Kraken Interested In Mackie Samoskevich
The Kraken have contacted the Panthers about the availability of winger Mackie Samoskevich, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
While Seattle has been shopping around a young forward of their own in Shane Wright, they’re not looking to leverage him in these talks, Friedman adds. They’re still putting him forth in discussions with other clubs but prefer to use him as part of a package for a more established scoring threat, not in a one-for-one swap.
It’s hard to see why Florida would be chomping at the bit to make Samoskevich available unless there’s a concern they won’t be able to sign him this summer. The Kraken have made clear their intentions to add, not subtract, at this year’s deadline as they find themselves in playoff position, so it doesn’t appear they’d be shipping a roster player back to the Panthers in the deal, either.
While Samoskevich likely hasn’t had the year the Cats hoped for, he still has the highest ceiling of any under-25 player in their system. Selected 24th overall in 2021, the 5’11” righty is now 23 years old in just his second NHL season. The high-energy winger ended up as mostly an extra forward on their Cup run, but was an excellent depth contributor in the regular season, tallying 15 goals and 31 points in 72 games.
Florida looked to give Samoskevich more minutes this year, especially with Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov absent from their top six to start the year. While he’s gotten a small bump in ice time to over 14 minutes per game, his production has actually taken a step back. He’s clicking with a 6-15–21 scoring line through 59 appearances, a dropoff from 0.43 points per game last season to 0.36. A lot of that has to do with a string of horrid finishing. He’s already topped last year’s shots on goal total but is shooting at just 4.7%, so there’s serious positive regression potential there.
The Panthers already had fits trying to get a new deal done for Samoskevich last summer after his entry-level pact expired. He accepted a one-year, league-minimum pact with no leverage – he was a 10.2(c) RFA who was ineligible to receive and sign offer sheets. That’s no longer the case this summer, though, and he’ll be eligible for arbitration as well. Florida has nearly $15.5MM in cap space for this summer, with the rising upper limit, but that’s with five roster spots to fill and both of their goaltenders heading for unrestricted free agency. That’s limited enough to make Samoskevich an offer sheet threat.
It’s no surprise, then, that the Cats are setting what Friedman calls a “high price.” Florida doesn’t have a first-round pick again until 2028, so unless they offload a significant asset in the meantime, they won’t be getting a young forward of his caliber back in the system anytime soon. With Seattle boasting four first-round picks in the next two drafts, they’ve got the draft capital to dangle, plus one of the league’s better prospect pools, to help the Cats restock their cupboards while helping Seattle push the envelope in developing some higher-ceiling scoring options.
Kings Trade Warren Foegele To Senators
5:30 p.m.: The deal is now official, per both clubs. The details of the pick swap are as follows:
Ottawa will get the worse of the Kings’ own third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft or Dallas’ third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft (acquired in a previous trade). Los Angeles will get the better of Ottawa’s own third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft or Washington’s third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft (acquired in a previous trade). However, if both Ottawa and Washington do not qualify for the 2026 NHL playoffs, then Ottawa will instead transfer to Los Angeles the worse of Ottawa’s own third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft or Washington’s third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft (acquired in a previous trade).
The Kings also recalled forward Jared Wright from AHL Ontario in a corresponding move, per John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor. He was sent down just yesterday after making his NHL debut against the Avalanche earlier this week, but will be back in the lineup tonight.
4:13 p.m.: The Senators are adding some depth on the wings, with Darren Dreger of TSN reporting they’re acquiring forward Warren Foegele from the Kings. Ottawa is sending the Sabres’ 2026 second-round pick (acquired in last year’s Dylan Cozens/Joshua Norris deal) to Los Angeles in return, while the clubs are also swapping conditional third-round picks, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Foegele, 30 next month, is a big left winger with some legitimate scoring upside, although he hasn’t shown much of it this season. He’s scored just seven goals and nine points in 47 games this year, and he was moved to the press box for five of the Kings’ last 10 games after being a lineup staple for L.A. and Edmonton for the last several seasons. Even still, he’s averaged 16 goals and 32 points per 82 games over his nine-year career.
