Vladimir Tarasenko Willing To Waive No-Trade Clause
The Senators are expected to move winger Vladimir Tarasenko after confirming the Russian veteran will waive his no-trade clause for a Stanley Cup contender, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Reporting from Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch multiple times this month indicated that the 32-year-old may have preferred to stick with the Sens for the rest of the season, but he’s now likely to be on the move before the March 8 trade deadline.
Tarasenko’s willingness to accept a move aligns with what most anticipated at the beginning of the season: if the Senators were out of playoff contention close to the deadline, they’d flip the 2019 Stanley Cup champion after signing him to a one-year, $5MM pact in free agency. The six-time 30-goal scorer surprisingly struggled to secure a commitment when the floodgates opened on July 1, leading to him changing agents less than a week into the new league year.
He settled on Ottawa and their offer of complete trade protection, allowing him to dictate his destiny if they decided to move him at the deadline. While his days of routinely potting 30 in a season are behind him after multiple significant shoulder injuries in 2019 and 2020 with the Blues, he’s been a solid complementary top-six piece in Ottawa with 15 goals, 23 assists, 38 points, and a +12 rating while averaging 15:59 per game across 55 appearances.
Don’t let the +12 rating on a bottom-feeder team fool you – he hasn’t suddenly turned into a high-end shutdown winger. His expected rating is -0.4, middle of the pack on the team, as is his 49.2 CF% at even strength. Nothing about his numbers indicates he’s become a genuine liability, either, posting a solid 51.4% expected goals share with Drake Batherson and Tim Stützle this year, per MoneyPuck.
Any team acquiring Tarasenko is getting a similar talent to what the Rangers picked up from the Blues at last year’s deadline. He’s a solid middle-six scoring winger with Cup-winning experience, and if the Sens opt to retain half of his $5MM cap hit down the stretch and make him a $2.5MM player for whoever acquires him, they should be able to get a second-round pick at the very least.
Flyers Place Jamie Drysdale On IR, Recall Two
The Flyers have announced multiple roster moves, including recalling defender Ronnie Attard from AHL Lehigh Valley. To open up a spot on the active roster, the team moved Jamie Drysdale to injured reserve. He’s been listed as week to week with an upper-body injury sustained Sunday against the Penguins.
In another pair of moves, the Flyers said they’ve loaned netminder Calvin Petersen to Lehigh Valley and recalled Felix Sandström as starter Samuel Ersson‘s backup. However, this transaction cannot be registered until Petersen clears waivers later today.
The IR placement doesn’t reflect Drysdale’s timeline for a return; it’s solely to create roster space for an additional recall on defense. He’s expected to miss more than the seven days required for an IR stint. Concerns remain that his upper-body injury is related to the torn labrum that sidelined him for nearly all of last season, although the team hasn’t disclosed any specifics.
Drysdale hasn’t exactly been impressive since coming over in a blockbuster swap with the Ducks for top forward prospect Cutter Gauthier early last month, recording four points and a -9 rating in 17 games while averaging 18:37. The 2020 sixth-overall pick still carries high upside, however, and experience logging important minutes down the stretch while the Flyers attempt to secure their first playoff berth in four years would have been beneficial.
The Flyers are slowly losing their grip on third place in the Metropolitan Division, however, and the gap could continue to close between them and the Devils and Capitals as long as leading scorer Travis Konecny remains sidelined with an upper-body injury. They’re expected to deal one or both of their high-end shutdown defense pairing of Nick Seeler and Sean Walker before the March 8 trade deadline, too.
Drysdale missing extended time leaves the Flyers with only one right-shot blue-liner in the lineup in Walker, so it makes sense that Philly would want to summon another righty option to compete for minutes with depth defenders like Marc Staal and Yegor Zamula. In comes the 24-year-old Attard, who leads Phantoms defenders in goals with 10 and has added 15 assists in 46 games, along with a +2 rating.
