Dallas Stars To Acquire Michael Bunting
The Dallas Stars are bringing in a formidable middle-six forward for their playoff run. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Stars have acquired Michael Bunting from the Nashville Predators. Friedman added that he believes a third-round pick is headed to the Predators.
More to come…
Kings Trading Warren Foegele To Senators
The Senators are adding some depth on the wings, with Darren Dreger of TSN reporting they’re acquiring forward Warren Foegele from the Kings. It’ll be a second-round pick heading to Los Angeles in return, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, plus a pick swap as part of the deal, per Frank Seravalli of Victory+.
Foegele, 30 next month, is a big left winger with some legitimate scoring upside, although he hasn’t shown much of it this season. He’s scored just seven goals and nine points in 47 games this year, and he was moved to the press box for five of the Kings’ last 10 games after being a lineup staple for L.A. and Edmonton for the last several seasons. Even still, he’s averaged 16 goals and 32 points per 82 games over his nine-year career.
Foegele is playing the season in year two of a three-year, $10.5MM deal and has a five-team no-trade list, which presumably didn’t include his home country’s capital. He still has another year left on that contract at a $3.5MM cap hit – a steep commitment if he can’t rebound to his career-average form, let alone the back-to-back 20-goal seasons he’d put up leading into this year. He’s making only $3MM in actual salary next season, though, so that’ll be financially attractive for the Sens’ books.
More to come…
Penguins Interested In Teddy Blueger
The Penguins’ roster isn’t expected to look very different after Friday’s deadline. They’re a safe bet to make the playoffs and won’t be selling off any rental UFAs, but after seemingly jumping years ahead of schedule in their retool in a matter of moves, they’re not in the market for any of the significant names still available, either.
They’re still in the market for some cheap pickups, whether rentals or young change-of-scenery names. It appears a reunion with center Teddy Blueger could help satisfy the latter want, as Josh Yohe of The Athletic reports they’re looking at acquiring the pending UFA from the Canucks as a stopgap depth fix with Sidney Crosby‘s suspected MCL sprain causing a strain on their forward group.
Vancouver has presumably received interest from a few other playoff-bound clubs as well in the 31-year-old, who ended his first stint in Pittsburgh under similar circumstances as a rental pickup by the Golden Knights on their way to a Stanley Cup in 2023. He spent more than half the season on injured reserve with a lower-body issue but has been hot since returning, picking up five goals and eight points in 14 games for the ‘Nucks while averaging north of 16 minutes per game, a career-high.
Blueger was a press-box luxury for the Knights on their long playoff run three years ago and could fill a similar role for Pittsburgh when Crosby returns. The success of Thomas Novak and Benjamin Kindel this season makes it hard to envision Blueger taking up a spot in the top-nine, and they’d be similarly hesitant to break up a fourth line of Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte, and Noel Acciari that’s been exceptional at controlling play at even strength with a 54.2% expected goals share.
As such, the Pens likely won’t be willing to part ways with more than a mid-round pick to land him. Seeing as they have at least five picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts, they have no shortage of capital. But they might have to reach into that stable of second or third-rounders compared to a fourth or fifth to get it done, considering what fourth-line pieces like Michael McCarron, Nic Dowd, and Cole Smith have fetched this week.
Blueger started his career as a second-round pick of the Pens back in 2012. After finally breaking into the league six years later, he ended up posting 33 goals and 92 points in 250 games for them over five seasons.
Wild Notes: Trocheck, O’Reilly, Coyle
General Manager Bill Guerin is no stranger to bold moves, and that has continued into deadline season. Throughout the past few weeks, the Minnesota Wild have been heavily linked to New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck, but that interest appears to be waning.
A few days ago, Trocheck himself shared that he would prefer to stay in the Eastern Conference, but there was no indication on whether he would block a trade to Minnesota. It turns out, the Wild are pulling away from Trocheck for different reasons entirely. According to Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic, Minnesota simply isn’t comfortable meeting the Rangers’ asking price.
There isn’t much detailed information available about what exactly the Rangers are requesting. Still, after effectively trading four first-round picks for Quinn Hughes earlier this year, the Wild may not have the assets to acquire another top player.
