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John Klingberg Returns To Practice

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Pittsburgh Penguins defensive prospect Chase Pietila has signed an ATO with their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (as per Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports). Pietila is fresh off signing a three-year ELC with Pittsburgh earlier this week and will finish out the year getting his first taste of professional hockey in the AHL.

The Penguins drafted Pietila in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The 21-year-old spent this past year in the NCAA with Michigan Tech where he registered seven goals and 15 assists in 36 games. Pietila spent two years in the NCAA after spending the previous three seasons in the USHL.

In other morning notes:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights have assigned forward Jonas Rondbjerg to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL (as per SinBin.vegas). Rondbjerg was recalled earlier in the week and dressed in the Golden Knights’ loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday night but played just 6:02 and was held scoreless. The demotion is no surprise given that Vegas just welcomed back Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev to their lineup. The 25-year-old Rondbjerg has no points in 12 NHL games this season and has averaged just 9:21 of ice time per game.
  • Edmonton Oilers defenseman John Klingberg didn’t play in last night’s game against the New Jersey Devils as he continues to deal with an undisclosed injury. The 32-year-old hasn’t played since March 4th after signing a one-year deal with the Oilers in mid-January. Klingberg has produced offense when healthy, posting a goal and three assists in 10 games. The Oilers are back in action tonight against the New York Islanders and given the tight timeline it seems unlikely that he will play. However, he did re-join the Oilers yesterday at practice and has been travelling with the team (as per Sportsnet).

Latest On The Mikko Rantanen Trade Saga

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It is a very rare feat that a player is traded in the middle of a 100-point season. One has to look as far back as Joe Thornton’s blockbuster move from the Boston Bruins to the San Jose Sharks in 2005, or Teemu Selanne’s move from the Winnipeg Jets to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 1995. It is near unprecedented that a 100-point scorer gets moved twice in the same year. But that’s exactly what transpired at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, after top winger Mikko Rantanen – pacing for 107 points before his first move – was dealt first to the Carolina Hurricanes and then to the Dallas Stars.

Both trades were groundbreaking. The first moved Rantanen away from the Colorado Avalanche after a decade with the organization; and the second marked the absolute peak of hurt feelings, poor fits, and extension negotiations. With the rare moves has come plenty of media attention, painstakingly scrutinizing the pair of deals from every angle. That has teased out plenty about the motivations and frustrations that drove Rantanen’s cross-country journeys.

The saga began when negotiations on a new contract extension between the Avalanche and Rantanen fell flat. The winger wanted a premium payment after posting career-years in each of the last two seasons – 105 points in 2022-23 and 104 points last year. But Colorado didn’t want to exceed their internal cap limit, and capped their offer to Rantanen at an eight-year, $93.2MM extension – or $11.65MM in per-season salary. But the Finnish wing wasn’t willing to dip that low. Rantanen conceded to take less than Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl, who earned $14MM on his own extension – but wouldn’t settle for too much lower than Avalanche co-star Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6MM salary.

Ultimately, it seems the Avalanche and Rantanen were roughly $1MM apart on a new deal. Rather than trying to continue sparring – or risk bending their internal cap – Colorado opted to flip their superstar without much second thought. Rantanen shared he was shocked by the sudden move, which moved him to the Hurricanes alongside Taylor Hall in exchange for Martin Necas, Jack Drury, a second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick. At the time, Rantanen told Corey Masisak of The Denver Post, “I was ready to take a significant discount for my market value. We had some chats, like a couple days before. Then they traded me. That’s what happened. That’s why I didn’t expect what happened.”

Apparently, Rantanen’s frustrations over the trade boiled into his first days in Carolina. To make matters worse, he left for the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament just over a week after playing in his first Hurricanes game – uprooting him as he tried to adjust to the new setting. With so much swirling around the move, it seemed Rantanen wasn’t ever going to be comfortable in Carolina. Canes head coach Rod Brind’Amour told Sportsnet that Rantanen laid it out flat from day one, telling him “There’s four teams I’ll go play for, but [Carolina] is not one of them.” Those are harsh words for an incoming addition – and made it clear that Rantanen had no indication of re-signing in his new destination. That held true even as Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky began his own negotiations, reportedly offering Rantanen as much as $12.6MM and showing the flexibility to go up to Draisaitl’s $14MM mark if need be.

