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Tobias Björnfot Claimed Off Waivers By Panthers

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The Panthers have claimed defenseman Tobias Björnfot off waivers from the Golden Knights, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Björnfot played in just seven games with the Golden Knights organization – appearing in two games with Vegas and five with the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. He failed to score a point in any of the matchups, though he did record six penalty minutes. The 22-year-old defenseman has struggled to find his groove in the pros, recording just one goal and 15 points across 119 career games. He spent five years with the Los Angeles Kings before moving to Vegas, with the Kings originally drafted the defenseman 22nd-overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. He was drafted out of Sweden’s U20 league, then referred to as the J20 Nationell, though he also received seven SHL games in his draft year, failing to record a point in any of them. The Kings promptly signed Björnfot, even awarding him his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season.

While another change of scenery could be enticing for Björnfot, it’s not likely he’ll slot into Florida’s lineup without injury. The Panthers currently carry seven defensemen and have veteran depth on all three pairs, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Dmitry Kulikov operating as Florida’s bottom unit. Björnfot will have the chance to compete with Josh Mahura for the role as seventh defenseman, though Mahura’s ability to play on either the left or right side will likely earn him an advantage. Mahura has scored six assists in 20 appearances this season.

Five Teams Remain In Talks For Jake Guentzel

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The Canucks, Golden Knights, Hurricanes, Panthers, and Rangers are the five teams remaining in the Jake Guentzel sweepstakes as a trade is “getting close,” reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Penguins GM Kyle Dubas didn’t have a deal in place for his star winger by Wednesday night as he’d hoped, but all signs point to Guentzel still changing hands before tomorrow’s trade deadline.

None of these teams come as a surprise, and various sources have bandied them about as fits for Guentzel throughout the past few weeks. The Golden Knights, Panthers and Rangers have been incredibly aggressive in advance of the deadline, collectively acquiring some of the top trade targets in Noah Hanifin (VGK), Anthony Mantha (VGK), Vladimir Tarasenko (FLA), and Alexander Wennberg (NYR) in the past 72 hours.

The veteran winger is amidst another All-Star-caliber season. While he’s been out since Valentine’s Day with an upper-body injury but is inching toward a return, practicing without a non-contact jersey today for the first time since the injury (video via team reporter Dan Potash). He scored 22 goals, 30 assists and 52 points in 50 games before getting hurt, his fourth time averaging over a point per game since 2019. He’s also logging over 20 minutes per game for the fifth straight year.

Despite the high level of production and his clutch postseason performances (58 points in 58 career playoff games), it makes little sense for the retooling Penguins to sign the 29-year-old pending UFA to a long-term extension. Multiple reports over the past week indicate that Guentzel will likely be dealt as a rental and be the top free agent on the market when the 2024-25 league year begins on July 1. His suitors probably note that Guentzel backs up his consistent production with consistent possession quality control numbers – he has a 57.1 xGF% this season and a 54.5 career xGF% throughout his 503 games as a Penguin, per Hockey Reference.

The Golden Knights, Hurricanes and Panthers could all take Guentzel’s $6MM cap hit at 50% retention without involving a third-party broker. The Rangers are a few grand short of having the necessary cap space to do so and could still make a trade work with a third party, while the Canucks have just $125K in cap space and would need to move a significant chunk of salary out to accommodate Guentzel, even at a 75% reduced $1.5MM cap hit. There have been some spotty but credible rumors of Vancouver potentially flipping Elias Lindholm, whom they just spent a first-round pick to land from the Flames in January, to create cap space for Guentzel.

Improbably, Vegas is still well-positioned to land Guentzel even after landing the top defenseman on the market in Hanifin. The team still has $3.8MM in deadline cap space with Robin Lehner and captain Mark Stone on long-term injured reserve despite having 27 players on the roster counting against the cap – their full 23-man roster plus $9.375MM taken up by Alec Martinez, Brett Howden, William Carrier, and Pavel Dorofeyev on standard injured reserve. They also still have their first-round draft picks in 2024 and 2026 and have not parted ways with top prospects Brendan Brisson, David Edstrom, and Carl Lindbom.

