48.0%), and 20th in high-danger chance percentage (48.8%).
It’s not just advanced possession numbers. Nearly every metric points to the Wings as a middle-of-the-road club. Their team shooting percentage is down to 22nd (10.5%), and their team save percentage is 17th at .893. The only real stat in which Detroit is a top-10 team is power-play percentage, where their ninth-place unit is clicking at 23.1%.
Nonetheless, their 33-19-6 record at the break is good for a .621 points percentage, eighth in the NHL and fifth in the East. With a chance to end a nine-year playoff drought on the line, Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has no choice but to buy. It’s nonetheless clear that the Wings are more than just a rental piece away from being a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, though.
The Bolts, with their underlying numbers backing up their weeks-long hot streak, have more than a 90% chance to run away with the division title. Detroit has a higher chance of falling back into a wild-card spot – or missing the playoffs entirely – than they do to reclaim first place, per MoneyPuck. Most likely, they’ll tread water and end up roughly where they are now with a divisional date against the Canadiens, Sabres, or whoever else falls into the 2/3 matchup with them.
The road to a Conference Final is arduous. The road to their first series win since 2013, though, is traversable. They’re due to run into a similarly flawed roster in the first round if they can hold onto a divisional berth. That leaves Yzerman with a clear directive to start cleaning up around the edges – not necessarily making a big splash for short-term gain – in order to help get them into Round Two.
Their goaltending is set. John Gibson is the clear No. 1 over veteran pending UFA Cam Talbot and has recovered nicely after stumbling out of the gate. If the Wings want to try to flip Talbot for an upgrade in the No. 2 slot, though, that wouldn’t be the worst idea. Gibson’s injury history is a lengthy one, and trusting Talbot, who’s posting a .892 SV% and -5.7 goals saved above expected in his age-38 season, to handle playoff starts is unwise. Giving up a mid-round pick to pursue a UFA-for-UFA flip/upgrade – potentially a reunion with San Jose’s Alex Nedeljkovic – could quietly pay dividends.
Defensive depth has long been the Wings’ Achilles heel as they try to exit their rebuild. Thanks to the arrivals of Simon Edvinsson and Axel Sandin Pellikka over the last two years, that’s no longer as much of a concern. Being one injury away from having to play struggling veteran Travis Hamonic in a playoff game, though, isn’t a comfortable place to be in. When operating at full health, the Wings have been able to deploy Albert Johansson and Jacob Bernard-Docker as an effective third pairing, controlling 52.5% of expected goals. When a top-four name gets hurt, though, Bernard-Docker gets elevated and Hamonic steps in with Johansson. That duo has been shelled for a 42.4 xGF% at 5-on-5, per MoneyPuck.
Regardless of handedness, landing a blue-liner to bump Hamonic down the depth chart – even if the pickup doesn’t take regular playing time away from Bernard-Docker or Johansson – is a wise choice that won’t cost a pretty penny.
For those who haven’t kept in tune with Detroit’s forward group this season, the extremes of where players are producing can be jarring. It’s hard to fathom where the Wings would be this season without Alex DeBrincat‘s torrid stretch, with his conference-leading 205 shots on goal giving him 30 tallies in 58 games. Behind him, though, only three other Wings have hit 10 goals on the year – one of them being bottom-six piece James van Riemsdyk, and nearly half of his production has come on the power play.
More goal-scoring is needed, plain and simple. Detroit’s offense ranks 20th in the league with 2.97 goals per game. Patrick Kane‘s had a rough go of things with only eight tallies in 43 games. Reducing his ice time and responsibility, especially given his defensive shortcomings, should be a priority. That means adding a second-line target to complement DeBrincat, either down the middle or on the wing, who can bump a name like Kane or Andrew Copp down to a more sheltered role at even strength.
Some of them won’t break the bank. Pending UFA Michael Bunting out of Nashville wouldn’t command a huge price but could slot in either opposite DeBrincat on the second line or flank Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond on the top unit while adding an appreciated element of pest-like behavior. With 12 goals on the year and a career finishing rate of 13.1%, he fits the mold they need.
