Golden Knights To Activate Brett Howden From LTIR
The Golden Knights will see forward Brett Howden return to the lineup tomorrow against the Oilers, general manager Kelly McCrimmon told the media last night (via Sin Bin Vegas). The team still has an ample LTIR pool without him, with Alex Pietrangelo, William Karlsson, and Carter Hart all on there, so they won’t need to make a corresponding move for cap purposes.
Howden, a natural center, has primarily shifted over to the left wing during his time in Vegas. That’s changed this year, with the 27-year-old seeing more significant deployment at center in the top nine – usually between either Mark Stone and Mitch Marner or Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith. He’s likely to return down the middle after injuries to him and Karlsson have forced the Knights to make some uncomfortable deployment decisions, including shifting Marner over to serve as their second-line pivot, although they addressed that depth deficiency somewhat by picking up Nic Dowd from the Capitals before the trade deadline.
The increased responsibility in the center slot has come with fairly good results. Few expected Howden to be able to replicate his 23-goal, 40-point breakout from last season. He’d been a career 20-point guy up to that stage. His offense has regressed, sure, but maybe not as much as expected. He still churned out a 9-6–15 scoring line in 39 games before landing on the shelf with a lower-body issue back in January. He’s still averaging nearly 15 minutes per game, winning 50.6% of his draws with a -4 rating, while still having one of the better offensive showings of his eight-year career.
Howden, at 1.69 hits per game, is also one of Vegas’ more physical checking forwards. He doesn’t see a ton of penalty kill time, and certainly won’t see any more after Vegas acquired shorthanded workhorse Cole Smith from Nashville this week, but is a welcomed two-way presence lower in the lineup who should allow Marner to shift back to his natural position and lighten the load on supplemental pieces like Saad, Smith, and Keegan Kolesar, who have had to slot into Vegas’ top nine with him, Karlsson, and now Stone sidelined.
Troy Murray Passes Away
Former NHL forward and longtime Blackhawks broadcaster Troy Murray passed away on Saturday at age 63, the team announced. Murray had battled cancer since first publicly sharing his diagnosis in 2021, still serving as the team’s radio color analyst for most of that time up until this season.
Murray had two separate stints in Chicago as a player, totaling nearly 700 games over 12 seasons. The first started when they drafted him in the third round in 1980, preceding a highly successful two-year stint at the University of North Dakota – including captaining Canada to a gold medal at the 1982 World Juniors – before turning pro in 1982 and immediately becoming a fixture in the Hawks’ lineup. He spent the remainder of the decade as one of the league’s top defensive centers, winning the Selke Trophy in 1985-86 while routinely putting up 50-plus points. He had five consecutive 20-goal seasons from 1984-89.
The second half of Murray’s career was as more of a journeyman, but a highly valuable one. He was traded to the Jets in the 1991 offseason for rugged defender Bryan Marchment and was immediately named Winnipeg’s captain. A year and a half later, they shipped him back to the Hawks at the 1993 deadline for a hopefully long playoff run after they reached the Cup Final the year before, but they were swept out in the first round in a significant upset by the Blues. Murray was traded twice in each of the next two seasons – first to the Senators in 1994 and then to the Penguins in 1995 – before signing on with the first-year Avalanche for 1995-96 after their relocation from Quebec. That was the last NHL season of his 15-year career, but he ended it with a Stanley Cup win, suiting up eight times in the Avs’ march to their first Cup.
Murray played one more pro season, captaining the Chicago Wolves (then of the now-defunct IHL) in 1996-97, before officially retiring. He immediately began his second act as a broadcaster and called Hawks games on WGN Radio for over two decades. While doing so, he was the president of the Blackhawks’ alumni association.
Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz’s statement was as follows:
The Chicago Blackhawks are deeply heartbroken today as we mourn the loss of Troy Murray, our beloved “Muzz,” and our love and support go out to his family.
Troy was the epitome of a Blackhawk, so far beyond his incredible playing career with a presence felt in every corner of our organization over the last 45 years. He was admired by his teammates and our players, and was so proud to connect generations of Blackhawks through his work with the Blackhawks Alumni Association. He jumped at every call to support our local community with our Foundation. He never missed a chance to say ‘hello’ in our press box and always knew the perfect time for a joke just when someone around the office needed it most. And he absolutely loved bringing Blackhawks hockey to you, our fans, night after night with a dedication to his craft that never wavered to the very end.
