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Trade Notes: Savard, Chychrun, Toffoli

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With some of the bigger names on the defensive trade market off the board, the attention has now turned to the secondary market leading up to tomorrow’s trade deadline. One of those defenseman, David Savard of the Montreal Canadiens, has seen an increase of interest over the last 24 hours according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

In the third year of a four-year, $14MM contract signed with Montreal back in 2021, Savard’s name in the rumor mill should come as no surprise to him. Leading up to the trade deadline in 2021, as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Savard was shipped to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, for a first- and third-round pick.

Carrying only one more year on his contract after this one, the Canadiens could be talked into retaining some money on Savard’s deal, but the return will have to be enticing enough. Fortunately, even though the organization as a whole has been disappointing this season, Montreal does have the internal infrastructure available to them on the blue line making the idea of parting with Savard logical.

Other trade notes:

  • One defenseman who has seen his name pop up in trade speculation for the last few seasons is Jakob Chychrun of the Ottawa Senators. Although it appeared that Chychrun had finally found a long-term home in Ottawa, the new front office does not seem as convinced. TSN’s Bruce Garrioch is reporting that although nothing is imminent on the Chychrun front, General Manager Steve Staios continues to work the phones regarding a Chychrun deal.
  • Trade speculation has begun to increase surrounding New Jersey Devils’ forward Tyler Toffoli tonight, especially after the scoring forward was scratched by the organization for trade-related reasons. With Jake Guentzel likely headed to the Carolina Hurricanes, many interested teams are now pivoting to Toffoli, who is viewed as a fallback option to Guentzel (X Link). It makes a lot of sense, as Toffoli could benefit a plethora of playoff-bound teams with 26 goals in 61 games for the Devils this year.

Central Notes: Carrier, Koch, Khusnutdinov, Coyotes

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Earlier this morning, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun commented that everything was still on the table in regards to Nashville Predators defenseman Alexandre Carrier. Taking a mixed approach to the trade deadline, the Predators have resigned Thomas Novak, and brought in Anthony Beauvillier and Jaret Anderson-Dolan, while shipping out Yakov Trenin.

Much like they did with their other rental options this past week, the Predators are weighing the option of signing Carrier to an extension, trading him, or using him as their rental. With less than 24 hours leading up to the trade deadline, Nashville does not have the luxury of time to make their decision.

As far as his value compared to other moves that have been made already this deadline season, the Predators could conceivably command a second-round pick for Carrier’s services. In 58 games for Nashville this season, Carrier has scored four goals and 19 points, averaging just under 18 and a half minutes a night.

Other Central notes:

  • After sending veteran defenseman Troy Stecher to the Edmonton Oilers earlier today, the Arizona Coyotes opened up a roster spot on their blue line. To fill the void, the team opted to recall defenseman Patrik Koch according to a team announcement. In his first season in professional hockey in North America, Koch has only played for the Coyotes AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, suiting up in 47 games this year, scoring 11 points overall.
  • Now over a week since the Minnesota Wild signed forward Marat Khusnutdinov to an entry-level contract, it appears the organization has found some clarity on when he will eventually make his debut with the club. Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that Khusnutdinov’s visa issues have been worked out with the United States, and he will join the team for practice on Saturday.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have shared that Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba will both sit out of the team’s Thursday night game for trade-related reasons. Both players have been focal pieces of Arizona’s assets this Deadline, with the team now acknowledging their chances of moving. They are both in their first season with the Coyotes, with Zucker scoring nine goals and 25 points in 51 games and Dumba totaling 10 points in 58 games. The two were previously teammates with the Minnesota Wild from 2013 to 2020, before Zucker joined the Pittsburgh Penguins for four seasons.

Waivers: 3/5/24

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March 7: Johansen, Lockwood and Moverare cleared waivers today, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. Anderson-Dolan was claimed off waivers by the Predators.

