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Trade Deadline Primer: Montreal Canadiens

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With the 4 Nations Face-Off break approaching, the trade deadline looms large and is about a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Montreal Canadiens.

The Montreal Canadiens haven’t yet spurred their years near the bottom of the standings, but their successes this year suggest that time could be coming soon. Rookie defenseman Lane Hutson has provided a stellar spark behind Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. The trio has been backed by promising young goalie Jakub Dobes, finally giving Montreal a sign of the future at every stop in the lineup. Even the Laval Rocket are surging, currently ranked on top of the AHL’s North Division with a roster led by young prospects Joshua Roy, Owen Beck, Logan Mailloux, and Adam Engstrom. The future looks bright in Montreal, and the upcoming Trade Deadline will give the club another chance to trim extra weight and build out what’s to come.

Record

25-26-5, 7th in the Atlantic Division

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$7.45MM on deadline day, 2/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contract spots used, per PuckPedia.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2025: MTL 1st, CGY 1st, MTL 2nd, PIT 2nd, MTL 3rd, VAN 3rd, NJD 3rd, MTL 4th, BOS 4th, MTL 5th, MTL 6th, MTL 7th
2026: MTL 1st, MTL 2nd, CBJ 2nd, MTL 3rd, MTL 4th, NJD 4th, MTL 5th, MTL 6th, MTL 7th

Trade Chips

Montreal is entering the Deadline with plenty of extra weight to shed. They have a long list of impactful veterans who could be on the block, led by surging centerman Jake Evans. Evans has posted 11 goals and 26 points through 56 games this season, good enough for fifth on the team in both categories. He’s only three points away from breaking his career-high 29 points set in 72 games of the 2021-22 season. That was one of only two years where Evans played a full NHL season, next to his 28 points in 82 games last season. That precedent makes his 40-point scoring pace this season all the more encouraging. Evans is posting those numbers with a cushy, third-line role and minimal power-play ice time. That’s sure to be an encouraging sign for playoff hopefuls looking to flesh out their bottom-six – teams like the Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa Senators. Recent reports suggest that Evans and Montreal could be at an impasse with extension negotiations, potentially making the center a cheaper buy as the deadline approaches.

If not Evans, Montreal could turn back to routine trade rumors. 30-year-old winger Josh Anderson has posted a modest eight goals and 18 points in 56 games this season. His 121 hits is also tied with Juraj Slafkovsky for the most hits on the offense. Anderson has been on the trade block for years now, but his lofty $5.5MM cap hit and minimal lineup role have been dissuading up to this point. To make matters worse, Anderson has two more seasons on his deal after this year – which could make retaining part of his salary a tough bet for the Canadiens. Though it’s worth noting that both Jeff Petry and Jake Allen will come off of Montreal’s retention slots when their contracts end this summer. But for a cheap price, he’ll stand as a physical option for teams in need of more heft. For teams looking the other way, Montreal could also make forward Alex Newhook available. He’s struggled through two years in Montreal, netting just 52 points in 111 games with the team. Newhook hasn’t posted the well-rounded presence Montreal has needed, but he’s added size with the Canadiens and stands as an interesting project on the open market.

The Canadiens can offer plenty of defense as well. Veteran David Savard joined his hometown Montreal in 2021, looking to stand as a consistent pillar behind a young lineup. But his solid presence has continued through the last four seasons, and Savard doesn’t seem close to slowing down in his age-34 season. He has a modest $3.5MM cap hit that’s set to end this summer, which could make him an attractive rental for teams in need of assurance on the blue-line. Savard may be aged and low-scoring, but his high-defense and high-physical presence could land a return that rivals Evans. Montreal also has a wealth of young defenders, including Jayden Struble – who could be seen as dead weight behind the team’s wealth of left-defenders. Struble has five points and a minus-10 through 30 games this season. But he’s in just his second NHL season, and is working to add more physicality to his style. Those could be attractive traits to build up, at a cheap price.

Team Needs

1) Future Capital – Montreal is entering the 2025 NHL Draft with a whopping 12 picks. That’s plenty for comfort, but with the 2024-25 season seeming a bit lost, there’s little more for the Canadiens to ask for. They’ll enter the Deadline with a true seller’s mindset, looking to drive the price up on each of Evans, Savard, and Anderson. Landing a first-round pick for either of the former, or any return for the latter, will be mark successful Trade Deadline for the Canadiens letting them open space for top prospects and really begin kicking off their future.

