Central Notes: Carrier, Koch, Khusnutdinov, Coyotes
Earlier this morning, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun commented that everything was still on the table in regards to Nashville Predators defenseman Alexandre Carrier. Taking a mixed approach to the trade deadline, the Predators have resigned Thomas Novak, and brought in Anthony Beauvillier and Jaret Anderson-Dolan, while shipping out Yakov Trenin.
Much like they did with their other rental options this past week, the Predators are weighing the option of signing Carrier to an extension, trading him, or using him as their rental. With less than 24 hours leading up to the trade deadline, Nashville does not have the luxury of time to make their decision.
As far as his value compared to other moves that have been made already this deadline season, the Predators could conceivably command a second-round pick for Carrier’s services. In 58 games for Nashville this season, Carrier has scored four goals and 19 points, averaging just under 18 and a half minutes a night.
Other Central notes:
- After sending veteran defenseman Troy Stecher to the Edmonton Oilers earlier today, the Arizona Coyotes opened up a roster spot on their blue line. To fill the void, the team opted to recall defenseman Patrik Koch according to a team announcement. In his first season in professional hockey in North America, Koch has only played for the Coyotes AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, suiting up in 47 games this year, scoring 11 points overall.
- Now over a week since the Minnesota Wild signed forward Marat Khusnutdinov to an entry-level contract, it appears the organization has found some clarity on when he will eventually make his debut with the club. Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that Khusnutdinov’s visa issues have been worked out with the United States, and he will join the team for practice on Saturday.
- The Arizona Coyotes have shared that Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba will both sit out of the team’s Thursday night game for trade-related reasons. Both players have been focal pieces of Arizona’s assets this Deadline, with the team now acknowledging their chances of moving. They are both in their first season with the Coyotes, with Zucker scoring nine goals and 25 points in 51 games and Dumba totaling 10 points in 58 games. The two were previously teammates with the Minnesota Wild from 2013 to 2020, before Zucker joined the Pittsburgh Penguins for four seasons.
Maple Leafs Acquire Cade Webber From Hurricanes
The Maple Leafs have acquired the signing rights to defense prospect Cade Webber from the Hurricanes in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick, the team announced.
Webber, 23, is in his final season of collegiate play at Boston University, where he’s an alternate captain. A fourth-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2019, Webber has just one goal throughout his 115 collegiate appearances and was unlikely to sign an entry-level contract with the Hurricanes this summer.
Two facts about Webber carry appeal: his height and weight. Standing at 6-foot-7 and 210 lbs, he’s one of the largest players in college hockey and does carry some legitimate defensive upside if he can avoid dragging everyone else down offensively at the NHL level. The New York native does have good breakout and transition instincts but is rarely a factor once his team is established in the offensive zone. The Maple Leafs have until August 15 to sign him before he becomes a free agent, and he’ll likely suit up with AHL Toronto or ECHL Newfoundland next season if he inks a deal.
In 30 games with the number-two ranked BU this year, Webber has six assists, 28 PIMs, and a +15 rating that’s tied for fifth on the team. He’s commonly anchored a shutdown second pairing alongside team captain and Devils prospect Case McCarthy, who has done well in their role.
Predators Trade Yakov Trenin To Avalanche
The Avalanche have acquired forward Yakov Trenin and the signing rights to defense prospect Graham Sward from the Predators, per a team release. The Predators received defenseman Jeremy Hanzel, who signed his entry-level deal with the Avs earlier Thursday, and a 2025 third-round pick in return.
Trenin was one of a few depth forwards the Preds have been shopping, but he’s the only one they’ve sold so far. Another, Thomas Novak, inked a three-year extension earlier this week and will remain in Nashville past the deadline.
The 27-year-old Trenin has broken out as one of the more fearsome checkers in the league since breaking into the majors full-time in 2021. A second-round pick of Nashville in 2015, Trenin has scored 46 goals and 79 points in 283 games in parts of five seasons with the Preds, averaging solid top-nine minutes (14:01 per game) during his time there. He’s posted middling possession numbers with a 48.8 CF% at even strength and a career 47.5 xGF%, although those numbers aren’t bad considering he’s started 66.4% of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone.
