Stars To Rule Tyler Seguin Out For Season
The Stars have filed paperwork declaring forward Tyler Seguin out for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Under this season’s new rules regarding long-term injured reserve, that declaration increases the Stars’ LTIR pool from its current $3.67MM to roughly $9.7MM ahead of next week’s trade deadline, unlocking more than $6MM in additional cap space.
Seguin, 34, underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL back on Dec. 16, but the Stars did not issue a recovery timeline. Later that week, Dallas said they’d re-evaluate him following the Olympic break and make a determination on his status from there. Evidently, this week’s testing revealed he’s at least around four months away from returning, ruling him out of a potential Stanley Cup Final run.
Seguin, whose contract ends following the 2026-27 campaign, will have played just 47 regular-season contests over the past two years, a hair over 25%. He had hip surgery in December 2024 that took out most of his regular season but permitted him to return for the playoffs. He’ll have no such luck this time around, though.
Even as the 2010 second overall pick deals with several severe injuries in the latter half of his career, he’s maintained his status as a consistent top-six producer in the Lone Star State. Since sustaining a hip injury in 2020 that nearly ended his career, he’s averaged 26 goals and 57 points per 82 games while skating around 17 minutes per game. He’s not sniffing the consistent 70-to-80-point production that defined his prime, but he had 17 points in 27 games this season before the ACL tear and produced over a point per game in his truncated showing last season.
It’s a definite blow to a Stars team that isn’t scoring as much as they’d like this season, but it does allow them to address that issue in earnest by next Friday afternoon. After finishing top 10 in the league in goals in each of the last three seasons, they’ve dropped back to 11th place at 3.33 goals per game this year. In The Fourth Period’s latest trade board, David Pagnotta noted Dallas general manager Jim Nill has at least worked the phones on names like Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman, and Brayden Schenn up front while displaying interest in Luke Schenn, Tyler Myers, Justin Faulk and others to address their relatively weak right-shot depth on defense.
None of those pickups would have been possible without moving significant money the other way if they didn’t make Seguin ineligible to play again this season. They were already eating into about half their LTIR pool to stay compliant as things were, leaving them with just under $1.94MM in deadline cap space. That number now jumps to nearly $8MM by shifting Seguin to season-ending LTIR.
Ian Mitchell Linked To Swiss League
Red Wings depth defenseman Ian Mitchell is expected to sign with Bern of Switzerland’s National League when he becomes a free agent this summer, according to Swiss outlet He Shoots He Scores.
Mitchell, 27, once looked like he’d be a long-term piece on the Blackhawks’ blue line. Drafted in the second round in 2017, he was an NCHC champion with and captained the University of Denver before turning pro in 2020.
The 6’0″ righty has yet to eclipse the career high of 39 games played he set with Chicago as a first-year pro, though. A gifted puck-mover, he could never honestly challenge for the top-four deployment and power-play stability he needed to be effective. He was shipped to the Bruins in the 2023 Taylor Hall/Nick Foligno deal before getting non-tendered last summer.
Mitchell signed a one-year, one-way, league minimum deal with Detroit in free agency. They were likely hoping he could be a valuable press-box piece and depth puck-mover if needed, but he hasn’t spent a day on Detroit’s roster this season after being cut from training camp and clearing waivers.
Mitchell had appeared in at least one NHL game in each of the last five seasons with Chicago and Boston, but that streak is in jeopardy now. His output with AHL Grand Rapids hasn’t been great, either. His 4-13–17 scoring line through 40 games ranks third among Grand Rapids defenders in scoring, but he’s usually good for at least a half a point per game in the minors. His +23 rating is on track to be a career-high, though.
Smooth-skating defenders tend to thrive in the NL, where he now looks to continue his career. SC Bern is historically one of the league’s top clubs but has had a rough go of things this decade. He will join a group that already has former NHLers Hardy Haman Aktell, Anton Lindholm, Joel Vermin, and Waltteri Merela signed through next season.
Blues Reassign Mathieu Joseph
Feb. 27: Joseph cleared waivers and has been assigned to AHL Springfield, the team announced.
Feb. 26: The Blues announced today that they’ve designated winger Mathieu Joseph as a non-roster player, signaling he’ll land on waivers this afternoon. The placement comes after St. Louis tried unsuccessfully to find a trade partner for the forward, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. His roster spot will go to winger Dylan Holloway, who’s coming off injured reserve for tonight’s game against the Kraken as expected.