2) Right-Shot Defense – If any position group appears shallow in Montreal, it’s their right-shot defense. The team has already made moves to address that hole this season, using a December swap of Alexandre Carrier for Justin Barron to boost up their top-four. They also have top prospect Logan Mailloux working his way up the minor-league lineup, and former top-10 draft pick David Reinbacher working his way back from injury. Both players could stand as strong options on the right-side in due time, but Montreal is hinging on Carrier and Savard to hold them up in the meantime. Finding another cheap veteran, or a promising young defender, could go far in rounding out the team’s lineup in the few years remaining in their rebuild.

 

Kings Prioritizing Right-Handed Scorer At Deadline

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In today’s edition of ’32 Thoughts’ on Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman spoke briefly about the Los Angeles Kings’ priority leading up to the trade deadline. Friedman unsurprisingly shared that the Kings’ are engaged in the markets for right-handed scoring forwards.

The news is unsurprising for a few reasons. The Kings have a lethargic offense, especially for a playoff-bound team. Out of every team positioned in a divisional playoff spot, Los Angeles has the lowest goals-for-per-game, powerplay percentage, and shots-on-goal amount.

They also lack handedness diversity among forwards. Of the nine Kings’ forwards with 10 or more points on the year, winger Alex Laferriere is the only right-handed shot.

It’s unlikely Los Angeles would be willing to move Anže Kopitar or Quinton Byfield out of their roles as top-six centers, indicating the Kings will move toward the market for right-handed wings. Furthermore, with cap space being a limiting factor, Los Angeles should find themselves in the rental market.

Those assumed components narrow down the field of available wingers. Kyle Palmieri of the New York Islanders, Joel Armia of the Montreal Canadiens, and Justin Brazeau of the Boston Bruins are the only pending unrestricted free agents right-handed wingers with double-digit or more goals not on teams currently holding onto a playoff spot.

Palmieri should be the ideal candidate given he’s only one year removed from scoring 30 goals and has moderate playoff experience. If the Kings acquired Palmieri today, he would become their third-highest goal scorer and rank sixth in shots on goal.

The other two have scored 10 goals each this year and would cost less than Palmieri. Still, after being eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of three straight playoffs, Los Angeles may want to target more of a game-changing talent.

Kraken’s Jared McCann Drawing Trade Interest

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A Sportsnet’s Jacob Stoller report earlier this week indicated that the Seattle Kraken could make forward Jared McCann available at the trade deadline. A few days later, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman contradicted the report on his ’32 Thoughts’ podcast saying that multiple teams had contacted Seattle regarding McCann’s availability — not the other way around.

It makes a lot of sense for contending teams to inquire about McCann. He’s on a cost-effective $5MM salary until July 1st, 2027, and has become a bona fide top-six forward in Seattle. After being selected from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, McCann has scored 110 goals and 224 points in 290 games, the franchise’s leader in both offensive categories.

Still, since Friedman noted that Seattle is receiving calls rather than making them, it would likely take a sizeable offer to pry him away from the Kraken. Friedman didn’t mention any teams specifically, but Ben Kuzma of The Province and Sammi Silber of The Hockey News both wrote articles rationalizing why the Vancouver Canucks and Washington Capitals could be potential fits respectively.

Although anything can happen, and more than two teams are likely calling, the edge would have to go to the Capitals. Out of the 18 trades made in Kraken history, the biggest deals have all been made with Eastern Conference teams involving players like Mark Giordano, Marcus Johansson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Alexander Wennberg, and Kaapo Kakko.

Seattle has never been interested in helping teams within the Pacific Division and they don’t appear likely to trade arguably their top player, who they aren’t keenly interested in moving, to their rivals just over the northern border, even for a massive offer.

Washington would present another list of challenges. Even with approximately $17MM on LTIR, the Capitals only have $3.65MM in cap space which wouldn’t be enough to acquire McCann. They could include a roster player in the hypothetical trade but is Washington positioned to move on from Brandon Duhaime, Lars Eller, Nic Dowd, or Martin Fehervary?

