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Bruins Receiving Interest In Brandon Carlo, Morgan Geekie

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The Bruins are receiving inquiries about the availability of defenseman Brandon Carlo and pending restricted free agent forward Morgan Geekie, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan said last weekend (via Scott McLaughlin of WEEI). Kaplan also relayed they continue to field calls on pending UFA Trent Frederic, who’s been garnering interest throughout much of the season. It’s far less likely that Boston will part ways with captain Brad Marchand even if they haven’t worked out an extension by the March 7 trade deadline, Kaplan added.

There’s little surprise that Boston is seeking to part ways with some of their middle-of-the-lineup players amid what’s likely to be a retooling effort over the next few seasons. They just locked in starter Jeremy Swayman to an eight-year, $66MM deal at the beginning of the season and still have six years remaining on superstar David Pastrňák’s contract, as well as five years remaining on top defenseman Charlie McAvoy’s deal. The team’s books aren’t conducive to a complete rebuild despite them tracking to miss the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

After losing Jake DeBrusk in free agency last summer and signing Elias Lindholm to a max-term deal to augment their center depth, things haven’t gone to plan for the Bruins offensively. They’re clicking at 2.75 goals per game, 25th in the league and their worst since their 2.55 mark in the 2014-15 season. Marchand and Pastrňák have continued to produce at elite levels, but the latter is still only on pace for 40 goals after notching 61 and 47 in the prior two years. Lindholm has flamed out, limited to 10-19–29 through 57 games – unjustifiable production for his $7.75MM cap hit, no matter how well he grades out defensively (where he’s had average possession impacts this season).

Including Lindholm, five Bruins forwards have produced in the 15-30 point range at this point in the season. Among the pack are Frederic and Geekie, both in their primes and don’t have bonafide top-six ceilings on a championship-contending team. It makes sense they’d at least be talked about by Bruins management as they begin the shift to prioritizing younger, higher-upside pieces in their lineup.

However, Carlo’s name is more surprising to see on the list of potentially available players. In past years, his $4.1MM cap hit would have been considered below market value, especially as he’s locked in through the 2026-27 campaign. A tough year from the 28-year-old likely diminishes his trade value slightly, but with a lengthy track record of being a stalwart top-four defender, it’s likely teams will see a down season as a blip, not a trend, from a right-shot defender below 30 years old.

He will immediately rank among the top righties available on deadline day if Boston shifts from just taking calls to shopping him. That said, his all-around numbers this season aren’t inspiring. His 18:40 ATOI is his lowest since arriving in Boston nine years ago, and while he’s not relied upon for offense, his nine points in 56 games is the lowest pace we’ve seen from him in four years. Defensive metrics don’t paint a rosy picture, either. Carlo’s penalty kill time has been eaten into by Nikita Zadorov, and at even strength, his 45.6 CF% and -9.0 expected rating rank worst among the team’s full-time blue-liners. Extremely difficult defensive minutes don’t do him any good there, but with the latter number tracking as a career-worst, it’s a cause for concern.

Kraken Assign Jordan Eberle To AHL On Conditioning Loan

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The Seattle Kraken have assigned team captain Jordan Eberle to the minor leagues on a conditioning stint. Eberle has been out of the lineup for nearly the entire season after suffering a pelvis injury in Seattle’s November 14th win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Eberle suffered the injury in a collision with Hawks defenseman Connor Murphy. His timetable was quickly drawn out in the wake of the injury. Eberle was originally designated as out day-to-day but ultimately needed surgery less than one week later. He was placed on long-term injured reserve and announced as out month-to-month on November 30th.

There have been very few updates on Eberle’s progress in the months since. He resumed off-ice workouts and light skating on January 23rd, but was said to still be a ways out from returning. Now, nearly three weeks later, the veteran winger seems to finally be on the mend. This AHL conditioning loan is likely an effort to keep Eberle on the practice sheet during Seattle’s two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off break, though he could have a chance at playing in one of Coachella Valley’s four games before the Kraken return from break. Of note, since Eberle remains on LTIR, he will be limited to six days and/or three games in the minors – though Seattle can appeal to receive two additional games.