Golden Knights Acquire Noah Hanifin From Flames

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9:23 p.m.: The Vegas Golden Knights have announced the full trade package – sending a 2025 first-round pick, a conditional 2025 third-round pick, and defenseman Daniil Miromanov to the Flames. The first-round pick carries top-10 protection, while the third-round pick will upgrade to a 2024 second-round pick if Vegas advances to the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Vegas also sent a 2024 fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers to broker the deal. Calgary retained 25 percent of Hanifin’s $4.95MM cap hit, while Philadelphia retained 50 percent, meaning he’ll only count towards $1.2375MM of Vegas’ salary cap. Philadelphia sent the rights to 27-year-old centerman Mikhail Vorobyov to Vegas to facilitate the salary retention.

Vorobyov played in 35 NHL games across the 2018-19 and 2019-20 season, scoring two goals and five points. He’s spent each of the last four seasons in Russia’s KHL, including the last three with routine heavyweight SKA St. Petersburg. Vorobyov has 112 points across 194 KHL games since the 2020-21 season.

5:28 p.m.: Even after acquiring Anthony Mantha from the Washington Capitals yesterday, the Vegas Golden Knights were not done adding to their current roster. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed that the Golden Knights would be acquiring defenseman Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that defenseman Daniil Miromanov is heading from Vegas to Calgary as part of the return.

Not only will Vegas be adding a top defenseman to their already loaded defensive core, but Darren Dreger of TSN reports the two sides are working on a contract extension as well, although Friedman did pour some cold water on that scenario later. Since Hanifin will be a member of the Golden Knights before the trade deadline, he is eligible to sign an eight-year deal in Vegas.

With Alec Martinez being placed on the team’s injured reserve earlier this morning, Vegas had an opening next to top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. Factoring in the recent activation of Shea Theodore, the Golden Knights have once again put together a top defensive core leading into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

As the defending Stanley Cup champions, Vegas will likely represent Hanifin’s best opportunity to win Lord Stanley’s trophy for the first time in his career. There are some personal ties as well for Hanifin in Nevada, as he did play with star center Jack Eichel a decade ago on the United States National Junior Development Team.

Suppose the Flames are willing to retain 50% of Hanifin’s salary. In that case, a deal became feasible, as Vegas was only $500k from being able to absorb Hanifin’s full salary for the rest of the season. Still holding on to their first-round pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, and a moderate prospect pool to deal from, the makings of a deal came to fruition rather quickly between the two teams.

Latest On Tyler Toffoli

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The Devils are one of a handful of teams potentially in both buy and sell modes ahead of Friday’s deadline. A goaltending upgrade remains a short-term and long-term necessity, but as they’re now eight points out of a playoff spot with three wins in their last 10 games, it might behoove GM Tom Fitzgerald to recoup some value on their pending UFAs.

Their leading goal scorer, Tyler Toffoli, is the most prominent name on that list. While the Devils reportedly prefer to continue discussing an extension with their number-two winger, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that Toffoli is still a candidate to be on the move in the next two days and could garner a significant return.

Kings fans may wish for a reunion with the winger, who won a Stanley Cup in Los Angeles as a rookie in 2014, as they deal with injuries to Viktor Arvidsson and Adrian Kempe down the stretch. That could still be in the cards, as GM Rob Blake had reported interest in Toffoli last week.

A Pacific Division rival is creating some competition, though. The Golden Knights, who are still finalizing a massive trade to land top-pairing defender Noah Hanifin and have already added winger Anthony Mantha for added scoring depth this week, have also demonstrated interest in Toffoli, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

A Toffoli trade likely isn’t indicative of a step back in the Devils’ rebuild. Nearing completion of a four-year, $17MM deal signed with the Canadiens in 2020 that’s seen him traded twice, Toffoli and the Devils haven’t agreed on the length of a potential extension as of Tuesday. It doesn’t appear there’s been progress in the last 24 hours, making it a prudent move on Fitzgerald’s part to retain assets for Toffoli instead of potentially letting him walk for nothing on July 1. Moving him out at the deadline doesn’t mean New Jersey couldn’t circle back with Toffoli if he heads to market over the summer.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic says not to expect a trade tonight, so the Devils will continue gauging the market tomorrow and potentially Friday morning before electing to move him.