As much as a player like McCann would generate plenty of trade interest, it doesn’t appear one is likely. Things could change leading up to the deadline, especially if more teams get involved, but it would likely require a generous overpay for the Kraken to part with their leading scorer.

Dallas Stars Sign Sam Steel To Two-Year Extension

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The Dallas Stars have started early in retaining one of their multiple forwards heading to unrestricted free agency next summer. Dallas announced they’ve signed forward Sam Steel to a two-year, $4.2MM extension which will take him through the 2026-27 NHL season.

Steel signed a one-year, $850K contract with the Stars on the first day of free agency in 2023 after going non-tendered by the Minnesota Wild. The former first-round pick responded well, scoring nine goals and 24 points in 77 games averaging 13:15 of ice time per game.

Although his offensive production doesn’t jump off the page, Steel’s work on the defensive side of the puck drew some attention. He had a +10 differential between takeaways and giveaways putting him in the same tier as Radek Faksa, Jamie Benn, and Jason Robertson.

His 52.0% CorsiFor% only ranked 15th on the team but it’s more impressive considering he started 58.7% of his shifts in the defensive zone. For better or worse, some of that has changed this season.

Steel is similarly producing solid possession metrics but his takeaway/giveaway differential has plummeted to -22. Still, in his defense, that is true of every player on the Stars this season.

He’s averaging slightly more offensive production being on pace for six goals and 20 points which has correlated to a mild 1:30 boost in average ice time. Given his consistency in Dallas’ lineup and relative youth compared to other forwards on the roster, the extension should benefit Steel and the Stars.

Trade Deadline Primer: Minnesota Wild

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With the 4 Nations Face-Off break upon us, the trade deadline looms large and is less than a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Minnesota Wild.

The Minnesota Wild find themselves in an interesting situation as they have been a pleasant surprise this season and are likely bound for the playoffs, barring a collapse. The Wild have done this despite having nearly $15MM of dead money counting against the salary cap and their top player missing significant time due to injury. While the Wild have overachieved, they may be limited by their cap situation. However, they could also use some of their draft capital or promising prospects to move out some money if they find a player that they feel can help them.

Record

33-19-4, 3rd in the Central Division

Deadline Status

Buyers

Deadline Cap Space

$1.4MM on deadline day*, 0/3 retention slots used, 47/50 contract slots used, per PuckPedia.

*Since Kirill Kaprizov is on long-term injured reserve but is expected to return before the end of the regular season, we’re not including his LTIR pool here. They may have some added flexibility at the deadline if he remains on LTIR but they would still need to remain cap-compliant down the stretch by making subsequent roster moves.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2025: MIN 2nd, TOR 4th, CBJ 5th, MIN 6th
2026: MIN 1st, MIN 2nd, MIN 3rd, MIN 4th, SJS 5th, MIN 5th, BOS 6th, MIN 6th, MIN 7th

Trade Chips

Minnesota traded their first-round pick earlier this season as part of a large package to the Columbus Blue Jackets for defenseman David Jiříček. While Jiříček hasn’t contributed much this season, he looks like a long-term fixture for the Wild, which will ultimately make the trade worthwhile. However, it added a barrier to improving this year’s club (coupled with the lack of salary cap space) and leaves them with few trade chips to part with. As mentioned earlier, the Wild could move future draft picks or promising prospects, but they probably don’t have an appetite for that right now unless they can acquire a player with term who will fit in their plans. The Wild hold just four draft picks this year. However, they have all of their picks next season plus two additional late-round picks.

As far as pieces that could be moved for help this season, Marco Rossi is a name that can’t seem to escape trade rumors. The 23-year-old has emerged as a solid offensive contributor this season for Minnesota, registering 19 goals and 28 assists in 56 games. Rossi was selected by the Wild 9th overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and has started to show why teams were so high on him. If Minnesota were to move on from the undersized forward, they would create a hole in their forward group that Rossi has been filling for most of this season. Although, given his age and production, he would net the Wild a significant return that they could then use to fill other holes. Rossi is a restricted free agent this summer and is making just $863,334 this season.

