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.
Islanders Linked To Conor Garland
4:24 p.m.: Myers is no longer part of conversations between the Islanders and Canucks, Rosner reports. Whether that’s because he invoked his no-movement clause is unknown.
3:11 p.m.: The Islanders are in “serious discussions” to acquire winger Conor Garland from the Canucks, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports. Defenseman Tyler Myers could also be headed to the Isles in the deal if he’s willing to waive his no-movement clause, something that’s been holding up a deal ever since he was removed from Vancouver’s lineup to avoid an injury risk last week.
The Isles aren’t alone in their push to acquire Garland this week, particularly among their competitors in the Eastern Conference playoff race. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal had the Isles’ pursuit of Garland this morning, along with the Bruins and Senators as interested parties. As we covered over the weekend, there’s a connection between Garland and Sens head coach Travis Green, who used to oversee him in Vancouver.
Nonetheless, Rosner’s reporting indicates the Islanders have at least emerged as frontrunners, even if it’s not a done deal. The Isles have been looking to add players with term after adding Ondrej Palat and Carson Soucy in a pair of trades before the Olympic break, and are open to moving a first-round pick to do so, general manager Mathieu Darche said in January.
The Isles have persisted through a pair of early-season blows that saw defender Alexander Romanov and winger Kyle Palmieri – both important supporting pieces – sustain season-ending injuries (although Romanov could be an option to return in a first-round playoff series). Soucy and Palat emerged as cheap replacements weeks later, but the Isles have gone 6-2-0 since acquiring them to boost their playoff chances up to around 75%, per MoneyPuck.
That has Darche looking to reward his team for pushing through the blows dealt by the Romanov and Palmieri injuries, and he’s comfortable sparing the assets to do it with the success he had in restocking the organization’s cupboards at last year’s draft. Now armed with a franchise cornerstone on defense in Matthew Schaefer, he’ll need to assess what he’s willing to move to boost an offense that ranks 21st in the league at 2.92 goals per game.
Garland would go a long way toward doing that and, with the six-year, $36MM extension he signed last summer yet to kick in, is far from a rental option. In addition to boosting their forward corps this season, he becomes a controllable insurance policy for next year and beyond in case they can’t manage to come to agreements with pending UFAs Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau before July 1.
That’s assuming the 29-year-old’s struggles this season are more a product of him being on a last-place team in Vancouver rather than individual decline. The 5’10” winger has never been an exceptional finisher, relying more on consistent shot volume to hover around 20 goals a year. Even so, his shooting percentage is down to 6.8 this year, resulting in him only lighting the lamp seven times through 49 games. On the whole, his 25 points make for his worst per-game showing since his rookie year in Arizona back in 2018-19.
Between 2019 and 2025, though, Garland was incredibly consistent. Aside from a career-best 0.80 points per game rate in the shortened 2020-21 season, his average stayed in a relatively small window between 0.57 and 0.68. Just last season, his 19 goals and 50 points were only a few short of setting a career high in each category.
Myers isn’t a pure rental either, but is a shorter-term pickup with another year left after this one at a $3MM cap hit. His shutdown ability is less of a need with the Isles already boasting the fifth-best defense in the league, but they could view him as a short-term upgrade over Scott Mayfield , who’s struggled to control possession in his third-pairing role. That’s in spite of Mayfield having better boxcar stats across the board this season, but Myers has dealt with a much more difficult workload in higher deployment.
If the Isles were to acquire both, they’d have to move out a contract if Vancouver isn’t retaining any salary, even with Garland’s current $4.95MM cap hit before it jumps to $6MM next season. That could be winger Anthony Duclair if he’s willing to waive his no-trade clause – David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported over the weekend that they were shopping him.
Morning Notes: Vladar, Garland, Klapka
While they have not been able to hold down a playoff spot, the Philadelphia Flyers have been a largely competitive team this season, and a significant reason for that has been the excellent play provided by netminder Daniel Vladar. The team signed Vladar, a longtime backup, this summer to compete with Samuel Ersson for the No. 1 role on the team, and he’s run away with it. In 35 games, Vladar has a .907 save percentage and 2.42 goals-against-average. Vladar has one more year remaining on his deal at a $3.35MM cap hit, and The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz asked Vladar about the prospect of signing an early extension with the team. Vladar made it clear that it was too early for those questions, saying “It’s too far ahead. I’m living my life day by day, week by week.”