Additional Wild notes:
- Regardless of evaporating interest in Trocheck, the team is still trying to acquire a top-six center. In the same report, Russo and Smith suggested that the Wild could target veteran center Ryan O’Reilly from the Nashville Predators. The two teams recently got together on a trade that sent Michael McCarron to Minnesota, so there wouldn’t be any anti-divisional bias from either side. Unfortunately, despite not having any trade protection, the Predators have a handshake agreement with O’Reilly to only send him to a location where he would be willing to play.
- Furthermore, the pair of reporters brought up the fact that the Wild have been interested in Charlie Coyle of the Columbus Blue Jackets for much of the season. Still, things look a lot different in Columbus recently, and the team has openly suggested they’d rather extend Coyle than trade him for future assets at the deadline. At any rate, if the Wild are intent on adding a top-six middleman, the pool of talent is quickly shrinking.
Blackhawks Reassign Kevin Korchinski
The Chicago Blackhawks are again giving one of their better defensive prospects more time to develop in the AHL. The team announced that they’ve reassigned Kevin Korchinski to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.
Unlike some of the other moves today, this doesn’t pertain to Korchinski’s eligibility for the Calder Cup playoffs. Since he’s exempt from waivers, the Blackhawks could have theoretically waited to reassign Korchinski tomorrow morning. Instead, they’ve opted for today, meaning Korchinski is bound for another extended stay in Rockford.
That’s how Chicago has handled him for the past two years. Two years after being selected with the seventh overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, Korchinski spent the entire 2023-24 season with the Blackhawks. He finished the campaign with five goals and 15 points in 76 games with a -39 rating, and he proved he wasn’t quite ready for NHL minutes.
Since then, he’s primarily played for the IceHogs. He has been a solid puck mover in the AHL, registering 45 assists in 101 games. Still, his -39 rating over that stretch is concerning, especially considering that Rockford has made the postseason in both years.
This season has been his most limited in the AHL. At the time of writing, Korchinski has appeared in only four games for Chicago, tallying one assist while averaging 11:42 of ice time. This isn’t to say that Korchinski should no longer be considered one of Chicago’s top prospects, but he may take a bit longer to develop than expected.
Canucks Acquire Jack Thompson From Sharks
The Canucks announced the acquisition of right-shot defenseman Jack Thompson from the Sharks in exchange for minor-league defender Jett Woo. Thompson was also in the minors at the time of the deal, so the trade doesn’t affect either club’s active roster.
Thompson is on the move for the second time in three years, as San Jose picked up the defender at the 2024 trade deadline from the Lightning as part of the return for rental winger Anthony Duclair. He was a third-round pick by Tampa in 2020 and was a legitimately intriguing prospect at the time, posting 32 points in 46 games for AHL Syracuse up to that point.
That momentum continued into last season, which Thompson split evenly between the Sharks and the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. When in the NHL, he was impressive in a bottom-pairing role. He suited up 31 times for San Jose, recording a 4-6–10 scoring line and a -9 rating while averaging 15:47 per game. The 6’1″ righty isn’t overly physical and isn’t much of a defensive threat in his own zone, but he was offensively potent enough to create good possession impacts for the Sharks, ranking third on their blue line last season with a 5-on-5 expected goals percentage of 47.1.
With the Sharks’ signings of veterans Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg in free agency last summer, plus top prospect Sam Dickinson locking down a roster spot, Thompson was lost in the shuffle this season from the start. The 23-year-old somewhat surprisingly cleared waivers at the beginning of the season and hasn’t seen a recall since, spending the entire year with the Barracuda. He only has three goals and 12 points in 42 games, a far cry from his usual AHL production.
As such, he likely welcomed a change of scenery, and the Canucks presumably view this year as more of a blip than a permanent regression. After shipping out Tyler Myers to the Stars yesterday, Vancouver has an immediate need for right-shot depth.
They recalled 26-year-old Cole Clayton with no NHL experience today to serve as their #7 with Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Derek Forbort on injured reserve. It stands to reason that Thompson usurps him on the depth chart for now and will make a legitimate challenge for consistent NHL minutes with fellow youngsters Tom Willander and Victor Mancini behind top-pair righty Filip Hronek down the stretch.