The Wild don’t have many other pieces that could be moved off of their NHL roster in a deal, as they have several forwards who are underperforming offensively. However, they do have several prospects who are almost NHL-ready and could be part of a massive deal if Minnesota has the appetite and cap space to facilitate a move. Forward Liam Ohgren is a name that comes to mind; the 2022 first-round pick (19th overall) is still finding his way but has had a run in the NHL this season, posting a goal and three assists in 19 games. While those offensive numbers are underwhelming at first glance, they are distorted by an incredibly low shooting percentage of just four percent.

Another forward the Wild could potentially part with is Riley Heidt, who was their second-round pick in 2023 (64th overall). Heidr is currently the captain of the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League and is having a terrific season, posting 25 goals and 41 assists in 43 games. Heidr is a bit undersized, but he more than makes up for it with his physical play. Teams will covet his enthusiasm for getting to the dirty areas of the ice and playing a disruptive game, but Minnesota may not be willing to part with a player who could very well be their captain one day.

Team Needs

1.) A Top Six Forward: The Wild have been operating with a patchwork forward group since Kaprizov went down with injury and were further depleted when Joel Eriksson Ek was also missing time. On paper, The Wild’s forward group looks like a mishmash of journeymen forwards and young skilled forwards, but in reality, they’ve been a middle-of-the-road offensive team (17th out of 32). Minnesota could benefit from an additional top-six forward who could displace some of the forwards who are punching above their weight class at the moment. However, the cost to acquire and the additional salary will likely make this kind of addition a difficult one. Minnesota has just $1.4MM in deadline day cap space, meaning they would likely need other teams to retain salary if they were to bring in a veteran. Local boys Brock Nelson and Brock Boeser would make a lot of sense for Minnesota as they would represent major upgrades to the top six. However, both men have salaries north of $6MM and will likely be too rich for Minnesota’s tastes this year.

2.) Depth Scoring: The Wild would benefit immensely from more depth scoring from the likes of Ryan Hartman; however, the next best option might be to find more scoring on the trade market. Ryan Donato of the Chicago Blackhawks could be a good option with his $2MM cap hit and the potential to be a lower-cost acquisition. However, it’s always tricky when a player is having a career year and then gets traded, and there is no guarantee that Donato would carry that momentum over in a trade. However, given the Wild’s predicament, Donato may be their best option. Another good depth option could be Jake Evans of the Montreal Canadiens, who has also put together a career year and is a pending unrestricted free agent (just like Donato). At 28 years old, Evans has never topped 30 points in a season, but with 11 goals and 16 assists in 56 games this year, he will most certainly set career highs and should get a nice payday this July.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports.

PHR’s Josh Cybulski contributed to this article.

Thomas Harley To Serve As A Stand-By For Team Canada

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Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley will reportedly serve as a stand-by for Team Canada, meaning that he would be first up if there’s another injury to their defense core (as per Chris Johnston of The Athletic). Canada lost Shea Theodore to injury last night in the opener to the 4 Nations Face-Off and will not get him back as he has been ruled out week-to-week due to an upper-body injury.

Canada already has Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim in Montreal, getting ready for Canada’s game against Team USA. However, beyond him, they no longer had a safety net and needed to get another player in place to serve as insurance.

Harley will travel to Boston tomorrow to serve as a stand-by in case they suffer another injury on the backend. It could provide a good experience for the 23-year-old, who is likely on Canada’s radar for the 2026 Olympics and other tournaments in the future. Although the role of a stand-by in this tournament is a little unorthodox as Harley can’t take part in practice or formal meetings unless Canada loses another defenseman.

Harley is actually a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, but he has played for Canada in the past in both the World Under-18’s as well as the World Juniors and has built an impressive resume as a pro thus far. In his breakout campaign last season, Harley posted 15 goals and 32 assists in 79 games while playing a shade over 21 minutes a night. This year has been more of the same as Harley has dressed in 53 games, tallying nine goals and 20 assists.

Analyzing Ryan Donato’s Trade Value

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Since the turn of the calendar, especially leading up to the trade deadline, one player receiving plenty of interest is Chicago Blackhawks winger Ryan Donato. Despite the perceived market building around Donato, the Blackhawks reportedly haven’t ruled out negotiating an extension for their third-highest scorer.

