Oilers Acquire Jason Dickinson, Colton Dach
9:50 p.m.: Both teams have now officially announced the trade, with the terms corresponding with what had been previously reported.
The conditions on the 2027 first-round pick received by the Blackhawks are as follows: if Edmonton’s 2027 first-rounder is inside the top-12 of the draft order, Edmonton may choose to transfer its 2028 first-round pick to Chicago instead, to be declared prior to the commencement of the 2027 draft. Should Edmonton choose to trade its 2028 first-rounder before the 2027 trade deadline, the 2027 first-round pick will automatically transfer, unconditionally.
7:30 p.m.: Friedman reported that young Blackhawks winger Colton Dach “is another part of this trade conversation to Edmonton.” His inclusion in the deal has not yet been confirmed, but it would help explain how the Blackhawks have managed (alongside the financial aspect of the deal) to land a first-round pick in the trade.
Dach, 23, is an Edmonton native who Bowman selected No. 62 overall in the 2021 draft. The 6’4″ pivot is the brother of Kirby Dach, a Montreal Canadiens center who Bowman selected No. 3 overall at the 2019 draft. Dach has broken into the NHL as a full-time player over the last calendar year, scoring seven points in 25 games last season and nine points in 53 games this season.
Entering the season, he was ranked as the No. 10 prospect in Chicago’s system by the team at Elite Prospects, and No. 10 by The Athletic’s Corey Pronman, who projected him as a future middle-six winger. Dach has averaged 11:40 time on ice per game this season.
6:18 p.m.: The Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks are discussing a trade that would send veteran center Jason Dickinson to Edmonton, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The move comes in the wake of today’s news, via Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 Edmonton, that veteran center Curtis Lazar of the Oilers is set to miss up to four weeks with an undisclosed injury.
According to Frank Seravalli of Frankly Hockey, the deal is currently still being discussed, but would involve Andrew Mangiapane heading the other way, to Chicago. Moving out Mangiapane and his $3.6MM cap hit is likely viewed as necessary for the Oilers to have the breathing room to add Dickinson’s $4.25MM cap hit to their books.
Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported that the Blackhawks will retain 50% of Dickinson’s deal, meaning the Oilers should be able to comfortably fit in their new player’s cap hit with Mangiapane heading to Chicago.
In addition to those two pieces, Seravalli said the “framework of what’s been discussed” between Edmonton and Chicago includes “another piece” heading to the Oilers, and a conditional draft pick heading to Chicago. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun has added that as part of the deal, the Blackhawks will receive a top-12 protected 2027 first-round pick from Edmonton in exchange for Dickinson.
Undoubtedly, the Blackhawks’ decision to take on the full freight of Mangiapane’s contract, as well as retain half of Dickinson’s deal, has contributed to the significant asset they were able to extract from the Oilers.
The Athletic’s Scott Powers reported earlier today that the Blackhawks “don’t see a point” in trading Dickinson for a marginal return. If Dickinson is indeed dealt to the Oilers, it will be the second time this week that Edmonton has added a veteran player from Chicago. The Blackhawks traded veteran defenseman Connor Murphy to the Oilers on Monday, and it’s possible that, in the process of negotiating that trade, the possibility of a Dickinson deal was also discussed.
A key factor here is the presence of Oilers GM Stan Bowman. Bowman was the one who acquired Murphy back in 2017, during Bowman’s tenure as GM of the Blackhawks.
While he was no longer GM in Chicago when the team added Dickinson, he would undoubtedly still have many connections within the team’s hockey operations infrastructure, and therefore would potentially have more detailed information on Dickinson than another GM might have access to.
The fit for Dickinson in Edmonton is relatively easy to identify. While he’s not a right-shot center like Lazar, there are stylistic similarities between the two players. Dickinson, 30, is a 6’2″ true center who is a veteran of 549 NHL games. A pending UFA, Dickinson is playing out the final year of a $4.25MM AAV deal.
Early in his tenure in Chicago, it looked as though Dickinson was reaching new heights as an offensive producer. He scored 22 goals and 35 points in his debut campaign with the Blackhawks, riding a career-high 17.5% shooting percentage to a career year, one that landed him down-ballot Selke Trophy consideration.