If Thompson doesn’t work out, it’s not as if they’re giving up a particularly high-value asset to land him. Woo was a second-rounder in 2018, and the organization long hoped he could be a solid depth piece and power-play option, but he’s now 25 and has yet to make his NHL debut. A pending Group VI unrestricted free agent, he’s effectively just a contract San Jose is taking back to avoid Vancouver pushing closer to the 50-man limit.
The right-shot Woo has had some intriguing AHL seasons in the past, but this isn’t one of them. He’s been limited to a goal and eight points in 26 AHL games with a career-worst -11 rating. If the Sharks keep him around past this year, it won’t be anything more than a supplemental piece for their higher-value D prospects in the minors.
Minnesota Wild Acquire Jeff Petry
The Minnesota Wild are adding a veteran presence to their backend ahead of the playoffs. According to a team announcement, the Wild have acquired Jeff Petry from the Florida Panthers for a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick.
Included in Minnesota’s announcement were the conditions on the draft pick. If the Wild make it to the Western Conference Final, and Petry plays in 50% or more of the Wild’s playoff games heading into the Western Conference Final, the pick will upgrade to Minnesota’s fifth-round pick this season.
At this stage of his career, Petry, 38, is only fit for a depth role. This season, his first with the Panthers, he was relegated to a bottom-pairing role. Throughout the year, he has tallied eight assists in 58 games with a -10 rating, averaging 14:51 of ice time.
That’s largely what he turned into during his time with the Detroit Red Wings. Before moving to Sunrise, Petry spent two years in HockeyTown, scoring four goals and 32 points in 117 games. Unlike his time with the Panthers, Petry was typically in Detroit’s top-two defensive pairings.
Given his play with the Red Wings, it was no question why Petry had to settle for a one-year, league minimum contract last summer. Playing next to Ben Chiarot for much of last season, the pair finished with the lowest xGoals% in the league (for pairings that had played 400 or more minutes together) with a 41.3% output.
That trend has continued with Florida. According to Moneypuck, the combination of Uvis Balinskis and Petry has combined for a 46.6% xGoals% this season, ranking 65th out of 83 defensive pairings that have played 300 or more minutes together.
That makes the move more peculiar on Minnesota’s end. The team already had seven defensemen on the active roster before the trade and had multiple defensive assets in the AHL that have already played this season. At any rate, instead of spending potentially his last season in the NHL with a team outside of a playoff spot, Petry will have the opportunity to compete for the first Stanley Cup of his career.
Maple Leafs Continue To Listen On UFAs; Troy Stecher Drawing Interest
The Maple Leafs are continuing to gauge the market on their pending UFAs, holding Scott Laughton and Bobby McMann out of last night’s lineup (plus a defender with term in Oliver Ekman-Larsson) for injury protection ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period adds that rearguard Troy Stecher is now generating some interest as well.
Of course, the Leafs’ shootout loss to the Devils last night only pushed them further into sell mode, sitting eight points back of a playoff spot with no games-played advantage, and they already sent center Nicolas Roy to the Avalanche this morning.
Stecher, 31, already changed teams once this season. The Leafs claimed him off waivers from the Oilers in November. That’s proven to be a shrewd move, as Stecher’s posted up a 3-9–12 scoring line, a +1 rating, and 52 blocks in 42 games while averaging north of 20 minutes per game, the most deployment he’s seen at any stage of his career.
The veteran righty was a much-needed addition at the time, even if he only ended up being a depth piece, with both of Toronto’s top-four right-shots, Brandon Carlo and Chris Tanev, dealing with injuries. Tanev has essentially remained sidelined for the balance of the season and now officially won’t be back after core muscle surgery this week, keeping Stecher primarily in a second-pairing role with Jake McCabe.
His possession impacts have been noticeable. His 47.1% Corsi For percentage at 5-on-5 doesn’t jump out on its own, but it is admirable when considering that’s a relative mark of 3.0% while starting 58.6% of his shifts in the defensive zone. His duo with McCabe has also controlled 53.6% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck, among the team’s best.
Considering he’s been able to do all that while spending a good amount of time in the top four at even strength and averaging over two minutes per night on the penalty kill, it’s not surprising that right-shot-needy teams – a statement that can describe virtually every contender – are lining up for him as a pending UFA with a dirt-cheap $787,500 cap hit.