A third-round pick in 2019, Attard signed his entry-level deal with the Flyers after wrapping up his collegiate career at Western Michigan in 2022 and has since become a top-four fixture for Lehigh Valley. He hasn’t seen NHL action yet this season, although he’ll likely draw into the lineup at some point over their next few games, given head coach John Tortorella’s penchant for rotating his cast of third-pairing defenders.
After representing the United States at the World Championship last year, Attard inked a two-year, $1.7MM deal to remain in Philly after reaching restricted free agency. A two-way deal this year that sees him earn $775K in the NHL and $125K in the minors, it shifts to a one-way deal in 2024-25 and will pay him $925K no matter which league he’s assigned to.
The Flyers hope Sandström can provide a tad more relief for Ersson than Petersen, who struggled with a .864 SV% in his five appearances this season. Sandström’s .880 SV% in 20 games last season doesn’t offer much more optimism, though, nor does his .882 SV% and 3.23 GAA in 20 games for Lehigh Valley this season.
In fact, both Petersen and Sandström have been significantly outplayed by 30-year-old ECHL mainstay Parker Gahagen, who’s played a career-high 14 AHL games for the Phantoms with a 5-6-3 record and .908 SV%. He’s not signed to an NHL contract, however, and can’t be recalled by the Flyers unless that changes.
Morning Notes: Senators, Khusnutdinov, Wild/Predators
The Senators’ top four on defense has rarely been healthy at the same time this season, mainly due to Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub struggling to stay healthy. Zub has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury, and although he appears ready to return tomorrow against the Coyotes, it could be one step forward and as much as three steps back, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Chabot, Jake Sanderson, and center Joshua Norris all underwent MRIs for undisclosed (upper-body in Norris’ case) ailments yesterday, per interim head coach Jacques Martin, putting their statuses for the Arizona game in doubt.
Aside from the on-ice impact derailing their recent momentum, it’ll be quite the roster puzzle to make corresponding recalls. Zub is the only extra skater on the Ottawa roster, and despite that, they have no cap space for any standard recalls unless they determine one of their three newly injured players will miss at least 10 games and 24 days, in which case they can be placed on LTIR. For a $0 emergency recall, Ottawa would have to play short a player for one game, meaning they could be limited to just 16 skaters tomorrow. They could then recall two players whose cap hits are $850K or less for Saturday’s road game in Philadelphia.
Other things to keep an eye on this morning with the deadline approaching:
- The Wild hope to have newly signed prospect Marat Khusnutdinov with the team by the end of next week, GM Bill Guerin told Joe Smith of The Athletic on Wednesday. After inking his two-year, entry-level deal yesterday, the 21-year-old Russian center will now begin the work visa and immigration process. Guerin confirmed that Minnesota would start him in the NHL upon his arrival and forego an initial assignment to AHL Iowa and anticipates him stepping into a center role down the stretch. The 2020 second-round pick had six goals, 14 assists, 20 points, and a -14 rating in 55 games with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg and HK Sochi this season.
- Sticking with Minnesota, their game on the road in Nashville tonight will likely go a long way toward informing trade deadline strategies and playoff outcomes for both teams. The Predators now have a five-point gap between them and ninth-place Calgary for the final playoff spot in the West, while the Wild are looking to swing two points in their favor to draw within four of the postseason cutoff with a game in hand. Minnesota’s 8-2-1 run since the All-Star break has them squarely back in the playoff conversation after falling out of it entirely a couple of months ago, but a similarly scorching stretch from Nashville has helped them tighten their grip on a playoff berth for the 16th time in the last 20 seasons.
Kings Reportedly Interested In Tyler Toffoli
After spending the first eight seasons of his career in Los Angeles, Devils winger Tyler Toffoli could return to Southern California. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the Kings have “expressed interest” in Toffoli if he’s made available by New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald in the days leading up to the deadline.
