Oilers Acquire Tristan Jarry, Spencer Stastney
9:45 a.m.: All three teams have confirmed the trades. The Penguins confirmed that the draft pick acquired from the Oilers will be Edmonton’s 2029 second-round pick. No salary was retained in either deal.
9:02 a.m.: The Edmonton Oilers are reportedly close to making a pair of significant trades today. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Oilers are working to acquire netminder Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins and defenseman Spencer Stastney from the Nashville Predators. Shortly thereafter, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun confirmed that Jarry is heading to Edmonton.
As trade details continue to trickle in, LeBrun reported that Stastney will cost Edmonton their 2027 third-round pick. Meanwhile, insider Frank Seravalli suggests that Stuart Skinner and another player are a part of the package going to Pittsburgh for Jarry. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes added that defenseman Brett Kulak and a draft pick are also going to Pittsburgh, while former first-round pick Samuel Poulin is headed to Alberta.
Edmonton’s interest in Jarry has been well-known for the last few weeks. A day before American Thanksgiving, Weekes reported that Jarry had been generating trade interest from around the league and that the Oilers were far and away the most interested — for good reason. Given the tight salary cap situation for the Oilers, it’s likely that trade conversations between Edmonton and Pittsburgh have been going on for the last several weeks.
After playing relatively well for the Oilers throughout their first run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024, Edmonton returned to the Cup Final last season despite Skinner’s performance. He didn’t play in all the potential games throughout last year’s push, but he finished with a .889 SV% in 15 contests, including a more than disappointing .861 SV% in five games against the Florida Panthers.
The situation has worsened this season, and obviously reached a boiling point for the Oilers’ front office. Through Edmonton’s first 33 games, the duo of Skinner and Calvin Pickard has combined for a .879 SV%. There was no help available via recall either, as third-string netminder Connor Ingram owns a .868 mark with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
If Jarry continues his current resurgence, the Oilers should have some newfound stability in the crease. In 13 starts this season, Jarry has a 9-3-1 record with a .909 SV% and 2.66 GAA. According to MoneyPuck, for netminders that have played in 10 or more games, Jarry is ranked 22nd in the league for Goals Saved Above Expected this season. He’s by no means the best netminder in the league this season, though he’s performing much better than Skinner and Pickard, who are ranked 32nd and 52nd, respectively.
Still, Jarry has been volatile in his own right. Last season, in what was the worst performance of his professional career, Jarry finished with a .892 SV% and 3.12 GAA, ranking 33rd in GSAx. If he reverts to that form as he finishes out the remaining three years of his five-year, $28.66MM contract, the Oilers will be in a world of trouble.
At any rate, while they acquired a pair of pending unrestricted free agents in Skinner and Kulak, it’s nothing but a win for the Penguins to receive a second-round pick for Jarry’s services. One year ago, Pittsburgh placed Jarry on the waiver wire, meaning the Oilers could have had him for free had they been able to make the money work. The fact that the Penguins were able to get actual assets for Jarry a year later is a testament to their patience.
Meanwhile, the Oilers have swapped Kulak’s $2.75MM cap hit with Stastney’s $825K. Despite finishing with the highest point production of his career last season, Kulak has struggled through the first few months of the 2025-26 campaign.
Registering only two assists in 31 games, it became apparent that Kulak’s time with the Oilers may be coming to an end. Typically reliable on the defensive side of the puck, Kulak’s 87.0% on-ice save percentage at even strength was troubling considering that he had never finished with lower than an 89.0% mark throughout his 12-year career.
Stastney, 25, offers more on the offensive side of the puck and is actually performing better on the defensive side of the puck compared to Kulak this season. The pending restricted free agent blueliner has scored one goal and nine points in 30 games this season for the Predators, averaging a 90.0% on-ice save percentage.
Lastly, as a part of the Jarry trade, the Penguins have finally moved on from Poulin. The 24-year-old had appeared in a few games for the Penguins this season, but failed to do much with his opportunity despite being given middle-six minutes. Still, he’s been on a tear in the AHL, scoring nine goals and 20 points in 22 games. He’ll likely report directly to the Oilers, considering the number of injuries they’ve had to their depth forwards this season.
Photo courtesy of Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images.
Predators’ Spencer Stastney Considered Retirement Before 2024-25 Season
Nashville Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney joined Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas on the 32 Thoughts podcast to speak out about the challenges he’s faced with continuing his hockey career. Stastney opened up about a long struggle with mental health challenges and defeated feelings towards his hockey career. He shared that those feelings peaked at the end of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, and pushed him as far as job-searching and pulling together the paperwork needed to file for retirement. He was just 24 at the time.