During his long and hard battle with cancer, it was often said that Troy didn’t have any ‘give up’ in him. While our front office simply won’t be the same without him, we will carry that spirit forward every day in his honor. We’ll miss you, Muzz.
Murray had 230 goals, 354 assists, and 584 points with a +53 rating in 915 career NHL games, including 488 points in 688 games as a Hawk. He’s 23rd in franchise history in appearances by a skater, 18th in assists, and 19th in points. PHR joins others around the game in sending condolences to his family, friends, loved ones, coworkers, and former teammates.
Red Wings Recall Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
The Red Wings announced today that they’ve recalled right winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions. With no more roster limit in effect, no corresponding move is required, nor does he count toward one of Detroit’s five allotted post-deadline standard recalls.
Detroit left deadline day with only 12 forwards rostered. They acquired David Perron from the Senators this week, but he’s still got a couple of weeks left in his recovery from sports hernia surgery, so he remains on injured reserve.
Then, captain Dylan Larkin sustained an awkward-looking non-contact leg/groin injury in the third period of last night’s loss to the Panthers (video via Ryan Hana of the Winged Wheel Podcast). Head coach Todd McLellan introduced a collective sigh of relief when he said postgame that he doesn’t anticipate Larkin missing significant time, but he does need to be evaluated and will at least likely sit out tomorrow’s game against the Devils, per Max Bultman of The Athletic.
Without him, they don’t have 12 forwards. Up comes Brandsegg-Nygard, 20, to fill the hole. Drafted 15th overall in 2024, he’s in his first season in North America after playing professionally in Sweden for three years and entered the season as the Wings’ #5 prospect according to Elite Prospects and #63 in the league.
Brandsegg-Nygard even impressed in training camp and cracked Detroit’s opening night roster thanks to the team’s need for depth scoring on the wings. He only lasted a nine-game trial, though, heading down to Grand Rapids in late October after managing one assist and a -5 rating in 12:27 of average time on ice.
In the meantime, he’s excelled in the AHL. In 50 games for Grand Rapids, he’s put up a 16-21–37 scoring line with a sensational +24 rating. At 6’1″ and 204 lbs, he looks well on his way to delivering the size-and-scoring combination the Wings brought him into provide as a complementary top-six piece long-term.
Now the winger will get another chance, although ideally a brief one if his time on the roster is directly linked to Larkin’s status, to prove himself in the NHL. Detroit will need someone to shift from the wing to center from last night’s lineup to replace Larkin, likely Michael Rasmussen, while Brandsegg-Nygard slots in somewhere on the flank.
He could even do so in a high-leverage role as the Wings look to overcome the loss of their biggest source of offense down the middle. Last night’s loss to Florida dropped their playoff chances down to a still strong 76.4%, per MoneyPuck, but that’s more wiggle room than they’d like after trading away this year’s first-round pick to the Blues, unprotected, in yesterday’s Justin Faulk deal.
Capitals Trade Graeme Clarke To Senators
The Senators and Capitals apparently connected on a last-minute minor deal before the deadline. Washington dealt forward Graeme Clarke to Ottawa in exchange for center Wyatt Bongiovanni, per PuckPedia. Both players will report to their new clubs’ AHL affiliates.
The deal essentially only has minor-league considerations, and both players could only last a few weeks in their new homes. Both are on two-way deals and will be Group VI unrestricted free agents this summer.
Clarke, 24, will bring some goal-scoring acumen to the Sens’ depth ranks. The B-Sens have lost one of their top producers with Stephen Halliday working his way onto the NHL roster, so they’ve needed a little bit of help. The former third-round pick of the Devils isn’t having the best year, but he’s still managed 15 goals in 50 games for AHL Hershey after signing with the Caps as a non-tendered RFA last summer.
Ottawa will be the fourth NHL organization for Clarke. He does have an NHL resume, but it only consists of three games with New Jersey in 2023-24. He was then traded to the Wild for Adam Beckman the following summer and then spent all of 2024-25 in the minors before Minnesota opted not to issue him a qualifying offer.
Bongiovanni, 26, has put up comparable production, but unlike Clarke has utility down the middle. The 6’0″ pivot has been in Ottawa’s system since being acquired from the Jets for future considerations at the 2024 trade deadline. He’s posted 12 goals and 25 points in 54 games for the B-Sens this season with a -13 rating.