With all that in mind, which of the Red Wings’ needs is the most pressing for Yzerman to address in the few weeks before the trade deadline? Have your say in the poll below:
Trade Deadline Primer: Calgary Flames
With the Olympic break now upon us, the trade deadline is less than a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We begin our look around the league with teams that have clear plans near the extremes of the standings, this time with the Flames.
The rebuilding Flames got much closer to playoff contention last season than anyone expected, finishing with 96 points and losing out on the second wild-card spot by virtue of a tiebreaker with the Blues. This season, they’ve been more representative of pundits’ expectations and have been in the basement of the Western Conference from the get-go. They’re at an uncomfortable stage of a rebuild now: most of the grunt work is done, and they’re playing a waiting game for their prospects to graduate. That doesn’t mean they can’t make some more future-oriented moves, though.
Record
23-27-6, 7th in the Pacific (3.6% playoff probability)
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$45.57MM on deadline day, 2/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2026: CGY 1st, VGK 1st, CGY 2nd, CGY 3rd, VAN 3rd, CGY 4th, CGY 5th, CGY 6th
2027: CGY 1st, VGK 1st*, CGY 2nd, CGY 3rd, CGY 4th, CGY 5th, CGY 6th, CGY 7th
*The Golden Knights’ 2027 first-rounder is top-10 protected.
Trade Chips
The Flames don’t have much in the way of traditional rentals to sell. They’re light on pending unrestricted free agents. Only one, enforcer Ryan Lomberg, would be of any interest to a contender and would only net a mid-round pick at most. Jake Bean‘s injury likely rules him out of being moved. They had a big name in Rasmus Andersson, but he’s already been sent off to Vegas.
That’s good news for the Flames if they’re looking to add even more firepower to a highly stocked prospect pool. The names they’ll dangle will all be ones with term, who will naturally yield higher returns.
If you’re combining both player value and likelihood to be moved, winger Blake Coleman reigns supreme among the Flames’ trade chips. Multiple teams – including the Stars and Canadiens – have demonstrated clear interest. He’s been a valuable contributor for Calgary since signing his six-year, $29.4MM payday in 2021, but with one year left on his deal and him now being in his age-34 season, he’s far from a long-term piece.
Coleman’s point production has settled around a half a point per game over the past couple of seasons following a career-best 30-goal showing in 2023-24. With 13 goals in 44 games this season, shortened due to injury, there’s a decent chance he’ll lock in the fourth 20-goal campaign of his career this year. At a stomachable $4.9MM cap hit, plus his proven playoff track record and desirable physical game, he’ll be of utmost interest to any forward-needy contender in a third-line role. With a 10-team approved trade list baked into his contract, he’ll have quite a lot of say in where he ends up, too.
Nazem Kadri would be the headlining name if he’s available. With three years left on his contract, there’s a greater chance Calgary can still squeeze value out of the last couple of years of his deal as they look to turn the corner back toward playoff contention in short order. The prospect of moving him in the middle of a down season likely only adds to the Flames’ hesitance to cut bait. After rattling off a pair of 60-plus point seasons, he only managed 10 goals and 39 points with a -24 rating in 56 games before the Olympic break.
It’s not often a bona fide top-six center, albeit an aging one, is even in conversation to be moved at the deadline, though. He’s grown increasingly comfortable in a top-line role with Calgary and doesn’t break the bank in a rising cap environment at $7MM. If there’s a particularly aggressive club willing to make an offer Calgary can’t refuse, they’re going to listen.
Team Needs
Dynamic Left-Shot Defenseman: The Flames are set on the right side on defense in terms of ceiling. Behind Zayne Parekh, they’ve got two other names with a top-four ceiling in Henry Brzustewicz and Henry Mews. The same can’t be said for the left side, where arguably the most promising young long-term piece, Yan Kuznetsov, is nearly 24 years old and has now graduated to a full-time role this season. With Kevin Bahl also in the mix long-term in the top four, it’s fair to wonder if Calgary is comfortable with two names with such one-dimensional defensive games occupying both first- and second-pairing roles – and that’s assuming Kuznetsov is capable of top-four duties long-term. Whether it’s an intriguing prospect or a young name already on the roster, a better left-shot option in the pool is a clear long-term need.