Stastney hit that low point amidst some of the brightest moments of his young career. He moved to professional hockey in 2022, following a productive four years at the University of Notre Dame. Stastney stood out in his rookie AHL season thanks to his shutdown defense, even despite scoring just 19 points in 72 games on the full season. His early showings were enough to earn the first eight NHL games of his career, where Stastney chipped in his first two assists.
A strong start at the AHL level earned Stastney great standing headed into the 2023-24 season. He took full advantage of the opportunity – netting 20 points in 44 AHL games, and four points in 20 NHL games before the end of the regular season. But through it all, he shares that his feelings of anxiety towards the sport were growing. Stastney took part of the 2023-24 season off to attend the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program. He returned in time for the postseason, and appeared in both the Stanley Cup and Calder Cup Playoffs. But Stastney shares that by the time Milwaukee was defeated, he was happy that the season was over.
It was that feeling – relief juxtaposed by his teammates’ anguish over an early exit – that pushed Stastney to consider calling his career to an early close. He shared that he didn’t feel his feelings were fair to his teammates, and that he quickly felt that stepping away from the sport to pursue other work would provide the reset he needed. He moved forward with those feelings, even as his agency filed for contract arbitration and successfully earned a two-year contract extension.
But a new deal wasn’t going to be what spurred Stastney back into the sport. Instead, he details extensive consultations with the Nashville Predators’ team therapist as the thing that helped him to realize and address the roots of his feelings. Stastney skipped Nashville’s training camp for the 2024-25 season, and didn’t return to the ice until early December. He quickly returned to a top-pair role in Milwaukke when he came back, and earned an NHL call-up after just 10 games in the minor leagues. Stastney would effectively split the 2024-25 season between the major and minor rosters, netting three points in 23 NHL games and 17 points in 26 AHL games.
Those performances, and a renewed sense to continue moving forward with hockey, is where Stastney sits now. He emphasized that he’s still figuring out his relationship with the sport, but intends to move forward as a continued member of the Predators organization. He’s a true shutdown defender, with a great reach and imposing physical presence, even in a lanky build. The Predators have shown clear trust in Stastney’s ability to handle a depth NHL role – and a full season of determination could be all it takes to earn a full-time spot on the NHL roster.
While Stastney figures out his path forward, the Predators will rest assured that their patrol over player’s mental health continues to effectively serve their organization. The 32 Thoughts Podcast harkened back to former Predators Brian McGrattan and Jordin Tootoo, who both worked with Nashville’s therapy team and the NHLPA Player Assistance Program during their own time in the organization. Both went on to have successful, decade-long careers in pro hockey. Their ability to overcome challenges, and a clear focus on prioritizing player health, is a hardy show of resilience for any players facing similar challenges.
Evening Notes: Mrazek, Soderblom, Holloway, Stastney
The Detroit Red Wings received split injury updates early on Thursday. Head coach Todd McLellan shared that goaltender Petr Mrazek will continue to sit out with a head injury, but that winger Elmer Soderblom could return from his undisclosed injury on Friday, per Max Bultman of The Athletic. Both players have missed Detroit’s last four games.
The Red Wings have maintained a duo of Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon while Mrazek’s been absent – the same tandem they ran before acquiring Mrazek at the Trade Deadline. Talbot has returned to the starting role after briefly missing time in March – and quickly found a hot streak. He’s posted a .922 save percentage and 2.48 goals-against average in four games since returning – though the low numbers have only led to a 1-2-1 record. His performances have lifted up Alex Lyon’s struggles as of late, with a 1-4-0 record and .843 save percentage in his last five games. Detroit will hope that pair continues to balance each other out as they continue to chase the Eastern Conference Wild Card.
Meanwhile, Soderblom will return looking to find his spark again after netting two goals in his last three games before injury. The pair doubled Soderblom’s year-long totals up to that point, pushing him to four goals and 10 points in 23 games this season. The six-foot-eight winger is playing through his rookie season in the NHL, though he did appear in 21 games and score eight points last season. He’ll step back into a role in Detroit’s bottom-six when he’s good to go.