Joseph, 29, is in the final season of the four-year, $11.8MM deal he signed with the Senators as a restricted free agent in 2022. At the time, it was an incredibly reasonable and relatively low-cost bet on a player who had 12 points in 11 games for the Sens after being acquired from the Lightning in the Nick Paul trade the prior season and had 30 points in 69 games across both teams.
The 6’1″ lefty has churned out just a shell of that production in the years since, though. The high-energy winger had just three goals in the first year of the deal. He enjoyed a brief resurgence with Ottawa in year two, recording a career-high 24 assists and 35 points in 72 games, but that was more a result of him being elevated into the Sens’ top-six out of necessity amid a rash of injuries than anything else.
Ottawa sent Joseph to St. Louis in a cap dump the following summer. In the nearly two full seasons since, he’s only notched six goals and 15 points in 99 games in a Blues uniform, largely in a third or fourth-line role. This season, he has two goals and 11 points in 39 outings and has been a frequent healthy scratch, although he also missed some time in January with an elbow infection.
If there’s any trade interest in Joseph, it’s been quieted by his $2.95MM cap hit. This close to the trade deadline, buyers aren’t going to be willing to commit that much cap space to a reclamation project. St. Louis will almost certainly be moving the pending UFA with retained salary – if at all – as he’s unlikely to get picked off the wire. However, having him clear waivers before a deal would allow the acquiring team to stash him in the minors without risking losing him on the wire again, lowering his cap impact, at least to start.
Any interest in Joseph will be to add some speed and physicality to a team’s fourth line. His offensive utility in a top-nine group is greatly diminished due to Joseph being among the worst finishers in the league, at least among forwards, over the life of his contract. He’s shot at just 6.9% since 2022 and hasn’t hit 10% in a single season since then.
As for Holloway, the Blues hope his second IR reinstatement in as many months is more permanent. He sustained an ankle injury in mid-December that kept him out of the lineup for a month. His return lasted just one game, with the lingering pain still being too much to play through.
With now another month-plus of recovery behind him, thanks to the Olympic break, he should be much closer to – if not at – 100%. He’ll be looking to finish strong after a disappointing first half of the campaign that saw the 24-year-old be limited to eight goals and 17 points in 34 games, certainly limiting his earning potential in a contract year after last season’s breakout.
Rangers Claim Tye Kartye From Kraken
1:45 p.m.: The Rangers announced that winger Brennan Othmann, not Morrow, is the roster casualty for Kartye. Othmann heads to Hartford after scoring once in 11 games on his most recent call-up.
1:03 p.m.: The Rangers have claimed winger Tye Kartye off waivers from the Kraken, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. New York does not have an open roster spot and will need to make a corresponding move.
Kartye, 24, was an undrafted free agent signed by the Kraken in 2022. He ended up on waivers yesterday after slowly slipping out of regular fourth-line deployment over the past two years. The OHL Sault Ste. Marie product is in his third NHL season but has been limited to eight points and a -6 rating through 40 games, serving as a healthy scratch in 10 of Seattle’s final 13 games before the Olympic break. He’s two years removed from a rookie season that saw him notch 11 goals and 20 points in 77 games for the Kraken, though.
With another year left on his contract at a $1.25MM cap hit, he’ll now look for more opportunity to contribute in the Rangers’ patchwork bottom-six forward group. He has a career 20-21–41 scoring line with a -21 rating in 180 career appearances. He’s primarily played left wing in his pro career, but has some versatility down the middle if needed. He’ll add another element of physical depth, averaging 2.79 hits per game for his career, while contributing a bit of scoring upside in Manhattan.
The Rangers are carrying eight defensemen, so it stands to reason that the waiver-exempt Scott Morrow, who was a healthy scratch in yesterday’s overtime loss to the Flyers, will be on his way to AHL Hartford to make room for Kartye on the active roster.
Kraken Could Make Jamie Oleksiak Available
The Kraken have at least mulled the possibility of flipping pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Jamie Oleksiak ahead of next week’s deadline, as evidenced by his placement on TSN’s latest Trade Bait board released today. Oleksiak briefly appeared in trade speculation at this time last season, too, but ultimately remained in Seattle, armed with a 16-team no-trade list.
Seattle’s in a tough spot in the standings. They’re hanging onto the last wild-card spot in the West by two points. They’re in a rather crowded group, though, with only six points of separation between fifth place in the conference (Oilers, 66) and 10th (Kings, 60). They’re not in a clear position to be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline, but will likely do a little bit of both with long-term success in mind.
What’s clearer, though, is the lack of fit for Oleksiak in Seattle past this season. He’s already been forced to play a decent chunk of time on his off side due to Seattle’s excess of lefties. Of their group, Oleksiak is the only one on an expiring deal. Vince Dunn and Ryker Evans are signed through next year, while Ryan Lindgren is under contract through 2028-29.