Given Vladar’s success this season, it’s likely the Flyers have interest in locking him into an extension before his current deal expires. He won’t turn 29 until August, meaning he isn’t just a short-term stopgap option for Philadelphia. The team has some talented goalie prospects in its system, such as Carson Bjarnason, Yegor Zavragin, and Aleksei Kolosov, but keeping Vladar is the kind of move that can help the development of those players, rather than hinder it, because of how his presence helps keep those young goalies from playing too much, too early in their NHL career. The key factor related to Vladar’s situation is likely to be cost. Kurz pointed to the recent extension signed by Minnesota Wild starter Filip Gustavsson as a comparable deal (five years, $6.8MM AAV), but it should be noted that Gustavsson had more extensive experience as a No. 1 goalie when he signed that deal.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- As the Vancouver Canucks chart their course through an uncertain competitive future, one veteran name drawing interest ahead of the trade deadline is that of winger Conor Garland. According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, Senators head coach Travis Green is a “huge backer” of Garland, dating back to his own days as head coach of the Canucks, and as a result “it would be no surprise if the Senators checked in on” Garland. The 29-year-old has seven goals and 26 points in 49 games this season, and would instantly plug in somewhere in Ottawa’s top-nine. The main area of contention regarding a Garland trade is likely to be his contract, as his six-year, $6MM AAV contract kicks in next year. That contract has a full no-move clause attached.
- With the Calgary Flames sitting near the bottom of league standings, the focus for the rest of the season is undoubtedly on maximizing the growth and development of the team’s younger players, something that will be especially true after the trade deadline. One player poised to get an increased opportunity on the ice is 25-year-old winger Adam Klapka, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. Klapka is already a success story for the Flames’ player development team, as the massive 6’8″ has blossomed into an NHLer since signing as an undrafted player out of the Czech Extraliga. But the Flames, including head coach Ryan Huska, appear to believe there is room for Klapka to provide even more value on the ice. Under contract for an additional season at a $1.25MM cap hit, Klapka will be one of the players to watch in Calgary moving forward, as he’s poised to gain a greater role once the Flames make their trade deadline moves. Through 57 games this season, he has notched five goals, 12 points, and 215 hits.
Snapshots: Garland, Chytil, Blueger, Stamkos, Karlsson
Canucks winger Conor Garland has been generating several inquiries lately, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). While Vancouver has shifted into a rebuild of sorts, Pagnotta adds that Vancouver isn’t necessarily looking to move him but will listen to inquiries. The 29-year-old has seven goals and 15 assists in 37 games so far this season in the final season of his current deal that carries a $4.95MM cap charge. However, he has already signed a six-year, $36MM extension that will begin in 2026-27 so any interested teams would know they’ll need to take on that sizable commitment.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Still with the Canucks, they could be getting some good news soon on the injury front. Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma notes (Twitter link) that centers Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger were full participants at practice and are nearing returns. Chytil has only played in six games this season (where he has three goals) and has been sidelined with a concussion for the last three months. Blueger has been out just as long with a lower-body injury. After also being injured to start the year, he has only been able to play twice so far in 2025-26. A pending UFA, Blueger is a strong trade candidate if he’s able to stay healthy between now and the trade deadline in early March.
- The league announced that Predators forward Steven Stamkos has been fined $2.5K for unsportsmanlike conduct for an incident with Vegas defenseman Jeremy Lauzon during Saturday’s game. The fine money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
- Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson returned to practice today in a non-contact capacity, relays Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 35-year-old has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. While there is no change to his day-to-day status, Karlsson will accompany the team on their upcoming four-game road trip. Through 44 games this season, he has three goals and 30 assists and is averaging a little under 24 minutes of playing time.
Pacific Notes: Garland, Coleman, Saad
The Vancouver Canucks are expected to get a boost to their forward core during their current road trip. According to Thomas Drance of The Athletic, forward Conor Garland should return in the near future.
Garland, 29, has not played since December 30th due to an upper-body injury. Regardless, he remains fourth on the team in scoring with seven goals and 22 points in 33 games, averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per night.
It’s no surprise that the team has struggled in his absence. Since going down with an injury, the Canucks are 0-2-2 in their last four, and are on their way to their sixth straight loss, this time against the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening.
Other notes from the Pacific Division:
- The Calgary Flames are dealing with a minor injury to one of their prized trade deadline candidates. According to Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet, forward Blake Coleman is set to miss the next few days with an upper-body injury. Still, a day-to-day issue at the maximum may be seen as a blessing by the Flames as they contemplate trading the 34-year-old forward at the deadline this season. Coleman has 13 goals and 21 points in 44 games this season.
- According to the team at SinBin, Vegas Golden Knights forward Brandon Saad won’t be available for tonight’s contest due to an undisclosed injury. The two-time Stanley Cup champion has two goals and seven points in 39 games this season, averaging 13:53 of ice time in a bottom-six role.
