The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to wheel and deal ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
The club re-acquired Luke Schenn — nearly 15 years after selecting him fifth overall at the 2008 draft — on the heels of two other Tuesday deals that saw Toronto send fellow defenceman Rasmus Sandin to the Washington Capitals and forward Pierre Engvall to the New York Islanders.
The swap for Schenn, a pending unrestricted free agent set to add further depth to an organization determined to end its ugly run of playoff failures, included the Leafs sending the Vancouver Canucks a third-round pick in June.
The 33-year-old has three goals and 21 points in 2022-23. In 918 career regular-season games with Toronto, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Arizona, Anaheim, Tampa and Vancouver, Schenn has put up 41 goals and 190 points.
A Stanley Cup champion with Tampa in 2020 and 2021, the Saskatoon native has added three goals and three assist in 31 post-season games.
The Leafs traded Schenn to Philadelphia for James van Riemsdyk in 2012 after four seasons in Toronto.
The flurry of afternoon activity with the trade deadline set for Friday started with Toronto shipping Sandin to Washington for blue-liner Erik Gustafsson and a 2023 first-rounder.
The Leafs then dealt Engvall to New York for a third-round selection in 2024.
Taken with the 29th pick in 2018, Sandin has four goals and 20 points in 52 games this season. The 22-year-old registered 10 goals and 48 points in 140 regular-season appearances with the Leafs. He scored once in five playoff contests.
Gustafsson has seven goals and 38 points in 61 games in 2022-23. In 370 career games with Chicago, Calgary, Philadelphia, Montreal and Washington, the 30-year-old has put up 39 goals and 187 points. He's added eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 31 playoff contests.
The pick coming to the Leafs in Tuesday's deal with Washington was originally acquired from Boston in last week's trade where the Bruins got defenceman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway from the Capitals.
Engvall has 12 goals and 21 points in 58 games this season. A seventh-round pick in 2014, the 26-year-old had 42 goals and 83 points in 226 games with Toronto. He added four assists in 17 post-season appearances.
Schenn and Gustafsson join a roster that's been significantly reworked by general manager Kyle Dubas in recent weeks as the Leafs look to advance in the post-season for the first time since 2004.
Toronto acquired centres Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari from St. Louis on Feb. 17 and added defenceman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty from Chicago on Monday before Tuesday's deluge.
Dubas has shed a number of high draft picks in recent years — including the deals with St. Louis and Chicago — but got one back in the swap for Gustafsson, who's set to become an unrestricted free agent in July after earning US$800,000 in 2022-23.
Sandin is on the books for another season with a salary cap hit of $1.4 million before potentially hitting restricted free agency in the summer of 2024.
Engvall, who's making $2.25 million this season, is slated to become a UFA in July.
Schenn, meanwhile, is earning $850,000 in 2022-23.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 28, 2023.
Well, this year’s NHL trade deadline is definitely far from boring.
The strength of the Eastern Conference is incredible, but this Toronto Maple Leafs roster might just be up for the challenge.
Let’s dive into some early thoughts on both of Toronto’s recent trades.
Toronto acquires Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, a conditional 5th round pick in 2024 and a conditional 5th round pick in 2025 from Chicago in exchange for a conditional 2025 1st round pick, 2026 2nd round pick, Joey Anderson, and Pavel Gogolev.
This trade essentially boils down to McCabe (with 50% retention) and Lafferty for a first and a second-round pick. Anderson just cleared waivers, Gogolev was thrown in just to clear a contract slot, and the fifth-round picks don’t have much of an impact on a deal of this magnitude. It’s a fairly straightforward deal once we separate the wheat from the chaff.
McCabe has been one of my top targets for Toronto for months. After I saw a few Chicago fans calling McCabe their team’s best player this season back in December, I decided to check him out. The more I watched him play, the more I was convinced that he could really help a contender (full disclosure: I’ve watched him play about 15 games over the last month as I was in the process of writing an article about him prior to giving up on it when the Leafs acquired O’Reilly).