Hurricanes Acquire Nicolas Deslauriers, Flyers Claim Luke Glendening
4:36 p.m.: If Deslauriers plays in half of Carolina’s 2026 playoff games and they win two playoff rounds, then the Flyers receive Carolina’s 2027 seventh-rounder. If those conditions aren’t met, the pick doesn’t transfer, per PuckPedia.
12:56 p.m.: The Hurricanes are acquiring winger Nicolas Deslauriers from the Flyers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. A conditional seventh-round pick in 2027 is headed the other way, per Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. The Flyers have filled Deslauriers’ roster spot by claiming center Luke Glendening off waivers from the Devils, per Friedman.
Deslauriers, now in his 13th NHL season, moves on from the Flyers amid his fourth season in Philly. While he used to have a small bit of goal-scoring upside in his game, the 35-year-old is now a pure enforcer at this stage of his career. He’s only managed 13 shots on goal this season in 25 games, recording one assist and a -3 rating.
The left winger has been in the press box more than he’s been in the lineup this season, checking in no higher than 13th on the Flyers’ forward depth chart. He’s yet to appear in more than three consecutive games. He certainly won’t see any more frequent ice time than that in Carolina, but he’ll slot in as a press-box piece and can step in as an enforcer when needed. The Flyers, who had minimal use for the pending UFA, will happily have a chance at recouping a draft pick.
It doesn’t look like they’ll be giving Deslauriers’ spot to a prospect, though. The 36-year-old will end up giving the Flyers some short-term center depth that they’ve needed in the wake of a right ankle fracture to Rodrigo Abols that’s kept him out since January, forcing natural winger Carl Grundström to slide over to the middle.
Glendening, once viewed as one of the better defensive pivots in the league, is still hanging onto an NHL job in his 13th season. He was a PTO signing by New Jersey late last summer and landed a league-minimum contract. He’s ended up serving as their fourth-line center for most of the year but has averaged a career-low 9:54 of ice time per night through 52 appearances. He’s yet to score a goal this season and has four assists with a -11 rating. Once a top faceoff specialist, he’s down to a more pedestrian 51.7% win rate on the dot this year.
AHL Assignments: 3/6/25
Today’s trade deadline also has minor-league implications. Players must be on an AHL roster at 2:00 p.m. Central in order to be eligible to play in the Calder Cup Playoffs. As such, teams will be ferrying a large number of waiver-exempt players to the minors this morning and afternoon before recalling them before the end of the league day for cap counting at 4:00 p.m. That allows them to bypass the new rule that players must play at least one game in the minors after being reassigned before they’re eligible for a recall again.
Here’s the rundown of today’s reassignments that will be announced during the blizzard of other moves today:
- The Flames will ferry winger Matvei Gridin to the Calgary Wranglers, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports. The 2024 #28 overall pick is in his first professional season and is already beginning to look like a natural fit in the Flames’ top nine, posting seven points through his first 18 NHL games while averaging 14:18 of ice time per night. Gridin’s 4.17 shot attempts per game are fourth on the team after Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar were traded away. He’s also got 10 goals and 29 points in 36 games for the Wranglers, but with the Flames’ roster thinning out as they sell pieces off, he’ll be up in the NHL for the stretch run before returning to the playoff-bound Wranglers after the regular season ends.
- The Jets announced they’ve sent winger Walker Duehr and defender Isaak Phillips to AHL Manitoba. Both may find their way back down to Manitoba on a full-time basis before the end of the season as Winnipeg gets some of its IR-bound players back in the lineup, but for now, they’ll serve as depth pieces for the Jets as they potentially subtract more talents from their roster today.
- The Mammoth sent defenseman Dmitriy Simashev to Tucson, per PuckPedia. The 2023 sixth overall pick got into the Utah lineup for the first time since December last night. The rookie has been exceptional in the minors but has just one assist with a -9 rating through his first 25 career NHL outings.
- The Blackhawks assigned defender Ethan Del Mastro to Rockford, per PuckPedia. He’ll be back up after being recalled earlier in the week to replace Connor Murphy on the roster after he was dealt to the Oilers.
- The Penguins have sent down winger Avery Hayes to make him post-season eligible, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 23-year-old rookie has two goals through his first six NHL contests over the past several weeks, both of which came in his debut.
- The Avalanche have demoted winger Gavin Brindley to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Brindley is in his first full NHL season after being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets last year, scoring six goals and 12 points in 47 games, averaging 9:51 of ice time per game.