Other notes from around the league:
- St. Louis Blues winger Dylan Holloway exited their Thursday night game against the Pittsburgh Penguins before the second period with a lower-body injury. He appeared to sustain the injury on a check from Penguins rookie Rutger McGroarty early in the first period. Holloway has been a major proponent of St. Louis’ 10-game winning streak. He’s scored 15 points across the streak, and was riding an 11-game scoring streak of his own before the early exit. That scoring brought Holloway up to 26 goals and 63 points in 77 games this season. Any missed games as a result of this injury would be his first as a Blue.
- Across the Central Division, the Nashville Predators were without defenseman Spencer Stastney for Thursday’s game against the Dallas Stars due to an upper-body injury. He was slated to serve as the team’s seventh dressed defenseman in the matchup, but in his absence, the Predators decided to instead promote rookie forward Ozzy Wiesblatt to the rotation. Stastney has tallied three points, all assists, in 22 games this season and filled a minimal role in Nashville’s lineup as of late.
Predators Recall Jake Lucchini And Spencer Stastney, Place Roman Josi On IR
On top of scratching pending UFA winger Gustav Nyquist for today’s game with a potential trade on the way, the Predators have made three other roster moves as well. Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game relays (Twitter link) that Nashville has recalled winger Jake Lucchini and defenseman Spencer Stastney from AHL Milwaukee. To make room on the roster, blueliner Roman Josi was placed on injured reserve.
Lucchini is in his first season with the Preds after signing a two-year, two-way deal with them last summer. While he got into 40 NHL games with Minnesota last season during various recalls, this is his first promotion of the season after clearing waivers back in training camp. The 29-year-old has 14 goals and 15 assists in 53 games with the Admirals thus far, a drop in his per-game output after recording 23 points in 30 minor league outings in 2023-24.
Stastney, meanwhile, started the season on the non-roster list while taking a leave of absence and has split time between Nashville and Milwaukee since then. The 25-year-old has been held off the scoresheet in seven appearances with the Preds this season while logging a little over 16 minutes a night. He has been productive with the Admirals, however, notching 13 points in 23 outings at the minor league level.
As for Josi, he exited Tuesday’s game with an upper-body injury and his placement on IR means he’ll be out for both games this weekend at the very least although he’ll be out longer than that with the team revealing (Twitter link) he’s out week-to-week. The captain hasn’t been able to duplicate the offensive performance he had last year when he notched 85 points but he still has 39 points in 55 games, good for a tie for 15th among all NHL blueliners. Of course, Josi also logs heavy minutes, averaging more than 25 minutes a night so Nashville’s back end will have its work cut out for them to cover his absence.
Minor Transactions: 1/26/25
There have been a few minor roster moves made around the NHL today, some of which may or may not ultimately be paper transactions that are reversed in the next couple of days. We’ll run through those here.
- The Panthers announced (Twitter link) that they’ve loaned defenseman Tobias Bjornfot to AHL Charlotte. The 23-year-old got into eight games with Florida after being recalled earlier this month but with Aaron Ekblad returning yesterday, his presence was no longer needed on the roster. Bjornfot is tied for third in scoring by Checkers blueliners, notching 11 points in 27 games at the minor league level.
- The Stars have returned winger Matej Blumel to the minors, per an announcement from AHL Texas. He has been shuttled back and forth with some frequency in recent days though he did suit up today versus Iowa. The 24-year-old has a goal in seven games with Dallas and is now up to 19 goals and 15 assists in 33 AHL contests.
- Nashville has assigned defenseman Spencer Stastney to AHL Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log. He suited up in seven games for the Predators over the last three weeks while on recall but didn’t register a point. The 25-year-old has three points in 10 games with the Admirals after missing nearly two months while on personal leave. Nashville now has just six healthy blueliners on their active roster so it’s possible that Stastney could be back up relatively quickly.
- The Hurricanes have placed center Tyson Jost on LTIR, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link). The 26-year-old last played at the end of December and is battling a lower-body injury although he resumed skating last week. Assuming the placement is retroactive, he has already missed the required 10 games and 24 days. The move allowed them to remain cap-compliant after Friday’s three-team trade.
Predators Recall Spencer Stastney, Ozzy Wiesblatt
The Predators recalled defenseman Spencer Stastney and right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt from AHL Milwaukee on Thursday, per the AHL’s transactions log (stick taps to Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game). Nashville had a pair of open roster spots, so no corresponding transaction is necessary.
Stastney, 25 on Saturday, returns to the NHL after suiting up in 20 regular-season and three playoff games for the Preds last season. He wasn’t at this season’s training camp due to personal reasons, though, an absence that stretched until late November.