The trade interest isn’t just because of hasty buyers either. Donato is having a career year, scoring 19 goals and 18 assists in 53 games which has already topped his previous high of 31 points in 74 games during the 2021-22 season.

Typically a pending unrestricted free agent averaging 0.70 points per game on an affordable $2MM salary would command a first-round pick or a pair of seconds. However, there is some reason for pause when considering Donato as a potential trade deadline pick.

Since January 1st, Connor Bedard, Taylor Hall, or Teuvo Teräväinen have assisted on six of Donato’s eight goals. Additionally — those three players have contributed to just over half of his total points this season. Now it’ll become a question about who exactly is contributing more to who’s success.

Given that Donato is having an offensive breakout in his eighth season, and his average ice time has jumped from a career average of 12:46 to 15:03 this season, he’s most likely benefiting from Chicago’s poor supporting cast. The Blackhawks have given Donato more responsibility than he’s ever had at the NHL level, allowing him to play with the game’s young star in Bedard and one of the best passers in Teräväinen.

If interested parties begin to believe this, it could limit what they’re willing to spend on Donato. It’s likely the probable reason why Chicago is entertaining an extension rather than giving Donato away for less than their asking price.

The comparable deal for Donato in recent history is the trade that sent Tyler Toffoli from the New Jersey Devils to the Winnipeg Jets last trade deadline for a 2025 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick with the Devils retaining the remaining 50% of his contract.

Toffoli had 26 goals and 44 points in 61 games for the Devils before the trade — similar to Donato’s production this season. Should the Blackhawks want more than a second and third-round pick for their highest-goal scorer, they might be better served in signing him to a two- to three-year extension.

Blues, Penguins Swap Mathias Laferrière, Corey Andonovski

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The Penguins announced this afternoon that they’ve acquired minor-league forward Mathias Laferrière from the Blues in exchange for similarly-cast depth winger Corey Andonovski. Both will report to their new affiliate clubs in AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Springfield, respectively.

Laferrière, 24, was a sixth-round pick by the Blues in 2018 and hasn’t made his NHL debut. He’s now in his fourth season of professional hockey, almost all of which has been spent in Springfield, aside from a three-game assignment to ECHL Worcester in 2020-21. He’s been a versatile depth piece in that time, recording 21-49–70 with 62 PIMs and an even rating in 207 games. The 6’2″ forward can line up at both center and right-wing and posted 2-8–10 through the first 33 games of this season with Springfield.

Because Laferrière is set to turn 25 in late June, he will be narrowly eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer. He’s thus ineligible for a qualifying offer and can sign anywhere he chooses if he doesn’t agree to an extension with the Penguins before July 1. He’s on a one-year, two-way deal he signed last June to avoid a bout with restricted free agency in St. Louis, paying him $100K in the minors.

Like Laferrière, Andonovski arrives in the Blues organization without NHL experience. Pittsburgh signed the 25-year-old as an undrafted free agent out of Princeton in 2022, and he’s spent the last three seasons and change suiting up for the Baby Pens in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 6’1″, 209-lb winger was a capable secondary scorer as recently as last year when he recorded a career-high 30 points in 63 games. He’s fallen on hard times in 2024-25, though, limited to 3-2–5 in 27 games with 15 PIMs and a plus-one rating.

Andonovski has also accrued enough professional experience to be eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer. He earns $5K less than Laferrière at the AHL level, saving St. Louis an insignificant amount of cash.

Neither player is expected to factor into NHL minutes down the stretch, and the likelihood of them seeing the game’s highest level at all in their careers seems slim. They’ll instead serve as minor-league depth for the next few months before having the opportunity to find new life this summer in another organization or overseas.

Ducks Could Make Ryan Strome Available At Deadline

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The Ducks are one of the apparent sellers heading into deadline season, but they don’t have many obvious desirable assets outside of pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Brian Dumoulin and goaltender John Gibson, whose rebound season could finally land Anaheim the trade return they’ve desired for years. However, in Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic’s latest trad board, he tossed center Ryan Strome into the mix for a deadline move. Strome is signed through the 2026-27 season at a $5MM cap hit.

