Blackhawks Acquire Derrick Pouliot
Speaking on Daily Faceoff Live, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that the Chicago Blackhawks are acquiring defenseman Derrick Pouliot from the New York Rangers. Pouliot has spent the entire 2025-26 campaign with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. Scott Power of The Athletic reported that forward Aidan Thompson will head to New York.
Pouliot is nearly exclusively an AHL talent at this point in his career. Since the 2019-20 season, Pouliot has tallied six assists in 26 NHL contests, averaging 14:45 of ice time split between the St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks, and Dallas Stars.
Still, he’s been a stable top-four presence in the AHL throughout that stretch. Since joining the Stars organization ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, Pouliot has registered 18 goals and 127 points in 186 games.
Despite being a rebuilding club for the last several years, the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs don’t have that kind of stability on the blue line. Prospect Kevin Korchinski is the team’s leading scorer among defensemen with two goals and 23 points in 45 games. Pouliot will immediately become the team’s offensive leader on the blue line, despite playing in seven more games than Korchinski.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that Pouliot will enjoy a trip through the Calder Cup playoffs with the IceHogs. The team is on the outside looking in with a 19-31-2-2 record. They’re currently ranked sixth in the AHL’s Central Division. They would have to find their way into the top five of the division to qualify for the postseason.
Meanwhile, shortly before the trade was made official, the Blackhawks recalled Thompson from the AHL, so he’ll presumably join the Rangers’ NHL roster. He is in his first full professional season, scoring six goals and 15 points in 40 games.
Still, he’s not that far removed from being a standout forward for the University of Denver. From 2022 to 2025, Thompson scored 42 goals and 117 points in 120 games for the Pioneers. He was drafted with the 90th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, making this a quality return for the Rangers.
Sabres Acquire Sam Carrick From Rangers
March 6: The Sabres have officially announced the deal.
March 5: The Sabres are set to acquire center Sam Carrick from the Rangers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. New York receives Buffalo’s third-round pick and Chicago’s sixth-round pick in this year’s draft in return, Friedman added later. Carrick was held out of tonight’s win over the Maple Leafs for asset protection.
Carrick, 34, is just past the midway point of the three-year, $3MM contract he landed in Manhattan as a free agent in 2024. At a cap hit of $1MM, he’s been a legitimately impactful fourth-line pivot for the Rangers for the past year-plus. In 140 games for the Blueshirts, he netted 10 goals and 30 points while averaging 11:17 of ice time per game. He went 54.1% in the faceoff circle and put up exceptional possession numbers for his role as a defensive specialist at 5-on-5.
That last part has been especially true this season. He’s actually managed a cumulative +3 rating despite starting over 75% of his shifts in the defensive zone since arriving in New York, and the Rangers’ most-used fourth-line combo this season of Carrick, Adam Edstrom, and Matt Rempe has controlled 55.6% of expected goals.
While Buffalo’s main goal at the deadline is to add right-shot depth at defense, acquiring a #4 center behind their strong one-two-three punch of Tage Thompson, Ryan McLeod, and Joshua Norris was likely the second checkbox on GM Jarmo Kekäläinen‘s list. They haven’t had a stable option down the middle on the fourth line all year, frequently alternating between Joshua Dunne and Tyson Kozak. Combined, they have 106 games of NHL experience compared to Carrick’s 380.
Longevity aside, Carrick is a legitimate upgrade on both sides of the puck. Dunne has just four points for his career in 46 games, while Kozak has four points in 39 games this year. Dunne hasn’t cracked 100 draws on the year, while Kozak has won a respectable but upgradeable 49.1%. Kozak, in particular, has also posted worse possession impacts than Carrick in comparable defensive/offensive zone splits at 5-on-5.
Carrick also gives the Sabres a plug-and-play option at the position through next season while being a cost-effective 13th forward if he does fall out of the regular rotation. That latter consideration is important for a team that finds itself in unfamiliar territory close to the upper limit, needing to use virtually all their available space for next season to get new deals done for Alex Tuch and Zach Benson.