Eberle was off to a red-hot start to the year before he fell to injury. He scored six goals and 11 points in Seattle’s first 17 games, good enough for second on the team in both scoring stats at the time of his injury. The scoring was a promising uptick after Eberle managed just 17 goals and 44 points in 78 games last season – far off the mark of the 63 points he posted in 2022-23. Eberle has emerged as a pillar of the Seattle lineup despite the fluctuating scoring. He’s glued himself to a top-six role and stood as one of Seattle’s best defensive forwards through parts of his first four seasons with the club. Seattle named Eberle as the second captain in franchise history before the start of the 2024-25 season. While he hasn’t had much of a chance to don the ’C’, the title still stands as a great indication of the role Eberle fills, and the priority he’ll be provided when he finally returns to full health.

Blue Jackets Prospect Cayden Lindstrom Could Miss 2024-25 Season

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have received more bad news on top prospect Cayden Lindstrom’s recovery from an offseason back injury. Lindstrom underwent surgery in November and has been working his way back to full health ever since. He took a major step forward last week when he returned to the ice in full gear for the first time in over two months. But his return may have come a bit too late, and Lindstrom is still running the risk of missing the entirety of the 2024-25 season per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.

Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell told Portzline that Lindstrom is in stage three of a five-stage rehab process, and could move to stage four – no-contact skating – after seeing a doctor next week. But Lindstrom would need at least three weeks of no-contact skates before he’d be cleared for full practices, pushing his potential return to late March or early April, at best. Waddell closed by sharing that Lindstrom will continue skating with Blue Jackets coaches, rather than returning to rehab with his WHL club, the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Lindstrom was a hotly contested draft pick last season. He was one of many in the mix for the top-five picks and ultimately landed at fourth overall, becoming Don Waddell’s first draft pick as Columbus’ GM. It was a closely scrutinized decision, amplified by Lindstrom effectively missing the last four months of the 2023-24 season due to a hand and back injury, though he did return for four games between late March and early April.

Despite spotty starts, Lindstrom was a force in the WHL last season. He finished the year with 27 goals, 19 assists, and 66 penalty minutes in 32 games. Those points largely came from just how well the six-foot-four, 214-pound Lindstrom controlled the high slot – with a knack for quick plays and a hard shot making him a dynamic and physical scoring threat. Lindstrom was on a 14-game point streak – racking up 23 points – when he suffered his first injury of the year in December.

The promise of red-hot scoring will make Lindstrom hard to ignore whenever he does manage to return. His agent, Daren Hermiston, told Portzline that the top prospect has been finding other ways to hone his technical abilities while rehabbing, including looking into virtual-reality training similar to top, young NFL quarterback Jayden Daniels. Portzline also shared that there’s been plenty of collegiate interest in Lindstrom, even despite the missed games, and that the local Ohio State University is one of many schools trying to recruit him. Those rumors will train a warm spotlight onto Lindstrom when he’s back to full health, but his status as a top-five draft pick should be enough to carry him back to high acclaim.

NHL Announces 2028 World Cup Of Hockey

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With the start of the 4 Nations Face-Off just hours away, it seems the NHL is already establishing plans to deepen its international footprint. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh have plans to announce the 2028 World Cup of Hockey tournament that’d split games between North America and Europe, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The World Cup will be a mid-season tournament scheduled over the usual All-Star Break, like the 4 Nations Face-Off. LeBrun adds that this news sets up international, best-on-best hockey every two years until 2036 – with hope for a timeline that includes the Winter Olympics in 2026, 2030, and 2034 and the World Cup in 2028, 2032, and 2036.

Perhaps more exciting is the return to the name ’World Cup,’ suggesting that more countries will be involved than the four represented at the 4 Nations tournament. This would inevitably require the involvement of professional leagues around the world, as neither Czechia nor Slovakia have enough NHL players to staff an NHL-exclusive roster.

