Capitals Acquire Timothy Liljegren
2:52 p.m.: Washington has announced the deal and sent the Golden Knights’ 2026 fourth-round pick the other way to complete it.
1:06 p.m.: The Capitals are acquiring defenseman Timothy Liljegren from the Sharks, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. We’re still waiting on the return.
While San Jose is in a playoff race of their own, they have a bevy of pending unrestricted free agent blue-liners. Liljegren is one of them, and they were widely expected to ship multiple names from that group out today to continue recouping at least mid-level assets as they slowly emerge from the ashes of their rebuild.
Acquired from the Maple Leafs early last season, the Sharks have given Liljegren the longest leash of his career. A first-round pick by Toronto in 2017, he was never able to break into a top-four role there but is now averaging over 20 minutes per game in San Jose. Given how much he’s produced at lower levels, the Sharks were likely hoping for a bit more production than the seven goals and 28 points he provided in 110 games since October 2024.
Liljegren didn’t get much power-play time, though, especially this season, with Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg taking up those quarterback slots. With Klingberg being a potential extension candidate given his play and youngsters Shakir Mukhamadullin and Sam Dickinson pushing for more ice time moving forward, the 26-year-old Liljegren didn’t look like a long-term fit.
The move is a sign the Caps aren’t entirely punting on this season, even after trading away franchise defender John Carlson and center Nic Dowd for futures in the last couple of days. Washington’s playoff odds have slipped to a small but still tangible 21.3%, per MoneyPuck. They only find themselves four points out of a spot.
Liljegren could stick around past this season if there’s mutual interest in an extension. Matt Roy is now the only everyday NHL right-shot they have signed for next year, so assuming they shift one of their lefties over to their offside to make room for top prospect Cole Hutson to join the team from college in the coming days, as expected, there’s a hole that Liljegren fills in the Caps’ bottom four.
Image courtesy of Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images.
Red Wings Acquire Justin Faulk From Blues
According to TSN’s Bruce Garrioch, the Detroit Red Wings are considered the frontrunners for defenseman Justin Faulk if the Blues end up moving him before the deadline. According to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, there is confidence that the two teams were able to place a trade call before the deadline.
TSN’s Darren Dreger shares that a first- and third-round pick are headed to St. Louis. Additionally, Dreger added that Justin Holl is also going to the Blues. Both teams have confirmed the trade, with the Red Wings announcing that prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov is also included in the trade. The first-round pick will be Detroit’s first this season and carries no protection per Max Bultman of The Athletic, whereas the third-round selection will be the one they acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier today for Elmer Söderblom.
Detroit was known to be looking for a right-handed top-four defenseman, and there were few options better than Faulk available. Despite being a competitive team this season, the Red Wings had little else on the blue line behind Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider.
Not only will Faulk help stabilize Detroit’s defensive corps this season, but he’ll be around next year, too. Thanks to his seven-year, $45.5MM contract extension with the Blues, Faulk is signed through next season at a relatively affordable $6.5MM cap hit. Additionally, he’ll only be owed $4.5MM in actual salary. He does have a 15-team no-trade clause in his contract, but there’s no word if he had to waive it to move to HockeyTown.
At this stage of his career, Faulk has become a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. He topped out with a 50-point performance with the Blues in the 2022-23 season, but hasn’t gotten close to those totals since.
Still, he has remained a complete player. Over the last three years, Faulk has averaged six goals and 31 points in 66 games, with over 22 minutes of ice time per game. Furthermore, he consistently blocks over 100 shots a season, which will benefit the trio of Edvinsson, Seider, and Ben Chiarot, each of whom has blocked over 100 shots this season.
Unfortunately, although he can offer help on the Red Wings’ power play and penalty kill, Faulk won’t do much to diminish Detroit’s goal-scoring woes at even strength. Of his 94 points throughout the last three seasons, 28 of those have come with a man advantage.
Meanwhile, the Blues will come out of today’s deadline with a pair of first-round picks in exchange for a few aging veterans. They were already known to be one of the few sellers entering deadline season, and have set themselves up nicely for Alexander Steen to take over as the next General Manager.
Holl will only serve as a warm body for the rest of the regular season. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season after watching his three-year, $10.2MM ($3.4MM AAV) contract expire.
It was a foregone conclusion that Holl wouldn’t be a part of the Red Wings’ plans this season, but there was little hope the team would be able to clear his salary off the books. After clearing waivers earlier this year, Holl, 34, has spent the entire season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, scoring two goals and 14 points in 41 games with a +19 rating.