- The Rangers are making sure that AHL Hartford has reinforcements for the playoffs. New York has reassigned forwards Jaroslav Chmelar and Juuso Pärssinen. The former scored the first goal of his NHL career in a lopsided victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- According to a team announcement, the Vancouver Canucks have reassigned netminder Nikita Tolopilo and defenseman Cole Clayton to AHL Abbotsford. Tolopilo has been a mainstay between the pipes for Vancouver over the last little while, managing a 3-5-2 record in nine starts this season with a .901 SV% and 3.27 GAA.
- Unlikely to make the playoffs this season, the Panthers are making sure the cupboards are stocked for the Charlotte Checkers’ playoff run. The Panthers have reassigned Tobias Björnfot and Sandis Vilmanis, allowing them to remain eligible for the postseason.
- The Kraken have reassigned forwards Jacob Melanson and Ryan Winterton to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The pair have combined for four goals and 19 points in 82 games for Seattle this season.
- According to Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald, the Buffalo Sabres have assigned Zach Metsa to the AHL’s Rochester Americans in a paper transaction. Metsa, 27, is in his first full NHL season, scoring two goals and four points in 31 games, averaging 9:45 of ice time per game.
- The best team in the AHL may be even better during the playoffs. To maintain their eligibility for the postseason, the Grand Rapids Griffins announced that captain Dominik Shine and defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka have been reassigned in a paper transaction.
- According to Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports, the Flyers have reassigned Denver Barkey and Adam Ginning to AHL Lehigh Valley. Barkey has been an encouraging story of late, scoring two goals and 10 points in his first 26 games of NHL action.
- Murat Ates of The Athletic confirmed that the Winnipeg Jets reassigned defenseman Elias Salomonsson to retain his postseason eligibility. Salomonsson has been relatively disappointing for AHL Manitoba this season, registering one goal and nine points in 29 contests.
- Pushing back on the earlier report today indicating that the Canucks had recalled Ty Mueller, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet shared that he won’t be joining the Canucks. Vancouver will run with a bare-bones roster tonight against the Blackhawks.
- Missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the Maple Leafs are making sure AHL Toronto has additional firepower for their postseason run. According to Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun, the Maple Leafs have reassigned Easton Cowan and Jacob Quillan in a paper transaction. Despite being a higher-regarded prospect, Cowan only has two games of AHL experience.
- As expected, the Edmonton Oilers have reassigned forward Josh Samanski to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors to ensure his postseason eligibility. Samanski has been exceptional for AHL Bakersfield this year, registering eight goals and 31 points in 43 games with a +6 rating.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Avalanche Acquire Nazem Kadri
An hour after the deadline, one of the top names finally comes off the board. The Flames have agreed to send Nazem Kadri and their 2027 fourth-round pick back to Colorado for a reunion with the Avalanche, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2022, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The Avs’ 2028 first-round pick, a 2027 second-round pick, winger Victor Olofsson, and the signing rights to forward prospect Max Curran are going to Calgary. Both draft picks have conditions attached. Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet adds that the Flames are retaining 20% of his salary to bring his cap hit down from $7MM to $5.6MM for the Avs. The trade is now official.
The idea of the Avalanche bringing Kadri back into the fold first surfaced last week in a report from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Kadri, armed with a 13-team no-trade list, told TSN today that Colorado was “the team at the very top of my list” and was “for the most part” only interested in returning to Denver if he didn’t stay with the Flames (via Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now).
Momentum toward a deal seemed to cease when Colorado traded a first-round and a fifth-round pick to the Maple Leafs yesterday for Nicolas Roy. Not only did Roy swallow up $3MM in cap space, but they traded away their top 2027 draft pick that most assumed would have to be included in any potential deal for Kadri. They’d traded away their 2026 selection at last year’s deadline for Brock Nelson. They now have no first-round choice until 2029 and haven’t drafted in the first round since taking Calum Ritchie (also traded for Nelson) 27th overall and Mikhail Gulyayev 31st overall in 2023.
The Avalanche never wanted to lose Kadri after his career year in 2021-22 fueled them to a Stanley Cup. The post-COVID flat cap environment simply made matching Kadri’s open market value impossible, though, and at age 31, he was never going to have a better opportunity to cash in on a long-term deal. Colorado had fits trying to replace him as their #2 center behind Nathan MacKinnon, rotating through lower-cost or younger names like Alex Newhook, Ryan Johansen, and Casey Mittelstadt until finally addressing the hole in a meaningful way by splurging for Brock Nelson from the Islanders at last year’s deadline.