With that, it was back to the open market for Rantanen. He had four landing spots top of mind but the Hurricanes received rich interest from across the league. The New Jersey Devils were the first team attached to the second market, and were quickly joined by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, Florida Panthers, and Dallas Stars.

Negotiations stalled out at different points with each team, but were said to go well down towards completion with Toronto, Edmonton, and Dallas. The Leafs are said to have offered a compelling package of top prospects Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan, and draft capital for the 100-point scorer – but Carolina countered with a package involving Toronto’s own star winger Mitch Marner. Marner was unwilling to waive his full no-movement clause for the move – ultimately caving talks in.

With one Canadian club dissatisfied, Carolina moved on to talks with the Edmonton Oilers – who were able to better match Rantanen’s desires for an extension, but couldn’t put together a return strong enough to sway the Hurricanes brass. That’s certainly no surprise. Edmonton has just one pick in the top two rounds of the 2025 or 2026 drafts – a second in the latter year. Their prospect pool is also relatively scant, headlined by Matthew Savoie with little depth behind him.

Where one bed is too soft – banked on future assets and inter-conference matchups – and the other is too hard – stuffed with filler to make up for lacking future pieces – Carolina was able to finally land on a perfect middle-ground in Dallas. The Stars are quickly turning into a wagon, with star veterans Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn continuing to perform (when healthy) while youngsters like Wyatt Johnston and Thomas Harley plant their feet at the top of the lineup. With that momentum, and a clear path to the postseason, Dallas was able to shed some layers to land a big fish. They offered Carolina high-upside youngster Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third-round picks in exchange for Rantanen – an offer far more impactful in the short and long term than Toronto or Edmonton mustered up.

But the move to Dallas wasn’t immediately fruitful. The Stars formed the framework of the trade, but needed to land an extension with Rantanen before things could go through. Dallas wasn’t nearly as liberal with their wallets as some of Rantanen’s other options, and held firm to the $12MM-per-year mark on a new deal. That number came in $500K less than what Carolina had offered Rantanen, which initially put the winger off and seemed to push the deal towards falling flat. But diligent negotiating, and surely a desire to end this saga, ultimately forced Rantanen to cave. He signed an eight-year, $96MM extension with Dallas on the day of the Trade Deadline – finally (finally) landing him in a place where he could plant his feet.

On the organizational level, it seems everyone emerged from the jungle happy. Colorado landed a major contributor in Necas, who already has 17 points in 16 games as MacKinnon’s new right-winger. Carolina may have lost that point-per-game scoring, but they reeled back in one of the league’s top 23-year-olds, and the draft capital to be satisfied even if he doesn’t pan out. And Dallas added a 100-point scorer to an organization that’s only had one – 2022-23 Jason Robertson – since 1990.

But the deal gets murky as you dig deeper. After beginning the saga with a surprising move to Carolina, Rantanen now finds himself standing directly opposite of his old battery-mate MacKinnon. Colorado and Dallas have fought for majority control of the Central Division for years, intermittently upended by the Winnipeg Jets or Minnesota Wild. It’s not exactly a two-horse race, but Dallas’ success hinges on their ability to beat Colorado in the regular and post seasons – and vice versa. The two sides have already faced off twice this season, splitting the results. They have one more meeting – on Sunday, March 16th – which will give Rantanen a chance to test out facing his former club before they likely reconvene in the playoffs. While all of Rantanen’s matches with the Stars will be closely watched – it will be those meetings against Colorado that many find the most telling, after a trade saga that dragged through months of confusion and rumors.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Oilers Showed Interest In Mikko Rantanen, Ryan Donato, Rickard Rakell

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It was a quiet but impactful Trade Deadline for the Edmonton Oilers. They brought in top-four defenseman Jake Walman and bottom-six bruiser Trent Frederic to bolster an offense that already ranked eighth in total goals this season. But as the dust begins to settle, it seems Edmonton came close to a far more exciting deadline season, and even had a chance at Carolina Hurricanes asset Mikko Rantanen. Edmonton was reportedly close to agreeing on extension terms with Rantanen, but ultimately couldn’t build a trade package that enticed Carolina enough to land the deal, shares TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. In the end, Rantanen was moved to the Dallas Stars in exchange for top young forward Logan Stankoven, two first-round draft picks, and two third-round picks.