The naming of a worldwide tournament will also lead to the eventual question of Russia’s involvement. The country has been expelled from international play since the 2021 World Championship, where they fell to Team Canada in the quarterfinals. The IIHF recently reviewed Russia and Belarus’ eligibility for international competition but chose to maintain the expulsion through the 2025-26 season due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Hall-of-Famer Pavel Bure was chosen to represent Russia in recent conversations with the IIHF and, citing concerns over player safety, shared that Russia would be willing to finance additional security if it meant allowing “fans across the planet to watch one of the world’s best teams in action again.”

The IIHF’s decision will only apply to events they sanction – that decision only applies to IIHF-sanctioned events, and both the NHL and International Olympic Committee will still need to make their own decisions on whether Russia should play in their events. The NHL moving towards potentially biannual meetings between national clubs sets up an inevitable, and potentially precarious decision on Russia’s eligibility.

Minnesota Wild Reassign Devin Shore

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Feb. 12th: Indirectly confirming yesterday’s report, the Wild announced they’ve reassigned Shore to AHL Iowa meaning he’s successfully cleared waivers. Depending on the recovery timelines for Kirill Kaprizov and Jakub Lauko, Minnesota will likely need another forward or two when play resumes on February 22nd.

Feb. 11th: According to a report from PuckPedia, the Minnesota Wild have placed depth forward Devin Shore on waivers to reassign him to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. It is the fourth time the Wild have placed Shore on waivers this season.

Minnesota chose to waive Shore just six days before he would have required them for reassignment. With his next NHL game not scheduled until February 22nd, the move presented a timely opportunity for the Wild to manage their salary cap.

Despite the four waiver placements, the 10-year NHL veteran has spent most of the year in Minnesota. He’s scored one goal and two assists in 34 games averaging 8:28 of ice time per night in a fourth-line role. His multiple passes through waivers have given him considerable action with AHL Iowa, scoring two goals and 10 points in 14 games this year.

Given his $775K salary, the transaction won’t offer significant cap savings, but the Wild deemed the move worthwhile. If he clears waivers over the next 24 hours, Minnesota could recall Shore on February 21 or 22, giving them another 30 days or 10 games on the active roster before requiring waivers again.

Islanders’ Noah Dobson Changes Representation

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New York Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson is making headlines during the NHL’s two-week break. According to Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, Dobson has parted ways with his agent, Andrew Maloney of Maloney & Thompson Sports Management. He will now be represented by Judd Moldaver and Olivier Fortier from Wasserman Hockey, with Fortier serving as his lead agent.

The news will undoubtedly spark speculation about Dobson, especially after reports suggested that the Islanders might consider trading their young defenseman. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman later dismissed these rumors, stating that New York is not actively looking to make Dobson available. Nonetheless, the recent agency change will likely raise more questions than answers.

It doesn’t necessarily indicate that a trade is imminent. Friedman’s reputation in these matters is well established, and the change in agency may suggest that Dobson is seeking a long-term agreement with the only organization he has ever been a part of. However, his new agent Fortier, has yet to add any long-term extensions to his resume. The highest-value contract Oliver has ever negotiated is the four-year, $11.8MM deal between Mathieu Joseph and the Ottawa Senators in 2022.

Dobson’s other agent, Moldaver, has more experience with contract extensions. The Wasserman veteran is responsible for a few of the largest extensions in NHL history. Moldaver negotiated Roman Josi’s $72.47MM extension with the Nashville Predators, Zach Werenski’s $57.5MM extension with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Auston Matthews’ $53MM agreement with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Connor McDavid’s $100MM pact with the Edmonton Oilers.

Depending on how things play out, Dobson’s salary could more than double in his next contract, which could be difficult for the Islanders to swallow. General manager Lou Lamoriello isn’t a stranger to long-term commitments, but only time will tell if he’ll be willing to do that for Dobson.

Brad Marchand Wants To Remain With The Boston Bruins

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Depending on their performance before the March 7th trade deadline, the Boston Bruins could be sellers for the first time in a decade. Although they are only one point behind the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, MoneyPuck gives them a 14.9% chance of reaching the postseason, the sixth lowest in the East.