In the last two seasons, Dickinson’s offensive production has evaporated. In 106 NHL games over the course of 2024-25 and 2025-26, he has managed 13 goals and 29 points. But even though he hasn’t been able to sustain his prior levels of production, he remains a valuable contributor in the specific role he occupies. Dickinson wins just about half of his faceoffs, provides a physical edge, and anchors the Blackhawks’ penalty kill as its top center. When Chicago is defending a late lead or has a big defensive zone draw, more often than not, its Dickinson who hops over the boards first.
That’s the kind of set of skills Edmonton is likely looking for in advance of what it hopes will be another deep playoff run. With two of the game’s best scorers already on the roster, and one of the best offensive defensemen manning the blue line, the Oilers don’t need Dickinson to be his 22-goal, 35-point self for him to provide value in their lineup. If he can maximize his current role as an Oiler, trading for him will be more than worth the cost for Edmonton.
With Lazar’s health uncertain, it certainly makes sense to target a player of Dickinson’s mold. The two forwards occupying top spots on the depth chart with Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, are not exact stylistic fits for when an injury is suffered by a defensive bottom-sixer. (Both Isaac Howard and Quinn Hutson are more offensively-oriented.)
The Athletic’s Chris Johnston noted an aspect of the trade that relates to a seemingly unrelated team – the San Jose Sharks. Per the terms of last season’s Jake Walman trade, in which Edmonton surrendered a top-12 protected 2026 first-round pick to San Jose, that pick would become unprotected if Edmonton were ever to trade its 2027 first-rounder. Because they have now done so, Edmonton’s 2026 first-round pick is now owned by the Sharks without restriction.
This is likely a moot point as Edmonton is well on course to secure a playoff spot. It’s nonetheless worth noting that in the event the Oilers endure a shocking fall down the standings, the Sharks are poised to profit.
In any case, the exact details of the trade are yet to be determined. What is clear, at least, is that Bowman isn’t done trying to add veteran help to his roster, and it appears the next area of interest is adding a bottom-six, penalty-killing center.
Photos courtesy of Chris Jones-Imagn Images
Snapshots: Eller, Kotkaniemi, Pesce
As the trade deadline nears, one Ottawa Senators veteran that could draw trade interest is 36-year-old Danish center Lars Eller. According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, the Senators “have had calls on most of their pending UFAs,” and he “could see a scenario where Eller is moved.” Eller is Ottawa’s fourth-line center, his role entirely a result of his defensive capability rather than his offensive production. Over the last two seasons, Eller has managed just eight goals and 24 points in 109 games, but that doesn’t mean he’s not pulling his weight in other ways. He’s playing regularly on Ottawa’s penalty kill, and has been a key asset at the faceoff dot, winning nearly 58% of his draws. A team looking to add a veteran fourth-line center might have considerable interest in Eller, especially as he has something often highly coveted in veteran rental players: a Stanley Cup ring.
From Ottawa’s perspective, dealing Eller isn’t likely to return much other than a minor draft pick, but it would provide some other benefits to the club. The Senators sit a full six points behind the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot, having played the same number of games. With the club looking less likely to return to the playoffs with each passing day, it might be more prudent for the club to hand the regular role Eller occupies to a younger player, such as the promising Stephen Halliday. Halliday, 23, has 11 points in 28 games this season despite averaging just 8:11 time on ice per game, the fewest among regular Senators forwards.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Carolina Hurricanes center Jesperi Kotkaniemi was dressed tonight for the Hurricanes’ contest against the Vancouver Canucks, marking the Finnish pivot’s re-entry into the Hurricanes’ lineup after three consecutive games as a healthy scratch. With the deadline creeping closer, Kotkaniemi’s status is one to monitor as reports emerged in January that the Hurricanes were shopping the player. It’s unlikely the team’s interest in dealing Kotkaniemi has ceased, and so today’s decision to dress the center marks the final time he’ll be able to appear before NHL pro scouts before the trade deadline. Kotkaniemi has four years remaining on his contract at a $4.82MM cap hit, and has a 10-team no-trade list in his contract. The 2018 No. 3 overall pick scored 12 goals and 33 points last season but has just nine points in 36 games this year.