Conor Garland And Marco Rossi Out At Least A Week
The new calendar year hasn’t started off on a good note on the injury front for Vancouver. Sportsnet 650’s Randip Janda relays (Twitter links) that winger Conor Garland and center Marco Rossi will be out at least a week with respective lower-body injuries.
Garland sustained his injury on Tuesday against Philadelphia when he received a slew foot. The veteran has had an okay first half to his season, notching 22 points in 33 games but just seven have been goals. Given that Vancouver is likely to be a seller before the trade deadline in March, the 29-year-old has popped up in trade speculation again, even with a new six-year, $36MM extension set to begin next season.
As for Rossi, he was one of the pieces that came to the Canucks in last month’s Quinn Hughes trade. Injured at the time he was acquired, he has since returned and got off to a quiet start with his new team. In eight games since the swap, the 24-year-old has been held to just one goal and one assist but he was more productive in Minnesota, notching four goals and nine assists in 17 outings. The hope is that he’ll be a top-six piece for the long term but that’s on hold for now with this latest injury.
Since they each will miss at least a week, both Garland and Rossi will be eligible to go on injured reserve and open up some roster flexibility. Janda adds that the team does intend to recall at least one forward from AHL Abbotsford which would bring them back to 13 healthy options on their active roster.
West Notes: Oilers Goaltending, Garland, Brossoit
The Edmonton Oilers have surrendered the most goals of any team in the NHL so far this season, and that’s something many believe to be the primary driver of Edmonton’s less-than-stellar start to 2025-26. But while there are those who hope that the Oilers move on from netminders Stuart Skinner (.885 save percentage in 19 games) and Calvin Pickard (.847 in nine games), it doesn’t appear the Oilers feel any rush to get a deal done for a new goalie.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on yesterday’s Saturday Headlines segment that Edmonton has “made enough calls” to know which goalies are likely available to them, but are not willing to make a trade that they would view as a “lateral move.” Whether or not swapping Skinner for a goalie such as Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry, Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins, or a member of Buffalo’s goalie trio would represent a real upgrade is a matter of fair debate, but as of right now, it appears that debate is settled as far as Edmonton’s management is concerned. According to Friedman, they’d rather continue ahead with Skinner, with whom they’ve reached back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, than make what they’d view as a less-than-optimal goalie swap.
Other notes from the Western Conference:
- Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland missed yesterday’s game with an injury, but Friedman reported that the ailment is “not believed to be serious.” Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre reported that Garland’s injury is not concussion-related, and while he will remain with the team for their road trip, he is questionable to play in the Canucks’ next game, Tuesday, in Denver. Garland is a key play-driver for the Canucks and has 15 points in 21 games so far in 2025-26.
- Aside from Edmonton, Friedman also reported a development regarding the goalie situation of another Western team: the Chicago Blackhawks. Veteran goalie Laurent Brossoit is set to return from a year-and-a-half injury absence, but finds himself outside of Chicago’s goaltending plans. Friedman reported that the Blackhawks have given other teams permission to speak with Brossoit, likely with the hopes that opening the lines of communication will make it easier to complete a trade involving Brossoit. The fact that Brossoit makes $3.3MM against the cap complicates things, but the 32-year-old’s most recent NHL performances (.927 save percentage as a backup in both Winnipeg and Vegas) should help him garner some real interest from other teams.
Canucks Injury Notes: Blueger, Garland, Hoglander, Forbort
It has been a tough season for Canucks center Teddy Blueger. He missed the start of the season with a lower-body injury, came back, and had the injury flare up again in his second game. Now, things don’t appear to be going well in his recovery. Speaking with reporters today (video link), head coach Adam Foote indicated that Blueger has suffered a setback and will be shut down for at least a few days. The hope is that he will be able to resume skating after that. In his first two seasons with Vancouver, the 31-year-old has put up 28 and 26 points while notching a career-high 104 hits in 2024-25 as well. With their center depth being thinned out at the moment, they were hoping that Blueger would be able to come in and play soon but that won’t be the case.
Other news from Vancouver:
- On the good news front, Conor Garland’s absence will wind up being just one game. After missing Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury, Foote noted that the 29-year-old will return on Thursday against Dallas. Garland is off to a good start to his season with five goals and eight assists in 17 games, a point-per-game rate that, if maintained, would be the best of his career. He’s also averaging nearly 20 minutes per night which is also a personal best, coming in ahead of the career-high 18:39 set last season.
- Foote also shared an update on winger Nils Hoglander. Out since the preseason due to lower-body surgery, he was initially expected to miss eight to ten weeks. It appears he’s still on that trajectory but the recovery time now appears to be on the back end of that scale. After a career year in 2023-24 that saw him record 24 goals and 36 points, his production dropped last season to just eight goals and 25 points and with the time he’s missed this season, he might be hard-pressed to match that total in 2025-26.
