Red Wings Briefly Talked Extension With Bertuzzi Before Trading Him
- Prior to moving him to Boston, the Red Wings touched base with Tyler Bertuzzi’s camp about a contract extension, GM Steve Yzerman told reporters including Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now. However, those discussions didn’t go anywhere and with Detroit not wanting to run the risk of losing him in unrestricted free agency this summer, they turned around and dealt him, picking up a first-round pick in return.
Trade Deadline Roundup: Eastern Conference
While trade deadline day was largely a dud in itself, that was because so many moves were made in the days leading up to March 3rd. With that in mind, here is a recap of the trades made in the Eastern Conference in the ten days leading up to deadline day to show who all moved where in what was a busy trade period overall. Players and picks that were acquired and then flipped are only noted for their final destination.
Boston Bruins
Acquired: F Shane Bowers, F Tyler Bertuzzi, F Garnet Hathaway, D Dmitry Orlov, F Andrei Svetlakov
Traded: G Keith Kinkaid, F Craig Smith, 2023 first-round pick, 2023 fifth-round pick, 2024 first-round pick, 2024 third-round pick, 2025 second-round pick, 2025 fourth-round pick
Buffalo Sabres
Acquired: F Jordan Greenway, D Riley Stillman, D Austin Strand, 2023 third-round pick (LA), 2025 seventh-round pick (NSH)
Traded: F Rasmus Asplund, F Josh Bloom, F Anders Bjork, G Erik Portillo, D Chase Priskie, 2023 second-round pick (VGK), 2024 fifth-round pick
Carolina Hurricanes
Acquired: D Shayne Gostisbehere, F Jesse Puljujarvi
Traded: F Patrik Puistola, 2026 third-round pick
Columbus Blue Jackets
Acquired: G Jon Gillies, G Michael Hutchinson, 2023 first-round pick (LA), 2023 fifth-round pick (BOS), 2024 third-round pick (LA), 2025 seventh-round pick (VGK)
Traded: D Vladislav Gavrikov, G Joonas Korpisalo, F Gustav Nyquist, Jakub Voracek, 2023 sixth-round pick
Detroit Red Wings
Acquired: F Dylan McLaughlin, 2023 first-round pick (NYI), 2023 second-round pick (VAN), 2023 fourth-round pick (MIN), 2024 first-round pick (BOS), 2025 fourth-round pick (BOS), 2025 seventh-round pick (STL)
Traded: F Tyler Bertuzzi, D Filip Hronek, F Oskar Sundqvist, F Jakub Vrana
Florida Panthers
No trades made
Montreal Canadiens
Acquired: D Frederic Allard, F Denis Gurianov, D Tony Sund, 2024 fifth-round pick (SJ)
Traded: F Evgenii Dadonov, D Arvid Henrikson, F Nate Schnarr
New Jersey Devils
Acquired: G Zacharie Emond, F Timur Ibragimov, F Curtis Lazar, F Timo Meier, D Santeri Hatakka, 2024 fifth-round pick (COL)
Traded: F Andreas Johnsson, D Shakir Mukhamadullin, D Nikita Okhotyuk, F Fabian Zetterlund, 2023 first-round pick, 2024 second-round pick, 2024 fourth-round pick, 2024 seventh-round pick
New York Islanders
Acquired: F Pierre Engvall
Traded: 2024 third-round pick
New York Rangers
Acquired: F Anton Blidh, D Wyatt Kalynuk, F Patrick Kane, F William Lockwood, D Cooper Zech, 2026 seventh-round pick (VAN)
Traded: F Vitali Kravtsov, F Austin Rueschhoff, F Gustav Rydahl, D Andy Welinski, 2023 second-round pick, 2025 third-round pick, 2025 fourth-round pick
Ottawa Senators
Acquired: F Patrick Brown, D Jakob Chychrun
Traded: D Nikita Zaitsev, 2023 first-round pick, 2023 second-round pick, 2023 sixth-round pick, 2024 second-round pick, 2026 second-round pick, 2026 fourth-round pick
Philadelphia Flyers
Acquired: F Brendan Lemieux, 2023 sixth-round pick (OTT), 2024 fourth-round pick (LA)
Traded: F Patrick Brown, F Zack MacEwen, F Isaac Ratcliffe
Pittsburgh Penguins
Acquired: F Nick Bonino, F Peter DiLiberatore, F Mikael Granlund, D Dmitry Kulikov, 2024 third-round pick (VGK)
Traded: F Teddy Blueger, F Brock McGinn, 2023 second-round pick, 2023 seventh-round pick, 2024 third-round pick, 2024 fifth-round pick
Tampa Bay Lightning
Acquired: F Michael Eyssimont, F Tanner Jeannot