He’s not afraid to drop the gloves or throw a big hit — and it’s nice to add a little bit more of that — but it’s his combination of net-front defense and transition defense that makes me a fan of his game. He’s an aggressive stick-on-stick defender who can keep up with top forwards, and while he’s nothing special offensively, he’s at least competent as a puck mover. If you appreciate what T.J. Brodie brings to the Leafs, McCabe brings a fairly similar skillset to the table.
The Leafs had a clear need for a shutdown defenseman who can play on the right side beyond this season. Morgan Rielly and Rasmus Sandin are offensive defensemen, and in an ideal world, they shouldn’t want either player matching up against opposing top lines.
Mark Giordano is 39, and while he’s still an effective player, it’s tough to pencil him in for the shutdown pairing next season at the age of 40. Brodie is great, but moving him to the left side would just hurt the right side, where he’s a good fit to play with Rielly. They needed to add a shutdown defender eventually. It made sense to just do it now.
Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic has a model that places McCabe’s market value at $4.8 million. Sometimes I watch a player for an extended period and disagree with his model, but that sounds just about right to me. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff mentioned that the price to acquire him at 50% retention was in the first-round pick range on the JD Bunkis Podcast back in late January; that sounded awfully reasonable given the reported asking price for players such as Vladislav Gavrikov.
McCabe is not a star — and he probably won’t help the Leafs this season as much as someone like Ryan O’Reilly — but there’s nothing wrong with adding a pretty good player on a good contract for three seasons.
The whole point of draft picks is to try to add good players on team-friendly contracts, but the success rate is far from 100%. Late first-round picks are often overvalued, and the player selected with Toronto’s 2025 first-round pick probably wouldn’t be able to help them until 2027 or 2028.
I’m not usually a fan of giving up a first-round pick for a rental, but when a contending team can acquire three years of a good player on a team-friendly contract, it’s a bit of a no-brainer. Isn’t that what you’re hoping for from the late first-round pick?
Steve “Dangle” Glynn put it best a couple of weeks ago:
Chicago’s asking for a fortune for Jake McCabe at 50% retained because they should.
He doesn’t have to be elite. If he gives you competent top four minutes for $2 mill this season AND for two years after because Chicago’s eating millions of dollars, that has to cost something.
I didn’t want the Leafs to give up a first for McCabe without retention, but I’m surprised the cost was this low. Adding a team-friendly contract for the 2024-25 season is critical; it’s when Auston Matthews and William Nylander will earn a raise, and it’s the last season that John Tavares will earn $11 million. McCabe and Lafferty, for a combined cap hit of $3.15 million for next season, also carry plenty of value. To wit, adding more expensive players may have hurt their chances of re-signing Ryan O’Reilly.
McCabe can sometimes get caught with his aggression in the neutral zone, but it’s better to have aggressive defenders than ones who concede the zone easily. He covers a lot of the ice and uses his long reach to poke pucks away. Patrick Kane scores the goal here, but McCabe starts the whole play with a smart read:
McCabe has spent the vast majority of the season playing on the left side on a pair with Seth Jones, but back in early November, I watched him play a couple of games on the right side, where he looked fairly comfortable. At the very least, he has some experience playing on his off-side if a need arises. He should also help the Leafs’ penalty kill and can step up for his teammates when games turn rough in the playoffs.
I’m not sure that I would call him an “analytics darling,” but he does grade out fairly well by Evolving Hockey’s RAPM over the last three seasons.
Sam Lafferty
I’ve seen quite a bit of Lafferty, although there were a handful of Chicago games where I only watched McCabe’s shifts. It takes about two seconds to realize that he’s very fast and his speed makes opposing power plays play more conservatively.
Kane called Sam Lafferty (who scored his 10th goal of the season, and his league-leading fourth shorty) a top-five skater in the league.
Luke Richardson said "He's finally realizing what he is. He's a big man that can move fast. Faster than I've seen a big guy like that move."