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 201 lbs, Trenin hits – a lot. He’s averaged 2.36 per game throughout his career and has generally had more takeaways than giveaways, so his shot suppression and possession quality share numbers being below average are likely a result of his extreme D-zone usage.
Theoretically, Trenin can play both center and wing, although he’s barely suited up at center during his time in Nashville. He’s won 55 of his 137 career faceoff attempts (40.1%), so if the Avs decide to shift him behind Nathan MacKinnon, Casey Mittelstadt and Ross Colton as their fourth-line center on a bang-and-crash line with another trade pickup, Brandon Duhaime, he likely won’t be relied upon for many draws and will be paired with a winger who has more success in the faceoff dot.
Colorado GM Chris MacFarland’s directive has been clear – fill out their depth with more defensive responsibility and physicality, adding a similar element to what Nicolas Aubé-Kubel brought to the squad that won the Stanley Cup in 2022. Along with defense pickup Sean Walker, Trenin is likely to factor in on the Avs’ penalty kill and take the onus off of effective two-way players like Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin, who can now be used a bit more at even strength.
Trenin will be a UFA this summer upon completion of the two-year, $3.4MM deal he signed with Nashville in 2022. After today’s moves, Colorado has $2.13MM in cap space with a full 23-man roster.
In Sward, the Avs also get an intriguing left-shot defense prospect in the same age range as Hanzel. The 20-year-old Langley, British Columbia native is in his fifth WHL season and is an alternate captain with the Wenatchee Wild, where he leads their blue line with 15 goals, 73 points and a +40 rating in 58 games. Nashville selected Sward in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, and the Avs must sign him to an entry-level deal by June 1 to retain his NHL rights.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Hurricanes Activate Frederik Andersen From Injured Reserve
The Hurricanes have activated goaltender Frederik Andersen from injured reserve, per Walt Ruff of the team’s official site. Andersen has been cleared to return to play after missing most of the season due to a deep vein thrombosis and subsequent pulmonary embolism in November.
The 34-year-old essentially serves as a deadline addition for Carolina, who’s had Pyotr Kochetkov, Antti Raanta, Spencer Martin, and Yaniv Perets log time in the crease this season with differing results. Raanta hit the waiver wire Thursday, and Perets is back on assignment to ECHL Norfolk, meaning Andersen will likely head up a trio with Kochetkov and Martin for the remainder of the season.
Andersen and Raanta both got off to difficult starts this year, although the former’s was slightly closer to average. He had a 4-1-0 record with a .894 SV% and 2.87 GAA in six starts before exiting the lineup less than a month into the season.
His $3.4MM cap hit was on standard injured reserve, not long-term injured reserve, so the transaction doesn’t affect the Hurricanes’ cap picture ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. The Danish veteran inked a two-year, $6.8MM deal with trade protection to remain in Carolina last summer and will be a UFA in 2025.
Waivers: 3/5/24
March 7: Johansen, Lockwood and Moverare cleared waivers today, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. Anderson-Dolan was claimed off waivers by the Predators.
March 6: As trade deadline season is in full swing, so too is the NHL’s waiver wire. Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff lists four players finding themselves on the wire today. Furthermore, Seravalli also notes that all players placed on waivers yesterday have cleared. The list for today is as follows:
Los Angeles Kings
F Jaret Anderson-Dolan
D Jacob Moverare
Florida Panthers
F William Lockwood
Philadelphia Flyers
F Ryan Johansen
For Los Angeles, the team will free up a bit of cap space leading up to the trade deadline on Friday. Both Anderson-Dolan and Moverare have been used as depth players for much of the season, and shouldn’t alter the continuity of the lineup moving forward in their absence.
After trading for Vladimir Tarasenko this morning, Lockwood’s roster spot fell victim to the chopping block. Whether or not Lockwood clears by tomorrow afternoon, the Panthers will now roll with 14 forwards on their active roster.
Lastly, this waiver placement will mark Johansen’s name in the second transaction today, as he was recently traded to the Flyers from the Colorado Avalanche in the Sean Walker trade a few moments ago. With 50% of his salary still being paid by the Nashville Predators, Johansen and his $4MM salary will be available to rest of the league for the next 24 hours.