A pending UFA, Toffoli carries a cap hit of $4.25MM, and while extension discussions are ongoing, no deal has been reached. The Devils are still in a playoff chase, sitting five points behind the Lightning for the final playoff spot in the East with two games in hand.
That’s a perfectly bridgable gap, so even if the 31-year-old isn’t extended by March 8, they may keep him around if they feel the postseason is in reach or are confident in reaching an extension before the summer. Toffoli’s production isn’t replaceable internally – he holds the team lead in goals with 25 and has 42 points in 58 games, fourth on the team. While he’s technically listed as the Devils’ third-line left wing with Erik Haula and Dawson Mercer, he’s averaged 17:27 per game this year, fourth-most among Devils forwards.
It makes sense the Kings would have an interest in reuniting. He was a solid middle-six threat throughout most of his time in L.A., but he’s only entered his prime after a 2020 trade to the Canucks and subsequent stops in Montreal and Calgary. Last season’s career-high 34 goals with the Flames helped cement him as a true top-six and even first-line threat, posting above-average possession metrics. Add in his bargain cap hit, and he’s a logical fit to help the Kings shoulder apparent semi-long-term injuries to wingers Viktor Arvidsson and Adrian Kempe down the stretch.
Los Angeles would only be able to take Toffoli if the Devils retained half his salary, making him a $2.125MM player upon acquisition. That could change if evaluation this week reveals Kempe is expected to miss the rest of the regular season, allowing the Kings to move his $5.5MM cap hit to LTIR and add Toffoli’s entire salary for the stretch run.
Critics may point to Toffoli’s -11 rating this season, but advanced numbers assign much more blame to New Jersey’s poor goaltending than Toffoli’s defensive impacts. His 56.5 CF% at even strength is fifth on the team, he has a decent +4.9 expected rating, and his most common line with Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes has controlled a remarkable 60.3% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck.
When talks of an extension in New Jersey began after his trade from Calgary last summer, it was clear Toffoli would prioritize trade protection and term. That’s because he’s played for five teams over the previous five seasons despite his strong play at each stop. He has no trade protection in his current four-year, $17MM deal signed with Montreal in 2020, and although the Kings won’t be able to afford to extend him, L.A. at least presents a familiar destination for Toffoli to ride out the 2023-24 campaign before testing the free agent waters for potentially the last time.
Wild Won’t Trade Marc-André Fleury
Feb. 28: It appears Fleury and the Wild are now solidly on the same page. Minnesota is informing teams they won’t be moving the veteran netminder ahead of the deadline, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Feb. 25: Wild netminder Marc-André Fleury has indicated he’d prefer to stay with the Wild as they attempt to stay in the Western Conference playoff race, Joe Smith of The Athletic relayed Sunday. As such, it appears unlikely he’ll waive his no-movement clause ahead of the March 8 trade deadline and will finish out the season in Minnesota.
“I don’t want to just quit, right?” Fleury said to Smith after the Wild’s 5-2 win over the Kraken on Saturday. “I want us to make the playoffs. That’s my first priority. I think being in the hunt, it’s fun, it’s challenging. And I want to be here and see this team make the playoffs.”
In the final season of a two-year, $7MM extension, the 39-year-old Fleury could regain the starting role in the Minnesota crease with Filip Gustavsson struggling if they manage to squeak into the postseason. Neither he nor Gustavsson has been above average, but he’s put up slightly better surface-level numbers with a .899 SV% and 2.92 GAA in 24 starts and four relief appearances. Gustavsson, on the other hand, has a .896 SV% and 3.23 GAA in 33 starts and one relief appearance.
Fleury has started five of nine games since returning from an upper-body injury sustained before the All-Star break. The Wild are 7-1-1 in that timeframe, firmly putting them back in postseason contention after they looked far out of place just a few weeks ago. They’re two points behind the Predators for the final Wild Card spot in the West.