Additionally, the Blues have also acquired a very intriguing prospect in Buchelnikov. The 22-year-old was drafted in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Red Wings and has been in the KHL ever since.
He’s made waves in the KHL over the past three years. Playing on three different teams, Buchelnikov has scored 41 goals and 106 points in 159 games. There will be a notable jump once he transitions to professional life in North America, but that’s extremely productive for a younger player in the top professional league on the other hemisphere.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images.
Canucks Trade Lukas Reichel To Bruins
The Canucks have dealt depth forward Lukas Reichel to the Bruins for a sixth-round pick, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports. It’s Boston’s sixth-round pick in this year’s draft, the team announced.
It’s the second time this year that Reichel has been traded. Unfortunately, the Canucks have taken a step back in terms of asset management. Earlier this season, Vancouver acquired Reichel from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
Reichel, 23, has seen his stock drop significantly over the past several years. The Blackhawks drafted him with the 17th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft after scoring 12 goals and 24 points in 42 games for the DEL’s Eisbären Berlin.
After spending one more year in his native Germany, Reichel moved to North America for the 2021-22 campaign. He played exceptionally well for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs in his first two years, scoring 41 goals and 108 points in 111 games.
Still, he was unable to generate much success in the NHL. Across four and a half years with the Blackhawks, Reichel is credited with 22 goals and 58 points in 174 games with a -60 rating, averaging 13:21 of ice time per game. Furthermore, his 41.3% CorsiFor% at even strength didn’t indicate a breakout was on the horizon, either.
He instantly became a trade candidate at the beginning of the season, and the center-needy Canucks took their shot. It was more of the same in British Columbia, as Reichel will finish his tenure in Vancouver with one assist in 14 games.
Things got so bad with the Canucks that the team placed him on waivers a few months ago, but he ultimately made it through the wire unscathed. He’s been with the Abbotsford Canucks since, scoring six goals and 13 points in 23 games.
From the Bruins’ perspective, this trade was about helping out their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. Providence has dominated the AHL’s Atlantic Division this season and is looking to make some noise in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Washington Capitals To Acquire David Kampf
The Washington Capitals have acquired forward David Kampf from the Vancouver Canucks for a sixth-round pick, reports TSN’s Darren Dreger.
After trading Nic Dowd to the Vegas Golden Knights earlier this week, a move that opened up a hole at fourth-line center for the team, the club has filled that hole with Kampf. While Kampf is certainly a downgrade from Dowd, it’s a downgrade the Capitals are likely happy to stomach given the assets they were able to collect for Dowd.
The Capitals face somewhat steep odds this season in their efforts to return to the playoffs, and that’s especially true given the trade of key defenseman John Carlson to the Anaheim Ducks. But Kampf, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, doesn’t necessarily have to be a one-year rental. At 31 years old, its possible the Capitals have added Kampf with the hope that they can sign him for beyond this season at an affordable rate.
Kampf isn’t much of an offensive producer. In 38 games for Vancouver this season, he’s scored just six points. His career-high in points as an NHLer is 27, coming in 2022-23. But he has been a regular penalty-killer throughout his time in the NHL, and could step right into Dowd’s vacated role on the Capitals’ short-handed unit.
At the cost of just a sixth-rounder, the Capitals were able to add a player who will help them better absorb the loss of Dowd, and also a player who will get the rest of the season to prove he merits a role in Washington beyond 2025-26.
Islanders Sign Jean-Gabriel Pageau To Three-Year Extension
The New York Islanders have continued their busy day. According to a team announcement, the Islanders have signed center Jean-Gabriel Pageau to a three-year extension. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reported that Pageau will earn a $4.85MM salary on the extension. PuckPedia later added that he’ll have a full no-trade clause in the first two years of his deal, which will convert to a 16-team no-trade clause in the final year.
At the beginning of the season, few would have expected Pageau to re-up in Long Island. Playing out the last season of a six-year, $30MM contract, Pageau was believed to be an early trade candidate considering that the Islanders were largely viewed as a rebuilding club.
Instead, the team caught fire under a new front office regime and the emergence of standout defenseman Matthew Schaefer. Poised for a postseason spot, New York will come out of deadline day with Ondřej Palát, Brayden Schenn, and a new contract for Pageau.
Factoring in the acquisition of Schenn, many believed he would become the heir-apparent to Pageau down the middle of the ice for the Islanders. Now, the team will have formidable center depth for the next three years, and that’s without including youngster Calum Ritchie.