It’s hard to imagine Edmonton could put together an offer better than that. Edmonton only has one pick – a 2026 second – in the top-two rounds of 2025 and 2026. They also don’t have nearly the young talent that Dallas had to offer. Vasily Podkolzin is almost certainly their closest comparable – one year older and as NHL engrained as Stankoven – and he’d be hard to move after a nice stylistic fit in Edmonton has led him to 21 points in 61 games this year. The Oilers could have offered top prospect Matthew Savoie, who ranks third on the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors in scoring with 40 points in 47 games. But neither asset quite stands up to Stankoven’s pedigree, and it’s likely their lacking draft capital was the ultimate dividing line.

Rishaug adds that Edmonton also tested the waters on acquiring top winger Rickard Rakell from the Pittsburgh Penguins, and red-hot centerman Ryan Donato from the Chicago Blackhawks. Rakell has been a standout, top-line option for the Penguins this season – boasting 29 goals and 53 points in 64 games this season. That scoring – and his standing as one of a few bright spots in Pittsburgh’s season – certainly hiked up his price at the deadline. Especially in the midst of an inflated market, it’s again hard to imagine Edmonton’s empty draft cabinet could have pried Rakell away. Donato would have likely cost much less – though he is having a career year with 23 goals and 48 points in 62 games – but his center role would have buried him down Edmonton’s lineup. In the end, they landed their third-line boost in a deal with the Bruins – and get the boost of adding a hard-nosed enforcer to protect superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the postseason.

For as quiet as it ended up, it seems Oilers general manager Stan Bowman made sure to busy up his deadline. The Oilers have six players headed for unrestricted free agency, and two headed for restricted free agency, which should clear up roughly $14.71MM in cap space this summer per PuckPedia. That could be just enough space to get Bowman back on the phones as the NHL Draft and start of free agency role around. The Oilers added plenty of new faces last summer, signing each of Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, and Corey Perry to short-term deals.

Edmonton Oilers Reassign Cam Dineen

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  • According to a team announcement, the Edmonton Oilers have returned defenseman Cam Dineen to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, from his emergency recall. Unlike many of the roster moves on today’s list, Dineen has a solid chance of playing the remainder of the year with AHL Bakersfield. The 26-year-old defenseman has scored five goals and 29 points in 45 games for the Condors this season while only registering one game with the Oilers.

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Canadiens Unlikely To Move Both Joel Armia, David Savard

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The Canadiens are receiving high interest in pending UFAs Joel Armia and David Savard. With a playoff spot still in reach, though, they’re not likely to sell both players off before this afternoon’s deadline, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic writes.

That’s disappointing news for parties like the Jets, who David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports have a desire to acquire both. The Capitals and Oilers have also made inquiries on Armia, while the Maple Leafs have talked about picking up Savard from their chief rival to complement their blue line.

Montreal is just one point out of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve played one more game than the Senators, who currently hold the spot. There are currently five teams within two points of each other in wild card contention, too, yielding playoff odds of only 14.8% for the Habs, per MoneyPuck. That’s the lowest of the teams in that bubble.

Armia, in particular, has been a significant driver of Montreal’s unexpected success this season. The 31-year-old winger has re-emerged as a bottom-six fixture after a tumultuous 2023-24 season, which saw him clear waivers and log his first minor-league action since the 2015-16 campaign. Since being added back to Montreal’s roster after his brief AHL stint to begin last year, the 6’3″ Finn has posted 27-22–49 in 127 games for a 17-goal, 32-point pace per 82 games. He’s done so while averaging about 15 minutes per game, serving on the Habs’ top penalty kill unit with the recently-extended Jake Evans. He’s also got a plus-three rating on a team with a cumulative -33 goal differential at 5v5 over the last two years.

He’s in the final year of a four-year, $13.6MM deal he signed with Montreal following his strong showing in their run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final. Carrying a $3.4MM cap hit, interested parties may want some salary retention for a player who will factor into a third- or fourth-line role for them. Montreal has one retention slot left and is willing to use it this deadline for the right price, according to Pagnotta.

Savard has been less of an impact piece. His ice time has been slashed in what’s now his age-34 season, averaging under 18 minutes per game for the first time in a decade. The right-shot defender has 1-11–12 in 55 games this year, but grades out as Montreal’s worst possession player at even strength with a 41.7 CF% and 40.4 xGF%. He’s a highly low-event player. Montreal only allows 2.8 goals per 60 minutes with Savard on the ice at even strength, fourth on the team among players with at least 20 games. However, he’s becoming a significant enough liability offensively to cause concern. Montreal only generates 50.2 shot attempts per 60 with Savard on the ice at even strength, according to Natural Stat Trick, the worst number on the team aside from Patrik Laine’s 50.1.