Predators Claim Jaret Anderson-Dolan Off Waivers From Kings
The Predators have claimed forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan off waivers from the Kings, per Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic.
Anderson-Dolan, 24, was a second-round pick of the Kings in 2017. Placed on waivers yesterday by Los Angeles in an effort to create roster flexibility ahead of the trade deadline, the Canadian forward had just four points in 30 games this season while averaging 10:57 per game.
For now, he’ll likely serve as extra forward depth for Nashville and aim to get into some games down the stretch as the Preds look to secure the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. He’ll be battling for ice time with newcomer Anthony Beauvillier, as well as depth skaters like Denis Gurianov and Mark Jankowski, as GM Barry Trotz performs a refresh of the team’s second, third and fourth lines. The team also shipped out Yakov Trenin to the Avalanche on Thursday, creating some more internal turnover.
The Calgary native was on a solid development path in the minors, churning out 47 points in 54 games for AHL Ontario in 2021-22, but he hasn’t been able to consistently elevate himself into a top-nine role in the NHL. The Kings briefly let him become a free agent last summer after not issuing him a qualifying offer, but they brought him back anyway on a one-year, $775K deal. Nashville will maintain his signing rights this summer if they opt to qualify him, as he’s a pending RFA with arbitration rights.
After today’s moves, the Preds are at a full roster of 23 players with $33.9MM available in cap space at tomorrow’s deadline.
Avalanche Acquire Brandon Duhaime From Wild
The Avalanche have acquired forward Brandon Duhaime from the Wild in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick, per a team announcement.
Duhaime, 26, had been drawing interest from other teams, including the Canucks, for the past few weeks. He’ll stay in the division, making him the third trade pickup for Colorado in the past two days.
In Colorado, Duhaime will fill the same role he has in Minnesota for the past three years – adding muscle to the fourth line. He has limited offensive upside, evidenced by his eight points in 62 games this season, but he’s an effective enough forechecker to shoulder slightly more ice time than the typical enforcer. He’s logged between 10 and 11 minutes per game in each of his three NHL seasons.
Duhaime is one of the more frequent hitters in the NHL – he’s one of 32 NHLers with more than 500 hits since 2021. He’s normally able to bolster his grit with solid two-way numbers, but that hasn’t been the case this season. His 44.1 CF% at even strength, as well as his 41.6 xGF%, are both career lows.
A pending UFA with a $1.1MM cap hit, there was little reason for the Wild to hang onto Duhaime as they’ve again slipped to a sub-20% chance of making the playoffs, per MoneyPuck. Even if they were still solidly in the postseason race, there was enough demand for Duhaime on the market to make it wise to trade him and create roster space for youngsters such as Adam Beckman or Marat Khusnutdinov to make their season debuts.
Duhaime, along with the Avs’ other forward pickups this week, likely forces depth players like Joel Kiviranta and Chris Wagner to a press-box role come playoff time. Duhaime was one of five Wild skaters to appear in all of their 62 games to date.
The third-round pick is the first that Colorado has dealt from their 2026 arsenal. They added a second fifth-round pick in 2026 in yesterday’s Sean Walker trade.
Michael Russo of The Athletic was first to report that Duhaime was being traded. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report that the Avalanche were acquiring Duhaime.
Oilers Acquire Troy Stecher
The Oilers have added depth defender Troy Stecher and a 2024 seventh-round pick from the Coyotes, per a team release. Edmonton is sending a 2027 fourth-round pick to Arizona in return.
Stecher, 29, has now been dealt at the trade deadline for the third consecutive season. He was picked up by the Kings from the Red Wings in 2021-22 and was sent from the Coyotes to the Flames last season before returning to Arizona on a one-year, $1.1MM contract last summer.
Edmonton is absorbing all of Stecher’s cap hit. They now have just over $1MM in deadline space with one open roster spot, so, as Derek Van Diest of NHL.com reports, GM Ken Holland is likely done with his pre-deadline moves.
In Stecher, the Oilers pick up a veteran right-shot d-man to stabilize their group of depth defenders. He had one goal, five points and a +5 rating while averaging 18:26 per game in 47 contests with the Coyotes.