Rangers’ Sam Carrick Generating Interest
Ahead of tonight’s game against Toronto, Mollie Walker, beat writer for the team, reported that the New York Rangers were not playing Sam Carrick for roster management reasons. The 34-year-old would not be alone, as Vincent Trocheck received the same designation. It appears that after 140 games as a Blueshirt, Carrick will be moving on to his fifth organization.
A veteran who is clearly not in New York’s plans for the future, Carrick holds a $1MM cap hit which runs through next season. It may be a slightly more ideal scenario if he was instead a rental, but there’s been enough demand for bottom six centers that GM Chris Drury should be able to recoup some value for Carrick.
The Ontario native was a late bloomer, emerging as a full time NHLer at age 29 with the Anaheim Ducks. After a short stop in Edmonton, he caught on with the Rangers, inking his contract as a free agent. Carrick has just 10 playoff games of experience, coming as an Oiler in 2023-24, but he brings the two-way attributes and toughness that any contender would value.
Carrick has 380 games under his belt, with 10 points in 60 contests this season as a Ranger. He’s been trusted under head coach Mike Sullivan, having yet to miss a game for any reason, only now sitting with a trade in mind. Carrick has 53 penalty minutes, capable of dropping the mitts, and has a strong 53.9% face-off win rate.
The Vegas Golden Knights gave up a 2029 second rounder, along with other assets, for Nic Dowd, a center one year older than Carrick at 3x the contract, with same term. The Minnesota Wild forked over a 2028 second rounder for Michael McCarron. Both middlemen have more perceived value than Carrick, but it seems possible Drury could fetch as much as a third-round pick for his offering.
Especially with Vegas and Minnesota out of the mix, most buyers have 4C taken care of. On paper, Colorado or Tampa Bay could benefit from an addition, or Anaheim could seek a reunion with the veteran, their fourth line thin and not overly experienced.
Whatever the case, Carrick’s name will be one to watch as the Rangers move ahead in their new direction.
Red Wings Pursuing Robert Thomas, Vincent Trocheck
Insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet published this evening’s Trade Deadline Thoughts, where he noted that the Detroit Red Wings are in the mix on the market’s top two centers: Robert Thomas of St. Louis and the Rangers’ Vincent Trocheck.
Thomas, 26, is the bigger fish and likely the #1 overall player available before tomorrow’s 3 p.m. ET deadline. If GM Steve Yzerman would be able to pull it off, the 26-year-old could be the final piece to the puzzle up front after years of building. The center, an 80+ point getter over the last two seasons, is locked up through 2030-31 at a $8.125MM cap hit, reasonable considering that it will take him through the prime of his career.
Detroit has missed the playoffs for nine straight years, and patience was wearing thin. Making it 10 was simply not an option, and sure enough, the team is well on their way to end the drought. Even just making it is half the battle, but if the Wings could win more than one round, it would be the first time since 2009, when they came just short of back-to-back Stanley Cups.
A center such as Thomas or Trocheck could make Detroit a real dark horse contender. Current 2C Andrew Copp has played well this season, already reaching his second best point total as a Red Wing in 62 games, but he’d be better off as a third line middleman. Cheaper options exist, such as Nashville’s Erik Haula, but looking at their lineup it’s really all or nothing in terms of what could actually push the Wings over the top.
Suffice to say, there’s a reason for Yzerman to be aggressive. Years of patience have assembled a nucleus of young talent which few teams can rival in trade offers. For Thomas, it has been reported that the Blues are seeking multiple first-round picks or equivalent pieces, as Buffalo and Utah have made a push. As for Detroit, it’s not clear who may be in discussion, but St. Louis would have a variety of assets to choose from.
Standout NCAA goaltending prospect Trey Augustine could especially appeal to the Blues as they could move on from Jordan Binnington. Also, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Carter Bear are both wingers selected in the first round over the last two years. They’d allow Yzerman to march on without touching his current group.
On the other hand, Nate Danielson and Marco Kasper would be assets appealing to St. Louis, or maybe even New York as they could jump right into the lineup. Both top 10 selections, their NHL production has hit a bit of a snag, possibly enough that Yzerman could move on.