Traded: D Cal Foote, F Vladislav Namestnikov, 2023 third-round pick, 2023 fourth-round pick, 2023 fifth-round pick, 2024 second-round pick, 2025 first-round pick
Toronto Maple Leafs
Acquired: D Erik Gustafsson, F Sam Lafferty, D Jake McCabe, D Luke Schenn, F Radim Zohorna, 2023 first-round pick (BOS), 2024 third-round pick (NYI), 2024 fifth-round pick (CHI), 2025 fifth-round pick (CHI)
Traded: F Joey Anderson, F Pierre Engvall, F Pavel Gogolev, F Dryden Hunt, D Rasmus Sandin, 2023 third-round pick, 2025 first-round pick, 2026 second-round pick
Washington Capitals
Acquired: D Rasmus Sandin, F Craig Smith, 2024 third-round pick (BOS), 2024 third-round pick (MIN), 2025 second-round pick (BOS), 2025 second-round pick (COL)
Traded: F Lars Eller, D Erik Gustafsson, F Garnet Hathaway, F Marcus Johansson, D Dmitry Orlov
Detroit Red Wings Sign Alex Chiasson
The Detroit Red Wings may not have landed James van Riemsdyk, but they did add a forward today. Alex Chiasson has signed a one-year, one-way, prorated $750K contract for the rest of this season. Chiasson had been playing with the Grand Rapids Griffins on an AHL contract.
Since he wasn’t on waivers today, it appears as though Chiasson is staying with Detroit for the time being. The 32-year-old forward has been a solid contributor for the Griffins, with 20 points in 29 games, and has a long history of providing depth scoring at the NHL level. In a 631-game career, the 6’4″ forward has 224 points, including 13 goals just last season for the Vancouver Canucks.
While he won’t be dragging the Red Wings to the playoffs, the team needed some forwards to fill the spots vacated by Tyler Bertuzzi, Jakub Vrana, and Oskar Sundqvist over the last few days. Chiasson is a reliable veteran who has put in his time in the minor leagues and can now get some extra pay down the stretch. He’ll also get a chance to showcase himself for a deal next season.
At just 32, this was the first time Chiasson had played in the AHL since 2013. If he can play well for the Red Wings whenever he gets the chance, perhaps another NHL contract is still waiting for him in the summer.
Detroit, Philadelphia Hit Roadblock In James Van Riemsdyk Trade
The biggest name left on trade deadline day might have been James van Riemsdyk, and there was a race between several teams for his services. That race appeared to be over as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that the Detroit Red Wings would land the Philadelphia Flyers forward, pending a physical and trade call.
Darren Dreger of TSN noted that the trade required the Red Wings to move another player first, and now the agreement has seemingly collapsed. Friedman tweets that “something happened,” and the deal has been pulled back. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that no van Riemsdyk trade is coming today.
It is a pretty significant opportunity missed for the Flyers, who will now hold onto the veteran forward through the end of the season. In the final season of a five-year, $35MM contract, the 33-year-old will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. While some of the other teams involved in trade discussions might not have been offering what the Flyers wanted, they’re now stuck with nothing to show for van Riemsdyk’s expiring contract.
For a club struggling to stay competitive, missing out on even a late-round pick at this point in the year will sting. The outcome, though, might have more to do with van Riemsdyk’s declining effectiveness more than anything. The big winger has just nine goals and 23 points on the season, the worst per-game scoring rate of his career. After more than a decade of being one of the league’s premiere net-front players, perhaps his time in the league is dwindling.
Detroit Red Wings Expected To Sign John Lethemon
The Detroit Red Wings have signed goaltender John Lethemon to a contract for the rest of this season worth $750k with a $65k minors salary, according to PuckPedia.
