Wild Sign Riley Heidt To Entry-Level Contract
The Minnesota Wild have signed 2023 second-round draft pick Riley Heidt to a three-year, entry-level contract (Twitter link). Heidt is coming off a dazzling season with the WHL’s Price George Cougars – scoring the second-most points in Cougars history (114 points), behind linemate Zac Funk who broke the record (121 points) this year. Heidt also earned Prince George’s all-time leading scorer title this season, with 277 points across four years and 220 games with the team.
Heidt is a poised and commanding playmaking-centerman who shows a strong understanding of how to play in the three lanes of the ice. His effectiveness comes from his ability to blend with his wingers – forming a great duo with Koehn Ziemmer across the last two seasons and Funk and Terik Parascak this year. While not the flashiest player in his own right, Heidt’s poise and constant scanning bring out the best in his linemates.
The Minnesota Wild will hope he can maintain the newfound tempo he added this season – something that could blend well with the slick-moving Adam Beckman or heavy-shooting top prospect Liam Ohgren – with Heidt potentially joining both players in the AHL next season. But even with the excitement of his first pro deal still fresh, Heidt will first have to focus on Prince George’s looming playoff run after the team’s first 100-point season ever.
Snapshots: Graves, St. Ivany, Krug, Oshie, Protas
The Pittsburgh Penguins have shared that defenseman Ryan Graves will be stepping away for a paternity leave, opening the door for rookie Jack St. Ivany to make his NHL debut. St. Ivany has flirted with his inaugural game for much of March, getting moved between the NHL and AHL four different times in the last week. He was clearly motivated by the string of moves, recording a career-high three-point night in his latest AHL game – his first since receiving the first NHL call-up of his career. The performance broke a 10-game scoring drought and accounted for a fifth of St. Ivany’s 15 points on the season. He’ll now have a golden chance to build on the hot night, potentially poised for a big role with Graves’ average of 19 minutes a night now up for grabs.
Other notes from around the league:
- St. Louis Blues defenseman Torey Krug is expected to return to the lineup on Friday after sititng out with a chest injury on Thursday, per NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce. It was Krug’s first absence of the year, after appearing in the Blues’ first 69 games. He’s managed three goals and 34 points in those games. This is Krug’s first time playing in more than 65 games since the 2017-18 season. His return is expected to bump Scott Perunovich back out of the lineup.
- The Washington Capitals will continue to be without T.J. Oshie and Aliaksei Protas, head coach Spencer Carbery told The Hockey News. Both players sat out of the team’s Wednesday night loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Oshie is bearing with an upper-body injury, while Protas has a lingering lower-body injury suffered on March 9th. The team will eagerly anticipate their return, now left to lean on Michael Sgarbossa and Ivan Miroshnichenko as top-six fill-ins.
Former Capital Chris Simon Passes Away At Age 52
Long-running NHL enforcer Chris Simon has passed away at age 52, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli (Twitter link). Simon was a mainstay of the NHL’s bruiser era, playing 15 seasons in the NHL. Seven of those came with the Washington Capitals, where Simon remains one of the club’s most penalized players, with 666 penalty minutes in 320 games.
Simon was originally drafted 25th overall in the 1990 NHL Draft, going to the Philadelphia Flyers in what was then the second round. He was selected just ahead of 1000-game pros Doug Weight and Geoff Sanderson. But Philadelphia knew what they were getting in Simon, who recorded 36 goals, 74 points, and 146 penalty minutes in 57 OHL games during his draft year.
Two years after his draft day, Simon would be part of one of the biggest trades in NHL history – making up the ‘future considerations’ aspect of the trade that sent Eric Lindros to the Philadelphia Flyers. Simon was moved to the Quebec Nordiques alongside Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, $15MM in cash, and more.
The Nordiques awarded Simon with his NHL debut in the subsequent 1992-93 season, with Simon netting two points and 67 penalty minutes in just 16 NHL games. He’d go on to break the 100-penalty minutes mark in 1993-94, a feat he’d achieve in each of the next four seasons and pull off nine total times in his career. His most penalized year in the NHL came in 1995-96, when Simon totaled 250 penalty minutes in 64 games, the sixth-most in Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche history. Simon was also a major piece of Colorado’s 1996 Stanley Cup win, providing a physical presence and grit that pushed the Avalanche down the stretch.
Simon built a legacy as a hard-nosed enforcer, with 101 fighting majors across his 15-year career. PHR sends its condolences to Simon’s family and friends, as well as to all of the organizations he’s played for.
Flyers Expected To Scratch Sean Couturier
The Philadelphia Flyers are planning to scratch team captain Sean Couturier, per The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (Twitter Link). The scratching comes one month after Couturier was awarded the captaincy – becoming the team’s first captain since Claude Giroux‘s reign ended in the 2021-22 season.
