NHL trade deadline: Breaking down Friday's deals
Quick-hit analysis of big-league moves completed Friday, March 3.
Wild scoop up Klingberg
Minnesota acquires: D John Klingberg
Anaheim acquires: 2025 4th-round pick, D Andrej Sustr, F Nikita Nesterenko
(Ducks retain 50% of Klingberg's salary)
The fact that Klingberg went for a fourth, a washed-up veteran (Sustr), and a late-rounder still in college (Nesterenko) tells you all you need to know about his NHL stock. After failing to find a long-term home this past offseason, Klingberg accumulated 24 points in 50 games in heavy minutes for the Ducks. Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek was clearly hoping for a juicier package when he so obviously signed the one-dimensional blue-liner to a one-year deal for the sole purpose of flipping him at the deadline. Perhaps Klingberg will thrive in Minnesota, where he'll be insulated by Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon, and Jake Middleton. Maybe he can rediscover the elite transition game he was once known for in a sheltered second-pair role and with regular power-play minutes. Minnesota made a handful of moves in the weeks before the deadline, making a concerted effort to balance short-term on-ice success with financial sustainability. While GM Bill Guerin's roster isn't massively improved, I believe he largely succeeded in his mission.
Sundqvist ➡️ Wild
Minnesota acquires: F Oskar Sundqvist
Detroit acquires: 2023 4th-round pick
This move by Wild GM Guerin is undoubtedly tied to sending Jordan Greenway to Buffalo. On aggregate, Greenway and Sundqvist offer similar value. The difference for Minnesota: Sundqvist is cheaper by $250,000 and a pending unrestricted free agent (Greenway has two years left on his deal). The Wild are in a major cap bind starting next season, with Zach Parise's and Ryan Suter's buyout penalties reaching a combined $15 million. Guerin must pinch every penny, and at the same time, he's trying his best to ice a squad capable of winning a playoff round or two.
Predators keep Fabbro
Contract: 1 year, $2.5 million
Dante Fabbro was a prime candidate to move before the deadline. The 24-year-old defenseman had fallen out of favor with Nashville head coach John Hynes, seeing his ice time decrease by three minutes year-over-year, and the club was said to be open to trading anybody not named Juuse Saros, Roman Josi, or Filip Forsberg. Instead, Fabbro, a 2016 first-round pick, gets a show-me deal. He's making $2.4 million currently, so the money is basically the same next year. Now Nashville can either flip Fabbro at next year's deadline or extend him again after hopefully a better season from the two-way righty.
Penguins snag Kulikov
Pittsburgh acquires: D Dmitry Kulikov
Anaheim acquires: F Brock McGinn, 2024 3rd-round pick
(Ducks retain 50% of Kulikov's salary)
Kulikov, 32, is a stay-at-home type who'll likely slot in on Pittsburgh's third defense pairing alongside Jan Rutta or Pierre-Olivier Joseph. His underlying numbers this year in Anaheim were horrendous, though you could say that about basically everyone on the lowly Ducks. Along with adding depth to the blue line, the Pens are clearing cap space with this deal. The recently waived McGinn carries a $2.75-million cap hit through 2024-25, while Kulikov is a pending UFA making $2.25 million. A no-brainer swap for rebuilding Anaheim, which now owns 12 picks in the first three rounds of the next two drafts.
Sabres land Greenway
Buffalo acquires: F Jordan Greenway
Minnesota acquires: 2023 2nd-round pick, 2024 5th-round pick
I love this trade for the Sabres for a few reasons. To start, it rewards the youngest team in the league for taking a significant step forward in the standings this season. Also, Greenway is a different type of player - a gigantic, grinding winger who's missing from Buffalo's forward group. Another thing: the 26-year-old isn't a rental, and his $3-million cap hit through 2024-25 isn't exorbitant (though it's not cheap). Finally, Sabres coach Don Granato knows Greenway well from their time with the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2013-15. I get the rationale from the Wild's point of view, with Greenway hitting a wall offensively this season (seven points in 45 games) and the club needing to shed salary. It was time player and team parted ways.
Namestnikov ➡️ Jets
Winnipeg acquires: F Vladislav Namestnikov
San Jose acquires: 2025 4th-round pick
Namestnikov's on the move just two days after being sent from the Lightning to the Sharks. It's the sixth trade of the 30-year-old center's career. Namestnikov arrives in Winnipeg with a $1.25-million cap hit since Tampa Bay retained 50% of his salary earlier this week. Namestnikov's reliable defensively and can chip in a bit of offense (15 points in 57 games in limited ice for Tampa Bay). Fair deal for both teams. I can imagine some Jets fans are frustrated, though, given Kevin Cheveldayoff's activity over the past 10 days. The GM also added Nino Niederreiter, which is great, but with the Western Conference wide-open and contracts for multiple key Jets players expiring after next season, surely he could have done more. Hey, maybe Cheveldayoff will surprise everyone with another deal before the deadline hits. Or maybe not?