The 26-year-old has spent most of this season with the Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Walleye, and by signing him to this standard player contract the Red Wings have ensured his eligibility to play in the playoffs, giving them some added depth in case the team makes the postseason and runs into some injury trouble.
Notably, this deal will give the Red Wings the ability to make Lethemon a restricted free agent at the end of the year, meaning they could keep him from hitting the open market.
Lethemon has had a strong season for the Walleye, splitting the crease with 2021 15th-overall pick Sebastian Cossa. Playing in the shadow of the Red Wings’ presumptive goalie of the future, Lethemon has actually outperformed Cossa this season, albeit in a smaller sample of games.
In 24 contests Lethemon has posted an extremely impressive 16-1-3 record, 2.08 goals-against-average, and .927 save percentage. Lethemon is a former Michigan State Spartan who starred with a .935 save percentage in his final season playing college hockey.
Not only does this contract signing provide an added layer of emergency depth for the Red Wings in net, it’s also a nice reward for Lethemon’s quality performances this year. With Magnus Hellberg, Alex Nedeljkovic, and Victor Brattstrom all on expiring contracts, the situation in net could clear up for Lethemon to even parlay this year’s impressive performance into a chance to become an AHL netminder.
One would presume that the Red Wings would like to have Cossa get some AHL games under his belt next season, so they could even choose to retain Lethemon on another similar contract for next season and simply move Toledo’s tandem up a level.
One other factor worth noting with this signing, should the Red Wings have interest in keeping Lethemon beyond this season, is any impact it could have on the team signing Colgate University netminder Carter Gylander before the end of next season, when their exclusive rights to sign him will expire according to CapFriendly.
The Red Wings will also have 2020 fourth-rounder Jan Bednar to potentially sign to an entry-level deal, so their continued investment in Lethemon and the presence of Cossa could mean Gylander is squeezed out of a future in Detroit.
Gylander has taken a step forward this season for the Raiders, posting a .916 save percentage and 2.37 goals-against-average as essentially the exclusive starting netminder on the team, a performance that could draw the interest of some pro clubs intrigued by his progress and six-foot-four frame.
St. Louis Blues Acquire Jakub Vrana
The first official trade of deadline day has come across the wire. As made official by the team this morning, the St. Louis Blues have acquired forward Jakub Vrana from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for forward Dylan McLaughlin and a 2025 seventh-round pick. Per Chris Johnston on TSN’s TradeCentre program, the Red Wings retain 50% of Vrana’s $5.25MM cap hit.
Of note, McLaughlin won’t actually be leaving the Blues organization. After announcing the trade, the Red Wings immediately loaned McLaughlin back to the Blues AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Vrana’s acquisition continues a newfound trend of reclamation projects in St. Louis as the team enters a new era without Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko. He’s had an incredibly difficult 2022-23, entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program just a few weeks into the season. After more than a two-month absence, he was waived and sent to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins to extend his stay in the minors after a conditioning stint. He posted six goals and 11 points in 17 games there and didn’t record a point in three outings after his recent recall to Detroit.
It’s a season that’s made many forget Vrana scored 20-plus goals in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020, and had 13 goals in just 26 games in 2021-22. The 27-year-old may be on a steep cap hit with a concerning injury history, but he has obvious scoring potential if he can string some games together with an increased role in St. Louis.
While the return for Detroit is minimal, especially after parting with Anthony Mantha to acquire him, the trade provides the Red Wings with some salary cap benefits. Elite Prospects’ Sean Shapiro reports that the Red Wings and Vrana were likely headed for a buyout had he not been traded, leaving Detroit with a shorter cap penalty in a retained salary transaction. It’s a good solution for both sides, with a 2025 seventh-round pick just a hair above “future considerations” in terms of value.
Snapshots: Stanley, Red Wings, Panthers
Entangled in all of the trade deadline chaos, Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest reports that Winnipeg Jets’ defenseman Logan Stanley has requested a trade from the team. Strickland also notes that Winnipeg is not guaranteed to move on from the young defenseman.