The Flyers also recalled forward Olle Lycksell and defenseman Adam Ginning on Monday, with both players expected to now slot into the lineup – Lycksell ahead of Couturier and Ginning ahead of Marc Staal.
Philadelphia will hope to find a spark with these moves, after an unconvincing 4-6-1 stretch over their last 11 games. They’ve been outscored 32-to-42 in that span, with Couturier managing just three assists. Lycksell will replace him, after recording one goal and six points over his last two AHL games. The 24-year-old winger has appeared in nine NHL games already this season, netting three assists. The appearances bring his career totals up to four assists in 17 games, though he’s still searching for his first NHL goal.
Ginning has also appeared in the NHL this season – stepping into the lineup on March 7th for a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers. It was the second NHL game of Ginning’s career, with the stout defender managing two penalty minutes, a -1, three blocks, and seven hits in the pair of matchups. He’s still searching for his first NHL point. Ginning has been a consistent piece in the Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ lineup, where he’s totaled two goals, 13 points, and 82 penalty minutes in 56 games this season.
This is the first healthy scratch designation that Couturier has carried in quite some time, though it calls back to John Tortorella’s scratching of Kevin Hayes in December of last season. Philadelphia experienced a 6-3 loss without Hayes in the lineup, returning him to his usual role in the subsequent game. The Flyers will hope for better fortunes this time, as Tortorella is once again leaving a seemingly top-name out of the lineup.
Evening Notes: Hronek, Eriksson Ek, St. Ivany
There’s always something to look forward to for the Vancouver Canucks, who now have full focus on extending defenseman Filip Hronek after extending star forward Elias Pettersson. This deal should cost the Canucks a pretty penny as well, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggesting in an appearance on CHEK’s Donnie and Dhali (video link) a cap hit within the range of $7.5MM.
Hronek has become a crucial piece of Vancouver’s lineup since joining the team at last season’s Trade Deadline. He’s not only boosted his own impact but made the players around him better as well – serving as the perfect partner for star defenseman Quinn Hughes. Both Hronek and Hughes have recorded a career-high in scoring this season, with 45 and 77 points respectively. The duo is playing upwards of 24 minutes each game – representing the only Canucks pairing averaging more than even 19 minutes of ice time. Hughes is signed through the 2026-27 season, carrying a $7.85MM cap hit. Vancouver will lock up their top defensive pairing for the future if – and hopefully when – they’re able to sign Hronek to a comparable deal.
Other notes from around the league:
- Minnesota Wild centerman Joel Eriksson Ek won’t join the team for the final two games of their California road trip, getting held back by a lower-body injury per The Athletic’s Michael Russo (Twitter Link). Russo adds that Minnesota is holding Eriksson Ek out a bit longer, in an effort to be cautious with his injury. The 27-year-old centerman has missed Minnesota’s last two games. His next chance to return will be on March 23rd when the Wild host the St. Louis Blues. Eriksson Ek’s absence should continue to benefit Marco Rossi’s ice time, after the Austrian played a career-high 20:44 in the team’s last game.
- Jack St. Ivany has been reassigned to the AHL, jumping back-and-forth between the NHL and AHL lineups on a few call-ups since Sunday. (Twitter Link). St. Ivany will hope to receive his NHL debut on his next recall, after serving as an NHL healthy scratch for the first time on Saturday. St. Ivany, 24, has four goals, 12 points, and 30 penalty minutes in 52 AHL games this season – though he hasn’t scored a point since a two-goal performance on February 14th.
Oilers Showed Interest In Extending Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick
The Edmonton Oilers didn’t have much cap space or buying power ahead of the Trade Deadline, heavily limiting the lineup upgrades they could bring in. And rather than fight through the nitty-gritty of the cap, Edmonton instead opted to make one very calculated, and very impactful, trade – acquiring Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a first-round pick in 2024 and a fourth and fifth-round pick in 2025. Aside from quietly acquiring veteran depth defender Troy Stecher, the big-name buy from Anaheim was Edmonton’s only Deadline move. And now it seems the Oilers are trying to stretch out the impact of the deal, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reporting that the team showed interest in extending both of their new faces.
Now, it’s no surprise to see Edmonton trying to get the most out of what they paid for, especially with both Henrique and Carrick set to become unrestricted
free agents this summer. But Henrique is 34 and Carrick 32, likely limiting any contract negotiations to the short-term. That’ll be a change of pace for the veteran Henrique, who’s had just three contracts across his 14-year NHL career. What’s more, he’ll be roughly one full season away from his 1,000th game in the NHL when this season ends – meaning wherever Henrique signs next is likely where he achieves that tremendous feat. He’s shown plenty of loyalty throughout his career – playing eight years in New Jersey and seven years in Anaheim – but a looming retirement could leave the 34-year-old considering if Edmonton is where he wants to finish out. There would be no shortage of interested parties if Henrique did hit the open market, though extending him would go far in solidifying Edmonton as a top team over the next few years.