March 6: As trade deadline season is in full swing, so too is the NHL’s waiver wire. Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff lists four players finding themselves on the wire today. Furthermore, Seravalli also notes that all players placed on waivers yesterday have cleared. The list for today is as follows:

Los Angeles Kings
F Jaret Anderson-Dolan
D Jacob Moverare

Florida Panthers
F William Lockwood

Philadelphia Flyers
F Ryan Johansen

For Los Angeles, the team will free up a bit of cap space leading up to the trade deadline on Friday. Both Anderson-Dolan and Moverare have been used as depth players for much of the season, and shouldn’t alter the continuity of the lineup moving forward in their absence.

After trading for Vladimir Tarasenko this morning, Lockwood’s roster spot fell victim to the chopping block. Whether or not Lockwood clears by tomorrow afternoon, the Panthers will now roll with 14 forwards on their active roster.

Lastly, this waiver placement will mark Johansen’s name in the second transaction today, as he was recently traded to the Flyers from the Colorado Avalanche in the Sean Walker trade a few moments ago. With 50% of his salary still being paid by the Nashville Predators, Johansen and his $4MM salary will be available to rest of the league for the next 24 hours.

Golden Knights Acquire Noah Hanifin From Flames

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9:23 p.m.: The Vegas Golden Knights have announced the full trade package – sending a 2025 first-round pick, a conditional 2025 third-round pick, and defenseman Daniil Miromanov to the Flames. The first-round pick carries top-10 protection, while the third-round pick will upgrade to a 2024 second-round pick if Vegas advances to the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Vegas also sent a 2024 fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers to broker the deal. Calgary retained 25 percent of Hanifin’s $4.95MM cap hit, while Philadelphia retained 50 percent, meaning he’ll only count towards $1.2375MM of Vegas’ salary cap. Philadelphia sent the rights to 27-year-old centerman Mikhail Vorobyov to Vegas to facilitate the salary retention.

Vorobyov played in 35 NHL games across the 2018-19 and 2019-20 season, scoring two goals and five points. He’s spent each of the last four seasons in Russia’s KHL, including the last three with routine heavyweight SKA St. Petersburg. Vorobyov has 112 points across 194 KHL games since the 2020-21 season.

5:28 p.m.: Even after acquiring Anthony Mantha from the Washington Capitals yesterday, the Vegas Golden Knights were not done adding to their current roster. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed that the Golden Knights would be acquiring defenseman Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that defenseman Daniil Miromanov is heading from Vegas to Calgary as part of the return.

Not only will Vegas be adding a top defenseman to their already loaded defensive core, but Darren Dreger of TSN reports the two sides are working on a contract extension as well, although Friedman did pour some cold water on that scenario later. Since Hanifin will be a member of the Golden Knights before the trade deadline, he is eligible to sign an eight-year deal in Vegas.

With Alec Martinez being placed on the team’s injured reserve earlier this morning, Vegas had an opening next to top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. Factoring in the recent activation of Shea Theodore, the Golden Knights have once again put together a top defensive core leading into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

As the defending Stanley Cup champions, Vegas will likely represent Hanifin’s best opportunity to win Lord Stanley’s trophy for the first time in his career. There are some personal ties as well for Hanifin in Nevada, as he did play with star center Jack Eichel a decade ago on the United States National Junior Development Team.

Suppose the Flames are willing to retain 50% of Hanifin’s salary. In that case, a deal became feasible, as Vegas was only $500k from being able to absorb Hanifin’s full salary for the rest of the season. Still holding on to their first-round pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, and a moderate prospect pool to deal from, the makings of a deal came to fruition rather quickly between the two teams.

Anaheim Ducks Recall Pavol Regenda, Glenn Gawdin

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After trading away Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick to the Edmonton Oilers earlier today, the Anaheim Ducks had two roster spots up front that needed to be filled. To solve the problem, the team has recalled Pavol Regenda and Glenn Gawdin from their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.

With both Regenda and Gawdin serving as offensive depth options for the organization, neither has played in an NHL game yet this season. Lining up in a contest against the Ottawa Senators tonight, both will likely make their season debut.

Signed out of Slovakia last year, Regenda has been more than solid at the AHL level. Factoring in a 13-goal, 29-point performance in 38 games for the Gulls this season, Regenda has scored 29 goals and 54 points in 88 total games over his short minor-league career. Even though he is already 24 years old, Regenda has every opportunity to be a main piece in Anaheim’s middle-six next year.