There is speculation that the Bruins may consider trading their captain, Brad Marchand, in the final year of an eight-year, $49 million contract extension signed in 2016. If Boston decides to entertain trade offers for him, Marchand would be one of the top players available on the rental market. Although his offensive production has slightly declined this season, with his average points per 82 games dropping from 67 to 63 compared to last year, he still ranks second on the team in scoring, with 20 goals and 44 points in 57 games. 

On the podcast ’What Chaos!’, hosts D.J. Bean and Pete Blackburn felt that the trade speculation warranted asking Marchand for his perspective. The hosts specifically asked the Bruins captain how he would feel if he were to be traded to which Marchand replied, “Obviously, it would be very weird. I think I would feel very weird, probably a little lost. But I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it before. And I don’t really think about it, because it’s not something that I really see happening.”

The franchise’s active longest-tenured player would prefer to stay saying, “My goal is to play here forever. I love it here, and my family obviously loves it here. It’s all I know, and what I love most about it is that the expectations that are put on the group by — internally, just from management, ownership, from the team within — like the expectation to be good every year is what you want to be part of.”

Still, the Bruins front office hasn’t been shy to move on from long-term players in the past if the right deal is presented. Boston infamously traded away Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton at the 2015 NHL Draft, let long-time captain Zdeno Chara leave as an unrestricted free agent after the 2019-20 season, and moved goaltender Linus Ullmark to a division rival this past summer. As much as Marchand would like to stay a Bruin, the team may have other ideas about his future with the club.

Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

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The 4 Nations Face-Off will provide a breather from day-to-day transactions, leaving general managers added time to focus on what the next month may entail for their clubs before the March 7 trade deadline. There have been multiple big swaps already, but more are still to come, with Dylan Cozens, Seth Jones, Brock Nelson, and Rickard Rakell among the names who could be on the move.

With that in mind, it’s a good time for our next mailbag segment. Our last one was split into two parts. The first included forward targets for the Lightning, the likelihood of the Panthers retaining both Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad, and whether Jakob Chychrun will stick with the Capitals, among other topics. The second discussed offer sheet strategies for the summer, additions the Flyers could make to pair with Matvei Michkov, and whether Zach Werenski can bring a Norris Trophy to Columbus.

You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter/X or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend.

Trade Deadline Primer: Los Angeles Kings

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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 Los Angeles Kings.

The Kings are in a peculiar position leading into the trade deadline. They have been a consistently competitive team in the Western Conference but don’t carry the same offensive firepower as divisional opponents such as the Edmonton Oilers or Vegas Golden Knights, leading to early exits in the Stanley Cup playoffs. General manager and vice president of hockey operations, Rob Blake, for better or for worse, isn’t a stranger to big moves. Will he add more offense to balance the Kings out, double down on their pesky defense, or stand pat like he did last year?

Record

29-17-7, 3rd in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Conservative buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$4.516MM on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 43/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2025: LAK 1st, LAK 3rd, LAK 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th
2026: LAK 1st, LAK 2nd, LAK 3rd, LAK 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th

Trade Chips

If the Kings’ front office believes they’re in a window of contention, Los Angeles could trade one of their first-round picks in 2025 or 2026. Since selecting Brandt Clarke as the eighth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, the Kings have added 19 prospects to their organization via the draft, giving the flexibility to trade a higher-valued draft selection. Still, unless they trade some salary from the active roster, Los Angeles doesn’t have the financial flexibility to add a needle-mover thus negating most reasoning to move a first-round pick.

Although the Kings’ organization has many prospects, the overall quality of those prospects is lacking. Since graduating the likes of Clarke, Akil Thomas, and Alex Turcotte to the NHL level, forward Liam Greentree is objectively the best prospect remaining giving Los Angeles every reason to retain him. Greentree was selected as the 26th overall pick in last summer’s draft and is the OHL’s third-highest scorer this year with 35 goals and 51 assists through 50 games.