Oilers Acquire Jake Walman From Sharks

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3/7: The Edmonton Oilers have confirmed the acquisition of Walman, documenting the return as a conditional 2026 or 2027 first-round pick and minor-leaguer Carl Berglund. Berglund has 12 points in 45 AHL games this season.

3/6: According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers are working on a trade that would send defenseman Jake Walman north to Alberta. Pagnotta later shared that the trade is nearly complete, and there are rumblings that a first-round pick is headed to San Jose. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug added that Edmonton is expected to send a prospect back to the Sharks as a part of the deal, and the pick will have conditions on it.

The deal may take some time to finalize. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported that the Oilers have some roster constraints, meaning the trade may not be completed until later tonight or early tomorrow morning.

In another master class move with one of his assets, general manager Mike Grier continues to collect future assets for the Sharks. Remaining one of the more baffling moves of the summer, San Jose acquired Walman and a 2024 second-round pick from the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations last off-season. He’s now added two picks in the top 64 at no cost.

Walman has thrived in his new environment, too. He leads all San Jose defensemen in scoring with six goals and 32 points in 50 games, averaging 23:11 of ice time per night. He hasn’t been a drain on their possession metrics either, as Walman has maintained a 49.4% CorsiFor% at even strength, which is good for fourth on the team.

To put this season into perspective, Walman is only seven points away from matching his total point production with the Red Wings. Granted, he’s averaged nearly four minutes more a night, but it’s still a noteworthy development for the Toronto native.

He should fit seamlessly into the Oilers’ lineup. Although Edmonton could have used a right-handed defenseman, Walman isn’t a stranger to playing his off-side. He’ll join Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, and Darnell Nurse in the Oilers’ top four, giving them flexibility to build their bottom pairing with Brett Kulak, John Klingberg, Ty Emberson, and Troy Stecher.

Unfortunately, Walman doesn’t have much postseason experience. Despite the 2024-25 campaign being his seventh year in the NHL, Walman has one postseason contest to his name, coming back in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs with the St. Louis Blues. Walman can rely on his teammates for that, given that much of the roster made it to Game Seven of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final less than a year ago.

The last major benefit to Edmonton is that Walman is signed to an affordable $3.4MM salary through next season. The team still has to figure out a new contract for Bouchard, but Walman gives them more clarity on their blue line, at the very least.

Ducks Likely To Retain John Gibson Amid Weak Trade Market

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The Hurricanes and Oilers remain engaged in trade talks with the Ducks regarding netminder John Gibson, but Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports that neither team has put forth a particularly appealing offer. With no other buyers looking for goaltending help, it’s looking likely that another season of trade rumors regarding the Anaheim goalie won’t result in any movement, LeBrun writes.

While Carolina’s dwindling interest in Gibson makes sense given veteran Frederik Andersen’s return to form following knee surgery, Edmonton’s lukewarm interest is puzzling – especially considering LeBrun’s comment that the Oilers “don’t appear to see Gibson as a true upgrade.” While that may have been the case in years past, it’s an objectively incorrect take given Gibson’s 2024-25 performance versus what the Oilers have to offer.

For the first time since before the pandemic, Gibson should be in line for some fringe Vezina trophy consideration. Behind a Ducks defense that allows 32.2 shots against per game, the most in the league, he’s posted a .909 SV% and 2.82 GAA with a 9-10-2 record in 26 appearances. While the 31-year-old has still been outplayed and lost the starter’s crease to up-and-comer Lukáš Dostál, he’s done well enough in his own right to re-solidify himself as a top-15 netminder in the league, at least this season. On top of posting his best raw numbers since the 2018-19 campaign, Gibson’s saved 14.1 goals above expected to tie him for 10th in the league with Mackenzie Blackwood and Adin Hill, per MoneyPuck.

That’s a significant upgrade over what Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have put up behind an Oilers squad that still ranks among the 10 best shot-suppressing teams in the league despite their recent struggles. After getting Edmonton to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last year, Skinner has just a .897 SV% and 2.87 GAA with a 20-15-4 record in 40 showings – down considerably from his .909 SV% over the prior two years. The veteran Pickard hasn’t fared any better as a No. 2 option, logging a .896 SV% and 2.76 GAA in 24 appearances, albeit with a 15-7-0 record that translates to a better points percentage than Skinner. The pair have combined to allow 10.4 goals above expected this year, including 3.8 from Skinner and 6.6 from Pickard.