Regardless of his intentions, there will likely be a fair amount of trade interest in Fleury over the coming days from contending teams looking to supplant a weaker starter with a better backup option. If the Wild can maintain a winning record between now and the deadline, however, it seems unlikely Fleury will green-light a deal.
Wild Sign Marat Khusnutdinov To Entry-Level Deal
4:01 p.m.: Per PuckPedia, Khusnutdinov’s deal carries a cap hit of $925K. The deal breaks down as follows:
2023-24: $832.5K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $80K minors salary
2024-25: $832.5K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $850K Schedule ‘A’ performance bonus, $80K minors salary
1:31 p.m.: Minnesota has made Khusnutdinov’s signing official, inking him to a two-year, entry-level contract. Terms were not disclosed, although the deal begins immediately and will make him an RFA in 2025.
9:27 a.m.: The Wild are expected to sign 2020 second-round pick Marat Khusnutdinov to his entry-level contract in the coming days, The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports.
Khusnutdinov’s time in the Russian KHL ended last weekend after his club, HK Sochi, wrapped up their regular-season schedule. They did not qualify for postseason play, and while his contract with the club expires this offseason regardless, Khusnutdinov’s agents are undergoing the process for a mutual contract termination so that Khusnutdinov can join the Wild before the KHL’s free agency period begins.
The 21-year-old plays both center and left wing and was selected out of the SKA St. Petersburg organization three years ago, where he remained until an early-season move to Sochi this year. He was a consensus early-second-round pick after posting 38 points and a +27 rating in 44 Russian junior league games in his draft year, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when the Wild took him off the board at 37th overall.
While his 5-foot-9, 165-lb frame may pose difficulties for him transitioning into a center role at the NHL level, he’s a spectacular skater, intelligent playmaker, and zone-entry machine – making him an important top-nine piece for the Wild in the coming years if he can physically adapt to North American play.
2023-24 was somewhat of a disappointing campaign for Khusnutdinov, however, who recorded no points through six games with St. Petersburg and only six goals and 20 points in 49 games for Sochi. Last season, he solidified himself as a top-six piece on a powerhouse St. Petersburg team stacked with NHL veterans such as Nikita Gusev and Dmitrij Jaskin, posting 41 points in 63 games and a +15 rating.
Minnesota’s director of player development, former NHL defenseman Brad Bombardir, told The Athletic’s Joe Smith last summer that the organization expected Khusnutdinov to jump into an NHL role immediately when he came over. By all indications, that remains their plan.
Khusnutdinov will count against the cap when he signs his deal in the coming days but won’t count against the 23-man roster. He’ll carry a non-roster designation while he gets his work visa, per Russo, and the Wild will need to make a transaction to clear a roster spot when he’s ready to debut.
While he’s likely not a long-term top-line answer, Khusnutdinov does add to a Wild center core that’s lacked much punch outside of Joel Eriksson Ek for the past number of years. Top-ten pick Marco Rossi is coming into his own and looks to ease those pains, but Khusnutdinov is likely better suited for a third-line role anyway. He’s ranked as Minnesota’s third-best center prospect by Dobber Prospects, trailing Rossi and 2023 second-round pick Riley Heidt.
Philadelphia Flyers’ Cal Petersen Clears Waivers
2/29: Petersen has cleared waivers, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
2/28: The Flyers placed netminder Cal Petersen on waivers Wednesday, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
It’s been a tumultuous first season in Philadelphia for Petersen, who failed to make the Flyers out of camp but shuffled frequently between leagues in November and December with then-starter Carter Hart battling illness and injuries. He’s been rostered as the backup to Samuel Ersson over the past month after Hart took leave from the team to surrender to London, Ontario, police in connection with sexual assault charges against him and four other members of the 2018 Canadian national junior team.
This is Petersen’s second time on waivers this season, passing through unclaimed at the beginning of October when the Flyers assigned him to AHL Lehigh Valley to start the season. The 29-year-old once looked like the goalie of the future for the Kings, but they were forced to trade him, and his $5MM cap hit to Philadelphia last summer to clear cap space after a disastrous showing last year that saw him sent to the minors a few months into the season.