Nelson has flourished this season, racking up 30 goals and 52 points in 60 games while playing over 19 minutes per night. Nelson could shift to the wing to make room for Kadri down the middle in the top six – he did spend some time on John Tavares‘ flank early in his career in New York. In any event, the Avs have an excess of options down the middle with Roy, Ross Colton, Jack Drury, and Parker Kelly all able to comfortably hold things down on the third or fourth lines. If Colorado really wants to spread the wealth, it could slot in Kadri on the third line down the middle behind Nelson and look to get him extra ice time on the top power play unit to maximize his value.
Kadri, 35, owns a 12-29–41 scoring line in 61 games this year for the Flames that’s relatively uninspiring given his recent track record. He didn’t make an overwhelming first impression in Calgary with 56 points in 2022-23, but he followed that up with a 75-point year in 2023-24 and then a career-high 35 goals last season.
Kadri’s age and term remaining will be something of a concern, seeing as he’s now on the Avs’ books through 2028-29. It’s important to consider that Kadri didn’t miss a single game due to injury over his three-plus years in Calgary and last landed out of the lineup when he fractured his right thumb in the 2022 Final with the Avs. Even then, he hasn’t missed double-digit games in a season due to injury since before the pandemic.
Whatever concerns the Avs may have about Kadri’s production this year certainly weren’t enough to stop them from reacquiring him, plus an ugly 6.9% shooting clip should turn around in short order and help him get hot for Colorado down the stretch. A two-time All-Star, he’s played the least for the Avs out of his three NHL stops but reached the playoffs each time.
In contrast, no team has more premier draft picks in the next few years than the Flames. They already had an impressive stable before the deal, but now own a pair of first-round picks each in 2026, 2027, and 2028 and have eight second-rounders over the next three years as well.
They’ll take a bit of money back in the deal in the form of Olofsson, a pending UFA at a cap hit of $1.575MM. A strong finish to the year could result in an extension if he’s open to staying in Calgary; they’ll need to retain a few veteran bodies to fill out their forward group next season. He ended up being a shrewd depth pickup for the Avs last summer, scoring 11 goals and 25 points in 60 games, but became a redundant luxury they couldn’t afford after adding Kadri and Roy into the mix.
Curran won’t make a huge splash in Calgary’s already excessive prospect pool but is a nice get nonetheless. The 6’3″ center is still 19 years old and was a fifth-round pick by Colorado in 2024. Ranked as their #7 prospect entering the season by Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff, he’s produced over a point per game over his last two seasons in the WHL and has committed to UMass for the fall before potentially turning pro in 2027-28.
Flames general manager Craig Conroy told reporters that the condition on the 2028 first is tied to the condition attached to the 2027 first they sent to Toronto in the Roy deal. That pick was top-10 protected, so in the unlikely event it falls in that range and defers to 2028, the Flames would then receive Colorado’s 2029 first unprotected. The 2027 pick they receive is the better of the Avs’ or Wild’s second-rounder (via Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960).
Image courtesy of Geoff Burke-Imagn Images.
Capitals Acquire Timothy Liljegren
2:52 p.m.: Washington has announced the deal and sent the Golden Knights’ 2026 fourth-round pick the other way to complete it.
1:06 p.m.: The Capitals are acquiring defenseman Timothy Liljegren from the Sharks, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. We’re still waiting on the return.
While San Jose is in a playoff race of their own, they have a bevy of pending unrestricted free agent blue-liners. Liljegren is one of them, and they were widely expected to ship multiple names from that group out today to continue recouping at least mid-level assets as they slowly emerge from the ashes of their rebuild.
Acquired from the Maple Leafs early last season, the Sharks have given Liljegren the longest leash of his career. A first-round pick by Toronto in 2017, he was never able to break into a top-four role there but is now averaging over 20 minutes per game in San Jose. Given how much he’s produced at lower levels, the Sharks were likely hoping for a bit more production than the seven goals and 28 points he provided in 110 games since October 2024.
Liljegren didn’t get much power-play time, though, especially this season, with Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg taking up those quarterback slots. With Klingberg being a potential extension candidate given his play and youngsters Shakir Mukhamadullin and Sam Dickinson pushing for more ice time moving forward, the 26-year-old Liljegren didn’t look like a long-term fit.
The move is a sign the Caps aren’t entirely punting on this season, even after trading away franchise defender John Carlson and center Nic Dowd for futures in the last couple of days. Washington’s playoff odds have slipped to a small but still tangible 21.3%, per MoneyPuck. They only find themselves four points out of a spot.