That said, this is Gibson’s best showing in quite some time. As a rental, maybe Edmonton pays up – but in addition to not valuing him as a legitimate playing upgrade over Skinner, they’re not willing to take the risk attached to the remainder of his contract, a $6.4MM cap hit through 2026-27. That’s impossible for the Oilers to accommodate anyway without significant retention, as they enter the deadline with $4.475MM in space, per PuckPedia.

Oilers Recall Max Jones And Cam Dineen On Emergency Basis

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The Oilers have added some extra depth to their roster in advance of Thursday’s game against Montreal.  The team announced that they’ve recalled winger Max Jones and defenseman Cam Dineen from AHL Bakersfield on an emergency basis.

Jones was acquired earlier this week from Boston as part of the trade that also saw them land Trent Frederic.  He signed a two-year, $2MM contract with the Bruins early in free agency last summer but didn’t spend much time with them.  Instead, he played in just seven games with Boston before passing through waivers unclaimed.

Since then, the 27-year-old had been playing in the minors with Providence before the recent swap.  In his first taste of extended action in the AHL since the 2018-19 campaign, Jones has 13 goals and eight assists through 38 outings.  If he plays for Edmonton on recall, he’s likely to be in the fourth-line role he has largely held throughout his career, one that spans 265 NHL games over parts of seven seasons.

As for Dineen, this is his second recall of the week on an emergency basis with the first being a one-day promotion.  The 26-year-old has spent the season with the Condors where he has 29 points in 45 games, six shy of his career high set back in 2022-23.  His last taste of NHL action came in 2021-22 when he got into 34 games with Arizona.

To make room on the roster, Frederic was moved to injured reserve.  Edmonton now has the maximum of 23 players on its active roster although that maximum will only be in place until Friday.

Edmonton Oilers Reassign Matthew Savoie

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Matthew Savoie’s first opportunity with the Edmonton Oilers will be short-lived. The Oilers announced they’ve reassigned Savoie to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.

The former ninth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft was the key player Edmonton acquired in the trade that sent Ryan McLeod to the Buffalo Sabres last summer. Savoie was coming off a sensational final season in the WHL, scoring 30 goals and 71 points in 34 games split between the Moose Jaw Warriors and Wenatchee Wild. His playoff performance was arguably better, as he scored 10 goals and 24 points in 19 games for the Warriors, helping lead the team to a WHL championship and a berth in the 2024 Memorial Cup tournament. 

Savoie also began his professional career last year. He showed promise in a brief stretch with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, scoring two goals and five points in six games. Those happened to be his only appearances in the Sabres organization.

The St. Alberta, Alberta native began the 2024-25 campaign with AHL Bakersfield. His transition to professional hockey couldn’t have gone better. Savoie is third on the Condors in scoring with 13 goals and 37 points in 45 games with a +16 rating. He won’t challenge the lead for rookie scoring, but it’s as good as the Oilers could have hoped for from their new prospect. Savoie registered one assist and a -4 rating in his four-game stint with Edmonton.

Oilers Acquire Trent Frederic

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The Oilers are acquiring forward Trent Frederic from the Bruins in a trade that will also involve the Devils as a third team, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Winger Max Jones is also headed from Boston to Edmonton in the deal, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports. The Devils announced they’ve acquired the rights to left-wing prospect Shane Lachance from the Oilers and will retain half of Frederic’s salary in the trade after the Bruins’ initial 50% retention, bringing his cap hit for Edmonton down to $575K from $2.3MM. New Jersey also dealt the signing rights to right-winger Petr Hauser to the Oilers to complete their involvement. Edmonton announced the full trade, which reads as follows:

Oilers receive: Frederic, Jones, signing rights to Hauser
Devils receive: Signing rights to Lachance
Bruins receive: D Maximus Wanner, the Blues’ 2025 second-round pick, and the Oilers’ 2026 fourth-round pick.

Frederic is currently week-to-week with a lower-body injury, and Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports there’s a possibility he won’t be cleared to play until the playoffs. In that case, the Oilers could place Frederic at his reduced cap hit on long-term injured reserve to open up additional spending flexibility for further moves ahead of Friday’s deadline.

