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Brian Dumoulin

Devils Acquire Brian Dumoulin From Ducks

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11:48 a.m.: Both clubs have announced the trade as reported.

10:48 a.m.: The Devils have acquired defenseman Brian Dumoulin from the Ducks, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Anaheim receives the better of the Oilers’ or Jets’ 2025 second-round pick and the signing rights to winger Herman Träff in return, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic and Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. LeBrun adds the Ducks also retain 50% of Dumoulin’s $3.15MM cap hit. New Jersey had an open roster spot after placing Jack Hughes on long-term injured reserve yesterday following his season-ending shoulder surgery, so no corresponding move will be necessary.

As expected, the third-place Devils aren’t punting on their season following Hughes’ injury. They have a lot of work to do to hold onto their Metropolitan Division berth with defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler joining Hughes on LTIR and leading defense point-getter Dougie Hamilton out week-to-week, though. Dumoulin, coming in at an affordable $1.575MM price tag and on an expiring contract, is a short-term replacement down the stretch for the former. Meanwhile, Anaheim will finish the season with their three lefty rearguards under 25 – Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger.

Dumoulin, 33, has played all 61 games with the Ducks and turned in a very solid 2-14–16 scoring line with a plus-two rating while averaging nearly 20 minutes per game, although his possession numbers aren’t as encouraging. The stay-at-home defender’s 43.4 even-strength CF% is well below Anaheim’s 46.6% share without him on the ice, although he is starting a career-high 57.9% of his zone starts in the defensive end. His -12.9 expected rating is worst on the Ducks, though, and his 42.2 xGF% is his career’s worst possession quality control figure. Some positive regression on those numbers down the stretch is likely in a much more competent possession system in New Jersey.

Even with this year’s struggles, Dumoulin has a lengthy history of being a strong complementary top-four piece, spending most of his career in Pittsburgh alongside Kris Letang. He’s had above-average possession impacts as recently as last year with the Kraken, who signed him to his current two-year, $6.3MM contract in the 2023 offseason. He was a tad too expensive for their liking after loading up their blue line with Brandon Montour last summer, though, prompting them to trade him to Anaheim for a 2026 fourth-round pick. That’s a good bit of business for Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek, who upgrades that pick by two rounds and lands an additional prospect while getting 60-plus games out of Dumoulin.

New Jersey’s blue line wasn’t viewed as a priority area at the deadline a few weeks ago, but injuries to Hamilton and Siegenthaler evidently changed that. The latter was only expected to miss two to three weeks after undergoing a procedure over the 4 Nations break, but he’s already missed two and a half and hasn’t returned to practice.

Dumoulin will likely step into a bottom-pairing spot on the left side behind Brenden Dillon and Luke Hughes in the interim, likely pushing youngster Seamus Casey back down to AHL Utica when Siegenthaler is ready to return. Whether Dumoulin remains in the regular lineup at that point remains to be seen. Siegenthaler has produced less individual offense this year when healthy with nine points in 55 games but has better relative possession impacts in more difficult minutes. That would presumably push Dumoulin to the press box short of someone shifting to their off side, making a second-rounder and a C-tier prospect a steep price to pay.

Träff, 19, was selected by New Jersey in the third round of last year’s draft. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic tabbed him as the No. 6 prospect in the Devils’ system in his 2025 rankings, but they acquired another big winger with a similar projection by picking up Shane Lachance from the Oilers in this week’s Trent Frederic three-team deal. That softens the blow of losing Träff, who’s posted a respectable 3-4–7 scoring line in 25 games with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League as a teenager this year. The 6’3″, 216-lb winger will be buried a bit more in a deeper Ducks system but still has legitimate NHL upside.

He’ll remain with HV71 to close out the season. The Ducks will retain Träff’s signing rights through June 1, 2028. Notably, they’re down to one available retention slot after today’s move.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Anaheim Ducks Plan To Shop Brian Dumoulin At Deadline

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Despite enjoying a three-game winning streak, the Anaheim Ducks are still expected to be deadline sellers for the seventh consecutive season. They own a fair amount of expiring assets such as Robby Fabbri, Frank Vatrano, and Brock McGinn, and The Fourth Period is adding defenseman Brian Dumoulin to that mix.

It’ll be the second time in Dumoulin’s career he will head into the trade deadline on an expiring contract. His six-year, $24.6MM agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins expired after the 2022-23 season, but the team held on to him for their playoff push down the stretch despite missing out by one point.

This time, Dumoulin’s two-year, $6.3MM contract originally signed with the Seattle Kraken will end after this campaign. His showing with the Ducks this season proves that last year’s campaign was somewhat of an apparition on the defensive side of the puck.