Things haven’t changed for Petersen in the City of Brotherly Love, as he’s been borderline unplayable through four starts and one relief appearance. While he has a 2-2-0 record, he’s posted a .864 SV% and 3.90 GAA, slightly worse than last year’s numbers with Los Angeles that got him demoted for the first time since 2020. His last appearance was Sunday’s 7-6 loss to the Penguins, in which he allowed all seven goals on 32 shots.
As such, he’s nearly guaranteed to pass through waivers again. The Flyers can give him a non-roster designation over the next 24 hours if they need a roster spot, otherwise, he can be assigned to Lehigh Valley and his cap hit can be reduced to $3.85MM after 1 p.m. CT tomorrow.
Sharks Place Mackenzie Blackwood On Injured Reserve
3:09 p.m.: Blackwood is expected to miss between seven and 15 days with the injury, Sharks coach David Quinn said Wednesday (via Max Miller of The Hockey News).
12:48 p.m.: Before tomorrow’s game against the Ducks, the Sharks placed goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Magnus Chrona was called up from AHL San Jose in a corresponding move to give starter Kaapo Kähkönen his backup for the next few games.
Blackwood will not be available for the Sharks’ weekend back-to-back against the Wild and Stars. He can be activated before Tuesday’s game against Dallas at the earliest, although it’s unclear how much time he’ll miss. He left yesterday’s loss to the Devils in the first period after catching a shot in the midsection from a New Jersey player (video link).
In his first season with the Sharks, Blackwood has posted a 9-18-3 record with one shutout over 32 starts and three relief appearances, recording a .899 SV%. It’s been a nice bounceback season for the 27-year-old, who signed a two-year, $4.7MM deal with the Sharks last summer after they acquired his signing rights from the Devils for a 2023 sixth-round pick.
The 2015 second-round pick has saved 2.6 goals above expected in all situations, per MoneyPuck, his first season in the black since he finished sixth in Calder voting with New Jersey in 2019-20. He’s done so while facing 34.5 shots per 60 minutes, the most of any starter in the league.
Despite starting eight fewer games, Kähkönen has put up slightly better numbers with a .901 SV% and 4.1 goals saved above expected in 28 appearances. Slated for UFA status this summer and carrying a reasonable $2.75MM cap hit, he could be on the move at the deadline as an attractive option for teams looking for more affordable goalie help. If Blackwood will miss extended time past his minimum seven-day IR stint, however, that could dissuade the Sharks from moving Kähkönen unless they can get an NHL-capable goalie to carry them down the stretch.
That’s because the 23-year-old Chrona has struggled in his limited NHL minutes this season, conceding eight goals on just 29 shots across one start and one relief appearance. While still a promising prospect, he’s not ready for the major-league level, and the Sharks would prefer to keep him in the AHL as much as possible.
Bruins Notes: DeBrusk, Lindholm, Geekie
The Bruins’ relationship with top-six winger Jake DeBrusk has been roller coaster-like, seeing their 2015 14th-overall pick submit and rescind a trade request over his seven-season tenure with the team. Now slated to be a UFA for the first time this summer, there hasn’t been any progress between the two parties on an extension, DeBrusk said Wednesday (via Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald).
The likelihood of DeBrusk extending likely has little bearing on Boston’s deadline plans – unless they feel they can package him for an upgrade. Sitting at second in the Atlantic Division and hungry to avenge last season’s massive upset at the hands of the Panthers in the first round, the Bruins can ill-afford to solely detract from their overachieving forward group.
Moving him at the deadline would also be selling low on the three-time 25-goal scorer. He’s been underwhelming this year with 13 goals, 14 assists and 27 points in 58 games, under a 40-point pace for only the second time in his career.