Like McCabe, Lafferty is not afraid to throw a big hit or drop the gloves when needed. He’s spent a lot of time playing center this season, but given that the Leafs already have Matthews, Tavares, O’Reilly, Kampf, and Acciari, I expect Sheldon Keefe to use his speed and forechecking ability on the wing. A constant breakaway threat, he forces opposing defenders to make quick decisions.
Lafferty is a late bloomer whose taken a while to round out his game. He’s definitely not an A+ playmaker; he usually opts for the simple play rather than a Patrick Kane or Mitch Marner impersonation. He’s an iffy puck carrier for a player with his speed, but he’s a legitimate threat to win a footrace on a dump-and-chase. His speed and physical play are bound to make him a fan favourite.
I was pretty convinced that Lafferty was going to go to the Tampa Bay Lightning with the goal of them finding their next Nick Paul. Like Paul, he can shift to center when needed, which gives the Leafs some flexibility in case Kampf asks for a major raise.
I have little doubt that Lafferty is a legitimate NHL contributor now, even though he didn’t become one until his mid-to-late 20s. His game screams, “he can help a contender in a bottom-six role.”
There’s a good chance that the Leafs will lose a couple of effective and cheap forwards in free agency like Kampf, Michael Bunting, Pierre Engvall, and Noel Acciari, so it’s nice to add another one for next season to help replace them.
Ilya Mikheyev, who signed a four-year deal with Vancouver at a $4.75 million cap hit last offseason, was never really replaced in terms of his speed and penalty-killing scoring threat. Knowing the line of Mikheyev, Kampf, and Engvall were excellent together, I’m curious to see if Keefe will try Lafferty there to start.
These are both team-friendly contracts with multiple years of control. Lafferty only has one additional season before free agency — and Toronto’s need for him reduced a bit after the trade with the Blues — but he’ll carry a fair amount of value next season.
Giving up a second for a bottom-six forward seemed like a tad too much for my taste, but every General Manager of a contender in the league would have given up a third for him, so I was curious to see what the price would be. My guess is that a fraction of the value of the second-round pick that the Leafs gave up is going toward McCabe or that the two fifth-round picks come into play here.
Good account to follow for Leafs fans. ??
I also don’t think that Lafferty has enough term to command a first, but a third would be far too light.
I’ll guess that he goes for a late second and and a mediocre prospect. Decent player. https://t.co/mNT2pr2e6X
I was on the record as saying that O’Reilly was the only rental who I’d give up a first for. Both Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko make more sense on a team with a clear opening on the power play.
The Leafs’ biggest need was improving at five-on-five, where O’Reilly was the best player available. He played center for Team Canada at a best-on-best competition. Given that he was drafted in the same year as John Tavares and Nazem Kadri, I’m also not too worried about a major decline.
Everyone dislikes giving up first-round picks for rentals let alone a first and a second, but that’s the cost of acquiring a legitimate top-six center. If you do trade for a rental, it’s best to add either a legitimate difference-maker or someone who’s incredibly cheap.
I started to talk myself into O’Reilly on the morning before the trade:
The second tweet is a major reason why. While he’s bound to sign for far more than Giordano, I have to assume that he’s in a position to take a bit of a hometown discount and stay a while. He made it clear that he didn’t like playing for a rebuilding team in Buffalo, and his father Brian provided a fantastic interview on the Fan Morning Show where he detailed how special it was for them to see him on the Leafs. It’s far easier to take a hometown discount to play for a contender when you’ve already made a ton of money.
In terms of the 2023 playoff run, O’Reilly is a near-perfect fit. Other contenders had a clear edge in terms of secondary scoring. He doesn’t have to play on the top power play to be successful, and he allows Tavares to either shift over to the wing or play against easier competition.
