Tobias Björnfot Claimed Off Waivers By Panthers
The Panthers have claimed defenseman Tobias Björnfot off waivers from the Golden Knights, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Björnfot played in just seven games with the Golden Knights organization – appearing in two games with Vegas and five with the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. He failed to score a point in any of the matchups, though he did record six penalty minutes. The 22-year-old defenseman has struggled to find his groove in the pros, recording just one goal and 15 points across 119 career games. He spent five years with the Los Angeles Kings before moving to Vegas, with the Kings originally drafted the defenseman 22nd-overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. He was drafted out of Sweden’s U20 league, then referred to as the J20 Nationell, though he also received seven SHL games in his draft year, failing to record a point in any of them. The Kings promptly signed Björnfot, even awarding him his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season.
While another change of scenery could be enticing for Björnfot, it’s not likely he’ll slot into Florida’s lineup without injury. The Panthers currently carry seven defensemen and have veteran depth on all three pairs, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Dmitry Kulikov operating as Florida’s bottom unit. Björnfot will have the chance to compete with Josh Mahura for the role as seventh defenseman, though Mahura’s ability to play on either the left or right side will likely earn him an advantage. Mahura has scored six assists in 20 appearances this season.
Senators Claim Boris Katchouk Off Waivers
The Ottawa Senators have claimed forward Boris Katchouk off of waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks. Katchouk has been with the Hawks for the last three seasons, totaling 117 games and 26 points with the club.
Katchouk has largely served in a full-time NHL role since making his debut with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021-22, playing in just nine AHL games since. That includes six games with the Rockford IceHogs this season, where Katchouk has scored three goals and five points. But while he’s stayed on an NHL roster, his role hasn’t grown much – with Katchouk regularly rotating into the lineup as a depth winger. He’s totaled 155 career games over the last three seasons, averaging just under 11-and-a-half minutes each game and scoring a total of 32 points.
Katchouk will now join a Senators lineup that recently traded winger Vladimir Tarasenko, forcing them to rely on call-up Jiri Smejkal to fill their fourth line. Smejkal has managed just one assist in 10 games this season, adding 19 points in 39 AHL games. It’s his first year in North America, after spending the last seven years touring across Europe’s top leagues, playing in the KHL, Czechia Extraliga, Liiga, and SHL. He’s proven productive in every league, though he hasn’t yet found his scoring groove in Canada. Some healthy competition could be exactly what he needs, now battling with an experienced depth forward in Katchouk.
Ducks Claim William Lagesson Off Waivers From Maple Leafs
The Ducks have claimed defenseman William Lagesson off waivers from the Maple Leafs, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports.
Lagesson has served as one of many depth defenders to fill in for injured Leafs this season, playing in 30 NHL games and recording four assists, 19 penalty minutes, and a +5. He’s still searching for his first NHL goal, failing to score in any of the 90 games he’s played, dating back to the 2019-20 season when he made his debut with the Edmonton Oilers. In fact, Lagesson hasn’t scored a goal in any of his last five seasons – save for a scoring explosion with the Chicago Wolves last year, when he managed a career-high 10 goals and 32 points in 65 games. But outside of that burst, Lagesson’s role has largely been on the defensive side of the puck, with his long reach and control along the boards helping to control transition up and down the ice.
The Ducks will likely lean on Lagesson as extra defensive depth behind current seventh-defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who has one goal and 12 points in the first 54 games of his career. Anaheim has seen a rotating door of defensemen this season, leaning on eight different blue-liners despite not bearing with substantial injuries. Their defense corp is also incredibly young, with rookies Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov, and LaCombe all earning routine roles.
Bruins Acquire Andrew Peeke
The Bruins have acquired defenseman Andrew Peeke from the Blue Jackets, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. Columbus is acquiring 2015 first-round pick Jakub Zbořil in return, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. Boston has also sent a 2027 third-round pick to Columbus in the swap, per an official release.
With the attachment of a third-round pick, Boston is placing clear trust in Peeke to slot into a solid role on their blue-line. The 25-year-old defenseman has operated in a fairly limited role this season, averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time across 23 games. He’s scored one goal and eight points in that stretch. While he’s seen a decreased role this year, Peeke is no stranger to serving on a top pair, averaging over 21 minutes of ice time in each of the last two seasons. Standing at 6’3″ and 210 lbs, Peeke has established himself as a hefty, physical defender capable of shutting down opponents in his own end. He made his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season but more formally played his first season in 2021-22, scoring two goals and 15 points in 82 games with Columbus. The Blue Jackets drafted Peeke in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft.