As more of a veteran presence, Gawdin is very similar to Regenda as far as production. With limited experience at the NHL level playing for the Ducks and the Calgary Flames, Gawdin has been much more productive in the AHL. With over 300 games played over the last six seasons, Gawdin has scored 80 goals and 221 points in total, making him one of the more consistent offensive threats in the minors.

Avalanche Notes: Foudy, Pavel, Nichushkin, O’Connor

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A few hours ago, the Colorado Avalanche made a pair of trades, sending Ryan Johansen to the Philadelphia Flyers as a part of a trade to land Sean Walker in the Mile High City, as well as sending Bowen Byram to the Buffalo Sabres for Casey Mittelstadt. In doing so, with both Walker and Mittelstadt unavailable to the team tonight, two roster spots opened up in the active lineup before the team’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.

To solve the issue, the Avalanche have recalled forwards Jean-Luc Foudy and Ondrej Pavel from their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. Both players should feature in the team’s bottom six, with Foudy taking over as the center of the third line, and Pavel joining Chris Wagner and Andrew Cogliano on the team’s fourth line.

Both players have primarily played on the Eagles this season, with Pavel registering one game with the Avalanche back in November. At the AHL level, Pavel has suited up in 48 games for the Eagles, scoring three goals and seven points in total. Foudy, however, has had his season severely limited by injury, only registering 12 games in the AHL, scoring two goals and six points up to this point.

Other notes:

  • Making his way back from the NHLPA Player Assistance Program, the Avalanche are hoping that forward Valeri Nichushkin will be able to make his way back to the lineup on Friday against the Minnesota Wild (X Link). Although not playing since early January, Nichushkin is still sitting fourth on the team in scoring, putting up 22 goals and 42 points in his first 40 games this year.
  • Another player who will not be in the lineup for Colorado tonight will be forward Logan O’Connor, who is out with a lower-body injury according to Ryan Boulding of the NHL. Previously missing time in mid-February with a similar injury, O’Connor has still put together a quality season for the Avalanche. Suiting up in 57 games for Colorado this season, O’Connor has scored 13 goals and 25 points overall, with three of those goals coming on the penalty kill.

Pacific Notes: Canucks, Emberson, Bordeleau, Barabanov

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Pittsburgh Penguins beat writer, Josh Yohe, is reporting that although several teams remain in the mix for forward Jake Guentzel, the Vancouver Canucks have been far and away the most aggressive team. This reaffirms multiple reports over the last several days listing the Canucks as one of the top suitors for Guentzel’s services.

Yesterday there was a report from TSN’s Chris Johnston, which indicated that Vancouver was working on a potential trade that would land them Guentzel as well as shipping Elias Lindholm to the Boston Bruins. With just over 48 hours left until the trade deadline, a trade of this magnitude may have too many moving parts to be completed, but would be a fascinating shift from Vancouver after acquiring Lindholm just over a month ago.

In his own right, Guentzel does make a lot of sense for a team like the Canucks, with many of the team’s top players having minimal playoff experience throughout their careers. Playing for the Penguins over his entire career, Guentzel has been a standout playoff performer, scoring 34 goals and 58 points in 58 postseason games as well as a Stanley Cup ring in 2017.

Other Pacific notes:

    • In an announcement coming from the organization, the San Jose Sharks have placed defenseman Ty Emberson on injured reserve, and have recalled forward Thomas Bordeleau in a corresponding roster move. This will mark Emberson’s third stint on the IR this season, losing time in December and January as well. However, when healthy, he has been a solid performer in San Jose this season, scoring one goal and 10 points in 30 games played, coupled with a 91.7% save percentage in all situations as well. Bordeleau, on the other hand, has only appeared in six games for the Sharks this season, scoring one goal and one assist while averaging just over 13 minutes of ice time per night.
    • Sticking with the Sharks, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that extension talks have broken down between the team and forward Alexander Barabanov, and they are actively shopping the veteran to a Stanley Cup contender. Experiencing something of a down season due to injuries earlier in the year, Barabanov has only been able to muster 10 points in 38 games for the Sharks this season. However, Barabanov is only one year removed from a 15-goal, 47-point performance, which may entice some contenders as a secondary-scoring option down the stretch.