While Anaheim has a thin center market going for them if they are indeed shopping Strome, there isn’t much else. As Johnston profiles, he’s a “decent middle-six option on a competitive team” but lacks much of any defensive acumen and often struggles in the faceoff dot. In terms of pure secondary offensive production, though, Strome is a more established and safer option than a breakout player like Ryan Donato, although he’ll provide most of his point production via assists and costs more than twice the money and has two years left on his deal.

There’s also the question of how aggressively the Ducks will push to offload him. Opting to sign veteran winger Frank Vatrano to a three-year extension last month muddies Strome’s role in the future as the Ducks continue to graduate prospects to the NHL past the halfway point of their rebuild. Strome’s money is likely better used elsewhere to land more impactful talents in free agency to support their young core, but with the Ducks operating closer to the cap floor than the cap this year with significant cap increases coming, that’s not much of a concern.

Moving Strome for a sizable return will almost certainly require general manager Pat Verbeek to retain some salary. Whether he views that as a prudent use of one of his two open retention slots through next season remains to be seen. Anaheim’s already used up one of their three on defenseman Cam Fowler, who will count against their books at a $2.5MM cap hit through 2025-26 after they traded him to the Blues in December.

The 31-year-old Strome is now in the third season of the five-year, $25MM pact he signed with Anaheim in free agency in 2022. The ex-Rangers pivot has clicked at a decent 0.52 points per game rate since arriving in Orange County, boosted by increased production in 2024-25. He’s recorded 7-23–30 through 54 games, and while those seven goals are on pace for his lowest total in nine years, his playmaking production means his overall production is coming at its best per-game basis since joining the Ducks. He’s also amid an uncharacteristically strong defensive campaign, recording a minus-four rating and 47.6 CF% at even strength that both check in as his best, by far, in Anaheim.

Canada’s Shea Theodore To Miss Remainder Of 4 Nations Face-Off

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10:45 a.m.: Theodore is expected to be out week-to-week due to the upper-body injury, the Golden Knights said Thursday. Whether he’ll remain out through the trade deadline remains to be seen, but it’s clear he won’t be ready to go when Vegas resumes its schedule on Feb. 22 against the Canucks.

8:17 a.m.: Canada defenseman Shea Theodore will be sidelined for the rest of the 4 Nations Face-Off after sustaining an upper-body injury in last night’s overtime win over Sweden, head coach Jon Cooper told reporters postgame (including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet).

The Golden Knights blue-liner hit the boards awkwardly while being hit by Swedish Kings winger Adrian Kempe early in the second period. He skated off under his own power and appeared to favor his right arm/shoulder area. During the game, TNT’s Jackie Redmond relayed that Theodore was already undergoing X-rays as part of his initial evaluation.

Unfortunately for the 29-year-old, his second appearance for the Canadian men’s national team ends after nine shifts and 6:59 of ice time. Canada cannot immediately replace Theodore on its roster – they can only add replacements if fewer than 18 healthy skaters are available for a game. Travis Sanheim was scratched as their extra defenseman against Sweden but will make his tournament debut on Saturday against the United States.

It’s a tough break for the 6’2″ lefty, who’s produced at an elite clip for Vegas since the turn of the decade but has struggled with injuries over the past few seasons. He hasn’t played more than 60 regular-season games in a single campaign since 2021-22. He was on track to play in all but one regular season game this year after missing a game due to illness back in October, but his availability for Vegas coming out of the two-week break in the schedule is now uncertain.

Theodore wasn’t going to be a top power-play option for Canada – they had Cale Makar and Josh Morrissey to quarterback their two units. But he was arguably their best puck-mover and most offensively gifted blue-liner behind those two, and a much lower-ceiling option in Sanheim now has to fill his minutes.

Vegas is far more concerned about Theodore missing time than the national side, though. He’s inarguably been their top defenseman this season, leading the club’s blue-liners in goals (seven), assists (41), points (48), shot attempts (282), takeaways (27), expected rating (+9.5), and CF% at even strength (52.1). For a team that entered the break on a 5-8-3 skid, that’s tough news.

Theodore’s lone previous appearance for the Canadian men’s national team came in 2019 when he recorded 2-5–7 with a plus-nine rating in 10 games en route to a silver medal at the World Championship. He also suited up for Canada at the 2013 U18 Worlds and the 2015 World Juniors.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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