The Kraken have strong enough playoff odds (55.8%, per MoneyPuck) that they could justify keeping Oleksiak down the stretch as an in-house rental before letting him walk in July. But even if they make the playoffs, their lowly offense will likely keep them from going anywhere. It would make sense, if there’s any interest, for Seattle to subtract Oleksiak from a position of relative strength if they can help convert his trade value into landing an impact forward.
Seattle would likely have to retain up to half of Oleksiak’s $4.6MM cap hit to make him of true interest to anyone, but that’s something they’re in a position to do with over $20MM in space by deadline day. That’s more because of his deployment, the 33-year-old is now more of a natural bottom-pairing fit after being a top-four option for several years, but he’s still provided some positive value outside of his desirable 6’7″, 252-lb frame. The Ontario-born big man has nine points and a +6 rating in 56 outings this season while featuring on the Kraken’s second penalty-killing unit. His possession numbers aren’t near the top of Seattle’s leaderboard, but don’t paint him as a liability, either, especially in primarily defensive-zone deployment. He also carries a low injury risk for a player of his size and playstyle; he hasn’t missed a contest due to an injury since November 2022.
Still, Oleksiak’s remaining trade protection is expansive enough to cause some problems. That’s just over half the league he can block a move to, but with his new club likely only being a temporary stop on his way toward free agency this summer, he may be willing to waive that protection for the right situation.
Mammoth Interested In Dougie Hamilton
Add the Mammoth to the list of teams that have kicked the tires on Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton, says David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Whether the feeling is reciprocal remains to be seen. Hamilton has a full no-movement clause accompanied by a 10-team trade list. That extensive trade protection already nixed a deal that would have sent Hamilton to the Sharks last summer. Nonetheless, Pagnotta adds that while “his agent is trying to help facilitate a move” and that he’s “open to exploring options outside of his preferred list,” his market isn’t particularly fervent. The Maple Leafs had some interest, but their recent slide has likely taken them out of the buying conversation, especially in terms of taking on a player with a steep cap hit like Hamilton’s $9MM. San Jose still has some degree of interest, according to Pagnotta, but it’s unclear whether Hamilton has changed his tune on a move there.
While Hamilton’s initial cost is pricey, he only has two years left on his deal and will be a UFA in 2028. The cost of entrance will take many playoff hopefuls out of the picture, especially if the Devils aren’t keen on retaining salary, but that type of structure works for a team like Utah that has loads of present cap space, some money coming off the books this summer, and no big-ticket RFAs to negotiate with until after Hamilton’s contract expires.
Talks apparently slowed regarding Hamilton last month after fellow righty Luke Hughes exited New Jersey’s lineup with a shoulder dislocation. With the Devils well out of the playoff picture and Hughes close to returning, though, they should be more willing to re-engage in conversations. Hughes’ absence has opened the door for Hamilton to get reps as New Jersey’s top power-play quarterback once again, though, and he’s delivered a 2-5–7 scoring line in his last 10 as a result. The Devils are hoping that’s boosted his stock to some degree, although his 22 points in 54 games this season are still on track for his worst offensive showing in over 10 years.
That’s understandably a sign of concern for a defender on the wrong side of 30 whose offensive acumen was always his selling point. It’s also a testament to just how consistent a producer he’d been up to this point, though. From 2014 to 2025, Hamilton averaged 16 goals and 52 points per 82 games and finished top 10 in Norris Trophy voting four times. It’s now been three years since he received any award consideration, and his output has been on a somewhat consistent decline since a left pectoral muscle tear limited him to just 20 games in the 2023-24 campaign.
Still, for a playoff hopeful in Utah that’s being held back by a relative lack of depth scoring and a bottom-two power play, Hamilton’s fit would be natural as an established, successful PP1 option. Any concerns about his defense should be quelled by a system under head coach Andre Tourigny that’s consistently held possession control since the franchise’s inception last season, controlling 53.7% of shot attempts and 53.6% of scoring chances at 5-on-5 this year.
It could also come with a relatively low acquisition cost, depending on how desperate the Devils are to clear the bulk of Hamilton’s money. They likely would have been willing to take less for him earlier in the season when they were still in the playoff conversation and were looking to boost their cap flexibility to make additions. The latter is still likely a long-term priority, but is no longer a pressing short-term concern with them on a five-game losing streak and 13 points out of the playoff picture.