While he’s started off his Leafs tenure in the top six, I expect Keefe to try ROR in the bottom six eventually. It’s worth noting Kampf played more five-on-five minutes than Tavares in last year’s playoffs. In an ideal world, O’Reilly chips in some offense while shutting down opposing top lines. Kampf should rarely see the ice if the Leafs are trailing while Tavares can play center and feast on opposing third pairs.
Toronto was a matchup nightmare back when James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner were on the third line. I don’t think ice time will be a huge problem given that Keefe can move players up for the occasional extra shift.
Similar to the Giordano trade last season, it’s an exciting but pricey deal if you lose in the first round and he walks for nothing, but it’s well worth it if you have a deep playoff run and/or he signs a team-friendly deal.
In terms of the addition of Acciari, I don’t have much to say other than that he’s been fantastic so far. He seemingly wins every puck battle, and we all know the bottom six needed some extra shooting talent. Everyone will focus on his ability to fight and finish his checks — that has value — but the Leafs had a real need for some more shooting talent on their depth lines. It sounds like the Leafs tried to sign him last offseason but ran out of cap space, so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if he signed a deal to stay in Toronto. Maybe he’s tired of moving.
Final Thoughts
This is the best Leafs team I’ve ever seen. There’s a real cost to giving up so many draft picks, but there’s a decent chance that some or all of the acquired players remain with the team beyond this season.
As you probably know, unless there’s a serious injury before Friday, there’s another trade coming to allow the Leafs to remain cap compliant once Matt Murray is ready to return. Kerfoot and Engvall are the obvious candidates; I’d personally opt to move Kerfoot given that Engvall is better at driving his own line. The Leafs could retain salary on Kerfoot to help replace the draft capital that they’ve lost, or they could use the cap space to make other additions.
Kyle Dubas can now be opportunistic. He’s done the heavy lifting, so if prices are high, he can stand pat and do nothing. However, I’m willing to bet that they’ll consider acquiring team-friendly contracts with term. They’ll have about $2.4 million of cap space if they move Kerfoot, and they can get to $3.2 million or so if they waive Zach Aston-Reese as well.
Apologies for verging into fantasy land here, but to illustrate the point, Rasmus Sandin could even be moved in a big deal for someone like Jakob Chychrun (likely with retention) if the price was right. Trading Matt Murray could even make sense if the Leafs like the price for Karel Vejmelka or Thatcher Demko. The point is: There is no reason for Kyle Dubas to stop looking for team-friendly contracts with term.
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Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak (88) and Edmonton Oilers defensemen Brett Kulak (27) look for a loose puck in front of goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) during the second period at Rogers Place.Photo by Perry Nelson /USA TODAY Sports
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Two lightning attacks and two excellent finishes earned Connor McDavid two goals and his first 50 goal season. But for the second game in a row, the brilliance of the captain wasn’t enough to give the Edmonton Oilers the win.
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Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner was slow to a loose puck late in the second, Boston slammed it home to attain a lead 3-2, then shut down the game with hard, methodical checking in the third, the kind of effort and execution that defines the NHL’s best team.
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In the end, Edmonton had six Grade A shots, Boston 11, while in the subset of 5-alarm shots, Edmonton had one, Boston five (running count).
Connor McDavid, 8. Most players can’t score coming down the wing and shooting from the dot. But McDavid is not most players. He scores from there consistently, due to his lightning speed and tricky fast shot, and he did so on Edmonton’s first shot of the game. He turned the puck over at the offensive blueline, kicking off the Sequence of Pain on Boston’s second goal. He failed to sink a late first period harpoon into the back of the Boston net. On his career-first 50th goal, he took a slot pass and deked out the Boston goalie. He did great work on the late penalty kill, almost setting up two goals on the 3-on-5 situation.
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Kailer Yamamoto, 5. He missed the net on a golden opportunity in the first. He tipped a dangerous shot on net half-way through the second. He took an ill-advised hooking penalty in the second. He took a McDavid pass and snapped an in-tight Grade A shot on net early in the third.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. He came out battling and back-checking hard and kept it up all game but like the rest of his teammates he was unable to break through and score.