Vegas Golden Knights Acquire Anthony Mantha

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The Vegas Golden Knights have acquired Anthony Mantha from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick, according to a team announcement. Mantha will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason as he is in the last year of a four-year, $22.8MM contract.

Since being acquired in a deadline deal from the Detroit Red Wings three years ago, Mantha has had an up-and-down tenure with the Capitals. Highlighted primarily by the numerous injuries suffered throughout his career, Mantha has been unable to suit up in a full season since 2017-18.

Because of those injuries, Mantha has been unable to procure any sort of sustained success in Washington, failing to score more than 11 goals in each of his first three seasons with the organization. This disappointing stretch of play from Mantha has led to numerous trade rumors surrounding his exit from Washington over the last few years.

However, Mantha has taken his offensive game back up to his previous expectations, already hitting the 20-goal mark through 56 games this season. Even while averaging just over 14 minutes of ice time each night, Mantha currently sits second on the team in goal-scoring.

By placing captain Mark Stone on LTIR, not only did Vegas have the cap space to acquire Mantha, but they also opened up a sizeable need to add scoring at this year’s deadline. Mantha should be able to fit nicely into the team’s top six in Stone’s absence, allowing the Golden Knights to move Michael Amadio down the lineup.

Hanging on by a thread for third place in the Pacific Division, Vegas has struggled with putting the puck in the net nearly all season. Currently, in all situations, the team is sitting 15th in the league with 3.18 GF/G, a far cry from 3.56 GF/G coming from the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers this year. Furthermore, the powerplay has not been a benefit to the team at all, as it currently sits 20th in the league with a 19.50% success rate.

If Mantha continues his current pace with the Golden Knights, he should be able to help the team dramatically in both aspects of the game. As another important note, the Capitals will be retaining 50% of Mantha’s salary, indicating that Vegas may not be done adding to their forward core.

Before this trade, Washington did not have a second-round pick in the upcoming 2024 NHL Draft, using it to acquire Connor Brown from the Ottawa Senators nearly two years ago. Now, they will have six total selections in their cupboard for this year, with another eight ready for the 2025 NHL Draft.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report that Vegas had acquired Mantha. 

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the return going to Washington. 

Senators Receiving Strong Interest In Vladimir Tarasenko

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Senators winger Vladimir Tarasenko is widely expected to be on the move in the next few days with Ottawa well out of playoff contention.  It appears there are several suitors for his services as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Panthers, Hurricanes, Bruins, Rangers, Golden Knights, and Oilers are among the teams who have inquired about him with Florida being high on Tarasenko’s preferred list of options.

The 32-year-old has had a solid season with Ottawa, his first with them after signing a one-year, $5MM deal in free agency.  Tarasenko has 17 goals and 24 assists in 57 games so far, good for fifth on the team in scoring.  Notably, he’s putting up those numbers with a bit less playing time than usual; his 16:03 is his lowest ATOI since his sophomore campaign back in 2013-14.  Assuming Ottawa is willing to pay the contract down by the maximum of 50%, they’ll be well-positioned to land a quality return.

According to Garrioch, the return Sens GM Steve Staios is looking for a two-piece return in exchange for Tarasenko.  One is a second-round pick and the other is a prospect.

There are two things worth noting on Tarasenko’s side.  First is that he has full trade protection which means he has to sign off on wherever he’s going.  The second is that he recently switched agents for the second time in less than a year, leading to speculation that he might want a contract extension as part of any swap to avoid what happened back in July when teams didn’t meet his initial asking price which is how he landed with Ottawa on a one-year fall-back deal.

Some of the above potential suitors would be hard-pressed to fit an extension for Tarasenko onto their books with their cap flexibility being limited to the final six weeks of this season, not next.  If that’s the case, that could certainly whittle down the list of potential suitors in a hurry unless some of those teams decide to do that now and figure out how to make the fit work on the cap down the road.

A year ago, Tarasenko was viewed as one of the big fish heading into the deadline, resulting in the Rangers giving up a first-round pick to add him (and Niko Mikkola) for the stretch run.  He isn’t quite in that territory this time around but for a team looking to add some secondary scoring, Tarasenko, a veteran of 97 career playoff appearances, could certainly be an impactful addition for a postseason contender.