Drafted in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft, Stanley hasn’t entirely found his footing in Winnipeg. Last year, Stanley played relatively well throughout the season, racking up a modest 13 points in 58 games played. Also, as he is a defenseman that plays to his size, the 6’7″ defenseman managed to accrue 131 hits and 100 blocks over the course of last year. With a couple of trips to the injured reserve this season, Stanley desires a fresh start outside of Winnipeg. Because of his youth and contract status with the team, it is possible that Winnipeg could retain Stanley and try to repair a relationship that has soured for at least one side. If the relationship can’t be repaired, the playoff-hopeful Jets could send him to another team in an individual trade, or look to include Stanley in a larger deal.
Other notes:
- The Detroit Red Wings announced today that Jordan Oesterle has been activated off of injured reserve, while forward Michael Rasmussen has been placed on the IR. Rasmussen appeared to have a lower-body injury after taking a shot off the knee in Detroit’s Saturday night game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now in his 4th season in the NHL, Rasmussen never seemed to live up to his ninth overall draft selection. Topping out at 27 points in 80 games last year, Rasmussen has played far better this year under new head coach Derek Lalonde. Playing in only 56 games so far this season, Rasmussen has produced a new career high of 29 points. After the trade of Tyler Bertuzzi earlier this morning, the Red Wings will now be without another valuable forward in the lineup.
- Florida Panthers announce that forward Grigori Denisenko has been loaned back to the Panthers’ AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers. A frequent call-up of the Panthers this season, Denisenko has appeared in 18 games, scoring a total of three points. Denisenko will now join the third-place Checkers as he helps the team push for the playoffs in the AHL
Boston Bruins Acquire Tyler Bertuzzi
The Boston Bruins aren’t done yet. After landing Garnet Hathaway, Shane Bowers, and Dmitry Orlov last week, they’re now set to add even more punch to their group. The Bruins have acquired Tyler Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings.
In return, they will send their 2024 first-round pick and a 2025 fourth-round pick. Detroit retains 50% of Bertuzzi’s remaining salary, and the first-round selection is top-10 protected.
It’s not like the Bruins need any more help, as they can become the fastest team in NHL history to 100 points with a win (or overtime/shootout loss) against the Buffalo Sabres tonight. The 47-8-5 Bruins are the class of the NHL already, and will only get better with the addition of the pending free agent forward.
Bertuzzi, 28, has only played in 29 games this season but is coming off a 30-goal campaign and is exactly the kind of in-your-face player that Boston has coveted for years.
Given the Bruins have recently lost some forwards to injury—Taylor Hall is seeking a second opinion on his lower-body issue, according to Darren Dreger of TSN—Bertuzzi could immediately get elevated into a significant role in the Boston lineup.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the last contract negotiations between the Red Wings and Bertuzzi were in December, with no progress on a possible extension. With recent losses turning the Red Wings into sellers, this was one of the biggest chips that general manager Steve Yzerman had available.
Landing another first-round pick means the Red Wings now have four over the next two drafts, to go along with three second-round selections this year. Whether they actually use those for prospects remains to be seen, as this week’s extension of Dylan Larkin signals the team is ready to start competing for the playoffs.
If Bertuzzi wasn’t going to re-sign, though, the Red Wings did well to land a significant asset during a down year. Limited by injury, he has just four goals on the season. Retaining half of his $4.75MM contract makes it worth it for the Bruins, as they load up for a Stanley Cup run with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci on bargain-basement contracts.
In fact, nearly the entire Bruins forward group is on expiring deals. Bergeron, Krejci, Hathaway, David Pastrnak, Nick Foligno, and Tomas Nosek are scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer. If the unthinkable were to happen, and Pastrnak takes his talents elsewhere (or Bergeron decides to retire), going all-in on this deadline makes perfect sense.
With more than 24 hours left before the deadline, the Eastern Conference (and the Atlantic Division in particular) continues its arms race.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet broke news of the trade on Twitter.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Vancouver Canucks Acquire Filip Hronek
The Vancouver Canucks, not content with building through the draft, have already traded the conditional first-round pick they received from the New York Islanders in exchange for captain Bo Horvat. The Canucks have sent it, along with a 2023 second-round pick, to the Detroit Red Wings for defenseman Filip Hronek and a 2023 fourth-round selection.