With nearly 500 games of NHL experience, Stecher will likely battle Vincent Desharnais for a spot on Edmonton’s second pairing, flanking Darnell Nurse. While Desharnais is less of a household name, he’s been considerably more effective at controlling possession quality this season, posting a 56.7 xGF% compared to Stecher’s 47.3 xGF%, per Hockey Reference. In all likelihood, Stecher will factor in as the Oilers’ extra defender when the postseason begins, barring injuries.
Stecher’s departure (and the potential departure of Mathew Dumba) means more ice time for the Coyotes’ less-tested complement of right-shot defenders down the stretch as they face another season without postseason play. Sean Durzi is a natural right shot but has been playing his off-side on a pairing with Michael Kesselring, but could shift back to the right on a different pairing down the stretch. 2019 11th overall pick Victor Söderström, who’s played just once in the NHL this season, is waiting in the wings in the minors and could get called up to shoulder some minutes, too.
Stecher will be a UFA at the season’s end. While the Oilers have just one pick in the first four rounds of the 2024 draft after parting with their first-rounder for Adam Henrique yesterday, they now have five in the final three rounds after picking up a seventh-rounder from Arizona today, which originally belonged to the Bruins.
Former NHL defenseman Jordan Schmaltz was first to report that Stecher was heading to Edmonton.
Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic was first to report that the Oilers were parting with a fourth-round pick, while Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report that a seventh-round pick was heading to Edmonton.
Avalanche Sign Jeremy Hanzel To Entry-Level Contract
The Avalanche inked defense prospect Jeremy Hanzel to a three-year, entry-level contract on Thursday, per a team announcement. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Colorado selected Hanzel, 21, in the sixth round of last year’s draft. The Coquitlam, British Columbia, native is in his fourth and final season of major junior hockey with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, where he’s on pace for career highs with 13 goals and 50 points in 58 games.
A strong outlet passer, Hanzel is a left-shot blue-liner who stands at 6-foot-1 and 196 lbs. Initially eligible for selection in the 2021 NHL Draft, he was passed over twice before heading to the Avs last summer. He was a league-leading +70 on a Thunderbirds team that won the WHL championship last season en route to a Memorial Cup appearance.
Given his age, Hanzel’s ELC is not eligible to slide. The contract will begin next season, when he’ll likely be assigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, and runs through 2026-27. He’ll be a restricted free agent upon expiry.
Canadiens, Ducks Swap Jan Mysak For Jacob Perreault
The Canadiens and Ducks have exchanged forward prospects Jan Mysak and Jacob Perreault, both teams announced. It’s a one-for-one swap of U-22 prospects whose development has stalled with their respective minor-league clubs.
Perreault, 21, is a Montreal native and was a first-round pick of the Ducks in 2020 after scoring 39 goals and 70 points in 59 games with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting. Concerningly, his production has declined after a strong rookie season with AHL San Diego in 2020-21 (17 points in 27 games), and he’s tallied seven goals and 18 points in 31 games this season with a -3 rating. He made his NHL debut in January 2022 but has not seen major league action since.
The son of former Canadien Yanic Perreault and the older brother of Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault, Jacob is a natural right-winger. He still has one season remaining on his entry-level contract with a cap hit of $863.3K, so he won’t be a restricted free agent until the summer of 2025.
Unlike Perreault, Mysak can shift to center. The 21-year-old Czech forward was a second-round pick by Montreal in 2020 and had the rare experience of immediately playing pro hockey. Despite being drafted out of a Canadian junior league, he was permitted to suit up for the AHL’s Laval Rocket in 2020-21 because the OHL had paused game action due to COVID. There, he notched two goals in 22 games before returning to the OHL the following year, where he tallied 34 goals and 64 points in 61 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs en route to a Memorial Cup appearance. He’s on an opposite trajectory to Perreault – slowly heating up in the minors with 20 points in 48 games for AHL Laval this year after recording just nine in 40 games last season.
Mysak is also in the second season of his entry-level deal and will be an RFA in 2025. His cap hit is slightly lower at $828.3K, but as both players are assigned to the minors at the time of the trade, the swap has no salary cap impact for either team.