Foegele is playing the season in year two of a three-year, $10.5MM deal and has a five-team no-trade list, which presumably didn’t include his home country’s capital. He still has another year left on that contract at a $3.5MM cap hit – a steep commitment if he can’t rebound to his career-average form, let alone the back-to-back 20-goal seasons he’d put up leading into this year. He’s making only $3MM in actual salary next season, though, so that’ll be financially attractive for the Sens’ books.
While he’d recently squeezed back into the Kings’ lineup thanks to their rash of injuries at forward, he’ll likely get a longer leash in Ottawa’s top-nine, at least to start. David Perron is close to a return from his sports hernia surgery, but his absence has stretched their depth scoring thin with Nick Cousins needing to step up into a third-line role (although even he’s produced at a better rate than Foegele has this year).
That makes a second-round pick a steep price to pay for a player on an undesirable contract who may not be in Ottawa’s regular lineup when Perron returns to health, but it’s only further evidence of the seller’s market this deadline is quickly turning out to be. Comparable fourth-line pieces like Michael McCarron and Nic Dowd have fetched similar returns in the past few days, but those names carry added value as centers (where Foegele has zero utility), and the Sens likely valued his controllability for another year while hoping a change of scenery could make his production more efficient.
Selling off a forward is at first glance counterintuitive for a Kings club that’s had nightmarish scoring troubles this season and is currently down a pair of top-nine wingers for the rest of the season in Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko. After swinging a deal for Artemi Panarin last month, they were clearly trying to get themselves back into the playoff picture after a rough start, but their recent rash of injuries – plus the fact they managed to get Panarin extended for two more seasons – has seemingly pushed them the other way, with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan calling them a “wild card team in terms of direction.” Nonetheless, it’s tidy work in a vacuum to land a top-64 pick for a name they haven’t been using while opening up cap space to retool for next season.
Image courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images.
Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia was first to report a second-round pick was headed the Kings’ way, while Frank Seravalli of Victory+ was first to report a pick swap was included.
Penguins Interested In Teddy Blueger
The Penguins’ roster isn’t expected to look very different after Friday’s deadline. They’re a safe bet to make the playoffs and won’t be selling off any rental UFAs, but after seemingly jumping years ahead of schedule in their retool in a matter of moves, they’re not in the market for any of the significant names still available, either.
They’re still in the market for some cheap pickups, whether rentals or young change-of-scenery names. It appears a reunion with center Teddy Blueger could help satisfy the latter want, as Josh Yohe of The Athletic reports they’re looking at acquiring the pending UFA from the Canucks as a stopgap depth fix with Sidney Crosby‘s suspected MCL sprain causing a strain on their forward group.
Vancouver has presumably received interest from a few other playoff-bound clubs as well in the 31-year-old, who ended his first stint in Pittsburgh under similar circumstances as a rental pickup by the Golden Knights on their way to a Stanley Cup in 2023. He spent more than half the season on injured reserve with a lower-body issue but has been hot since returning, picking up five goals and eight points in 14 games for the ‘Nucks while averaging north of 16 minutes per game, a career-high.
Blueger was a press-box luxury for the Knights on their long playoff run three years ago and could fill a similar role for Pittsburgh when Crosby returns. The success of Thomas Novak and Benjamin Kindel this season makes it hard to envision Blueger taking up a spot in the top-nine, and they’d be similarly hesitant to break up a fourth line of Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte, and Noel Acciari that’s been exceptional at controlling play at even strength with a 54.2% expected goals share.
As such, the Pens likely won’t be willing to part ways with more than a mid-round pick to land him. Seeing as they have at least five picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts, they have no shortage of capital. But they might have to reach into that stable of second or third-rounders compared to a fourth or fifth to get it done, considering what fourth-line pieces like Michael McCarron, Nic Dowd, and Cole Smith have fetched this week.
Blueger started his career as a second-round pick of the Pens back in 2012. After finally breaking into the league six years later, he ended up posting 33 goals and 92 points in 250 games for them over five seasons.
Canucks Acquire Jack Thompson From Sharks
The Canucks announced the acquisition of right-shot defenseman Jack Thompson from the Sharks in exchange for minor-league defender Jett Woo. Thompson was also in the minors at the time of the deal, so the trade doesn’t affect either club’s active roster.