Kings trade for MacEwen
Los Angeles acquires: F Zack MacEwen
Philadelphia acquires: F Brendan Lemieux, 2024 5th-round pick
The Kings and Flyers are exchanging agitators in what appears to be another "it's time for a fresh start somewhere else, kid" move in a long line of them over the past month. Lemieux, who's best known for being Claude Lemieux's son and for biting Brady Tkachuk, is a 6-foot-1, 215-pound menace with three points in 27 games this year. He's a 26-year-old pending UFA. MacEwen is also 26, also big (6-foot-3, 205 pounds), and also annoying to play against but not particularly productive (nine points in 46 games). He's a pending RFA. Safe to assume the pick accounts for the contractual difference.
Devils add Lazar
New Jersey acquires: F Curtis Lazar
Vancouver acquires: 2024 4th-round pick
This move serves two purposes for the Devils. First: Lazar is insurance. He's a faceoff-winning bottom-sixer with penalty-killing acumen, which is what a team looking to go on a deep playoff run should have in abundance. Second: Lazar, who makes $1 million through 2024-25, provides nice cost certainty for New Jersey, whose forward group includes three pending UFA forwards (Erik Haula, Miles Wood, and Tomas Tatar). It'll now be easier this summer to let one of them leave versus overpaying. I like this trade from the Canucks' perspective, too, as a fourth-rounder is a better pick than expected.
Penguins bring back Bonino
Pittsburgh acquires: F Nick Bonino
San Jose acquires: D Arvid Henrikson, conditional 2024 5th-round pick, 2023 7th-round pick
Montreal acquires: D Tony Sund, 2024 5th-round pick
(Canadiens retain 50% of Bonino's salary)
Bonino, a member of the Stanley Cup-winning Penguins of 2016 and 2017, is headed back to Pittsburgh after a six-year hiatus in a three-way trade. Now 34, Bonino's not the player he used to be, but he's not entirely washed up. He can fill a bottom-six role and block shots on the penalty kill for the Pens, who currently occupy a playoff spot. Bonino's been hot and cold this year, recording one point in his first 20 games, then 18 in his past 39 games. There's nothing wrong with this move in isolation; the player is useful and the price is fine. However, the Penguins' approach to the deadline has been puzzling. Instead of pulling the trigger on deals that include difference-makers, general manager Ron Hextall has only acquired Bonino and Mikael Granlund. Simply put, neither veteran will move the needle down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Blues take chance on Vrana
St. Louis acquires: F Jakub Vrana
Detroit acquires: F Dylan McLaughlin, 2025 7th-round pick
(Red Wings retain 50% of Vrana's salary)
This trade is about giving Vrana a fresh start. The 27-year-old winger spent several months earlier this season in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program dealing with an undisclosed issue. After returning to the Wings in December, Vrana played three NHL games (no points) and 17 AHL games (11 points). St. Louis is banking on the classic change-of-scenery bump while Detroit is offloading half of Vrana's $5.25-million cap hit this year and next. Vrana's shown flashes of 40-goal potential during previous stretches with Detroit and Washington. The Blues recently picked up Kasperi Kapanen, another project at forward, off waivers. Vrana and Kapanen are low-risk adds for a franchise trying to turn over most of its roster while remaining relatively competitive. It's worth a shot, though there's no guarantee either pans out.
Recapping weeks of activity
As we wait for trade activity Friday, below is a high-level recap of the past month - perhaps the wildest lead-up to a trade deadline in NHL history.
The first domino fell when Bo Horvat was shipped to the New York Islanders on Jan. 30. Between then and Thursday, 46 trades were registered with the league, according to the indispensable CapFriendly. The swaps involved 59 NHL players, as well as 38 minor leaguers and prospects. A whopping 62 draft picks were transferred, including 13 guaranteed first-rounders and three other potential firsts (if conditions are met). Four trades saw one team move "future considerations" to the other in lieu of a player or pick. Meanwhile, 15 of the 46 trades - or roughly 33% - featured salary retention of some kind.
The 48-8-5 Bruins, who became the fastest team in history to hit 100 points in a season on Thursday, bulked up with the acquisitions of defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Garnet Hathaway. (For good measure, Boston threw in a $90-million extension for David Pastrnak.)
In an attempt to keep pace with their division rivals, the Maple Leafs added six pieces - Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari, and Sam Lafferty up front, and Jake McCabe, Erik Gustafsson, and Luke Schenn on the back end. Out the door: forwards Pierre Engvall and Joey Anderson and blue-liner Rasmus Sandin.
The Eastern Conference has owned the West on the ice this season - and on the trade market. The Devils won the Timo Meier sweepstakes. The Senators landed the highly sought-after Jakob Chychrun. And the Rangers double0-dipped by reeling in two impact forwards, Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane.
The Capitals and Predators have been the most compelling selling teams. Washington has been aggressive in unloading veterans as part of a retool, bidding farewell to Lars Eller, Marcus Johansson, Gustafsson, Orlov, and Hathaway. Nashville, a club cutting deep into its core, has flipped Mattias Ekholm, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, and Tanner Jeannot.
That Jeannot trade - a middle-six winger moving from the Predators to the Lightning for defenseman Cal Foote and five draft picks, including a first-rounder - boggled minds across the league. Will anything top it Friday?
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).