But while Henrique is an established veteran newly exposed to the world of short-term deals, Carrick is on the eighth contract of his eight-year career in the NHL. He’s in just his third full-time NHL season, finally carving out a confident role on the 2021-22 Ducks roster. He’s totaled 22 goals and 37 points across 180 games since then, adding a strong 50.5 faceoff percentage and 362 hits. Carrick fills a lot of the boxes teams look for in fourth-liners, and he’s admirably serving in that role for the Oilers. But after cap retention in the trade, Carrick is contributing just $425K to Edmonton’s salary cap. That’s a great price for an effective fourth-liner, but richer prices could be too much to bear for an Oilers team that could afford space for young players. Carrick likely doesn’t demand much on the open market, but how Edmonton decides to approach his extension could serve to lock up their bottom six.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Senators Notes: Bernard-Docker, Kubalik, Belleville
The Ottawa Senators had a quiet deadline – only moving winger Vladimir Tarasenko – but it wasn’t from lack of trying, with Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reporting that teams called about defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker but weren’t willing to pay Ottawa’s high asking price. What that asking price was isn’t clear, though there’s no doubt that Ottawa highly values their former first-round pick, despite his struggles at the top level. Garrioch added that Ottawa likely wasn’t eager to move the 23-year-old, happy to continue letting him grow now in a full-time NHL role. Bernard-Docker, the 26th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, is still searching for a groove in the league, with just four goals and 12 points in 53 games this season. It’s his first full season in the NHL, entering the season with just 32 career games across the last three years.
Other Senators trade notes:
- Garrioch also reports that Ottawa continued to try and find a trade for winger Dominik Kubalik, who the team has been shopping around since December. Garrioch adds that Kubalik will likely be out the door when he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. The 28-year-old winger has 10 goals and 14 points in 58 games this season, netting double digit goals for the fifth-straight season, despite a down-year in overall production. Kubalik has managed 92 goals and 175 points across 341 career NHL games.
- Tarasenko’s move opened up space on the Senators lineup that the team hopes to fill creatively. While they did claim bottom-six staple Boris Katchouk off of waivers, Senators general manager Steve Staios shared that the team could give top Belleville Senators prospects – including Tyler Kleven, Zack Ostapchuk, and Oskar Pettersson – a chance at the majors as well. He told Garrioch, “All of those players have progressed nicely. They’re worthy of an opportunity to play.” Ottawa currently sits second-to-last in the Eastern Conference, with just 25 wins on the season. With a quiet deadline not providing much change, they could be well-poised to try out their top young names.
Trade Notes: Sharks, Toffoli, Johansen
The San Jose Sharks plan to scratch forwards Anthony Duclair and Alexander Barabanov for trade-related reasons, per team reporter Sheng Peng and The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta.
Both players have seen their names heavily mentioned throughout Trade Deadline season, though interest around them has seemed to flux. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported on Wednesday that extension talks broke down between the Sharks and Barabanov, leading to the team exploring the open market. Duclair shared in late February that he hadn’t yet discussed an extension with the Sharks, setting him up as a trade candidate.
Barabanov has taken a noticeable step back this season, managing just 10 points and a -23 in 38 games – a far cry from the 10 goals and 39 points he scored in 2021-22, or the 15 goals and 47 points he managed last year. The 29-year-old winger made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2020-21 season, after a seven-year career with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg. He played in 13 games with the Leafs before being flipped to the Sharks for Antti Suomela. He’s since totaled 104 points across 198 career games.
Duclair is in his first season with the Sharks, joining the team via trade on July 1st, with San Jose sending Steven Lorentz and a 2025 fifth-round pick back to the Florida Panthers. Duclair previously spent three fruitful seasons in Florida, totaling 99 points in 137 games with the club – including a 31-goal, 58-point season in 2021-22. That year marked Duclair’s career-highs in all three scoring stats, though he’s broken the 40-point mark two other times in his career. Duclair has become an established journeyman, playing with seven different clubs across his 10-year career. He’s totaled 288 points in 546 combined games, since making his debut in the 2014-15 season.
Duclair carries a $3.0MM cap hit, while Barabanov has a slightly cheaper $2.5MM cap hit. Both players are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer, making them rental options at this Trade Deadline. While they’ve each shown flashes of prowess over their careers, it’s likely that neither will fetch a particularly compelling return on the open market – instead serving as strong contingency plans for teams who fall out of the race for other top scorers.