His playoff track record is limited but strong. He was excellent in a bottom-pairing role for Vancouver in the 2020 bubble, posting a +9 rating in 17 games, and was similarly effective as a #7 option for the Kings in their first-round loss to the Oilers in 2022. He only appeared in four out of seven games that series, but had a pair of goals and assists each with a +4 rating. Last year, he had a +2 rating in eight games on Edmonton’s march to the Stanley Cup Final.
Red Wings Recall Sebastian Cossa, Reassign Erik Gustafsson
March 5th: According to a team announcement, the Red Wings have reassigned Cossa back to AHL Grand Rapids. The transaction indicates that Gibson will be available for tomorrow’s contest against the Florida Panthers.
March 4th: The Red Wings announced they’ve called up top goaltending prospect Sebastian Cossa under emergency conditions. To open a spot on the active roster, they reassigned defenseman Erik Gustafsson to AHL Grand Rapids after he cleared waivers yesterday.
Cossa, 23, ranks third among Red Wing farmhands at Elite Prospects and second at McKeen’s Hockey, although both rankings were done preseason. He’s only solidified that ranking with another exceptional year in the minors. The 2021 first-round pick out of WHL Edmonton has a .914 SV% across 115 games in four AHL seasons. That includes a .927 mark in 31 games this season with a 1.99 GAA, five shutouts, and a 24-4-3 record.
Public discourse has somewhat forgotten about the 6’6″ Cossa because of his limited NHL opportunities to date. He’s yet to make a start and only has one career relief appearance, coming into a game against the Sabres in December 2024 at the first intermission and allowing two goals on 14 shots the rest of the way. Nothing in his minor-league track record or development path yet shows he wasn’t worthy of the premier draft selection, though, and goalies taking several years post-draft to develop and make an NHL impact is nothing new.
Unlike most young goaltenders in his situation, though, he doesn’t have a clear-cut path to ‘goalie of the future’ honors in Detroit. 2023 second-rounder Trey Augustine is regarded by some as the better prospect (even first overall in their system, according to NHL.com), and he’s currently putting up a .929 SV% and 22-7-1 record in his junior year at Michigan State. If the 21-year-old opts to turn pro this spring, he and Cossa will likely be put in a direct challenge with each other for backup duties behind John Gibson next season, with Cam Talbot set to hit the open market.
Speaking of Gibson, the upper-body injury he sustained against the Predators on Monday is the reason for Cossa’s recall ahead of tonight’s matchup with the Golden Knights. Cossa will likely back up Talbot while Gibson continues to undergo evaluation, but head coach Todd McLellan made it clear postgame that he doesn’t expect his starting netminder to miss too much time.
Maple Leafs Recall Jacob Quillan
The Maple Leafs recalled center Jacob Quillan from AHL Toronto today, per a team announcement. He takes Nicolas Roy‘s roster spot after he was traded to the Avalanche this morning.
Quillan, 24, has been up and down between the Leafs and Marlies for much of this season but has made a strong case to stay up for the stretch run as Toronto enters sell mode. The second-year pro out of Quinnipiac has suddenly established himself as one of Toronto’s top “prospects,” even given his relatively advanced age, putting up a 12-21–33 scoring line in 38 AHL games.
Quillan has received brief looks in the NHL over the last two seasons, seeing his debut in January 2025 cut short by an injury. He’s been buried on the fourth line and hasn’t scored, only averaging 7:11 of ice time per game across five total appearances, but is averaging two hits per game in that small sample.
This year’s offensive surge has likely put him squarely on the Leafs’ radar for a roster spot in the fall, although the pending restricted free agent will need a new contract before that happens. Even if that scoring doesn’t translate to the NHL, he has the physical tools at 6’1″ and 204 lbs, plus a strong history of two-way play in the NCAA and AHL, to make him a fourth-line staple.
It’s worth noting that the Leafs might return Quillan to the AHL tomorrow to make him eligible for the Calder Cup Playoffs. He can then be recalled again after the trade deadline – players just have to be on an AHL roster at the time the deadline passes to be able to suit up in minor-league playoff action.