Golden Knights Activate Jack Eichel, Place Mark Stone On LTIR

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The Golden Knights welcomed back a key part of their attack tonight against Columbus as the team announced (Twitter link) that center Jack Eichel has been activated off long-term injured reserve.  To become cap-compliant to activate him, winger Mark Stone was transferred to LTIR, per PuckPedia (Twitter link).  Additionally, SinBinVegas relays (Twitter link) that forward Brendan Brisson has been taken off the roster, meaning he has been sent down to AHL Henderson.

Eichel has missed the last seven weeks (spanning 19 games) after undergoing surgery to repair a knee injury in mid-January and had been cleared for full contact since Friday.  Despite the extended absence, the 27-year-old still sits third on Vegas with 19 goals and 44 points in 42 games which had earned him an All-Star nod although he couldn’t participate due to the injury.

It has been a rough go as of late for the Golden Knights who won seven of the first nine games without their top middleman but have lost seven of their last nine, dropping them to fourth in the Pacific in terms of point percentage.  If that held, instead of contending for a division title, they’d find themselves in a Wild Card spot so they’ll be counting on Eichel to help right the ship.

As for Stone, his LTIR placement has been widely expected.  The 31-year-old last played on February 20th with what has been reported as a lacerated spleen, one that will keep him out of the rest of the regular season at least; his availability for the start of the playoffs remains in question.  His absence has also been significant as Stone is still tied for the team lead in points (53) and leads Vegas in assists with 37.

The fact that Stone will miss the rest of the regular season means that the Golden Knights can use the remainder of their LTIR pool – a little over $7MM – to add to their roster before Friday’s trade deadline.

As for Brisson, the 22-year-old was up on an emergency recall and hasn’t looked out of place in his first taste of NHL action over the last seven weeks.  Brisson has two goals and four assists with Vegas so far this season while logging 12:39 per night, good numbers for a rookie.  Meanwhile, with the Silver Knights, he has been more productive, notching 12 goals and 14 helpers in 41 contests.  While Vegas had the ability to keep Brisson on the active roster, it makes more sense to send him down if he isn’t going to play in their top 12 for the time being.

Canucks, Golden Knights Among “Legit Suitors” For Jake Guentzel

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The Canucks and Golden Knights are among the teams making serious offers for star Penguins winger Jake Guentzel ahead of the trade deadline, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports Monday. The two Pacific Division squads are among at least six “legit suitors” for his services.

Pittsburgh was viewed as a team with uncertain status heading into deadline season a few weeks ago, but three straight losses now have them 10 points out of a playoff spot and hurtling toward seller status. As such, the likelihood of them parting ways with Guentzel this week has skyrocketed, with the team reportedly preferring high-end prospects in return rather than first-round draft picks.

If that’s the case, Vancouver has the much stronger arsenal to deal from. The team recalled 2019 top-10 pick Vasily Podkolzin from AHL Abbotsford over the weekend, and he made his season debut yesterday against the Ducks, speculatively as a showcase for a trade. Offers centered around him, such as 2022 first-round pick Jonathan Lekkerimäki or 2023 first-round pick Tom Willander, are likely to draw the attention of Penguins GM Kyle Dubas.

In comparison, Vegas’ potential offer could center around 2020 late first-round pick Brendan Brisson or 2023 selection David Edstrom, the last pick of the first round, who grades out as a potential high-end third-line center.

Importantly, neither team has the long-term flexibility to ink the pending UFA to an extension. The Golden Knights are averaging less than a $1MM cap hit in space for every open roster spot next season, while the Canucks need to allocate a significant chunk of next season’s spending to their defense – only Quinn Hughes and Noah Juulsen are signed through next season or longer. Guentzel’s $6MM cap hit would also pose an insurmountable salary cap hurdle for Vancouver and Vegas, so the team must retain half of his salary in any potential deal.