In return, Columbus receives Jakub Zboril – a player that’s earned infamy after getting drafted 13th-overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, a part of Boston’s three consecutive picks along with Jake DeBrusk and Zachary Senyshyn. The trio was immediately followed by the selection of Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, and Thomas Chabot. Zboril has since struggled to find a groove in North American pros, recording just one goal and 16 points across 76 career NHL games and 66 points in 213 AHL games. That includes the nine assists he’s managed in 31 AHL games this season, though he’s still searching for his first goal of the year. Zboril has scored one goal across the last four seasons. He now moves to a new club for the first time in his career, hoping that a change of scenery will also bring newfound production.
Sabres Send Erik Johnson To Flyers
The Buffalo Sabres are sending veteran defenseman Erik Johnson to the Philadelphia Flyers, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Johnson has been a focal piece of trade rumors for a while, now moving to the fourth club of his career. Philadelphia will be sending a 2024 fourth-round pick the other way, per The Athletic’s Chris Johnston. The deal features no salary retention.
Johnson hit the open market for the first time in seven years this summer, signing a one-year, $3.2MM deal with the Sabres. It marked his first move since February of 2011, when he was traded to Colorado alongside Jay McClement and the 11th-overall pick in 2011 that turned into Duncan Siemens. In return, the St. Louis Blues received Chris Stewart, Kevin Shattenkirk, and the 32nd-oveall pick in 2011 that turned into Ty Rattie. Johnson quickly established himself as a focal piece of Colorado’s blue line, averaging over 24 minutes of ice time through his first 22 games with the Avalanche. He maintained that heavy usage across the next 13 seasons, averaging over 21 minutes of ice time as he totaled 717 games and 246 points in Colorado. His burly size and long reach made him a coveted asset, even if his scoring never rose above a career-high 39 points scored in the 2013-14 season.
Johnson will likely be leaned on as the replacement for top-pair defenseman Sean Walker, who the Flyers traded to the Colorado Avalanche for a conditional 2025 first-round pick and centerman Ryan Johansen, who the Flyers are continuing to shop around. Walker spent nearly all season alongside Nick Seeler, who the Flyers recently signed to a four-year contract extension. Johnson certainly won’t bring the scoring touch that Walker managed, scoring 22 points in 63 games, but he should maintain the burly presence in the neutral zone that earned Walker praise. This move also gives Philadelphia more room to utilize their young defensemen, including Ronald Attard and Yegor Zamula.
Philadelphia Trades Wade Allison To Nashville For Denis Gurianov
The Philadelphia Flyers have sent depth forward Wade Allison to the Nashville Predators for winger Denis Gurianov, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Allison’s move was first reported by The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco.
Allison has spent the entirety of the season in the AHL, scoring a measly 10 goals and 17 points in 46 games – matching his scoring in 28 AHL games last season. He’s lost his grip on the NHL role he earned last season, when he played in 60 games and scored 15 points while averaging a commendable 13 minutes of ice time. Last year marked Allison’s first full-time NHL role, though he had played 15 games between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons as well. In total, he’s managed 75 career NHL games, with 13 goals, 22 points, and 40 penalty minutes. The 26-year-old winger hasn’t quite found his groove in the pros since making his debut in 2020-21 and was likely due for a change of scenery. He’ll now move to Nashville, who has focused on bringing in depth forwards this Trade Deadline – also acquiring Jason Zucker and Anthony Beauvillier via trade, and Jaret Anderson-Dolan off of waivers.
Gurianov will move to his fourth team in the last three seasons, moving from Dallas to Montreal last season, and signing a one-year, $850K contract with the Predators last summer. He started the season in the minor leagues, scoring 30 points in 27 games with the Milwaukee Admirals, before getting called up in early January. He’s since managed just two points, split evenly, in 14 games with the Predators. The performance has brought his career totals up to 113 points across 294 games, though much of that scoring came during a three-season stretch from 2019 to 2022, when Gurianov scored 29, 30, and 31 points respectively while serving in Dallas’ top-nine. He was traded to Montreal in the subsequent 2022-23 season in a one-for-one swap with Evgenii Dadonov, and has struggled to regain his scoring touch since.