- New Jersey Devils defenseman Brett Pesce did not play in tonight’s shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs due to an injury, head coach Sheldon Keefe announced pregame. The Devils replaced Pesce in their lineup with Johnathan Kovacevic, who did not play in the team’s prior two games. Pesce is New Jersey’s No. 3 defenseman by ice time, playing 20:18 per game, including a team-high 2:29 per game on the penalty kill. Kovacevic was a leading penalty killer for New Jersey last season, but has seen his ice time decline as he missed much of the first half of the year with an injury. Kovacevic is playing 16:43 per game this season, including just over a minute per game on the penalty kill.
Anaheim Ducks Activate Frank Vatrano
The Anaheim Ducks have activated winger Frank Vatrano off of injured reserve. In a corresponding move, they have placed center Mikael Granlund, who is sidelined with an upper-body injury, on injured reserve.
Vatrano has been out since Dec. 27 with a shoulder injury, an ailment that kept him sidelined for 22 contests. It’s been a tough season for the 31-year-old sniper, and his activation today will give him the chance to re-enter the lineup and attempt to re-write the story of his 2025-26 campaign. Vatrano, who scored 37 goals and was an All-Star two years ago, has just three goals and six points in 38 games this season.
He’s scored at least 20 goals in every season since he joined the Ducks as a free agent in 2022, but it appears almost impossible for him to reach that number in what remains of the 2025-26 season. The emergence of several talented young scorers in Anaheim, such as star rookie Beckett Sennecke, has eaten into the prime offensive opportunities Vatrano once received.
This season, Vatrano ranks No. 11 among Ducks forwards in time on ice per game, averaging 12:20 with only sporadic usage on either side of special teams. In both 2023-24 and 2024-25, Vatrano was the team’s No. 2 forward in terms of time on ice per game, playing regularly on the top power play unit in both years and occupying a notable penalty kill role in his All-Star campaign.
Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville, who also coached Vatrano during both players’ tenure with the Florida Panthers, commented to The Hockey News’ Derek Lee on Vatrano’s season, saying “whether it was his shot or his production, it’s been off a little bit, and I think that he needs to get himself feeling good and getting that some confidence in his game.” With today’s activation, he’ll get his first chance to rebound and begin to build back his confidence level. For tonight’s game against the New York Islanders, Vatrano slotted in on the team’s third line, playing alongside Ryan Poehling and Ryan Strome.
Replacing Vatrano on IR is Granlund. The veteran forward has been sidelined for four consecutive games with his injury, suffered at the Olympic tournament while helping Finland to a bronze medal. The 34-year-old was a key offseason addition for GM Pat Verbeek, signing a three-year, $7MM AAV deal to head to Orange County.
While he’s dealt with some injuries, he’s largely kept to his career pace as a Duck, scoring 27 points in 38 games, which is a 58-point 82-game scoring pace. He’s replaced Vatrano as Anaheim’s No. 2 forward in terms of ice time, skating 18:55 time on ice per game, including 3:10 on the power play and 1:41 on the penalty kill.
Trade Notes: Garland, Haula, Duhaime, Greer
After yesterday’s report that the New York Islanders were in serious discussions to acquire Conor Garland from the Vancouver Canucks, no completed trade has emerged. In a subsequent update from Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, the Islanders may be pulling away from their pursuit of Garland.
Rosner stated that the Canucks are active on multiple fronts regarding Garland, suggesting that a bidding war might be starting. Additionally, Rosner believes that Vancouver’s asking price for Garland may be too much for the Islanders to stomach.
New York still has time to reconsider Garland or seek a more affordable solution. There’s no question the team could use additional offense, especially on the powerplay. Garland has scored 82 goals and 221 points in 370 games since joining the Canucks in 2021, with 55 of those points coming on the power play.