Wild Emerging As Frontrunner In Vincent Trocheck Trade Talks
As the Wild gear up for an all-in trade deadline following their earlier acquisition of Quinn Hughes, they’re now the league-wide favorite to acquire center Vincent Trocheck from the Rangers, according to Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic and David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Minnesota’s interest in Trocheck dates back several weeks but was surely fueled by Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic’s report earlier this month that the Rangers had essentially resigned themselves to moving him by the deadline, as compared to making it a summer deal. For a team that lost a top-six center in Marco Rossi in the Hughes deal, adding another one – a clear-cut upgrade, no less – is a natural next step for general manager Bill Guerin as he aims to guide the Wild out of a cutthroat Central Division picture in the playoffs.
While salary cap considerations have kept the Wild out of major trade conversations in recent years, that’s no longer the case. Even after the Hughes deal, they project to have $12.3MM in cap space on deadline day, per PuckPedia. That’s more than enough to take on Trocheck’s deal, which runs at a cap hit of $5.625MM through 2028-29, with no retention and without subtracting a roster player from the mix.
Minnesota has depleted a good portion of its valuable young talent, shipping off Liam Ohgren and Zeev Buium alongside Rossi in the Hughes trade, but has more to spare. As Mercogliano writes, 2022 first-rounder Danila Yurov is likely a non-starter. The rookie has eight goals and 22 points in 52 outings this season and is now Minnesota’s clear-cut top “prospect,” depending on your definition of the word. Mercogliano relays word from his Minnesota-based colleague, Michael Russo, that he “would be very difficult to pry away,” even for a talent like Trocheck with 37 points in 44 games on an offensively stagnant Rangers club.
Aside from that roadblock, there are still plenty of other names the Wild could leverage for the Rangers to consider. Center Charlie Stramel, the Wild’s first-rounder in 2023, has recovered nicely from a tough start to his college career and is now a standout 21-year-old senior at Michigan State, posting a 19-21–40 scoring line in 30 games with a +30 rating that leads forwards nationally. Right-shot defenseman David Jiricek, drafted sixth overall by the Blue Jackets in 2022, hasn’t demonstrated much forward progress since his acquisition last season, and it stands to reason they’d be comfortable flipping him as a result.
Trocheck does have some say in where he ends up with a 12-team no-trade list. The 32-year-old is reportedly open to a move to the Twin Cities but would otherwise prefer to stay in the Eastern Conference. Pagnotta reports that the Kings, Jets, Mammoth, and Avalanche have expressed some level of interest as well, but those could all end up being non-starters based on his M-NTC.
Bruins Reassign Michael DiPietro
Feb. 27: Boston reassigned DiPietro to Providence following last night’s win over the Blue Jackets, per the AHL’s transactions log. Swayman will return to the team for tomorrow’s game against the Flyers. DiPietro was needed for six minutes of game action to relieve Korpisalo, who was temporarily pulled by concussion spotters before returning. He stopped both shots he faced.
Feb. 24: DiPietro was recalled back to Boston today, per Ryan. It’s unclear if he’s up solely for practice purposes or if they’re expecting to need him to back up Korpisalo against the Blue Jackets if Swayman doesn’t return to the team by Thursday.
Feb. 20: Boston has assigned DiPietro back to Providence, Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe reports.
Feb. 18: The Bruins announced Wednesday that they’ve recalled goaltender Michael DiPietro from AHL Providence on an emergency basis. He’ll serve as Boston’s lone NHL-contracted practice netminder for the time being, as Jeremy Swayman (USA) and Joonas Korpisalo (Finland) are still representing their respective countries at the Olympics.
Back during training camp, there was concern DiPietro wouldn’t make it through waivers on his way to Providence. The 26-year-old had emerged as one of the AHL’s top netminders over the previous two seasons, including a .927 SV% in 40 games last year that earned him the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the league’s best goaltender.
He’s well on his way to taking home that hardware for a second straight season. In 28 appearances for the P-Bruins, he’s put up a downright ridiculous .942 SV% and 1.64 GAA with a 21-5-0 record – but somehow only has one shutout to his name. Nonetheless, he has a 12-point lead in save percentage on the second-place netminder with at least 20 appearances.
He’s signed through next season at a $812,500 cap hit, giving the Bruins almost no choice but to work with Korpisalo’s 10-team no-trade list and find a new home for the veteran backup this summer. If they can’t, they’d essentially be forced into trading DiPietro to avoid the near certainty of losing him for nothing on waivers next October.