Moving Gurianov not only nets Nashville a depth forward with potential in Allison – it also gives the team much more flexibility to deploy their newest additions, with Allison not likely to rival an immediate NHL role. Gurianov was averaging over 12 minutes of ice time with Nashville, rotating between the team’s second and third lines. His role will now likely move to Zucker, who has a much more commendable nine goals and 25 points this season, and is coming off a 27-goal, 48-point performance last year. Added lineup flexibility could be enough to bring Zucker back to his high-scoring ways, or offer a chance for Beauvillier to once again become comfortable in a contending lineup.
Devils Acquire Jake Allen
2:30 p.m.: The trade is now official, per a team announcement. The condition on the pick has been clarified to mean if Allen plays more than 40 games next season en route to a Devils playoff berth.
12:38 p.m.: The Devils are “gaining traction” on acquiring goaltender Jake Allen from the Canadiens, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The Canadiens will receive a third-round pick in return, Emily Kaplan of ESPN reports. The third-round pick is conditional and can upgrade to a second-rounder if Allen hits a certain games-played benchmark, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. Per TSN’s Darren Dreger, it’s a 2025 third-rounder with 40 games played as the condition cutoff. Montreal is retaining 50% of Allen’s $3.85MM cap hit that runs through next season, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic says.
Allen was always the most logical option to ship out of Montreal if the Habs opted to move out one of their three NHL-rostered goaltenders. The 33-year-old has been the worst out of his trio with Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau this year in what’s been a second straight season significantly below 
average, averaging a .892 SV% in 62 starts and one relief appearance since 2022.
Signed to a two-year, $7.7MM extension in October 2022 that kicked in this season, Allen regressed sharply before his new deal kicked in. He was decent in his first two seasons in Montreal, though, posting a .906 SV% and 20-32-9 record in 64 games between 2020 and 2022 while backing up Carey Price and platooning with Montembault after the former played through a career-ending knee injury in the Habs’ run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final. With the younger Primeau surpassing Allen on the depth chart as of late, the veteran has only played four games since the beginning of February.
This year, Allen has made 21 starts, posting a 6-12-3 record. His .892 SV% and 3.65 GAA are both far below the league average. While his -2.8 goals saved above expected (MoneyPuck) is the worst on the team, it does demonstrate that his poor base-level stats are exacerbated by playing behind a rebuilding team. He immediately becomes the best-performing goalie on the Devils relative to expectations, who have had absolutely no sustainable success in the crease with Vítek Vaněček (-11.2 GSAx), Nico Daws (-4.5 GSAx), and Akira Schmid (-3.0 GSAx) all performing at a below-replacement level. Allen brings in Stanley Cup pedigree, having won with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, as well as over 400 games of NHL experience.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Bruins Acquire Pat Maroon, Reassign Marc McLaughlin
12:31 p.m.: The deal is now official, per the Wild. They’re also receiving minor-league forward Luke Toporowski from the Bruins in the swap. The 2026 sixth-rounder will transfer to Minnesota if Maroon plays in at least one playoff game for the Bruins in 2024, per CapFriendly.
11:32 a.m.: McLaughlin has been assigned to Providence, per PuckPedia. The move clears his $775K cap hit and makes the Bruins cap-compliant ahead of the Maroon trade call.
10:40 a.m.: The Bruins are acquiring veteran winger Pat Maroon from the Wild for a conditional late-round pick, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The conditional pick is a sixth-rounder in 2026, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
Maroon was on injured reserve after undergoing back surgery early last month. He’s just entered his four-to-six-week return timeframe, so while he won’t debut for Boston immediately, he won’t be out of the lineup for too much longer. Russo reported this morning that Maroon and Connor Dewar were both drawing trade interest.
The 35-year-old has settled into a comfortable fourth-line role in the later stages of his career, recording four goals and 16 points in 48 games with the Wild before landing on IR. The bruising power winger led all NHLers in PIMs last season with 150 and made four consecutive Stanley Cup Finals over a four-year run from 2019 to 2022 with the Blues and Lightning. He wrapped up his four-year stint in Tampa last summer as the second year of his $1MM cap-hit deal was traded to Minnesota for a seventh-round pick with 20% retention.