Finishing Help: If the Flames don’t opt for an entirely futures-based return for Coleman (or anyone else they may move), they’ll look to land a scoring forward in return. The all-around effectiveness of their game is of little consequence. Finishing has been such an extreme issue for the Flames this season that “replacing” Coleman with an Andrei Kuzmenko-type sniper on the wing, similar to their Elias Lindholm deal with Vancouver in 2024, would be some welcome short-term help and potential long-term middle-six security if they’re under team control for a few years. The Flames are scoring a league-worst 2.50 goals per game this season, fueled by an absolutely disastrous team shooting percentage of 8.6%.
Capitals Recall Garin Bjorklund, Reassign Clay Stevenson
The Capitals announced they’ve recalled goaltender Garin Bjorklund from AHL Hershey and returned fellow netminder Clay Stevenson to Hershey in the corresponding move.
While trades aren’t permitted during the ongoing Olympic roster freeze, most simple reassignments are allowed. Teams also must continue carrying two goalies on their active roster during the break. With Charlie Lindgren on injured reserve, that means Washington has to stash a netminder they’d normally prefer to have playing in the minors on the NHL roster.
Today’s swap serves to let Stevenson get some reps in Hershey over the next couple of weeks as the AHL schedule continues rolling through the Olympic break. With injuries to both Lindgren and Logan Thompson, the 26-year-old Stevenson has been on Washington’s roster since Jan. 29. He made three consecutive starts with Washington’s regular duo sidelined, compiling an impressive .904 SV% and 2.33 GAA with a 2-1-0 record. That’s a particularly strong stat line considering he had to start both halves of a back-to-back to close a stretch of three games in four nights.
The Alberta native is in his fourth season in the organization after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth in 2022. He replaced Hunter Shepard as the Caps’ third-stringer for this season after Shepard left for the Senators in free agency. In 24 starts for Hershey, he’s put up a .912 SV%, 2.57 GAA, and an 11-8-4 record.
Bjorklund, 23, comes up to fill the two-goalie requirement but will presumably be returned to Hershey at the end of the Olympic break, either to swap places with Stevenson or to make way for Lindgren’s IR activation if he’s ready to return. A sixth-round pick in 2020, he’s starting to make the jump from the ECHL level to the AHL this season and has served as Stevenson’s backup for a good portion of the campaign. He has a .881 SV% in 12 showings for Hershey and a .929 mark in seven games for ECHL South Carolina.
Senators Still Looking To Buy At Trade Deadline
An inconsistent season for the Senators hasn’t turned their management group off from positioning themselves as buyers heading into the deadline. While general manager Steve Staios didn’t have anything close lined up before the Olympic roster freeze, he “would still like to add to his roster rather than subtract” when action gets going again, Bruce Garrioch wrote for the Ottawa Citizen last week.
His targets are impact pieces, too, not depth ones. Multiple league executives told Garrioch they’ve received calls from the Sens seeking a top-six winger and a top-four right-shot defenseman.
Of course, that’s most any contending team’s wish list heading into trade season. Contending is the operative word in that sentence, though, and Ottawa has rarely even occupied a playoff position throughout the year.
It’s hard to do much of anything when you’ve had the level of goaltending the Senators have dealt with. Linus Ullmark and Leevi Merilainen have combined to allow a disastrous 34.8 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck. They’ve individually allowed 17.5 and 17.3, respectively, the third and fourth-worst figures in the league ahead of Samuel Ersson (18.1) and Jordan Binnington (24.9).
On the flip side, Staios’ optimism for his team to get back into the playoff race if they can just get a few more saves is palpable. They’re still six games above .500 and six points back of a playoff spot with three teams to leapfrog. That’s far from insurmountable with 25 games left on their schedule.