Kings’ Andrei Kuzmenko Out With Injury
The Los Angeles Kings will be without forward Andrei Kuzmenko in Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, head coach Jim Hiller told reporters including Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period. Kuzmenko will aim to work his way back to full health before the Kings take on the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Kuzmenko did not play in the third period of Los Angeles’ February 5th match against Vegas, though he did not appear to sustain a clear injury. He played a full game, and even posted two assists, in the Kings’ return from the Olympic break on Wednesday.
The Russian winger has found a nice scoring touch as of late. Wednesday’s game brought him to four points in his last three games, though Los Angeles would go on to lose all three. That scoring continued a strong new-year for Kuzmenko, who now has 13 points in 19 games since the calendar turned over. He is up to 13 goals and 25 points in 52 games this season, strong enough scoring to earn Kuzmenko upwards of 20 minutes a night through points of this season. His absence will leave the Kings searching for another playmaker, now without wingers Kuzmenko and Kevin Fiala, who sustained multiple fractures in his left leg during the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Los Angeles will tap extra forward Taylor Ward to fill Kuzmenko’s hole in the lineup. Ward has scored four points in 15 NHL games this season. He has also notched 12 goals and 21 points in 32 games with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, matching his goal-total and six points shy of his point-total from 66 AHL games last season. Ward should fill a bottom-line role, while Los Angeles looks towards recent star addition Artemi Panarin to replace the scoring left vacant by Kuzmenko and Fiala. Panarin recorded two assists in his Kings debut on Wednesday, and led the New York Rangers in scoring with 57 points in 52 games prior to his trade.
Predators’ Steven Stamkos Would Waive NMC For Three Teams
The Nashville Predators could soon part with their biggest free agency signing in recent memory. Centerman Steven Stamkos has emerged in trade rumors, though Nashville will have to work around the future Hall-of-Famers’ full no-movement clause. As things stand, Stamkos is only prepared to accept a trade to one of three clubs – the Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, or Dallas Stars – per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
A reunion in Tampa Bay would certainly be the most welcome outcome. Stamkos spent 16 years with the Lightning after being drafted first overall by the club in 2008. He debuted with a 46-point season in the following season, then jumped to 51 goals and 95 points in the 2009-10 season. The season was, at the time, the third-highest scoring season from a teenager in the NHL since 2000, behind Sidney Crosby’s first two seasons in the league.
Stamkos found another gear with 60 goals and 97 points two seasons later. With that, he locked in a star’s role on top of the lineup that – with sustained scoring and an exemplary supporting cast – would lead Stamkos to back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021.
Stamkos left Tampa Bay three seasons later, in one of the most coveted free agency signings of the 2000s. The move hasn’t gone to plan though, with Stamkos dwindling from 81 points in his final year in Tampa Bay to only 53 points in his first season in Nashville. Meanwhile, the Lightning have yet to fill the hole left at the center position, even deploying winger Jake Guentzel in the center role amid injury troubles. A reunion would mean a return to the top role for Stamkos, and allow Brayden Point to take a step back amid a down year.
But while Tampa Bay has stayed a top offense despite their missing piece, the Wild seem a star center shy of emerging as a super-team after trading de facto top center Marco Rossi in a package for top defender Quinn Hughes. The Wild offense could offer the mix of speed and skill to elevate a 36-year-old Stamkos, who is already scoring at a 40-goal and 63-point pace this season. Stamkos would offer a heavy shot to go with playmakers Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Mats Zuccarello.
Alternatively, Stamkos could become the next star addition to a Dallas club that acquired Mikko Rantanen ahead of the 2025 Trade Deadline. Dallas has scored the seventh-most goals in the league with Wyatt Johnston and Matt Duchene taking on top center duties. Adding another star hand to that mix could be enough to will Dallas back to the Stanley Cup, after three consecutive losses in the Western Conference Finals.
The Predators will need to be handsomely rewarded for departing with the player who was meant to surge the club back to the top of the standings. Future capital will be the focus of any deal, as Nashville looks to expedite a rebuild of their lineup on the back of a strong prospect pool. Teams will also need $8MM in available cap space to take on Stamkos’ deal with no retention. Of the three potential landing spots, only Minnesota could afford that price tag on the day of the Trade Deadline. Tampa Bay would need to clear out $5MM in cap space, while Dallas would need nearly $7MM in space.
The teams will have a bit of time to pull together the necessary funds, with LeBrun reporting that a deal is most likely to occur around the summer. Stamkos has two years remaining on his current contract. Still, those markers will set a tense market around Nashville’s star, veteran forward. That could leave a Stamkos trade as the top agenda item for whoever replaces current general manager Barry Trotz who will step down from his post at the end of the season.
Image courtesy of Haljestam-Imagn Images.