If St. Louis was to add defense to their Thomas trade wish list, youngsters Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Albert Johansson emerge, although both are current contributors to the Wings lineup, which is already thin in depth. Especially if Yzerman were to part with the uber-talented Sandin-Pellikka, it may require a bigger deal where someone like Justin Faulk also came along.
Detroit stands out as a suitor as even after all seven of those players listed, there are still several other noteworthy candidates, not to mention their draft capital. Yzerman holds all of the team’s selections besides one second rounder in 2027.
The Red Wings have all the pieces to put together a blockbuster, and it may simply come down to the Aurora, Ontario native’s preferences, as he holds a no trade clause.
Even if Thomas is not meant to be, Trocheck would still be a tremendous fit in Detroit. The 32-year-old already had ties to the area, playing in the Little Caesars program as a youth, and his OHL Hockey in Saginaw. He has already been linked to Detroit for such reasons. Older, and signed through 2028-29 at a reasonable $5.625MM, he would naturally bring less in return than Thomas. However, there’s still plenty to offer that would have the Rangers salivating as they move forward on their youth movement.
New York fans can likely forget about the Wings’ absolute top assets, but a first rounder in either of the next two seasons along with some serious second tier options would be adequate. Rangers GM Chris Drury is not forced to move Trocheck now, as he could hold off until the summer, but the Blueshirts completing their lost season with all three 32-year-old centers still in the fold doesn’t seem favorable.
Whether it could be Thomas in a blockbuster, or Trocheck in what would still be one of the bigger deals of the deadline, time will tell. Yzerman will remain disciplined against high demands. Yet there’s enough reason from Detroit to swing a trade for Thomas or Trocheck, and pushing for more than simply returning to the playoffs this spring.
Image Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images (Thomas)
Image Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images (Trocheck)
Wild Losing Interest In Vincent Trocheck
General Manager Bill Guerin is no stranger to bold moves, and that has continued into deadline season. Throughout the past few weeks, the Minnesota Wild have been heavily linked to New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck, but that interest appears to be waning.
A few days ago, Trocheck himself shared that he would prefer to stay in the Eastern Conference, but there was no indication on whether he would block a trade to Minnesota. It turns out, the Wild are pulling away from Trocheck for different reasons entirely. According to Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic, Minnesota simply isn’t comfortable meeting the Rangers’ asking price.
There isn’t much detailed information available about what exactly the Rangers are requesting. Still, after effectively trading four first-round picks for Quinn Hughes earlier this year, the Wild may not have the assets to acquire another top player.
Rangers Place J.T. Miller On Injured Reserve, Announce Several Roster Moves
New York Rangers captain J.T. Miller is headed to injured reserve with an upper body injury, reported earlier today by Peter Baugh of The Athletic. In a series of corresponding transactions, the team announced that Jaroslav Chmelar and Juuso Pärssinen have been recalled from AHL Hartford. Meanwhile, Brendan Brisson and Scott Morrow are headed back down.
Miller played just shy of 20 minutes last night, so it’s not immediately clear what happened, however ESPN’s Emily Kaplan confirmed that it’s not related to the upper body issue which sidelined him from late December into early January. However long Miller may be out, it’s just another in the latest of several injuries throughout what has become a forgettable year for the Blueshirts.
Becoming a polarizing figure in New York, Miller has held his own this year when healthy. He’s ranked third in team scoring with 38 points in 51 games, behind the club’s other two 32-year-old centers in Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck. Miller’s -24 is a glaring indicator of the team’s struggles this year, but despite the career worst mark by a wide margin, he still holds a respectable 51.6% corsi for at five on five, his best since 2022-23.
Meanwhile, a pair of forwards are set to come up and audition as the Rangers’ season winds down. Chmelar, 22, made his NHL debut back in November, playing in six total games before going back to the AHL where he’s been since mid December. The Czech has not yet recorded a point, but he’s looking like a solid find in the fifth round of the 2021 draft. Standing at 6’4″, Chmelar offers bottom six upside, showing progress in his second full professional season, with 25 points in 46 games for the Wolfpack.