Goaltending aside, Ottawa’s skater core has largely played well enough to fuel even a potentially deep playoff run under the right circumstances. At 5-on-5, the Sens rank fifth in the league in Corsi share (53.6%), third in scoring chance share (55.0%), and third in high-danger chances (55.0%). In that regard, they’re far closer to powerhouses like the Avalanche than the teams they’re chasing for a wild-card spot like the Blue Jackets, Bruins, and Capitals.
With few goaltending upgrades available and an understandable unwillingness to give up on Ullmark and his $8.25MM cap hit for three more seasons, Ottawa’s only path forward to improve is to try to outscore and outdefend its problems between the pipes. They’ve largely gotten quality depth scoring, but veteran David Perron‘s injury leaves a tangible hole in their top nine. They’d also do well to find a longer-term insurance policy in the 2RD slot alongside Thomas Chabot to succeed pending UFA Nick Jensen, who’s 35 years old and has seen a significant reduction in ice time this season.
Joshua Ho-Sang Signs In Russia
Feb. 10: Ho-Sang was released from his contract today without ever playing a game for the club, the league announced.
Dec. 30: Former Islanders first-rounder Joshua Ho-Sang is attempting to restart his professional career. Salavat Yulaev Ufa of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League has signed him to a two-way deal through the end of the season, the league announced.
Ho-Sang, once viewed as New York’s top prospect following his selection at 28th overall in 2014, has appeared in just 18 regular-season games over the last three years. He suited up once for Salavat in 2022-23, recording an assist, before spending the last two years on and off duty with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. He racked up 19 points in 17 games with the Everblades and led the Kelly Cup Playoffs in assists in 2024, proving he can still be a top-flight contributor in a lower-tier pro league.
Now 29, Ho-Sang only ever got into 53 NHL games with the Isles, scoring seven goals and 24 points, with his final appearance coming in December 2018. He’s since spent time in the minors in the Maple Leafs’ system as well as stints in Sweden during the 2020-21 campaign.
Ho-Sang contemplated retirement following his short stint with Salavat last time around. They’re now bringing him in off another lengthy bout without a contract to suit up alongside Canadiens 2025 first-rounder Alexander Zharovsky, who leads the club in scoring with 28 points in 32 games.
Penguins In The Market For Defensive Depth
Entering the season, the Penguins had a logjam on defense. Despite a couple of in-season additions already in Brett Kulak and Ilya Solovyov, it’s largely cleared out.
Caleb Jones hasn’t been a factor all season due to injury and now a PED-related suspension. The Matt Dumba experiment is over, and he’ll play out the rest of the season buried in AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. “Veteran” depth pickups Sebastian Aho and Alexander Alexeyev were waived to begin the season and haven’t seen any NHL ice. Top prospect Harrison Brunicke was returned to his junior team.
Then, in the days leading up to the Olympic break, injuries piled up. Jack St. Ivany, who’d emerged as a great bottom-pairing shutdown option over the last few months, fractured his hand and won’t be back until late March. Kris Letang is dealing with a fractured foot, too, although he’ll be back by the trade deadline.
Still, those surgeries (and apparently some nagging injury concerns with Erik Karlsson) have the Penguins in the market to add another defenseman before March 6, Josh Yohe of The Athletic reports. That body would presumably be a righty with Pittsburgh’s top three on the right side, Letang, Karlsson, and St. Ivany, comprising their current injury concerns.
It’s likely one of the first places they’d go for depth is San Jose. The Sharks have plenty of rental names available that won’t be overly expensive, namely Timothy Liljegren. A reunion with Vincent Desharnais, who the Penguins had for a 10-game run last year before flipping him to the Sharks for a fifth-round pick at the deadline, is logical as well.
With Letang and Karlsson already in the picture, it stands to reason Pittsburgh won’t be looking for an offense-oriented defender as depth. A plug-and-play, more well-rounded option like Liljegren seems preferable. Among potential rental options across the league, there’s Ottawa’s Nick Jensen and Winnipeg’s Colin Miller out there as well.