The 27-year-old does cost $4MM against the cap, though, and if he informs the Bruins he’s willing to discuss extensions with other teams, he could help Boston clear any financial hurdle in trade talks. DeBrusk has been a full-time Bruin ever since his NHL debut in 2017, recording 132 goals, 121 assists and 253 points in 443 games throughout his NHL career.
- Flipping from pending UFA forward to long-term defenseman, Hampus Lindholm has been ruled out of the Bruins’ two remaining games this week, head coach Jim Montgomery said (via Scott McLaughlin of WEEI 93.7 FM). Lindholm has missed four games with an undisclosed injury that sidelined him on a week-to-week basis after a Feb. 19 contest against the Stars, and he’s yet to practice with the team following the injury. He skated on his own before this morning’s practice and will be evaluated closer to the weekend, per Montgomery, so more clarity on his return to the lineup could come ahead of two crucial contests next week against the Maple Leafs, their likely first-round playoff opponent.
- Center Morgan Geekie was a full participant in practice today after taking a puck to his right cheek against the Kraken on Monday, albeit in a full face shield, The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa reports. The former Seattle and Carolina pivot has been a revelation in the third-line center spot, hitting the 10-goal plateau for the first time and on pace for career highs with 27 points in 54 games. Averaging 15:26 per game, his $2MM cap hit through 2025 looks like a bargain-bin pickup for GM Don Sweeney. He’s set to reprise his third-line role with wingers Trent Frederic and Danton Heinen against the Golden Knights tomorrow.
West Notes: Henrique, Nichushkin, Dewar
Teams’ interest in the services of Ducks center Adam Henrique continues to intensify ahead of next week’s trade deadline, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports. “It’s a matter of when, not if, he’s traded,” Pagnotta said, also reporting it’s “all but certain” the Ducks will retain up to half of Henrique’s $5.825MM cap hit in a deal.
That would bring Henrique’s cap hit down to $2.91MM without needing to get a third team involved, which would still be out of reach for contenders pondering adds on offense like the Oilers, Avalanche and Kings. Los Angeles would be able to stomach Henrique’s cap hit if Adrian Kempe lands on LTIR for the rest of the regular season, however. He’s out with an upper-body injury sustained Monday against the Oilers, and the team hasn’t finished evaluating his recovery timeline.
All signs are pointing for the Ducks potentially adding a first-round pick in the next nine days after centers Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan fetched first-rounders a few weeks back. Henrique, who can also seamlessly shift to a left-wing role, has 16 goals and 38 points in 57 games this season. His 0.67 points per game are the third-most of his career, trailing the pace he set with Anaheim in 2021-22 (0.72) and the Devils in 2011-12 (0.69).
Other updates from the Western Conference:
- Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin is nearing a return after being cleared to resume practicing with the team by NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program administrators earlier this week. While he hasn’t been approved to play in game action, that will come soon. Head coach Jared Bednar said on 92.5 FM Altitude Sports Radio on Wednesday morning that the Avs are targeting one of their first home game after their current road trip for Nichushkin’s return (via Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now). That rules him out of a return tomorrow against the Blackhawks or Saturday against the Predators, but he will return sometime during the week preceding the March 8 trade deadline. Nichushkin had 42 points in 40 games before taking leave from the team last month, a career-best scoring pace.
- Wild depth forward Connor Dewar may join fellow Minnesota bottom-sixer Brandon Duhaime on the move in the coming days, as Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic posit. Duhaime, a pending UFA, is drawing trade interest from a few teams (namely the Canucks, per a report earlier this week) and is a decent candidate to be moved regardless of the Wild’s postseason intentions. Dewar may also fall victim to a roster crunch caused by the return of Mason Shaw from reconstructive ACL surgery and the arrival of Russian center prospect Marat Khusnutdinov, a younger, higher-ceiling replacement for Dewar in the fourth-line center role. The team controls Dewar’s signing rights as he’s an RFA this summer. He has 16 goals, 36 points and a -16 rating in 169 games with Minnesota since making his NHL debut in 2021.