Additional trade notes:
- For teams not interested in paying the price for Robert Thomas or Vincent Trocheck, the Nashville Predators have another center option available for trade. According to ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, Erik Haula is drawing interest from around the league. Haula, a pending unrestricted free agent, has scored nine goals and 30 points in 61 games for Nashville this season, averaging 16:38 of ice time. Additionally, Haula was impressive for Team Finland at the Olympics, scoring three goals and six points in six games, helping his country to a bronze medal.
- In a separate report from Weekes, the former netminder shared that Brandon Duhaime of the Washington Capitals and A.J. Greer of the Florida Panthers are drawing interest as potential bottom-six options. Each forward is incredibly physical and can chip in offensively when needed. Greer has had the better year between the two, scoring 11 goals and 22 points in 61 games with 159 hits.
Maple Leafs Scratch Multiple Players
The writing is on the wall for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Firmly shifting their eyes toward selling, the Maple Leafs announced they had scratched Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Scott Laughton, and Bobby McMann ahead of the trade deadline. The term they used in their announcement was “roster-management purposes.”
Although no deal is close on any of the trio, it’s the first indication that Toronto recognizes that the 2025-26 season is lost. The Maple Leafs are 0-3-1 since the Olympics, being outscored by 10. They have fallen nine points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Assuming they finish outside of a playoff spot, it’ll be the first time in a decade that the Maple Leafs have failed to qualify for the postseason. The biggest looming issue is that Toronto is projected to be without its first-round pick in the upcoming draft. The selection was moved to the Boston Bruins last season in the Brandon Carlo trade, but is top-five protected. As of right now, the Maple Leafs are projected to have the 11th overall pick, which would be of immense value to Boston.
All three of tonight’s scratches have been mentioned in trade rumors of late.
Defenseman Ekman-Larsson is in the second year of a four-year, $14MM contract. He’s been a solid top-four option for the Maple Leafs, scoring 12 goals and 64 points in 138 games, averaging 20:57 of ice time. Still, despite adding some physicality, Ekman-Larsson has seen his possession and defensive metrics drop mildly since joining Toronto.
According to The Fourth Period, the Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, and Utah Mammoth are interested in Ekman-Larsson. After acquiring Tyler Myers from the Vancouver Canucks earlier today, the Stars’ reported interest may have evaporated.
Meanwhile, Laughton and McMann are both expiring assets that have the flexibility to play up and down any team’s lineup. Laughton’s scoring output has dissipated throughout his first full year in Toronto, but he remains quite responsible in the defensive zone and has a 56.7% faceoff percentage this season. The Maple Leafs acquired Laughton at the last deadline for Nikita Grebenkin and a first-round pick.
McMann would likely have the most trade value of the group. He has scored 19 goals and 32 points in 60 games this year and is on an incredibly affordable $1.35MM salary. Toronto should have no shortage of phone calls on the pending unrestricted free agent over the next few days. Still, it’s important to remember that Toronto is attempting to sign McMann to a multi-year extension if the price is right.
Colorado Avalanche Acquire Nick Blankenburg
The Colorado Avalanche have acquired defenseman Nick Blankenburg from the Nashville Predators, according to an official team announcement. The Predators are receiving a 2027 fifth-round pick in exchange for the defenseman.
The move continues Nashville’s recent efforts to add future draft picks in exchange for roster players. Fourth-liners Michael McCarron and Cole Smith were dealt yesterday. In these three deals, the Predators have added a second-round pick, a third-round pick, and a fifth-rounder, albeit by bolstering the depth of Western Conference playoff contenders in the process.
In adding Blankenburg, the Avalanche have added a capable NHL defenseman who has enjoyed the best years of his professional career in Nashville.
While the 27-year-old is undersized, standing 5’9″ 177 pounds, he plays at the kind of pace that will allow him to fit in seamlessly in Colorado. He has 21 points in 49 games this season, playing 17:57 per night with the Predators.
He’s appeared on both sides of special teams, serving as the team’s second power play quarterback (behind star Roman Josi) and is averaging 1:36 per game on the penalty kill. When Josi missed significant time last season due to injury, it was Blankenburg who stepped up and spent time quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit.