- Lastly, regarding defenseman Derek Forbort, Foote said that “I think, the last couple years. When you get into the midsection stuff, whatever it is, I think they want to start from scratch and fix it.” The veteran has only played in two games this season due to the injury and Foote’s comments suggest that a return isn’t imminent.
Canucks Notes: Garland, Kämpf, Chytil, Blueger
The Canucks’ injury woes this season continued in what was a surprisingly resurgent 6-2 win over the Lightning earlier this evening. Vancouver lost winger Conor Garland to an undisclosed injury early in the second period, and he didn’t return. There wasn’t an apparent injury that immediately preceded his departure, but he was involved in a fight with Tampa defender Darren Raddysh earlier in the game – one the 5’10” winger managed to win (video via B/R Open Ice). It didn’t seem like he took enough contact in that scrum to get hurt, but there should be more clarity before Vancouver finishes their back-to-back against the Panthers tomorrow. The 29-year-old Garland has been thrust into top-line duties this season with Evander Kane and Elias Pettersson and has fit the bill, registering a 5-8–13 scoring line in 16 outings while averaging a career-high 20:51 of ice time per game. For a team with five other roster players hurt at the moment and an already below-average offense, his potential for missed time is an especially damaging blow.
More out of Vancouver:
- Newly-signed center David Kämpf has joined the club on its road trip and could make his Canucks debut tomorrow, general manager Patrik Allvin told reporters today (including Ben Kuzma of Postmedia). Pending Garland’s status, he could be the replacement. It would be the 30-year-old’s first NHL game of the season after getting waived by the Maple Leafs during training camp and eventually having his contract mutually terminated, leading to his $1.1MM pact with Vancouver for the balance of the campaign. He had five goals and 13 points in 59 showings with Toronto last year, but had just one assist in four games with their AHL affiliate in October.
- Filip Chytil has resumed skating nearly a month after sustaining yet another suspected concussion, Allvin said, although he labeled the center’s progress as “slow.” Chytil, who has centered a line between Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser to begin the year and had three goals through six games, was rocked by the Capitals’ Tom Wilson on Oct. 19 and has been out since. They’re still likely looking at multiple weeks – if not months, given his history – before a return, adding to the list of reasons why Kämpf was brought in for added depth down the middle.
- Another banged-up center, Teddy Blueger, is also still listed as week-to-week, Allvin said. It’s been a longer-than-expected road to recovery for the Latvian, who got injured the same night as Chytil after scoring a goal. His recurring lower-body issue has limited him to just two appearances this year.
Injury Notes: Gaudette, Greenway, Garland
San Jose Sharks winger Adam Gaudette suffered an upper-body injury in Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, and today Sharks Hockey Digest’s Max Miller reported that Gaudette is likely to miss at least a week of action. Since he was unable to play in the Sharks’ loss yesterday against the Los Angeles Kings, the timeline reported by Miller puts Gaudette in place to miss three or four games.
Gaudette, 29, is in his first season as a Shark after signing a two-year, $2MM AAV contract with the club this past summer. The 2017-18 Hobey Baker Award winner cashed in after a career year in 2024-25, one in which he scored 19 goals playing a full season of NHL action with the Ottawa Senators. Gaudette was a full-time AHLer for 2022-23 and 2023-24, but earned his way back to full-time NHL duty and appears to have a lineup spot solidly locked down in San Jose. Gaudette played third-line right wing on a line with rookie Michael Misa and 23-year-old Collin Graf on Sunday, and in Gaudette’s absence yesterday the Sharks put veteran Jeff Skinner in that role, one he’s likely to occupy for a handful more games at least.
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
- Buffalo Sabres forward Jordan Greenway is expected to return from injury and make his season debut tomorrow in Boston, and today Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that his return from injury might come alongside a significant change in deployment. As relayed by The Buffalo News’ Rachel Lenzi, Ruff indicated that Greenway may get a look at the center position. Greenway has recently practiced in the team’s third-line center spot, one previously occupied by Noah Ostlund. While Greenway has largely played the wing throughout his NHL career, it appears the Sabres will try to see if he can build some momentum and hit the ground running as a pivot playing between Jack Quinn and Jason Zucker.
- The Vancouver Canucks appear to have avoided the worst with an injury to winger Conor Garland, as CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal reported today that Garland’s injury is “not serious.” He did add that Garland “is not going” on the team’s upcoming three-game Central Division road trip. A loss of Garland for any timeframe is a major blow to the Canucks’ game-to-game competitive hopes: the 29-year-old leads the team with 11 points in 11 games this season and has been a reliable middle-six scorer throughout his time in Vancouver.