Thompson is on the move for the second time in three years, as San Jose picked up the defender at the 2024 trade deadline from the Lightning as part of the return for rental winger Anthony Duclair. He was a third-round pick by Tampa in 2020 and was a legitimately intriguing prospect at the time, posting 32 points in 46 games for AHL Syracuse up to that point.
That momentum continued into last season, which Thompson split evenly between the Sharks and the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. When in the NHL, he was impressive in a bottom-pairing role. He suited up 31 times for San Jose, recording a 4-6–10 scoring line and a -9 rating while averaging 15:47 per game. The 6’1″ righty isn’t overly physical and isn’t much of a defensive threat in his own zone, but he was offensively potent enough to create good possession impacts for the Sharks, ranking third on their blue line last season with a 5-on-5 expected goals percentage of 47.1.
With the Sharks’ signings of veterans Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg in free agency last summer, plus top prospect Sam Dickinson locking down a roster spot, Thompson was lost in the shuffle this season from the start. The 23-year-old somewhat surprisingly cleared waivers at the beginning of the season and hasn’t seen a recall since, spending the entire year with the Barracuda. He only has three goals and 12 points in 42 games, a far cry from his usual AHL production.
As such, he likely welcomed a change of scenery, and the Canucks presumably view this year as more of a blip than a permanent regression. After shipping out Tyler Myers to the Stars yesterday, Vancouver has an immediate need for right-shot depth.
They recalled 26-year-old Cole Clayton with no NHL experience today to serve as their #7 with Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Derek Forbort on injured reserve. It stands to reason that Thompson usurps him on the depth chart for now and will make a legitimate challenge for consistent NHL minutes with fellow youngsters Tom Willander and Victor Mancini behind top-pair righty Filip Hronek down the stretch.
If Thompson doesn’t work out, it’s not as if they’re giving up a particularly high-value asset to land him. Woo was a second-rounder in 2018, and the organization long hoped he could be a solid depth piece and power-play option, but he’s now 25 and has yet to make his NHL debut. A pending Group VI unrestricted free agent, he’s effectively just a contract San Jose is taking back to avoid Vancouver pushing closer to the 50-man limit.
The right-shot Woo has had some intriguing AHL seasons in the past, but this isn’t one of them. He’s been limited to a goal and eight points in 26 AHL games with a career-worst -11 rating. If the Sharks keep him around past this year, it won’t be anything more than a supplemental piece for their higher-value D prospects in the minors.
Maple Leafs Continue To Listen On UFAs; Troy Stecher Drawing Interest
The Maple Leafs are continuing to gauge the market on their pending UFAs, holding Scott Laughton and Bobby McMann out of last night’s lineup (plus a defender with term in Oliver Ekman-Larsson) for injury protection ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period adds that rearguard Troy Stecher is now generating some interest as well.
Of course, the Leafs’ shootout loss to the Devils last night only pushed them further into sell mode, sitting eight points back of a playoff spot with no games-played advantage, and they already sent center Nicolas Roy to the Avalanche this morning.
Stecher, 31, already changed teams once this season. The Leafs claimed him off waivers from the Oilers in November. That’s proven to be a shrewd move, as Stecher’s posted up a 3-9–12 scoring line, a +1 rating, and 52 blocks in 42 games while averaging north of 20 minutes per game, the most deployment he’s seen at any stage of his career.
The veteran righty was a much-needed addition at the time, even if he only ended up being a depth piece, with both of Toronto’s top-four right-shots, Brandon Carlo and Chris Tanev, dealing with injuries. Tanev has essentially remained sidelined for the balance of the season and now officially won’t be back after core muscle surgery this week, keeping Stecher primarily in a second-pairing role with Jake McCabe.
His possession impacts have been noticeable. His 47.1% Corsi For percentage at 5-on-5 doesn’t jump out on its own, but it is admirable when considering that’s a relative mark of 3.0% while starting 58.6% of his shifts in the defensive zone. His duo with McCabe has also controlled 53.6% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck, among the team’s best.
Considering he’s been able to do all that while spending a good amount of time in the top four at even strength and averaging over two minutes per night on the penalty kill, it’s not surprising that right-shot-needy teams – a statement that can describe virtually every contender – are lining up for him as a pending UFA with a dirt-cheap $787,500 cap hit.