Liljegren could stick around past this season if there’s mutual interest in an extension. Matt Roy is now the only everyday NHL right-shot they have signed for next year, so assuming they shift one of their lefties over to their offside to make room for top prospect Cole Hutson to join the team from college in the coming days, as expected, there’s a hole that Liljegren fills in the Caps’ bottom four.
Image courtesy of Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images.
Canucks Trade Lukas Reichel To Bruins
The Canucks have dealt depth forward Lukas Reichel to the Bruins for a sixth-round pick, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports. It’s Boston’s sixth-round pick in this year’s draft, the team announced.
It’s the second time this year that Reichel has been traded. Unfortunately, the Canucks have taken a step back in terms of asset management. Earlier this season, Vancouver acquired Reichel from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
Reichel, 23, has seen his stock drop significantly over the past several years. The Blackhawks drafted him with the 17th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft after scoring 12 goals and 24 points in 42 games for the DEL’s Eisbären Berlin.
After spending one more year in his native Germany, Reichel moved to North America for the 2021-22 campaign. He played exceptionally well for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs in his first two years, scoring 41 goals and 108 points in 111 games.
Still, he was unable to generate much success in the NHL. Across four and a half years with the Blackhawks, Reichel is credited with 22 goals and 58 points in 174 games with a -60 rating, averaging 13:21 of ice time per game. Furthermore, his 41.3% CorsiFor% at even strength didn’t indicate a breakout was on the horizon, either.
He instantly became a trade candidate at the beginning of the season, and the center-needy Canucks took their shot. It was more of the same in British Columbia, as Reichel will finish his tenure in Vancouver with one assist in 14 games.
Things got so bad with the Canucks that the team placed him on waivers a few months ago, but he ultimately made it through the wire unscathed. He’s been with the Abbotsford Canucks since, scoring six goals and 13 points in 23 games.
From the Bruins’ perspective, this trade was about helping out their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. Providence has dominated the AHL’s Atlantic Division this season and is looking to make some noise in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Kings To Acquire Scott Laughton From Maple Leafs
The Kings have acquired center Scott Laughton from the Maple Leafs in exchange for a third-round pick, John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor reports. The selection will upgrade to a second-round choice if L.A. comes from behind to make the playoffs, per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. The draft pick will be in 2026, whether it’s in the second or third round, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Los Angeles, still only three points out of a playoff spot, has toed the line between selling and buying over the last 24 hours. They’ve made two moves of each, trading away Warren Foegele and Corey Perry while signing Mathieu Joseph and now acquiring Laughton, a pending UFA who will cost $1.5MM down the stretch. In doing so, they’ve sent away a third-rounder but netted a second-rounder each for Foegele and Perry while upgrading 2026 third-rounders in a pick swap with Ottawa in the Foegele deal.
After giving up a first-rounder and forward prospect Nikita Grebenkin to land Laughton from the Flyers with 50% retention at last year’s deadline, the Leafs turn around and sell him at a loss here. With Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and a combo of Max Domi and Nicolas Roy ahead of him on the depth chart at center, he never held anything more than a fourth-line role for the Leafs. After getting top-nine minutes for a stretch in Philadelphia, he didn’t put up the kind of offensive production Toronto hoped for. He ends his tenure in the GTA with a 10-6–16 scoring line in 63 games with a -3 rating.
The Kings, in need of centers now and for next season, likely saw value in trying to land Laughton now – both to aid with their outside chance at the playoffs and to give them extra time to work out an extension if they were set to pursue him in free agency this summer anyway. A well-regarded defensive piece, he does excel in the faceoff dot, winning 56.7% of them this season. He didn’t fare so well in the possession department in heavy defensive deployment for the Leafs, though, only controlling 40.5% of shot attempts and 39.9% of expected goals at 5-on-5. Those should improve if he’s not stressed so heavily in D-zone starts in L.A.
Laughton could factor in as the Kings’ third-line center to start while Quinton Byfield works his way back from an upper-body injury. They’re currently running 23-year-old rookie Kenny Connors, with all of two games of NHL experience under his belt, in the 3C slot ahead of Samuel Helenius. With top-line fixture Anže Kopitar in the final few weeks of his NHL career, the Kings were anticipated to get stretched thin down the middle next season anyway, so they’ll likely hope to reach a deal with Laughton to fortify their bottom-six depth for the next couple of years.