Boston selected Frederic 29th overall in the 2016 draft, ahead of higher-ceiling forwards Alex DeBrincat and Jordan Kyrou who both went in the second round. After a brief but successful two-year collegiate stint at Wisconsin, the versatile depth piece took a couple of years to simmer in the minors, only emerging as a roster regular for the Bruins in the 2020-21 campaign.

Frederic spent a pair of seasons as a fourth-line fixture without much offensive pop, but the physical 6’3″ forward popped big time in Boston’s historic 65-win season in 2022-23. Skating primarily on the wing, he recorded 17-14–31 in 79 games despite averaging under 12 minutes per night, also finishing second among Bruins forwards with 105 hits.

In addition to spending more time down the middle, Frederic amped up his production last season. The Missouri native recorded a career-high 18-22–40 scoring line in 82 games, adding 204 hits while seeing a slight bump in his special teams deployment. But despite skating a career-high 13:55 per game in 2024-25, he hasn’t been able to keep up his scoring. Snakebit like the majority of his Boston teammates, Frederic has just 8-7–15 in 57 games with a career-worst -14 rating. His shooting percentage has regressed to 10.5% after hovering north of the 14% mark the prior two years.

While the drop in point totals is concerning, he’s established his floor as a high-end fourth-line piece with middle-six upside and will likely see an uptick in production depending on how he’s deployed amid a far more talented offensive group in Edmonton. His struggles this season, his expiring contract, and Boston’s slide down the standings made it almost a guarantee he’d be moved at the deadline. The 27-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time this summer after finishing out the year with the Oilers.

Frederic has posted similar offensive numbers to the Oilers’ current pair of third-line wingers in Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark, so it’s unclear if he’ll unseat either for a top-nine role. While faceoffs aren’t his strong suit (a career average of 44.4%), his experience playing down the middle also addresses an immediate need for an Edmonton squad without a legitimate fourth-line center. He could slot in there once he’s ready to return, relieving natural wingers like Kasperi Kapanen who have had to step into the role lately.

They also pick up Jones, who amounts to a failed offseason pickup for Boston. He managed only seven appearances for the Bs after signing a two-year, $2MM deal last offseason, going without a point and averaging 10:01 per game. Selected a few spots ahead of Frederic by the Ducks in the 2016 draft, Jones will remain on his minor-league assignment after clearing waivers in November but now reports to the Oilers’ affiliate in Bakersfield. His $1MM cap hit is completely buriable in the minors and thus carries no cap impact for Edmonton. Before the move, he posted 13-8–21 with a plus-one rating in 38 games for the P-Bruins.

Rounding out Edmonton’s haul in the deal is Hauser, who New Jersey selected in the fifth round in 2022. The 21-year-old is amid a tumultuous campaign in his native Czechia, playing for three different squads across the top-level and second-tier professional leagues. He has 1-10–11 in 63 Czech Extraliga games dating back to his top-level debut in the 2022-23 season. While he has great size at 6’4″ and 207 lbs, he wasn’t considered a meaningful prospect in the Devils organization by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic in his January ranking. He’s a low-ceiling, low-floor option whose signing rights will expire in June 2026.

The Oilers give up a decently intriguing prospect in Lachance for the Devils’ additional salary retention. The son of ex-NHLer and Devils head scout Scott Lachance was the No. 6 prospect in an already-thin Edmonton system, per Wheeler. The 6’5″ winger has suited up for Boston University the past two seasons after Edmonton selected him in the sixth round in 2021, posting 23-29–52 in 72 games while also serving as captain this season. New Jersey will hold his signing rights until the Aug. 15 following his final collegiate season.

In what’s been a strong rental market, Boston landing what’s slated to be a mid-tier second-round pick is some decent work by general manager Don Sweeney. Edmonton previously acquired the second-rounder from St. Louis as compensation for signing defenseman Philip Broberg to an offer sheet last August. The Bruins didn’t have a second-rounder in this year’s draft before the trade – they traded theirs to the Capitals in the 2023 Dmitry Orlov three-team deal.

Wanner was also one of the Oilers’ more notable prospects, checking in at No. 10 in Wheeler’s rankings. The 6’3″ righty isn’t a legitimate needle-mover for a Bruins pool that lacks high-end talent, though. Now 21, he was a seventh-round pick in the 2021 draft and projects as a likely No. 7/8 option on an NHL depth chart at his peak. He’s been limited to just two points in 22 games with Bakersfield this year after posting 7-10–17 in 68 games with a +13 rating in his first pro season last year. He’ll now report to Providence.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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