Canadiens In The Market For First-Line Winger
The Canadiens have begun to softly position themselves in the market for a right-winger to complement Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki on the top line ahead of the trade deadline, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period said on Daily Faceoff’s “The Sheet with Jeff Marek” podcast last Friday. Pagnotta speculatively tied them to the Blues’ Jordan Kyrou, who the Habs were more firmly linked to last offseason, but didn’t have any other specific targets to offer.
For the past several seasons, the second-line center slot has been viewed as both a long-term and short-term position of need for Montreal as it transitioned from rebuilder to playoff contender. As Pagnotta mentioned, Oliver Kapanen‘s emergence this season has largely quieted that noise. The 22-year-old rookie is beginning to flourish between fellow youngsters Ivan Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsky, on pace for 26 goals and 45 points. They’ll want more scoring out of him long-term, but it’s a promising first step for a second-round pick still at the midway point of his development curve.
Slafkovsky had spent his first couple of seasons up with Caufield and Suzuki. Moving him down the depth chart to give Montreal a formidable secondary scoring line hasn’t affected his production much and has been a net positive for the club this season, but they’ve yet to find a stable solution to replace him on the top unit.
Since Slafkovsky’s early-season “demotion,” it’s largely been an alternating mix of Zachary Bolduc and Alexandre Texier riding shotgun on the right side. Together, they’ve averaged under half a point per game this season. They haven’t been a huge drag on the line’s possession impacts – in fact, they’ve controlled 61.6% of expected goals when Texier’s the third man – but it’s not the type of production they need from a top-line winger if they have serious aspirations of cutting through a crowded Eastern Conference field in the playoffs.
If Kyrou is amenable to a move, it could be a fit. He’s hit the 70-point mark three times in the last five years. A down year in 2025-26 means his $8.125MM cap hit through 2030-31 might be tough to swallow at first glance, and he has to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate it. There’s also the question of how the Habs would facilitate such a deal with just $1.5MM in projected cap space on deadline day. Moving out pending UFA Patrik Laine and his bloated $8.7MM cap hit is the clear path forward, but whether St. Louis would be open to taking it back in the deal or if they’d have to shed him in a separate transaction remains to be seen.
Montreal was tied to the Flames’ Blake Coleman last month. He would be a slightly longer-term solution as he’s signed through 2026-27. A respected all-around versatile winger, his offensive ceiling isn’t as tantalizing as other options, though. He’s only hit 50 points once in his career. Giving him premier minutes would obviously give him a better shot at being productive, though, and it would allow the Habs to throw out a more formidable bottom-six group as a result.
Of course, there’s also the option of not making any move at all. They still have some tantalizing names on the come-up, like 2025 second-rounder Alexander Zharovsky, a 6’1″ right winger who’s broken out for 36 points in 44 KHL games this season with a couple of weeks still to go before his 19th birthday. The hold-pat outcome is something Pagnotta relays general manager Kent Hughes remains comfortable with as the Habs carry a comfortable seven-point cushion on a playoff spot.
Trade Deadline Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning
With the Olympic break now upon us, the trade deadline is less than a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We begin our look around the league with teams that have clear plans at the extremes of the standings, this time with the Lightning.
An aging core with extensive injury issues usually isn’t a recipe for success. No one’s told that to the Lightning, who’ve been one of the most consistent clubs in the league after starting the year on a 1-4-2 skid. They’ve lost nearly 70 man-games just from star players like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, and Victor Hedman, but still rank top-five in both goals for and goals against while allowing the seventh-fewest shots per game in the league. In a wide-open Eastern Conference, they have as good a chance as anyone to make their fourth Stanley Cup Final appearance in seven years.