Also, Pärssinen returns having not played with the big club since November. The 25-year-old was a seventh round selection of Nashville, emerging as a potential steal. Since then, he’s bounced around, ending up with New York where he has six points in 11 AHL contests, and three in 14 at the NHL level in 2025-26. Pärssinen is signed through next season, but he’ll be eager to earn more ice time, averaging just 8:56 under coach Mike Sullivan this year, a career low.
Losing two top forwards, Hartford’s lineup is supplemented with Brisson. A former first rounder of Vegas, he came to New York just shy of one year ago in the Reilly Smith deal. With 23 points in 46 games for the Wolfpack, the 24-year-old’s production has stalled out in the past few years. In recent days, he made his Ranger debut, recording one assist in three contests. Brisson is a restricted free agent at season’s end.
Finally, Morrow, the team’s top defensive prospect, is a player fans would like to see at this point without anything to lose. However, New York is being patient with the 23-year-old who has six helpers in 29 games on the year on 15:40 a night. Morrow will join the 20th-ranked Wolfpack as a top blue liner, and it’s likely he will get some more action in New York before the season comes to an end.
Back in action Thursday as they host Toronto, the hope is that Miller won’t need to miss much time. Yet as they sit 30th in the league, the Rangers can get some younger players into the lineup as they look to the future, not exactly desperate for wins.
Image Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Kings’ Quinton Byfield Sustains Upper-Body Injury
The Los Angeles Kings were without yet another top forward in Monday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. Quinton Byfield sat out of the match with an upper-body injury per a team release. It was Byfield’s second absence of the season. The Kings awarded rookies Jared Wright and Kenny Connors with their NHL debuts in relief of the injured Byfield and Andrei Kuzmenko.
It is not clear what the source of Byfield’s injury was. Either way, his absence left the Kings scrambling to fill yet another top-six role, after losing Kevin Fiala to a season-ending injury during the 2026 Winter Olympics. Byfield has made his presence felt in the return from break, with three points in three games since Los Angeles took back to the ice. He has averaged 20 minutes of ice time throughout the season and earned 13 goals, 33 points, and a minus-five in 58 games.
Byfield is scoring at a 47-point pace this season, a step below the pace that led him to 55 and 54 points over the last two seasons respectively. He has stayed a central piece of the Kings’ offense despite that, averaging more ice time than any Kings forward and taking the second-most faceoffs on the team. Byfield’s impact away from the scoresheet has helped the Kings make up for a down year from franchise legend Anze Kopitar, who has only 24 points in 45 games.
Should Byfield need to miss extended time with this absence, the Kings will need to heap even more responsibility onto recent, superstar addition Artemi Panarin. The former New York Rangers scoring leader has notched three assists in his first four games with the Kings. He looked like a dangerous addition to Byfield’s wing but will now serve next to Kopitar, while Alex Turcotte and Connors earn bumps into the middle-six. Neither Connors nor Wright earned a point in their first NHL game but both could have another crack at scoring with injuries piling up in Los Angeles.
Latest On Vincent Trocheck
Heading into Friday’s trade deadline, there is growing confidence that Vincent Trocheck will be traded from the New York Rangers. However, if you’re a fan of a Western Conference team, don’t expect Trocheck to be joining your club.
According to Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic, Trocheck confirmed that he prefers to stay in the Eastern Conference. Mercogliano quoted Trocheck, saying, “It’s no secret. (West teams) are on my no-trade list.”
Trocheck’s comments indicate that every team on his 12-team no-trade clause is in the Western Conference. That theoretically leaves the possibility for four Western Conference teams to pursue Trocheck, as well as the entire Eastern Conference. Given that he’s also committed to winning, that could leave the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild as potential options, as they’re both in the Central Time Zone.
Any team interested in Trocheck will know exactly what they’re getting. He’s been remarkably consistent and healthy throughout his career, particularly during his tenure with the Rangers. Since signing a seven-year, $39.83MM ($5.63MM AAV) contract with New York in 2022, Trocheck has scored 85 goals and 238 points in 291 games, averaging 20:40 of ice time. Additionally, even though his cap hit will remain $5.63MM through the 2028-29 season, Trocheck will only have $14.5MM ($4.83MM/yr) remaining on the last three years of his contract.