Both teams could use the top-line help, however. Canucks star center Elias Pettersson is currently flanked by Nils Höglander and Pius Suter, both of whom are better suited for middle-six roles. Vegas, meanwhile, is still looking to shoulder the loss of captain Mark Stone for the rest of the regular season, and potentially the playoffs, due to a lacerated spleen.

While also injured, Guentzel is nearing a return from an upper-body injury that’s kept him out since mid-February and should be ready to return shortly after the deadline. He has 22 goals and 52 points in 50 games this season, set to eclipse the point-per-game mark for the fourth time in the last five years.

Western Conference Notes: Eichel, Myers, Vilardi, Stankoven

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Vegas Golden Knights star Jack Eichel won’t make his return from injury on Saturday, says head coach Bruce Cassidy. His next chance to return will come when Vegas visits the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Eichel has been out since January 11th, missing the team’s last 18 games with a knee injury that required surgery. He made his return to the team’s practices on Wednesday, quickly upgrading to a full-contact jersey and nearing a return.

Eichel’s return will offer major relief to a Vegas lineup that’s gone 2-5-1 in their last eight games – with opponents outscoring the Golden Knights 31-to-27. Eichel is the only Golden Knight scoring above a point-per-game pace this season, with 44 points in 42 games. Vegas has set a much more commanding 24-13-5 record in games Eichel has been healthy for.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Vancouver Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers has been designated as week-to-week with an undisclosed injury. Mark Friedman will slot into his spot in the lineup. That will bring Friedman up to 21 NHL games this season, spending much of the year as an injury fill-in. He’s managed just one assist alongside 21 penalty minutes and a +5. Myers has so far appeared in all 62 Canucks games this season – a feat that, impressively, eight different Canucks have managed, including three defensemen.
  • Winnipeg Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi has returned to Winnipeg to seek further evaluation for an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s Thursday night loss to the Dallas Stars. Vilardi left the game after just 10 minutes of ice time. He missed Winnipeg’s Saturday morning win over the Carolina Hurricanes and will now miss one more game as the Jets round out their road trip on Sunday. Vilardi has scored 16 goals and 30 points in 38 games this season, though he’s been heavily limited by a string of injuries. The Jets have gone 26-10-2 in games Vilardi has appeared in this season.
  • The Dallas Stars have recalled impressive rookie Logan Stankoven, who was briefly sent down to the minors after the team’s Thursday night game. But with this recall, Dallas shows that move was purely transactional, and that Stankoven will indeed continue in an NHL role after recording three goals and four points in his first four career games. Stankoven has also recorded 57 points in 47 games this season, battling for the league’s top scorer title all season long.

Golden Knights Recall Grigori Denisenko

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The Golden Knights recalled right-winger Grigori Denisenko from AHL Henderson on Friday, per a team announcement. To open space on the active roster, the team returned rookie right-winger Jakub Demek to the minors.

Denisenko, 23, is the latest in a series of minor-league call-ups that’s seen time on the NHL roster with forwards William Carrier, Pavel Dorofeyev, Jack Eichel, Brett Howden, and Mark Stone all out with injuries. He’s played in four games for Vegas this year, going without a point while averaging 9:57 per game.

A first-round pick of the Panthers in 2018, Denisenko signed a two-year, $1.55MM deal to remain in Florida after reaching restricted free agency last summer. However, he was claimed off waivers by the Golden Knights when the Panthers attempted to send him to the minors after he failed to make the team out of camp in October.

Vegas placed him on waivers again the day after claiming him, but Florida opted not to bring him back to the organization. As such, he was assigned to Henderson to begin the campaign, where he’s up to 14 goals and 40 points in 47 games on the season. It’s his best offensive showing since coming to North America in 2020, although it hasn’t yet translated into NHL success.

It’s unclear if Denisenko will slot into the lineup against the Sabres tomorrow or if the Golden Knights plan to keep him around as a 13th forward. If he draws in, it would be on their fourth line, currently staffed by a trio of AHL call-ups in Byron Froese, Mason Morelli, and Sheldon Rempal.

Meanwhile, Demek has yet to make his NHL debut after being recalled twice last month. The 6-foot-4 forward out of Slovakia has five goals and 13 points in 44 games for Henderson during his first professional season. Vegas selected him in the fourth round, 128th overall, in the 2021 draft.

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