Although he didn’t become the second-line center the Islanders were hoping he would become, Pageau has remained extremely consistent. Over the last five years, Pageau has scored 70 goals and 183 points in 363 games, typically netting between 35 and 40 points. Additionally, he’s one of the best faceoff takers in the NHL, averaging a 57.2% success rate in the dot over that stretch.
The only drawback from the Islanders’ perspective is that this extension will take Pageau through his age-36 season. There’s a good chance that Pageau’s offensive capabilities will have dropped off by then, and a $4.85MM cap hit is a chunky price for a center that may be isolated to a fourth-line role by then.
Regardless, it’s clear that New York was intent on rewarding their players at the deadline. There’s a strong rejuvenation happening in the organization right now, and it’s clear the front office wants to keep the core together for the next few seasons.
Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.
Kings To Acquire Scott Laughton From Maple Leafs
The Kings have acquired center Scott Laughton from the Maple Leafs in exchange for a third-round pick, John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor reports. The selection will upgrade to a second-round choice if L.A. comes from behind to make the playoffs, per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. The draft pick will be in 2026, whether it’s in the second or third round, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Los Angeles, still only three points out of a playoff spot, has toed the line between selling and buying over the last 24 hours. They’ve made two moves of each, trading away Warren Foegele and Corey Perry while signing Mathieu Joseph and now acquiring Laughton, a pending UFA who will cost $1.5MM down the stretch. In doing so, they’ve sent away a third-rounder but netted a second-rounder each for Foegele and Perry while upgrading 2026 third-rounders in a pick swap with Ottawa in the Foegele deal.
After giving up a first-rounder and forward prospect Nikita Grebenkin to land Laughton from the Flyers with 50% retention at last year’s deadline, the Leafs turn around and sell him at a loss here. With Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and a combo of Max Domi and Nicolas Roy ahead of him on the depth chart at center, he never held anything more than a fourth-line role for the Leafs. After getting top-nine minutes for a stretch in Philadelphia, he didn’t put up the kind of offensive production Toronto hoped for. He ends his tenure in the GTA with a 10-6–16 scoring line in 63 games with a -3 rating.
The Kings, in need of centers now and for next season, likely saw value in trying to land Laughton now – both to aid with their outside chance at the playoffs and to give them extra time to work out an extension if they were set to pursue him in free agency this summer anyway. A well-regarded defensive piece, he does excel in the faceoff dot, winning 56.7% of them this season. He didn’t fare so well in the possession department in heavy defensive deployment for the Leafs, though, only controlling 40.5% of shot attempts and 39.9% of expected goals at 5-on-5. Those should improve if he’s not stressed so heavily in D-zone starts in L.A.
Laughton could factor in as the Kings’ third-line center to start while Quinton Byfield works his way back from an upper-body injury. They’re currently running 23-year-old rookie Kenny Connors, with all of two games of NHL experience under his belt, in the 3C slot ahead of Samuel Helenius. With top-line fixture Anže Kopitar in the final few weeks of his NHL career, the Kings were anticipated to get stretched thin down the middle next season anyway, so they’ll likely hope to reach a deal with Laughton to fortify their bottom-six depth for the next couple of years.
Ducks Trade Ryan Strome To Flames
Veteran forward Ryan Strome is heading from the Ducks to the Flames, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. It’s a seventh-round pick in 2027 headed the other way, per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. The Flames have confirmed the deal.
Strome, 32, is in the penultimate year of his deal, paying $5MM per season. That’s quickly turned into a negative-value deal with Strome struggling to even stick in the lineup this year. He’s had just three goals and nine points in 33 games, plummeting from the six straight seasons of 40-plus points he’d carried in 2025-26.
Strome’s season started on the injured list with an upper-body issue. It’s unclear if it’s been plaguing him for the whole season, but that would provide an explanation for his cratering offense. He’s been a healthy scratch for extended periods as of late as a result. He drew into the lineup against the Islanders on Wednesday, his first appearance since Jan. 26.
It’s not so much a cap dump by Anaheim, who have plenty of space. It’s more of a high-cost pickup by the Flames to give them more flexibility in reaching the cap floor next season. The salary cap floor next season will be $76.9MM, and while the Flames are currently projected to exceed that by nearly $10MM with Strome in tow, they’ll continue to look to move out veterans – Blake Coleman and Nazem Kadri chief among them – that could put them in danger of being below the floor next year if they’re not active in free agency. He also gives Calgary some center depth if they do end up moving Kadri, although he has played mostly on the wing in Anaheim this year.
Seattle Kraken To Acquire Bobby McMann
The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded Bobby McMann to the Seattle Kraken, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The return heading to Toronto is a second-round pick in 2027 and a fourth-rounder in the upcoming 2026 draft, according to Frank Seravalli of Victory+.