His playoff track record is limited but strong. He was excellent in a bottom-pairing role for Vancouver in the 2020 bubble, posting a +9 rating in 17 games, and was similarly effective as a #7 option for the Kings in their first-round loss to the Oilers in 2022. He only appeared in four out of seven games that series, but had a pair of goals and assists each with a +4 rating. Last year, he had a +2 rating in eight games on Edmonton’s march to the Stanley Cup Final.
Red Wings Recall Sebastian Cossa, Reassign Erik Gustafsson
March 5th: According to a team announcement, the Red Wings have reassigned Cossa back to AHL Grand Rapids. The transaction indicates that Gibson will be available for tomorrow’s contest against the Florida Panthers.
March 4th: 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.
Maple Leafs Recall Jacob Quillan
The Maple Leafs recalled center Jacob Quillan from AHL Toronto today, per a team announcement. He takes Nicolas Roy‘s roster spot after he was traded to the Avalanche this morning.
Quillan, 24, has been up and down between the Leafs and Marlies for much of this season but has made a strong case to stay up for the stretch run as Toronto enters sell mode. The second-year pro out of Quinnipiac has suddenly established himself as one of Toronto’s top “prospects,” even given his relatively advanced age, putting up a 12-21–33 scoring line in 38 AHL games.
Quillan has received brief looks in the NHL over the last two seasons, seeing his debut in January 2025 cut short by an injury. He’s been buried on the fourth line and hasn’t scored, only averaging 7:11 of ice time per game across five total appearances, but is averaging two hits per game in that small sample.
This year’s offensive surge has likely put him squarely on the Leafs’ radar for a roster spot in the fall, although the pending restricted free agent will need a new contract before that happens. Even if that scoring doesn’t translate to the NHL, he has the physical tools at 6’1″ and 204 lbs, plus a strong history of two-way play in the NCAA and AHL, to make him a fourth-line staple.
It’s worth noting that the Leafs might return Quillan to the AHL tomorrow to make him eligible for the Calder Cup Playoffs. He can then be recalled again after the trade deadline – players just have to be on an AHL roster at the time the deadline passes to be able to suit up in minor-league playoff action.
Lightning Place Curtis Douglas On Waivers
The Lightning have placed forward Curtis Douglas on waivers, according to a report from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The move will allow him to report to AHL Syracuse temporarily tomorrow if he clears, making him eligible to suit up for them in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
He can be immediately recalled back to the Lightning’s roster after doing so without having first played an AHL game, thanks to a specific deadline day exemption in the new CBA’s rule that players must play at least one minor-league game after reassignment before being eligible for a recall.
Douglas, 26 tomorrow, was selected off waivers from the Mammoth at the end of training camp last fall. He’s served as a fringe fourth-line option for the Lightning’s forward group throughout the year, spending more time in the press box than in the lineup.
While a natural center, he’s played exclusively at left wing. He’s appeared in 29 games this season, recording two points and a +1 rating.
It’s not Douglas’ offense that the Bolts insert him into the lineup for, though. The gargantuan 6’9″, 242-lb enforcer has shown some offensive upside in the minors but has exclusively been a pot-stirrer for Tampa, recording a team-high 92 penalty minutes despite not providing a ton of straight-up physicality at 1.10 hits per game.
Douglas’ possession impacts have been quite strong, ranking near the middle of the Bolts’ forward pack with a 52.7% Corsi For rate but leading them with a 60.4% share of expected goals. A lot of that has to do with his deployment. Tampa doesn’t give its fourth line a ton of defensive zone assignments like most other teams, instead preferring to use them in sheltered O-zone forecheck usage. No Bolts forward has started a greater share of shifts in the offensive zone at 5-on-5 than Douglas at 75.5%.
Still, Douglas averaging just 5:58 of ice time per game signals he isn’t a piece that head coach Jon Cooper ideally wants in his playoff lineup. With today’s news that Dominic James will miss at least the first round of the playoffs and likely well into the second round as well, it won’t be surprising to see the Lightning use their limited deadline cap space on a bottom-six forward to keep Douglas primarily in a press-box role.
Avalanche Reassign Jason Polin, Artturi Lehkonen Week-To-Week
March 4, 2:41 p.m.: Polin was returned to the AHL today, the team announced. He did not have a point or a shot in 8:09 of ice time last night.
March 3, 7:40 p.m.: 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.