Upon his return, the Preds sent Stastney to Milwaukee to get back up to game speed. There, the 2018 fifth-round pick has three assists and a +2 rating through 10 games, not quite matching the impact he had last season with 20 points and a +27 rating in only 44 AHL appearances.
In his NHL minutes last season, Stastney showed he could be a capable bottom-pairing presence. He posted a pair of goals and assists with a +9 rating, averaging just south of 16 minutes per game and blocking 29 shots.
Checking in at 6’0″ and 183 lbs, Stastney controlled 51.9% of shot attempts and 59.3% of expected goals when he was on the ice at even strength last year. They’ll be looking for him to do more of the same in a bottom-pairing role while Jeremy Lauzon and Adam Wilsby sit out with injuries.
If Wiesblatt draws into the lineup tomorrow against the Canucks – not a given since Nashville has 12 healthy forwards without him – it would mark his NHL debut. A first-round pick of the Sharks in 2020, the Preds acquired him in exchange for pending RFA Egor Afanasyev in June. Afanasyev opted not to sign with San Jose and head overseas, while Wiesblatt inked a two-year, two-way extension in November in addition to playing out the final season of his entry-level contract this year.
The 22-year-old hasn’t been an offensive factor like the Sharks initially hoped in the minors, and that hasn’t changed much this season. Wiesblatt has been just fine, posting 14 points and 45 PIMs in 27 games for Milwaukee. That 0.52 points per game pace is a career-high in the minors for Wiesblatt, who’s now in his third AHL season.
Neither Stastney nor Wiesblatt will need to clear waivers if they’re sent back down to Milwaukee.
Predators Activate, Reassign Spencer Stastney
The Predators have activated defenseman Spencer Stastney off the non-roster list and assigned him to AHL Milwaukee, Alex Daugherty of the Tennessean relays.
Stastney, 24, has been on personal leave for over two months. Nashville never issued an update on his status aside from head coach Andrew Brunette saying he’d be out indefinitely at the beginning of training camp.
If he was available, Stastney likely would have logged a fair amount of NHL action for the Predators this season already. The 2018 fifth-round pick played a career-high 20 games last season, recording four points with a +9 rating while averaging 15:59 per game. He also appeared in the first three games of Nashville’s first-round loss to the Canucks before sustaining an upper-body injury.
An Illinois native, Stastney logged reasonably strong possession numbers in relatively even offensive zone and defensive zone usage. His 51.9 CF% and 59.3 xGF% marks at even strength means he had an overall positive impact on Nashville’s possession quality in limited minutes.
Those numbers would be a major improvement on what the Predators’ depth corps of Alexandre Carrier, Marc Del Gaizo, Jeremy Lauzon, and Luke Schenn have given them this season. With Lauzon now out week-to-week after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Devils on Monday, expect the waiver-exempt Stastney to be recalled sooner rather than later after he’s able to get his feet back under him in Milwaukee.
Stastney was a restricted free agent last summer and took Nashville to arbitration, where he was awarded a two-year, partial two-way contract worth $825K per season in the NHL. Now that he’s been assigned to the minors, his pro-rated paycheck will be a reduced $400K for the time being. Stastney carried a roughly $253K cap hit while on season-opening injured reserve that is now off the Preds’ books.
Central Notes: Faksa, Appleton, Stastney
The Blues acquired veteran center Radek Faksa from Dallas earlier this summer, giving the 30-year-old a new team for the first time in his NHL career. It turns out that Faksa was looking for a change of scenery at the time. He told Lou Korac of The Hockey News that he went to Stars GM Jim Nill after the season to communicate that he wasn’t happy with his role and ice time. Faksa was viewed as a two-way player early in his career but hasn’t been able to get past the 20-point mark in five straight years, resulting in him being deployed in more of a shutdown role with more limited minutes. He’s entering the final year of his contract, one that carries a $3.25MM AAV. He’ll likely need to show at least a bit more offensively with St. Louis to get a raise on the open market next summer.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- Jets winger Mason Appleton is entering the final year of his contract, making him eligible for a contract extension. The 28-year-old told reporters including Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press that the perfect world scenario is that he remains in Winnipeg. Appleton has spent most of his six-year NHL career with them aside from one season in Seattle after being picked in expansion. Appleton is coming off a career year that saw him produce 14 goals and 22 assists, putting him in line for a raise on his current $2.167MM cap charge.
- Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney is not with the team in training camp for personal reasons and there is no word yet on when he’ll return, relays Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean. The blueliner split last season between Nashville and AHL Milwaukee, getting into 20 games with the big club where he had two goals and two assists in just under 16 minutes a night. Somewhat surprisingly, the two sides went to salary arbitration this summer with the 24-year-old being awarded a two-year, $1.625MM contract, the second season of which is a one-way salary.
2024 Salary Arbitration Tracker
It has been a quieter year on the salary arbitration front across the NHL. After 23 players filed last summer, just 14 did this time around. As expected, most have settled so far with a few hearings still pending. Here’s a rundown of who has settled and who still needs to sign.
Updated 7/30/24, 1:07 p.m.
Contracts Settled
D Jake Christiansen (Blue Jackets) – one year, $775K (two-way agreement)
F Connor Dewar (Maple Leafs) – one year, $1.18MM
F Jack Drury (Hurricanes) – two years, $3.45MM
D Ty Emberson (Sharks) – one year, $950K
G Jet Greaves (Blue Jackets) – two years, $1.625MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)
F Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Sabres) – five years, $23.75MM
F Beck Malenstyn (Sabres) – two years, $2.7MM
D J.J. Moser (Lightning) – two years, $6.75MM
F Joe Veleno (Red Wings) – two years, $4.55MM
F Oliver Wahlstrom (Islanders) – one year, $1MM
F Kirill Marchenko (Blue Jackets) – three years, $11.55MM
F Martin Necas (Hurricanes) – two years, $13MM
D Ryan Lindgren (Rangers) – one year, $4.5MM
Contracts Awarded
D Spencer Stastney (Predators) – two years, $1.675MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)
Scheduled Hearings
none
A reminder of some of the arbitration rules for the upcoming potential hearings:
- A player and team can settle on a deal at any point before the hearing starts.
- Once the hearing has taken place, the arbitration decision must be issued by email within 48 hours.
- Arbitration awards can only be one or two years in length. (Players who are in their final year of restricted free agency are only entitled to a one-year agreement from an arbitrator.)
- The team decides on the awarded term as these were all player-elected filings.
- The team can walk away from the arbitration decision if a contract with an average annual value of more than $4.74MM is awarded.
Worth noting is that teams who have someone file for arbitration will receive a second buyout window three days after their final contract is settled or awarded. The window lasts for 48 hours and the only eligible players to be bought out in this timeframe are those who have an AAV of $4MM or more and were on that team’s reserve list at the trade deadline back in March.
Arbitrator Awards Predators’ Spencer Stastney Two-Year Deal
Predators RFA defenseman Spencer Stastney has a contract for the next two seasons after his arbitration case reached a hearing Monday, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It carries a cap hit in the $837.5K neighborhood and is a two-way deal in 2024-25 before converting to a one-way pact in 2025-26 at “$850K-ish.” The breakdown for this season is a $825K NHL salary and a $400K AHL salary.
Stastney, 24, is the first to have his arbitration case settled by a hearing this offseason. Out of the 14 players who initially filed for salary arbitration, only five are still awaiting contracts (Ryan Lindgren, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Kirill Marchenko, Martin Nečas, Oliver Wahlstrom).
A 2018 fifth-round pick of the Preds, Stastney worked his way up the depth chart last season after making his NHL debut in an eight-game stint in 2022-23. The Illinois native looked at home in a bottom-pairing role, posting four points (two goals, two assists) and a +9 rating in 20 appearances while averaging nearly 16 minutes per game. The 6’0″, 184-lb defender was rarely involved physically, registering just two hits, but he did control play well with a 51.9 CF% and 59.3 xGF% at even strength, per Hockey Reference.
Those advanced numbers, plus the trust of head coach Andrew Brunette to utilize him for three of Nashville’s six playoff games before exiting with injury, is likely why he filed for a one-year, one-way deal worth $950K. The Predators asked for a two-year, two-way deal with a league-minimum cap hit in the NHL and AHL salaries below the $200K line each season. The cap hit falls a bit closer to Nashville’s filing, but the overall guaranteed cash awarded to Stastney in this deal is much more in line with the player’s request.
Despite the two-way structure next season, there’s a strong chance Stastney is on Nashville’s opening night roster. They have less than $600K in cap space with a bare-minimum roster after their free agency spending spree, per PuckPedia, meaning they don’t have any flexibility to recall an extra skater from the AHL for last-minute absences. The Preds will likely move out one of their NHL-rostered depth defensemen, all of whom cost at least $2MM against the cap, for added flexibility. Stastney’s six-figure cap hit as a replacement would give Nashville the flexibility they need to effectively manage their roster in-season.