He scored a career-high six goals with the Kraken last year but failed to total more than 100 blocked shots in a full campaign since the 2016-17 season. It was also the first time since the 2015-16 season that Dumoulin didn’t average more than 20 minutes of ice time per night. Much of that has changed in Orange County.

Dumoulin has tallied eight assists in 37 games for the Ducks this season averaging 19:47 of ice time per night. He’s a left-handed shot defenseman who can play on both sides of a defensive pairing and has been a useful option next to Anaheim’s younger defensemen. Blocking shots has also come back into focus for Dumoulin who’s expected to reach 135 on the year if he continues his current pace.

His career history will also make him an attractive choice for many contending teams. Dumoulin is a two-time Stanley Cup champion from his time with the Penguins and holds an impressive 91.9% on-ice save percentage 5on5 throughout his eight trips to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Given his cost-effective salary and ability to play on both sides of the blue line, he should have several suitors at the trade deadline. Dumoulin has a 10-team no-trade clause in his contract meaning Anaheim can discuss his availability with the 21 teams off his list. The Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Winnipeg Jets are all legitimate contenders who could use more defensive depth on their blue line.

West Notes: Dumoulin, Oilers GM Search, Lauer, Sparkes

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Ducks defenseman Brian Dumoulin told Travis Lazarczyk of the Portland Press Herald that he had requested a trade from Seattle before last month’s draft, preferably to an Eastern team.  The 32-year-old signed with the Kraken last summer after spending ten years in Pittsburgh and had a limited role, picking up 16 points in 80 games while his average ice time dipped by more than three minutes per game to 17:01 per night.  Originally, Seattle didn’t intend to move him but eventually agreed to do so after signing Brandon Montour but didn’t find an East Coast team to send him to, instead moving him to Anaheim for a 2026 fourth-round pick.  Dumoulin will enter the final year of his contract next season, one that carries a $3.15MM AAV and he’ll be asked to help shore up a back end that struggled mightily in 2023-24.

Elsewhere out West:

  • In an appearance on the Bob McCown Podcast (video link), Oilers CEO of Hockey Operations and interim GM Jeff Jackson reiterated that he has no desire to take on the full-time GM role. He added that there have been several interviews for the position and while he didn’t want to put a firm timeline on a new hire, he’s hoping to have one announced in the next seven to ten days.  Jackson is in the interim role following the departure of Ken Holland when his contract expired late last month.
  • Former Jets assistant coach Brad Lauer has found his next job as WHL Spokane announced that they’ve named Lauer as their new head coach. The 57-year-old spent the last two years as an assistant with Winnipeg and also has time behind the bench with Anaheim and Tampa Bay.  Lauer has worked in the WHL twice before, spending five years with Kootenay as an assistant to kick off his coaching career and four seasons with Edmonton.
  • Kings prospect Jack Sparkes has changed college commitments. Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports (Twitter link) that the blueliner will now attend Clarkson after originally being committed to Michigan State.  The 20-year-old was the tallest player in his draft class at six-foot-eight, going 180th overall.  Sparkes split last season between USHL Muskegon and BCHL Chilliwack, picking up a dozen points in 44 games.

Ducks Acquire Brian Dumoulin From Kraken

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The Ducks have acquired defenseman Brian Dumoulin from the Kraken in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick, per a team announcement.

This move cuts short Dumoulin’s time in Seattle, after inking a two-year, $6.3MM contract with the club last summer. It was Dumoulin’s first time entering the market as an unrestricted free agent, bringing an end to Dumoulin’s 10-year career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He established himself as a stout defensive-defenseman with the Penguins, working his way into top-line minutes during the team’s run to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. The run locked him in as Kris Letang’s defensive partner, a role he held on to through the 2022-23 season.

Dumoulin has never been known for his scoring, with 25 points in 2022-23 marking his career-high. He didn’t bring that scoring to the West coast, posting a much quainter 16 points in 80 games. But he did bring his patented defense, earning his keep among a crowded Kraken blue-line thanks to his ability to shut down play in the neutral zone.

Dumoulin’s move away from Seattle will open space for top prospect Ryker Evans to pursue a full-time role with the NHL club. Evans, a second-round pick in 2021, played in the first 36 games of his NHL career this year, netting one goal, nine points, 20 penalty minutes, and a -5. He found much more production in back-and-forth trips to the minors, scoring 15 points in 25 games with the Coachella Valley Firebirds and adding 10 points in 18 Calder Cup postseason games. Evans headlines a list of strong defense prospects in Seattle, including Ville Ottavainen, Lukas Dragicevic, and Caden Price.