The way Colorado’s defense is constructed, it is unlikely he plays as large a role. The right side of their defense is already well-stocked, with Cale Makar, Sam Malinski, and Brent Burns already in the fold. With Devon Toews, Josh Manson, and Brett Kulak on the other side, the Avalanche have an enviable collection of talent on their back end. Adding Blankenburg, presumably in the seventh-defenseman role, only adds to their stockpile at the position. If an injury hits, the team will have a quality player ready to step in and fill the role of the injured blueliner.
From the Predators’ perspective, the deal adds a draft pick for a pending UFA and concludes what has been a solid developmental success story for the Predators.
Blankenburg was a great find for the team’s hockey operations department in the summer of 2024. He had lost his NHL role with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023-24, playing in the AHL for the first time in his career. He signed a two-year deal in Nashville that contained a two-way structure in its first year, something that ultimately didn’t factor in too much as Blankenburg only played 13 games for the Milwaukee Admirals.
The Predators were able to find an NHL role that was a fit for Blankenburg’s skill set, and allowed him to occupy that role and rediscover his place as a full-time NHL player. A fifth-round pick isn’t a massive return for Blankenburg, but it’s still an additional draft pick to add to their rapidly growing stockpile. And the value of rewarding Blankenburg by giving him a chance to join one of the NHL’s top teams cannot be discounted – if he plays well in Colorado, and gets into playoff games, he’ll enter the free agent market on very strong ground.
It might be curious to see Nashville trading away so many established players while they are in the midst of a playoff chase, but the reality is the Predators have one of the better track records across the league as developers of NHL talent.
While elite talent has sometimes eluded them, they have, more often than not, been able to rely on their pipeline of talent from AHL Milwaukee to provide them with players capable of taking on specific roles as bottom-six players or third-pairing defensemen. The trades of the bottom-six forwards from yesterday will allow for greater opportunity for developing players such as Ozzy Wiesblatt and Reid Schaefer at the NHL level. The deals should also allow for promising center Fedor Svechkov to re-join the NHL roster.
Today’s trade accomplishes a similar role on defense. The Admirals have been led in scoring this season by a defenseman, 22-year-old Ryan Ufko, and he could get a look in the NHL as a result of this trade. It could also mean greater opportunity for Justin Barron, who the Predators acquired last season from the Montreal Canadiens.
In any case, the Predators have not let this season’s solid short-term on-ice results deter them from building towards a clear long-term vision. Their moves in recent days have seemingly been concrete steps forward in service of that vision, even if they might somewhat hurt their odds of reaching the playoffs this season.
Photos courtesy of Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
Avalanche Reassign Jason Polin, Artturi Lehkonen Week-To-Week
March 4, 2:41 p.m.: Polin was returned to the AHL today, the team announced. He did not have a point or a shot in 8:09 of ice time last night.
March 3, 7:40 p.m.: Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen will be week-to-week with his injury, reported by Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette. The 30-year-old had not yet missed a game this season, on a career high pace with 42 points in 59 games.
March 3, 1:00 p.m.: The Avalanche announced today that they’ve recalled forward Jason Polin from AHL Colorado. He fills one of two open spots on the Avs’ active roster after today’s news that Lehkonenwill miss at least a few games after taking a puck to the face last night.
Colorado also has Joel Kiviranta unavailable as he’s in concussion protocol, so the Avs needed to make a recall today in order to have 18 skaters on hand for tonight’s contest against the Ducks. Polin will draw into the lineup for the third time this season after appearing on back-to-back nights during his last call-up in November.
The 26-year-old winger isn’t much more than a fringe recall option to plug-and-play on the fourth line in case of injury, just like he’s doing now. Colorado signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan a few years back. He’s been an AHL fixture since then, but has totaled 11 NHL appearances over the last three seasons, scoring once with a +2 rating while averaging just 6:45 of ice time per game.
In the minors, the 6’0″, 198-lb Polin is having his best-ever showing. He’s set a new career high with 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 39 games. The former NCAA West Second Team All-American is now up to 24 goals and 50 points in 127 career minor-league outings.
Kings Place Joel Armia On IR
March 4: The Kings announced today that Wright has been reassigned to Ontario and Moverare has been reinstated from the non-roster list. Wright posted zeroes across the board in his NHL debut on Monday, skating 9:42 of ice time.