As such, Maroon will carry a slightly reduced cap hit of $800K for the Bruins. Minnesota is not expected to retain salary in this transaction.
With three Stanley Cup rings and nearly 800 games of NHL experience, Maroon provides Boston with a veteran fourth-line presence that they were sorely lacking. Jesper Boqvist, Justin Brazeau, and Jakub Lauko were staffing the Bruins’ bottom forward unit, all averaging less than 11 minutes per game. Maroon can shoulder a bit more ice time – he averaged nearly 13 per game with the Wild – and carries any intangible that a playoff contender could want.
The Bruins must assign one player to the minors to remain cap-compliant after this trade. They had only $57.5K in cap space, so one of Brazeau or Marc McLaughlin, neither of whom requires waivers, will likely be assigned to AHL Providence.
Red Wings Send Klim Kostin To Sharks, Acquire Radim Simek
The Detroit Red Wings have sent forward Klim Kostin to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenseman Radim Simek and a 2024 seventh-round pick belonging to the New Jersey Devils. The Red Wings have loaned Simek to the AHL’ Grand Rapids Griffins.
Kostin joined the Red Wings alongside Kailer Yamamoto in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers last summer, with Detroit offering future considerations the other way. The Wings promptly signed Kostin to a two-year, $4MM contract that carries him through the 2024-25 season. Kostin rotated into the Wings bottom-line this season, scoring three goals and four points in 33 games, averaging just under nine minutes of ice time each game. He’s also added 38 penalty minutes, including two fights. It’s a down year for Kostin after receiving a prime chance with the Oilers last season – when he scored 11 goals and 21 points in 57 games, averaging over 10 minutes of ice time. Still, much of his career has been spent in a depth role, with the 24-year-old totaling 19 goals and 36 points in 136 career games. At 6’4″, 232 lbs, Kostin brings notable heft and physicality to the lineup and has proven he can add goal-scoring value with his shot. He’ll likely receive a routine role with the Sharks, who have already traded Anthony Duclair, though it’s yet to be seen if he can find his modest scoring groove once again.
Simek has spent all season in the minor leagues, recording 16 points and 29 penalty minutes in 40 games with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. While he has totaled 209 career NHL games, serving as a depth fill-in for San Jose since 2018-19, it seems Simek’s impact will stay confined to the minors as he joins Grand Rapids. At 31, Simek has carved out a hardy career in North American pros for an undrafted free agent, joining the Sharks in 2017-18 after a five-year career in the Czechia Extraliga, where he played with Liberec Bili Tygri HC. He’s a hardy defenseman, known for his physicality and long reach – both traits that could come in handy should Detroit make the playoffs.
Rangers, Wild Swap Turner Elson For Nic Petan
The Rangers and Wild have exchanged minor-league depth forwards, sending Nic Petan to New York in exchange for Turner Elson. Both players remain on assignment to their new teams’ respective AHL affiliates.
Both Elson and Petan are pending UFAs in the back half of two-year, two-way deals with $762.5K cap hits. Petan makes slightly more in the minors, earning $550K compared to Elson’s $225K, although the latter carries a $250K guarantee.
Petan, 28, has far more NHL experience than his counterpart in the deal. Once a high-flying scoring center in major junior play with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, Petan has bounced around teams and leagues since being a second-round pick of the Jets in 2013. He’s played in parts of nine consecutive seasons with the Jets, Maple Leafs, Canucks, and Wild, although he’s eclipsed the 30-game mark just once. He had two assists and a -2 rating in six NHL games this year. He’d been a point-per-game player in five straight AHL campaigns but has regressed slightly with the Iowa Wild, posting 12 goals and 40 points in 44 games.
Elson is the more veteran pro at 31 years old, but he’s played in only three NHL games – one with the Flames back in 2015-16, and two with the Red Wings in 2021-22. He carries much lower potential to factor into an NHL lineup down the stretch than Petan, posting only 12 points in 38 games with AHL Hartford. Unfortunately for him, he’s heading from a Hartford team destined for postseason play to an Iowa squad that sits last in their division.