Meanwhile, Dumoulin will move to the rebranded Anaheim Ducks, where he’ll bring veteran presence and Stanley Cup precedent to a very young group. There seems to be no telling how Anaheim will organize their blue-line headed into the new year – with top prospects Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger, Tristan Luneau, and Jackson LaCombe each vying for routine ice time. That’ll be hard to dish out for a team that also needs to find minutes for veterans Cam Fowler, Radko Gudas, Urho Vaakanainen, and now Dumoulin.

Seattle Kraken Sign Brian Dumoulin

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The Seattle Kraken have made an addition to their blueline, inking former Pittsburgh Penguins defender Brian Dumoulin to a two-year, $3.15MM AAV contract.

Dumoulin is a two-time Stanley Cup champion who has been a staple of their blueline since the 2015-16 season. Dumoulin was a bit of a late bloomer in the NHL, as he first became an NHL regular at the age of 24.

Ever since his rookie season Dumoulin has been a relied-upon top-four defenseman for the Penguins, and he has been the team’s leading penalty-killing defenseman for the past several years.

While many viewed Dumoulin as a player in decline this past season, the Kraken are clearly buying into his potential to remain a top-four defensive specialist for his age-32 and age-33 campaigns.

He’ll potentially slot in next to offensive defenseman and former teammate Justin Schultz on the Kraken blueline, and will likely join Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Larsson on the Kraken penalty kill.

If Dumoulin’s bad moments from late in his tenure in Pittsburgh become more regular in Seattle, this deal will end up being a poor investment.

But with Seattle looking to make a push deeper into the playoffs after winning their very first playoff series a few months ago, Dumoulin brings the type of valuable Stanley Cup experience that many executives view as worth risking on.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Penguins Notes: First Round Pick, Buyouts, Free Agency

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Pittsburgh Penguins interim general manager Kyle Dubas held a brief media availability today, touching on many of the choices he’ll have to make as he guides the team through his first offseason at the helm. With the team in a tough situation, unable to truly rebuild after missing the playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades, Dubas has a thin line to walk to prepare the right roster for 2023-24 while not impeding the team’s long-term outlook.

One of those matters is that of Pittsburgh’s first-round pick, slated for 14th overall on Wednesday. It’s their highest selection since drafting defenseman Derrick Pouliot eighth overall in 2012, and Dubas says the team will likely keep the pick. Pittsburgh has some (but not a lot) of salary maneuverability, and Dubas says that any big trade will likely come with another team looking to shed a mid-tier salaried contract.

Other Penguins notes:

  • One avenue Dubas likely won’t take to clear additional cap space is a buyout. He told reporters today he doesn’t prefer to use them, citing more “creative solutions” to opening up a team’s financial picture. Forward Mikael Granlund, who had just five points in 21 games after a midseason trade and is under contract for two more seasons at $5MM per year, was a highly speculated buyout candidate this offseason. If the team can’t find a way to move him in a deal, he’ll likely be sticking around for the time being.
  • Dubas also says the team won’t be going after any high-profile free agents, instead aiming to hit on some value bets – something he had a great deal of success doing during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He mentioned the door isn’t closed on contract extensions with Jason Zucker and Tristan Jarry, the latter of which is crucial for the team’s clarity without a ton of other goalie options on the open market. He alluded to defenseman Brian Dumoulin heading to the open market, and they’ll look to replace his spot with a more cost-effective UFA.

Dmitry Kulikov Expected To Make Pittsburgh Penguins Debut Tomorrow

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Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ron Hextall spent much of the week leading up to the trade deadline rebuilding a struggling bottom-six. However, lost in the shuffle was the acquisition of defenseman Dmitry Kulikov in exchange for Brock McGinn and a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Kulikov has spent most of this season playing over 20 minutes a night in Anaheim’s top-two, but Seth Rorabaugh of TribLive is reporting that Kulikov will shuffle into a spot in the Penguins lineup that is much more suitable to his skillset.

Kulikov spent much of the Penguins practice on Monday paired with Jan Rutta, supplanting P.O. Joseph on the third pairing. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan praised Kulikov’s size and strength, as well as his ability on the penalty kill.

Kulikov’s acquisition likely means less time on the penalty kill for fellow defenseman Brian Dumoulin. Dumoulin is creeping up on playing a career high in shorthanded minutes and has seen his game fall off considerably this season. Although he has been better in recent weeks, easing Dumoulin’s workload could be a positive development for the pending unrestricted free agent, and the Penguins playoff aspirations.