Hronek, 25, has developed into quite a strong all-around defenseman for the Red Wings and will set a career-high in scoring whenever he records his next point this season. That may have to wait a little while, as he left last night’s game after just eight minutes of action and is dealing with an upper-body injury.
The Canucks aren’t getting him for right now, though, as their season is already over. Instead, the focus of a pickup like this will be on next year when the Vancouver management believes the team can be competitive. Hronek is signed through next season on his current three-year, $13.2MM contract, and will be a restricted free agent at its expiry next summer.
It’s that contract price tag that makes this trade a little bit confusing from the Canucks perspective. Hronek is probably still providing some surplus value on his $4.4MM cap hit, but Vancouver will probably only get one year of that before another raise (he is owed a $5.28MM qualifying offer) is due. With the way the team’s cap situation looks at the moment, it’s hard to see how that will fit in, given the big sums already owed to Quinn Hughes and Oliver Ekman-Larsson through 2026-27.
Make no mistake, Hronek’s arrival in Vancouver will make them a better team. He instantly becomes their second-best defenseman, and could form a legitimate top pair with Hughes for the next several years. But Canucks fans are going to be screaming from the rooftops, at a management group that refuses to pull the plug and rebuild.
For Detroit, dealing Hronek brings up more questions than answers, as general manager Steve Yzerman tries to get the club to the playoffs as soon as possible. Are the Red Wings now looking at acquiring someone like Jakob Chychrun? Will they use their stash of draft picks on an even bigger name?
After signing Dylan Larkin to a massive extension today, the team signaled to fans that the rebuild is over. With five picks in the first two rounds of this year’s draft, and plenty of cap space, they could be preparing to make a big splash in the next few days, or this summer.
Detroit Red Wings Extend Dylan Larkin
The Detroit Red Wings have been relatively quiet so far in the trade deadline whirlwind, instead choosing to focus on some of their internal negotiations with pending free agents. They recently signed Jake Walman to an extension and have now signed captain Dylan Larkin to a new deal.
The eight-year, $69.6MM contract will keep him in Detroit through the 2030-31 season, and represents a raise to $8.7MM per season. The deal does not include any signing bonuses, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. PuckPedia has the full breakdown:
- 2023-24: $10.0MM + NTC
- 2024-25: $11.0MM + NTC
- 2025-26: $10.0MM + NTC
- 2026-27: $8.0MM + NTC
- 2027-28: $8.0MM + NTC
- 2028-29: $8.0MM + 10-team approved trade list
- 2029-30: $7.5MM + 10-team approved trade list
- 2030-31: $7.1MM + 10-team approved trade list
Larkin, 26, would have entered the open market this summer as one of the youngest and most desirable free agents available. Even at his relatively young age, he has already played in eight full seasons at the NHL level and is in the midst of another season close to a point-per-game. He’ll be near 600 games played before he even turns 27, and is the kind of player that a good team could add to put them over the top.
The question that Red Wings fans will ask is: can you win the Stanley Cup with Larkin as your first-line center?
With a price tag now putting him in the upper echelon of NHL skaters, there will be a ton of pressure on Larkin to live up to those standards and lead the Red Wings back to contention. The Michigan native has spent his whole career with the organization since being selected 15th overall in 2014, and as captain will be looked to as the cause of success or failure.
Back-to-back losses to the Ottawa Senators have made it extremely difficult to reach the playoffs this season, and could potentially turn the Red Wings into deadline sellers. Larkin was held scoreless in both games without registering a shot in last night’s 6-1 thrashing.
But there is also a good argument for spending the money to keep their captain in place. The Red Wings have oodles of young talent that will enter their prime in the next few years, giving Larkin the best supporting cast of his career. Even if he fails to take the step to superstardom, he still represents an excellent player that would be difficult to replace. Make no mistake—teams would be lined up to talk to him in free agency if he reached it.
Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman has set up the books so that the Red Wings can afford to pay a little bit extra to retain Larkin, with only a handful of other players signed to multi-year contracts. With the salary cap going up and still years before he turns 30, this deal may actually look like a bargain down the line.