March 2: The Kings announced a series of roster moves today as a response to lingering injury issues, with team reporter Zach Dooley writing that multiple players on the roster are “questionable” for tonight’s game.
The Kings recalled Angus Booth and Jared Wright, placing winger Joel Armia on IR and designating Jacob Moverare as non-roster playing status. Both Wright and Booth have yet to make their NHL debut to this point in their young pro careers.
The biggest name involved in today’s transactions is Armia, who is dealing with an upper-body injury. According to Dooley, he had an MRI today, but the only indication of the extent of his injury has been this transaction. The 32-year-old is a veteran of nearly 650 NHL games, and has been a quality bottom-six defensive forward for many years. He scored 11 goals and 29 points last season with the Montreal Canadiens before signing in Los Angeles as a free agent. His 10 goals and 20 points are right in line with the scoring paces he managed in the most productive years of his career.
Armia’s on-ice value has always been about more than offense – he’s long been a reliable penalty-killer, someone a team can count on to play a significant role in any short-handed operation. This season, he ranks No. 4 among Kings forwards in short-handed time on ice per game (1:35). As a member of the Canadiens, Armia formed a formidable penalty-killing duo with center Jake Evans, ranking No. 2 among team forwards in penalty killing ice time per game in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
As a result of his IR placement today, he’s guaranteed to miss at least the team’s next few games. His full return timeline is currently unclear, throwing into question whether he’ll be able to play against his former team when the Canadiens visit Los Angeles on March 7. Armia’s direct roster replacement is Wright, who also stands 6’3″.
As previously mentioned, Wright hasn’t yet made his NHL debut, but the former Denver Pioneer is a leading penalty killer amongst Ontario forwards. Because he is playing a similar role to Armia at the AHL level, it’s possible the Kings opt for Wright to make his NHL debut on this recall, perhaps hoping his addition can provide on-ice stylistic continuity while Armia is sidelined.
On defense, Booth has been recalled to replace Moverare, who has been designated as non-roster status. Moverare has been a frequent healthy scratch this season, and when he does dress for games, has averaged just 8:45 time on ice per game. The 27-year-old Swede is a pending UFA and has gotten into just 15 NHL games this season despite spending its entirety in the NHL.
Booth, 21, is still waiting on the chance to make his NHL debut. Given Moverare is the team’s seventh defenseman, he may not get his chance at this point. Drew Doughty is out for tonight’s game, but Booth isn’t a player who fits as a Doughty replacement. With that said, it might not take too long for Booth to get his first NHL game. He’s is a top-four defenseman and steady penalty killer for the Reign, and the rate at which he’s earned recalls in recent weeks suggests he’s getting closer to being considered NHL-ready.
With Moverare’s deal expiring this upcoming summer, Booth may be a player to look out for as a candidate to seize an NHL role going forward – a projection that would grow all the more confident if he can get into some NHL games down the stretch.
Sharks Sign Kiefer Sherwood To Five-Year Extension
2:02 p.m.: Per PuckPedia, Sherwood’s deal will pay him a $4.5MM base salary and $2.5MM signing bonus in 2026-27 and 2027-28. That drops to $4.15MM and $2MM, respectively, for 2028-29, with his base salary then dropping to $2.4MM and the same $2MM signing bonus for 2029-30. He’ll be paid entirely in base salary $4.2MM, in the final year of the deal. The contract also features gradually decreasing trade protection. He’ll start off with a full no-trade clause in 2026-27 that drops to a 16-team no-trade list in 2027-28, then 13 in 2028-29, 10 in 2029-30, and five in the final year of the deal.
1:09 p.m.: The Sharks have confirmed a five-year, $28.75MM deal for Sherwood.
12:13 p.m.: Kiefer Sherwood has gone from a potential trade candidate to a top-nine cornerstone, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the Sharks are close to signing him to a five-year extension worth “a little under” $6MM annually. Chris Johnston of The Athletic adds it’ll be an average annual value of $5.75MM for a total commitment of $28.75MM. The contract also includes signing bonuses and trade protection for the first four seasons, per Frank Seravalli of Victory+.