Kulikov doesn’t offer much offensively with just 15 points in 61 games, but is defensively conscience and should bring an awareness that has been lacking for the Penguins throughout this season.

Sidney Crosby Out For Game Six With Concussion

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1:35pm: Multiple reports including from Emily Kaplan of ESPN and The Athletic have now surfaced confirming that Crosby suffered a concussion on the hit from Jacob Trouba. For any player that is concerning, but especially so for the Penguins’ captain given his history of head injuries. It is not clear when he will be able to return to the lineup.

10:44am: The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without captain Sidney Crosby for a pivotal game six against the New York Rangers, after he suffered an upper-body injury on Wednesday night. Head coach Mike Sullivan explained that Crosby is in a “good place” in his recovery, and the injured forward did skate on his own today.

Additionally, the Penguins updated the status of a few other injured players. Brian Dumoulin is still working through his off-ice recovery and his status has not changed, while Rickard Rakell is now considered a game-time decision. Tristan Jarry, who has been skating the last little while, will not play tonight, meaning it’s Louis Domingue’s net for at least one more game.

If there was ever a time for pending free agents Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang to put a stamp on the first-round series, it’s tonight in an all-important chance to eliminate the Rangers. On home ice, the Penguins will have to find a way past Hart Trophy nominee Igor Shesterkin once again, as the Rangers will put him back in the net after securing the win in game five. It’s been an up-and-down series for the Rangers goaltender, who has allowed 19 goals in five games but still has a save percentage of .905 as the Penguins continue to rack up shots.

Ryan Lindgren, Brian Dumoulin Out For Game 2

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Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers will be missing a top-four defenseman for tonight’s Game 2. Brian Dumoulin is out for the Penguins, while Ryan Lindgren is out for the Rangers.

Dumoulin nearly hit 50 shifts in Game 1’s triple-overtime win, logging 36:35 of ice time, two shots, one hit, and one blocked shot. Making a name for himself as the longtime defense partner to Kris Letang, it’s likely Mike Matheson will slot in Dumoulin’s place on the top pair. Both Mark Friedman and Nathan Beaulieu took warmups for the Penguins, and one of them is expected to draw into the lineup.

Lindgren was banged up in the last game and was called a game-time decision with a lower-body injury this morning. He serves a very similar role as Dumoulin does in Pittsburgh, serving as the more defensively-inclined partner to Adam Fox. He didn’t quite hit 30 minutes of ice time in Game 1, struggling with the injury during the game. Justin Braun is drawing into the lineup, but it’s unclear how the pairs will look.

Two-time Stanley Cup champion Barclay Goodrow is also missing for the Rangers.

Ruhwedel, Borgen Enter COVID Protocol

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5:34 pm: It turns out that it was likely a false positive that put Ruhwedel on the COVID protocol list. The Penguins defenseman is off protocol the same day he entered, and is available for tonight’s game against Washington.

11:04 am: In the coming days, players entering the COVID protocol will become much less common. The league has amended its procedures to no longer require daily testing for fully vaccinated individuals, and has removed the testing requirement for close contacts. Those are set to come into effect following each club’s final game before the All-Star break, however, meaning that for today and tomorrow, things are business as normal.

It’s not surprising then to see two more players enter the protocol today. The Seattle Kraken have announced that Will Borgen is now in it, meaning he’ll be unavailable for the team’s final pre-All-Star games this week. Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan also announced to reporters including Seth Rorabaugh of the Tribune-Review that Chad Ruhwedel is in the protocol and unavailable tonight.

In Borgen’s case, it’s unfortunate timing given he had started to find a home in the Kraken lineup. The 25-year-old defenseman played just a hair under 16 minutes on Sunday against the New York Rangers, his 15th game of the season. One of the interesting expansion draft selections given how little NHL experience he had with the Buffalo Sabres, Borgen signed a two-year, one-way contract with the Kraken in August and was expected to be a full-time option for the club. Now halfway through the season and he has just a handful of games under his belt after the team loaded up on other defensemen that have sat ahead of him on the depth chart.

For Ruhwedel, it couldn’t come at a worse time, given how he has finally been a regular in the Pittsburgh lineup. The 31-year-old veteran has never played more than 44 games in a single season but has already suited up 41 times this year, as the Penguins continue to deal with injuries to various players. Even tonight, the team has announced that Brian Dumoulin is a game-time decision due to “wear and tear” meaning there may have been even more ice time up for grabs. Instead, he’ll have to miss and likely give Juuso Riikola–recalled to the taxi squad this morning–a chance to get back into the NHL lineup.

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