There is nothing in Trocheck’s game that has suffered a steep fall off since entering his 30s. He remains physical, a quality performer in the faceoff dot, and defensively sound. For any playoff-bound team, there are few options better than Trocheck built for the postseason.
The two notable Eastern Conference teams that have been heavily linked to Trocheck are the Carolina Hurricanes and the Detroit Red Wings. Trocheck should be comfortable with either club, given that both are competitive this season and he has ties to both. He played two and a half years with the Hurricanes before ultimately signing as a free agent with the Rangers.
Additionally, despite being born in Pittsburgh, Trocheck spent his amateur hockey days with the Detroit-based Little Caesars hockey program before joining the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit. Furthermore, Trocheck’s wife, Hillary, grew up in the Saginaw, MI area.
Snapshots: Schneider, Gibson, Lajoie
New York Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider is one of the top trade assets the Rangers have at their disposal in advance of the deadline next week. According to The Athletic’s Vincent Z. Mercogliano, “Schneider being traded feels like a 50-50 proposition,” and Rangers GM Chris Drury is reportedly “content” to retain Schneider if no team is willing to meet the high asking price he has set.
According to Mercogliano, the Rangers’ preference in any Schneider deal is a “hockey trade,” meaning they’re looking for younger players who are NHL-ready or at least very close to being NHL-ready. That falls in line with how the Rangers have framed their current team direction, being that of a “re-tool” rather than a full-scale rebuild. Whether the Rangers will be able to receive the kind of offers for Schneider that they’re looking for is still unclear. It would not be a huge surprise to see New York receive considerable interest in Schneider, of course, given his age, positional value and what he has accomplished as an NHL player thus far.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- Former New York Islanders goalie Christopher Gibson has signed in the DEL, joining the Schwenninger Wild Wings of Germany’s top pro league. The former Islanders goalie has 16 NHL games on his resume and has played in 244 career AHL games. He was last in North America in 2022-23 when he got into 20 games for the AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds, and has bounced between several European teams. So far in 2025-26, he has played in four games for Italian club HC Bolzano of the ICEHL, posting an .879 save percentage and 1-3 record.
- Defenseman Maxime Lajoie, a former member of the Ottawa Senators, signed a one-year contract extension with KHL club Avangard Omsk. The team’s official statement called Lajoie an “indispensable part” of the team’s defense, something that is underscored by his 37 points in 60 games this season. Like Gibson, Lajoie also last played in North America as a member of the AHL Firebirds. In 2024-25, Lajoie scored 38 points in 70 games for Coachella. He has played in the NHL most recently in 2023-24, with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Rangers Claim Tye Kartye From Kraken
1:45 p.m.: The Rangers announced that winger Brennan Othmann, not Morrow, is the roster casualty for Kartye. Othmann heads to Hartford after scoring once in 11 games on his most recent call-up.
1:03 p.m.: The Rangers have claimed winger Tye Kartye off waivers from the Kraken, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. New York does not have an open roster spot and will need to make a corresponding move.
Kartye, 24, was an undrafted free agent signed by the Kraken in 2022. He ended up on waivers yesterday after slowly slipping out of regular fourth-line deployment over the past two years. The OHL Sault Ste. Marie product is in his third NHL season but has been limited to eight points and a -6 rating through 40 games, serving as a healthy scratch in 10 of Seattle’s final 13 games before the Olympic break. He’s two years removed from a rookie season that saw him notch 11 goals and 20 points in 77 games for the Kraken, though.
With another year left on his contract at a $1.25MM cap hit, he’ll now look for more opportunity to contribute in the Rangers’ patchwork bottom-six forward group. He has a career 20-21–41 scoring line with a -21 rating in 180 career appearances. He’s primarily played left wing in his pro career, but has some versatility down the middle if needed. He’ll add another element of physical depth, averaging 2.79 hits per game for his career, while contributing a bit of scoring upside in Manhattan.
The Rangers are carrying eight defensemen, so it stands to reason that the waiver-exempt Scott Morrow, who was a healthy scratch in yesterday’s overtime loss to the Flyers, will be on his way to AHL Hartford to make room for Kartye on the active roster.