Still, one thing the Kings’ pipeline has is goaltending depth. According to Scott Wheeler’s prospect rankings in The Athletic (Subscription Required), three of Los Angeles’ top-five prospects are goaltenders: Erik Portillo, Hampton Slukynsky, and Carter George. Portillo is the closest to NHL-ready with the latter two being several years away. Although goaltending depth is always important, no team needs three goaltenders for the future so the Kings’ could look to move either Slukynsky or George for more immediate talent.

Team Needs

1) Second Line Center: As much as Los Angeles would like Quinton Byfield to be a top-six center for years to come, it’s not working out that way. To Byfield’s credit, the Kings are controlling the puck more 5 on 5 when he’s on the ice, but his 43.6% faceoff success rate and his 88.4% on-ice save percentage in all situations show he’s more of a top-six winger. As mentioned, Los Angeles doesn’t have the cap space or the necessary capital to acquire a player like Dylan Cozens or Casey Mittelstadt, but they should be one of the team’s calling on Jake Evans or Trent Frederic. Both players would blend well into the Kings’ system given their defensive awareness and would allow their wingers more freedom and creativity on the offensive side of the puck.

2) Scoring Depth: Los Angeles has no problems keeping the puck out of the net. The Kings are fifth in goals-against per game, fourth in penalty kill percentage, first in shots-against, and ninth in save percentage. On the flip side, they are 20th in goals-for-per-game, 29th in powerplay percentage, and 28th in shots on goal. Again, given their available trade assets, Los Angeles would be better served looking into the trade markets for players such as Ryan Donato or Luke Kunin. The former’s perceived trade value has risen recently but it shouldn’t take a ’Kings’ ransom to pry him away from the Blackhawks.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

International Transactions: Galchenyuk, Perlini, Pulkkinen, Tracey

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The former third-overall selection of the 2012 NHL Draft won’t return to North America anytime soon. According to a public announcement from the Kontinental Hockey League, forward Alex Galchenyuk has signed a two-year extension with the Amur Khabarovsk.

Galchenyuk has played in the KHL for the last two seasons, scoring 16 goals and 42 points in 61 games with SKA St. Petersburg during his first year outside North America since the 2012-13 season. The Milwaukee, WI native’s time with Amur has been mutually beneficial, scoring 20 goals and 37 points in 53 games en route to a KHL All-Star appearance. Alex Broadhurst joins him as the only other American on the team’s roster.

Despite the strong offensive production in Russia, there’s likely little interest for Galchenyuk to return to any NHL organization. Less than two weeks after signing a one-year deal with the Arizona Coyotes in 2023, it was revealed that Galchenyuk had been arrested on multiple charges, leading the Coyotes to terminate his contract. He entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program shortly after.

Other international transactions:

  • Another former first-round pick, Brendan Perlini, has signed a new contract overseas. The NL’s Lausanne HC announced they’d signed Perlini for the remainder of the 2024-25 season after his contract was mutually terminated with the KHL’s Spartak Moskva after only four games. It’ll be Perlini’s second attempt in the NL, scoring nine goals and 16 points in 21 games for HC Ambrì-Piotta in the 2020-21 season. He’s also a veteran of 262 NHL and 98 AHL contests scoring 81 and 72 points respectively.
  • Former prospect for the Detroit Red Wings, Teemu Pulkkinen, is signing on with a third team this season. HC La Chaux-de-Fonds, a team in the second tier of professional ice hockey in Switzerland, announced a contract for Pulkkinen for the remainder of the season. Given that he’s already been mutually terminated from contracts in Germany and Slovakia this season, this appears to be one of the final seasons for Pulkkinen’s professional career.
  • Forward Brayden Tracey’s professional career might be grinding to a halt. After flailing out of the Anaheim Ducks organization after being the 29th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft, Tracey signed a one-year deal with the Finnish Liiga’s Jukurit to rebuild his value. Instead, after scoring only one goal and five assists in 13 contests, Jukurit announced yesterday they’ve mutually terminated Tracey’s contract. Tracey was interested in returning to North America when he originally signed but could have difficulty finding a new landing spot with that production.

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