March 3, 1:00 p.m.: 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.
Sharks Sign Kiefer Sherwood To Five-Year Extension
2:02 p.m.: Per PuckPedia, Sherwood’s deal will pay him a $4.5MM base salary and $2.5MM signing bonus in 2026-27 and 2027-28. That drops to $4.15MM and $2MM, respectively, for 2028-29, with his base salary then dropping to $2.4MM and the same $2MM signing bonus for 2029-30. He’ll be paid entirely in base salary $4.2MM, in the final year of the deal. The contract also features gradually decreasing trade protection. He’ll start off with a full no-trade clause in 2026-27 that drops to a 16-team no-trade list in 2027-28, then 13 in 2028-29, 10 in 2029-30, and five in the final year of the deal.
1:09 p.m.: The Sharks have confirmed a five-year, $28.75MM deal for Sherwood.
12:13 p.m.: Kiefer Sherwood has gone from a potential trade candidate to a top-nine cornerstone, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the Sharks are close to signing him to a five-year extension worth “a little under” $6MM annually. Chris Johnston of The Athletic adds it’ll be an average annual value of $5.75MM for a total commitment of $28.75MM. The contract also includes signing bonuses and trade protection for the first four seasons, per Frank Seravalli of Victory+.
Sherwood was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, an undesirable outcome for a still-building Sharks club that paid two second-round picks to acquire him from the Canucks less than two months ago. It was either a second trade or an extension for Sherwood, who has evidently chosen the latter after San Jose general manager Mike Grier stepped up his offer.
Assuming the extension crosses the finish line, Sherwood will be under contract longer than any other Sharks player. Only William Eklund and Alexander Wennberg are under contract through as late as 2028-29, and Sherwood’s new deal will carry him through the 2030-31 season. That’s certainly life as a club slowly exiting from a years-long rebuild, still boasting many entry-level contracts and stopgap veterans on short-term commitments. That will obviously change soon when Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Yaroslav Askarov become eligible to sign extensions on July 1, though.
Sherwood’s reward comes on the heels of a two-point outing against the Canadiens last night in a wild 7-5 win, including the game-winning goal (it was one of four shots he had in the game). Those were his first two points as a Shark after going without one through his first four games in San Jose. At the time he was dealt, he was dealing with an upper-body injury and didn’t debut for them until their final game before the Olympic break.
That brings the 30-year-old up to 18 goals and 25 points in 49 games on the year. It’s an identical point pace and even better goal-scoring pace than last year’s breakout campaign in Vancouver that saw him set the NHL single-season hits record with 462. He’s not checking at that pace this season, but still ranks second in the league with 238 despite the missed time.
A late bloomer, the Miami-Ohio product made his NHL debut as an undrafted free agent with the Ducks in 2018, but was relegated to a mostly minor-league role for the next few years after a 50-game showing as a rookie. That began to change when he landed with the Predators in free agency in 2022. After hovering around or well above a point per game in the AHL through the early 2020s, he received an extended call-up with the Preds in 2022-23 and put up a 7-6–13 scoring line in 32 games in a fourth-line role.
That earned Sherwood an opening-night spot the following season, and he’s remained in the NHL ever since. Since the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign, Sherwood has a 47-45–92 scoring line in 195 games for Nashville, Vancouver, and San Jose with a +5 rating and 934 hits. That’s an average of 20 goals, 39 points, and 393 hits per 82 games.
The league’s most physical forward by definition, the mild goal-scoring upside he’s flashed in that time makes him an intriguing complementary fit higher in San Jose’s lineup alongside either Macklin Celebrini or 2025 #2 pick Michael Misa, quickly emerging as their second-line pivot after a rough start to the campaign. Sherwood is averaging 17:25 of ice time per game in his small sample in San Jose.
There will be undeniable sticker shock to see a recent breakout talent without a years-long track record of top-nine play this late in his pro career land that combination of length and AAV. It’s simply the reality of a new era of aggressive salary-cap increases. Considering past comparables who signed for similar percentages of the cap, the terms of the deal don’t jump out as overly groundbreaking. AFP Analytics projected Sherwood’s extension at five years, with a price tag of $5.75MM annually, which was right on the money.
Image courtesy of Bob Frid-Imagn Images.