New York Rangers Acquire Alexander Wennberg

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3:11 pm: The Rangers have made the trade official, announcing that Wennberg will be headed east to New York.

2:18 pm: With a flurry of trade activity today, the New York Rangers have decided to enter into the madness. Emily Kaplan of ESPN is reporting that the Rangers are working on a deal with the Seattle Kraken that would land Alexander Wennberg in the Big Apple.

TSN’s Pierre Lebrun is reporting that the deal is done, indicating that the Kraken will be receiving the Rangers 2024 second-round pick, as well as New York’s fourth-round pick in 2025. Seattle will also be retaining 50% of Wennberg’s remaining salary, bringing his AAV down to $2.25MM with the Rangers.

Ever since the Rangers lost center Filip Chytil back in November due to a concussion, the team has been looking to fill the void for nearly the entire season. The organization has tried both Nick Bonino and Jonny Brodzinski in this role but had their eye on a bona fide forward to add down the middle.

Not as much of an offensive threat as he was during his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the addition of Wennberg should help in multiple areas of the Rangers lineup. Initially, he is readily available to center the team’s third line, and will also be able to serve on the team’s penalty kill unit as well.

Coming over to Seattle as an unrestricted free agent in the 2021-22 offseason, Wennberg is in the last year of a three-year, $13.5MM contract. Throughout his tenure in Seattle, Wennberg has played in a total of 142 games for the expansion franchise over the last three years, scoring 22 goals and 63 points in the process.

Although Wennberg doesn’t have the amount of success in the dot teams might be expecting out of their bottom-six centers, his possession metrics show that he brings solid defensive awareness to the table. Wennberg will also be able to help a New York penalty kill unit that is already top five in the league, recording an 83.15% success rate being a man down.

The General Manager of the Kraken, Ron Francis, is using a similar deadline strategy as he used two years ago, as he went on to acquire 10 total draft selections leading up to the deadline in 2022. In this deal, Seattle will now have five total selections in the first three rounds of the 2024 NHL Draft, and 17 total selections over the next two years.

Avalanche, Sabres To Swap Casey Mittelstadt, Bowen Byram

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Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to correctly reflect that Byram was the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft.

The Avalanche are making their second high-impact deal of the day, acquiring center Casey Mittelstadt from the Sabres in exchange for defenseman Bowen Byram, per a team release. With the two trades made today, Colorado has increased their salary cap space to $4.9MM leading up to the deadline.

This trade will mark the third attempt by the Avalanche to fill in the second-center void left by Nazem Kadri two years ago. With Alex Newhook and Ryan Johansen not working out in the role, Colorado is taking a swing on Mittelstadt amidst his breakout campaign in Buffalo.

Largely inconsistent during his first four years with the Sabres, Mittelstadt has become a formidable offensive threat over his last two campaigns. In 144 games for the Sabres since the start of the 2022-23 season, Mittlestadt has recorded 29 goals and 106 points, as well as leading all Buffalo players in scoring this year.

He will leave much to be desired in the faceoff dot as well as defensive play in his end, but the Avalanche carry enough defensively-minded forwards to shore up Mittelstadt’s shortcomings. Nevertheless, as they already sit atop the league in GF/G, the introduction of Mittelstadt, coupled with the eventual return of Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog, will create a nearly unstoppable offense for Colorado come playoff time.

The elephant in the room, when it comes to Mittelstadt, is his looming restricted free agency this summer. With Mittelstadt playing himself into a hefty raise upon his current $2.5MM salary, it will be difficult for the Avalanche to keep him in the fold for the long-term future of the organization. Heading into the offseason, Colorado will only have around $10MM available in cap space with plenty of depth pieces headed for unrestricted free agency.

In Byram, the Sabres will acquire the former fourth-overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft, joining Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power on Buffalo’s blue line of former top-five selections. Still only 22 years old, Byram is in his fourth professional season, already having a Stanley Cup victory under his belt.