The move ends McMann’s nearly six-year tenure with the Maple Leafs, a tenure in which he emerged a real developmental success story for the organization. He signed with the team as an undrafted player out of Colgate University, began in the ECHL, and worked his way up the professional ladder to the NHL, where he became a 20-goal scorer.
With his contract set to expire, McMann has been widely reported to be seeking a significant pay raise from his current $1.35MM cap hit. The recent signing of a comparable player, San Jose Sharks winger Kiefer Sherwood, to a five-year, $5.75MM AAV contract may very well have pushed the price tag on a McMann extension past where the Maple Leafs were comfortable going.
With Toronto likely to miss the playoffs for just the second time since drafting Auston Matthews, collecting some assets for McMann became an important goal for the team’s deadline work.
Toronto may have been hoping to receive a first-rounder for McMann, who has 19 goals and 32 points this season, rather than a second-rounder. McMann is widely considered a more valuable player than Minnesota Wild center Michael McCarron, who net the Nashville Predators a second-round pick earlier this week. But it seems as though no team was willing to part with a first-rounder for McMann, and with the deadline looming, the Maple Leafs seem to have decided that a package for McMann that is lighter than they may have hoped is better than retaining him beyond today.
More to come…
Flyers To Retain Rasmus Ristolainen
The Flyers will not be moving right-shot defender Rasmus Ristolainen in the closing minutes before the trade deadline, Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reports.
Philadelphia had received extensive interest in the 31-year-old, who still has another year left on his deal at a $5.1MM cap hit. That year left allowed Philly to be comfortable setting a relatively high price and sticking to it, opting to hold onto him and try to move him over the summer or as a rental next year (if at all) rather than budge from what they felt he was worth.
The long list of names calling on the Finn included the Sabres, Canadiens, Bruins, Oilers, Stars, and others. Edmonton, Buffalo, and Dallas in particular pivoted to other options in the past few days. Multiple reports indicated Philly was looking for the same return the Bruins received from the Maple Leafs for Brandon Carlo at last year’s deadline. That package included a first-round pick, a fourth-round pick, and an A/B-tier prospect in Fraser Minten.
As such, the Flyers are done after making two trades earlier today – the first sending Bobby Brink to Minnesota for David Jiricek, the second sending Nicolas Deslauriers to the Hurricanes for a seventh-rounder. They also claimed Luke Glendening off waivers from the Devils to give themselves some center help.
Kraken Sign Jordan Eberle To Two-Year Extension
The Seattle Kraken are signing captain Jordan Eberle to a two-year, $5.5MM AAV contract extension, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deal has a full no-trade clause in each of its two seasons. The Kraken have confirmed Eberle’s new extension.
Eberle, 35, was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer at the expiration of the two-year, $4.75MM deal he signed in March 2024. The veteran winger, who is repped by Craig Oster of Newport Sports Management, has been a key top-six contributor for the Kraken over the course of his time there.
An expansion draft selection by the team, Eberle ranks No. 3 in the all-time scoring rankings of the team’s brief history, and No. 2 in goals.
Despite aging deeper into his mid-thirties, Eberle has kept up his reliable levels of production. Contributing regularly on the power play, he’s scored 22 goals and 42 points in 59 games this season, which is a 31-goal, 58-point pace. If he keeps up his pace, those numbers would be Eberle’s best since 2022-23.
While there is likely some concern that Eberle might decline over the course of this extension – he will be 38 at the expiry of this extension – he has already shown an ability to keep up his high standard of play as he’s gotten older. As a result, there should be a reasonable level of confidence in Seattle that he’ll be able to remain a productive contributor deeper into his thirties.
The conversation surrounding the Kraken related to this deadline has been largely centered around the team’s pursuit of a high-end scoring winger. Eberle isn’t that kind of player, and is extremely unlikely to become one as he ages. But he’s a crucial veteran leader for a team that is desperate to make a return to the playoffs, and could very well end up on a line with any high-end scorer the Kraken eventually acquire.
Eberle’s re-signing ensures a degree of continuity in the Kraken’s forward corps, a group that could very well see some turnover, perhaps even within the next few hours.
The Kraken have reportedly been interested in trading 2022 No. 4 pick Shane Wright in their pursuit of a star forward, and he’s unlikely to be the only name the team is willing to part with as part of that chase. In the event the Kraken do make a franchise-altering trade, today’s re-signing of Eberle ensures they’ll be able to keep around a familiar face and leader to help guide their group through the changes.
Photos courtesy of Brett Holmes-Imagn Images