Record
37-14-4, 1st in the Atlantic (99.92% playoff probability)
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$3.84MM on deadline day, 0/3 retention slots used, 47/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2026: TBL 2nd, TBL 3rd, SEA 5th, TBL 5th, TBL 6th, TBL 7th
2027: TBL 2nd, TBL 3rd, TBL 4th, TBL 6th, TBL 7th
Trade Chips
Unlike in years past, the Bolts’ arsenal of draft picks isn’t completely drained. They don’t have their firsts for the next two years, but they do still have one in 2028. With the Artemi Panarin trade potentially setting a precedent for a buyer’s market, that may not matter too much if the Bolts follow their usual M.O. of opting for depth over flash at the deadline. The firsts they’re missing, though, went to acquiring players who are still contributing this season – Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde.
General manager Julien BriseBois was seemingly interested in landing a big fish this time around in Panarin, though. However, with Tampa’s player acquisition approach usually centering around a hyper-specific approach, it’s unrealistic to expect that eagerness to apply to just anyone.
High-value, middle-six forwards with term will remain attractive. In doing so, they’ll need to put forth a package in which the most attractive asset is worth more than a mid-to-late second-round pick. If they were in anything close to legitimate talks to acquire Panarin, even as a rental, they had to at least breach the subject of flipping their new top prospect. Tampa acquired center Sam O’Reilly from the Oilers last summer in a swap of late first-round picks last offseason. The 32nd overall pick in the 2024 draft, O’Reilly is in his final junior season in the OHL and was recently traded by the London Knights to the Kitchener Rangers. He hasn’t shown overwhelming offensive development since his draft year, but he was always touted as a safe, two-way third-line agitator with good vision.
If, for example, Tampa were to pursue a reunion with Flames winger Blake Coleman, they’d likely need to leverage O’Reilly to get him. The retooling Flames are under no imminent pressure to move him, since his deal runs through next season at a $4.9MM cap hit, and their ask from Tampa would likely be higher anyway, since Calgary would need to retain money on Coleman if they’re not taking a roster player back. They gave up a first-round pick to get him from the Devils back in 2020 and, while they don’t have a close one to spare this time around, O’Reilly could hold similar value.
Any trade the Bolts make is unlikely to involve a roster player of any consequence going the other way. They’ve been hanging on by a thread due to injuries for most of the campaign anyway and, while some expert coaching from Jon Cooper has kept their underlying numbers on the up-and-up throughout, making any meaningful subtraction from their depth – unless they’re bringing in multiple pieces like last year’s Bjorkstrand/Gourde pickup from Seattle – is antithetical to the Bolts’ usual preferences. One name they could have more comfortably leveraged, center Jack Finley, was just claimed off waivers by the Blues.
Behind O’Reilly, Tampa’s prospect pool was regarded as one of the weakest in the league entering the season. Years of contention will do that. That notion has been somewhat salvaged by an incredible breakout from 2025 fourth-rounder Benjamin Rautianen, though. In his native Finland, the 20-year-old center has exploded for 17 goals and 61 points in 46 games with Tappara, leading the Liiga in scoring. Expecting the Bolts to be willing to lose both O’Reilly and Rautianen in one trade deadline might simply be too much risk for a team without much else in the pipeline, though.
Team Needs
Third-Line Piece: It just so happens that Tampa’s preferred deadline target continues to make too much sense this time around. A down year for Point and injuries to him and Cirelli make their depth chart look thin down the middle at the moment, but at full strength, that’s not a concern. Finding someone to bump a more offensively limited name like Gage Goncalves out of a top-nine role on the wing, though, would be a legitimately helpful addition to an offense that already ranks fourth in the league at the Olympic break. Coleman makes sense, as could pending UFA Michael Bunting out of Nashville.
Right-Shot Depth On Defense: Tampa doesn’t need a needle-mover on the blue line. Darren Raddysh‘s breakout this season has ensured that. Still, he and Erik Černák are the only two righties in the system capable of playing NHL minutes in the postseason on a regular basis. Maxwell Crozier is a fine depth option, but expecting him to step into the top four in case Černák or Raddysh gets hurt – or dealing with some chemistry issues by icing so many lefties – isn’t a great thought. An experienced rental 3RD option for a mid-round pick, like Connor Murphy or a reunion with Luke Schenn, might be a shrewd move.
Image courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.