Limited by concussion issues in the past, Byram has put together back-to-back respectable seasons in Colorado, with a slight downtick in his production this season. Over the last two years, Byram has managed to suit up in 97 games for the Avalanche, scoring 18 goals and 44 points while averaging 20:44 of ice time per night.

Unfortunately, throughout his tenure in Colorado, Byram had to play second fiddle to the defensive pair of Cale Makar and Devon Toews and may be finding himself in a similar situation in Buffalo. With the top defensive unit of Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson set in stone, the Sabres have at the very least found a viable alternative to put next to Power on the team’s second defensive pairing.

If Byram’s development process continues on an upward trajectory, there is every indication that Buffalo could deploy one of the league’s most formidable defensive cores. With Dahlin, Samuelsson, and Power all signed to long-term contracts, the Sabres still have another year after this season to lock Byram up to a similar contract.

ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was the first to report the trade.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic was first to report that the trade was one for one.

Edmonton Oilers Acquire Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick

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2:31 pm: The Ducks have made the trade official per a team announcement.

12:23 pm: The Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks are working on a trade that will send both Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick to Alberta. With the full trade details before either team has confirmed, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period is reporting that Anaheim will acquire a 2024 first-round selection as well as a conditional 2025 fifth-round selection that can be upgraded to a fourth-round pick if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup.

Although the Ducks are already retaining 50% of Henrique’s salary in the deal, the Tampa Bay Lightning were also brought in to retain 25% of the salary as well, earning a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick from the Oilers in the process. Aside from Henrique and Carrick, Edmonton will also be acquiring Tampa Bay’s 2024 seventh-round selection and goaltender Ty Taylor, who is currently rostered on the Evansville Thunderbolts of the SPHL.

Further reporting has indicated that Anaheim will be retaining 50% of Carrick’s contract as well, bringing his total salary with Edmonton down to $425K for the remainder of the season. Because the Ducks retained money on both players, they no longer have any retention spots available for any remaining trades they may make leading up to the deadline.

With Henrique now in the mix, Edmonton will have the opportunity to get creative in their top six. Understandably, they will likely keep their first line together heading into the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs but now can move either Evander Kane or Mattias Janmark around the lineup to create a more balanced offensive approach.

Speaking of balance, that is exactly what Henrique brings to the table for the Oilers as one of the more consistent two-way forwards in the NHL. Formidable offensively, Henrique has scored 18 goals and 42 points in 60 games for the Ducks this season but also boasts a 52.9% faceoff win rate.

Aside from helping out both offensively and defensively at even strength, Henrique should also be able to improve the Oilers’ pedestrian penalty-kill percentage this year. Centering Anaheim’s top penalty kill unit for much of his tenure in California, Henrique should be able to slide next to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the team’s top penalty kill unit or be the focal point of the team’s second unit.

Carrick, on the other hand, gives the Oilers an upgrade to a portion of the offensive unit they have been craving for much of the season. Experimenting with Connor Brown and Adam Erne on the team’s fourth line, Carrick gives Edmonton a more bona fide player to utilize in that role.

In 61 games for Anaheim this season, Carrick has scored eight goals and 11 points in total as well as throwing 137 hits against his opponents. Carrick has mostly played down the middle for the Ducks this season but does give the Oilers some flexibility to move Dylan Holloway to the wing on the bottom line.

With the inclusion of a first-round pick going to Anaheim in this deal, General Manager Pat Verbeek has added yet another top selection for the 2024 NHL Draft, with the Ducks now having seven total selections in the first three rounds of this upcoming summer’s draft. With 11 picks in total for 2024, the Ducks will now have added 20 new players to the organization via the draft in the last two years alone.

In Tampa Bay, even by retaining a total of $1.45MM of Henrique’s salary, they will still have plenty of cap maneuverability to make a big splash come deadline day. Essentially purchasing a later-round pick from the Oilers, the Lightning could use this extra draft selection as a sweetener of their own in a few days.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports images. 

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun was the first to report trade talks heating up between Edmonton and Anaheim. 

The Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was the first to report the trade had been completed. 

TSN’s Chris Johnston was the first to report that draft picks would be headed to Anaheim. 

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