Other notes from around the league:
- The New Jersey Devils are also planning for a move, scratching top winger Tyler Toffoli for trade-related reasons. Toffoli currently leads the Devils with 26 goals in 61 games, adding 18 assists as well. It’s a continuation of the red-hot season he had with the Calgary Flames last year, scoring 34 goals and 73 points in 82 games. With one more point this season, Toffoli will cross the 45-point mark for just the fifth time in his 11-year career. He’s in his first season with New Jersey – the fifth club he’s been a part of. Much of Toffoli’s career was spent with the Los Angeles Kings, who drafted him 47th-overall in the 2010 NHL Draft and won a Stanley Cup in his rookie season of 2013-14. Toffoli scored 14 points, split evenly, through 26 games on that Cup run. New Jersey hasn’t yet ruled out signing Toffoli to an extension, though his healthy scratching suggests the two sides weren’t able to come to a deal.
- The Philadelphia Flyers will continue to shop around centerman Ryan Johansen, per general manager Daniel Briere. Briere added that Johansen was, “probably not” a part of the team’s future plans. Johansen joined the Flyers alongside a 2025 first-round pick in the trade that sent Sean Walker and a fifth-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche. Philadelphia proceeded to place Johansen on waivers, which he cleared, likely thanks to his hefty $4MM cap hit. Philadelphia will likely look to leverage their cap space once again, with the team capable of retaining salary on one more contract. The Flyers previously served as a broker on the deal that sent Noah Hanifin to the Vegas Golden Knights, receiving a 2024 fifth-round pick to retain 25 percent ($1.2375MM) of his salary.
Morning Notes: Zucker, Dumba, Villalta, Hellberg
The Arizona Coyotes are open to trading veteran forward Jason Zucker and defenseman Matt Dumba, The Fourth Period reports. Both players are on expiring contracts and could be cheap options for added depth. Zucker has scored eight goals and 22 points in 46 games this season, while Dumba has managed just nine points in 52 games of his own.
This update doesn’t come as much of a surprise, although it does deviate from reports earlier in the season that shared the Coyotes were focused on adding older, veteran presences. But the Coyotes’ season has fallen to shambles since the calendar turned over, with the team currently riding an 11-game losing streak and sporting a 4-15-2 record in 2024. It’s been a heavy fall for a team that carried a winning record through early December. But with the losses has come a return to form for Arizona, who are once again focused on selling veteran talents to bolster their future capital. Arizona has two available salary retention spots open and may need to use them to make any trade of Zucker, who carries a $5.3MM cap hit, or Dumba, who has a $3.9MM cap hit, work for cap-strapped teams. Even then, the return for either player – one now 32 and the other struggling to produce – likely wouldn’t be too profitable for the Coyotes.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Coyotes have sent down goaltender Matthew Villalta, suggesting that Connor Ingram could be nearing a return from an undisclosed injury that’s held him out for the last week. Villalta played in his first two NHL games while filling in for Ingram, saving 24 of the 29 shots he faced in 72 minutes of ice time. He’s primarily operated as the starting goalie for the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners, where he’s managed 22 wins and a .913 save percentage in 34 games.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-assigned goaltender Magnus Hellberg to their AHL affiliate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins just three days after recalling him. It appears the Penguins made the move as a precaution in case one of their NHL netminders were unable to play. The 32-year-old did see NHL action earlier in the year, dressing in three games for the Penguins in which he went 1-0-0 with a 2.50 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.
NHL Names Western Conference All-Stars
Sportsnet is reporting that the NHL has named the first 16 selections from the Western Conference who will appear in the NHL All-Star Game that will take place February 3rd in Toronto.
The game will be held in Canada for the first time since 2012, when it was held in Ottawa. Toronto hasn’t hosted the game since 2000 and this year will be the first time that the NHL uses a four-team, three-on-three format in combination with the fantasy draft format that was used from 2011-2015. The league will name four captains, one for each team, who will take part in a draft to select their teams on February 1st.
The initial players named from the Western Conference are as follows:
Central Division
Arizona: LW Clayton Keller (4th appearance)
Chicago: C Connor Bedard (1st appearance)
Colorado: C Nathan MacKinnon (3rd appearance)
Dallas: G Jake Oettinger (1st appearance)
Minnesota: LW Kirill Kaprizov (3rd appearance)
Nashville: C Filip Forsberg (1st appearance)
St. Louis: C Robert Thomas (1st appearance)
Winnipeg: G Connor Hellebuyck (3rd appearance)
Pacific Division
Anaheim: LW Frank Vatrano (1st appearance)
Calgary: C Elias Lindholm (1st appearance)
Edmonton: C Connor McDavid (7th appearance)
Los Angeles: G Cam Talbot (1st appearance)
San Jose: C Tomas Hertl (1st appearance)
Seattle: RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (1st appearance)
Vancouver: D Quinn Hughes (1st appearance)
Vegas: C Jack Eichel (1st appearance)
The initial announcements of 32 players (one player to represent each team) tonight will be followed by the naming of the final 12 all-stars in the coming weeks. Those 12 players will be decided by a fan vote on NHL.com as well as several of the NHL’s social media platforms.