Sherwood was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, an undesirable outcome for a still-building Sharks club that paid two second-round picks to acquire him from the Canucks less than two months ago. It was either a second trade or an extension for Sherwood, who has evidently chosen the latter after San Jose general manager Mike Grier stepped up his offer.
Assuming the extension crosses the finish line, Sherwood will be under contract longer than any other Sharks player. Only William Eklund and Alexander Wennberg are under contract through as late as 2028-29, and Sherwood’s new deal will carry him through the 2030-31 season. That’s certainly life as a club slowly exiting from a years-long rebuild, still boasting many entry-level contracts and stopgap veterans on short-term commitments. That will obviously change soon when Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Yaroslav Askarov become eligible to sign extensions on July 1, though.
Sherwood’s reward comes on the heels of a two-point outing against the Canadiens last night in a wild 7-5 win, including the game-winning goal (it was one of four shots he had in the game). Those were his first two points as a Shark after going without one through his first four games in San Jose. At the time he was dealt, he was dealing with an upper-body injury and didn’t debut for them until their final game before the Olympic break.
That brings the 30-year-old up to 18 goals and 25 points in 49 games on the year. It’s an identical point pace and even better goal-scoring pace than last year’s breakout campaign in Vancouver that saw him set the NHL single-season hits record with 462. He’s not checking at that pace this season, but still ranks second in the league with 238 despite the missed time.
A late bloomer, the Miami-Ohio product made his NHL debut as an undrafted free agent with the Ducks in 2018, but was relegated to a mostly minor-league role for the next few years after a 50-game showing as a rookie. That began to change when he landed with the Predators in free agency in 2022. After hovering around or well above a point per game in the AHL through the early 2020s, he received an extended call-up with the Preds in 2022-23 and put up a 7-6–13 scoring line in 32 games in a fourth-line role.
That earned Sherwood an opening-night spot the following season, and he’s remained in the NHL ever since. Since the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign, Sherwood has a 47-45–92 scoring line in 195 games for Nashville, Vancouver, and San Jose with a +5 rating and 934 hits. That’s an average of 20 goals, 39 points, and 393 hits per 82 games.
The league’s most physical forward by definition, the mild goal-scoring upside he’s flashed in that time makes him an intriguing complementary fit higher in San Jose’s lineup alongside either Macklin Celebrini or 2025 #2 pick Michael Misa, quickly emerging as their second-line pivot after a rough start to the campaign. Sherwood is averaging 17:25 of ice time per game in his small sample in San Jose.
There will be undeniable sticker shock to see a recent breakout talent without a years-long track record of top-nine play this late in his pro career land that combination of length and AAV. It’s simply the reality of a new era of aggressive salary-cap increases. Considering past comparables who signed for similar percentages of the cap, the terms of the deal don’t jump out as overly groundbreaking. AFP Analytics projected Sherwood’s extension at five years, with a price tag of $5.75MM annually, which was right on the money.
Image courtesy of Bob Frid-Imagn Images.
Wild Reassign Ben Jones
After acquiring center Michael McCarron from the Predators last night, the Wild have reassigned fellow middleman Ben Jones to AHL Iowa. They didn’t need the roster spot, but McCarron’s addition made Jones something of a redundancy, so he’ll be on his way back down.
Jones, 27, doesn’t have much of an NHL track record but has slowly been pushing for more opportunities in Minnesota over the past two years. He’s played 26 games for the Wild this year with a goal and an assist, the first points of his career. He’s got a -10 rating and some ugly shot attempt numbers, but has proven to be of value as a faceoff specialist at the bottom of the lineup, winning 53.5% of his draws. He last got into a game on Jan. 20 and, while he was recalled again from Iowa over the Olympic break, was scratched for Minnesota’s last four games.
The Ontario native is now a pending UFA after signing a two-year, two-way deal with the Wild in 2024. He’s been quite a capable offensive producer on an Iowa club that’s one of the worst in the AHL at both ends of the ice, so they’d likely prefer to retain him and keep him there as much as possible. He’s now the AHL team’s captain and has five goals and 16 points in 18 games for them this season.