Zach Hyman, 3. He did not have his legs going this game. He gave up a dangerous slot shot off the post late in the third. One or two strong shift sin the third where he deked out a few Bruins and got off one sneaky outside shot, but too little, too late.
Leon Draisaitl, 5. He sent in McDavid for his first goal with a heads up stretch pass. He failed to notice Tyson Barrie helping lead the attack, didn’t cover for him and Boston got a 2-on-1 and its second goal as a result. He stole the puck and set up McD for a wicked shot late in the first, only the second Grade A shot for the Oilers this game. Great work late in the game, but Edmonton couldn’t score.
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Warren Foegele, 5. He intercepted a dangerous pass into Pastrnak in the first. Other than that, not much to report good or bad.
Derek Ryan, 4. He played little and got little done.
Ryan McLeod, 5. He got on the wrong side of his man and allowed a hard rush out of the corner and Grade A shot on net early in the second. He made a threatening slap pass to set up Yamamoto in the second.
Mattias Janmark, 6. He had his feet going and was dangerous on the attack. But he failed to deposit a brilliant dagger of a pass by Foegele into the wide-open Boston net early in the second.
Klim Kostin, 5. Plenty of good and plenty of bad this game. Nasty and inexplicable mental error early in the game, giving up on his check Nosek in the slot, only to see Nosek take a pass and score. He took out his anguish a moment later, jackhammering Clifton into the end boards. He followed that up with a Grand Slam hit in the second, blasting Hampus Lindholm off the ice and into the Oilers bench. He fully redeemed his earlier mistake charging into the o-zone to gather in the puck, protect it under pressure, then feed it to McDavid for Edmonton’s second goal. He went into the corner hard with Krejci in the third, but Krejci’s own stick hit him in the face and cut him. His highstick on Brad Marchard, though, with 4:30 left in the game killed off Edmonton’s chances.
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Jesse Puljujarvi, 5. He looked nervous with the puck in the first, which is all too common in his game just now. The gangly-octo player picked off a Boston pass and got off a slot shot in the second, before breaking up a 3-on-2 a moment later with a determined backcheck. He played just 6:04.
Darnell Nurse, 6. His muffed clearance pass behind the net kicked off the Sequence of Pain on Boston’s first goal. He made a slot shot block off Marchand late in the second. He allowed a pass into the slot on Boston’s third goal. He failed to drain a dangerous one-timer shot on the late 3-on-5 rush. He led the team with seven blocked shots.
Cody Ceci, 5. His clearance fired up the Virtuous Cycle leading to Edmonton’s second goal. He lost a battle in front of the net on Boston’s third goal. He led the team with hour hits.
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Tyson Barrie, 5. He failed to cover off DeBrusk on a first period 5-alarm shot.
Brett Kulak, 4. He was the primary culprit on Boston’s second goal, playing too high on the 2-on-1 and allowing Nick Foligno in behind him. He deflected a shot out of trouble on a 4-on-2 Boston rush late in the second.
Evan Bouchard, 5. He set up Yamamoto for a harpoon in the first, but Yamo’s aim was not true. He turned over the puck, leading to a late first period 5-alarm shot by Jake DeBrusk. He did some strong stickhandling to advance the puck this game. He passed up a golden opportunity to drill Pastrnak into the boards with 3:50 left in the second.
Philip Broberg, 5. Solid when he was out there in limited time. He kept a clean sheet at even strength, not one mistake on a Grade A shot against.
Vincent Desharnais. 7. He made five excellent blocks on Pastrnak, including four in 34 seconds late in the third. Looked good out there in limited opportunity.
Stuart Skinner, 4. He let in three goals on 9 Grade A shots in the first two periods, which is about one too many. He failed to stop the first two 5-alarm shots by the Bruins. He was slow to a loose puck on Boston’s third goal, turning himself into prime culprit on the goal against. He did make an awesome stop on Marchand late in the third, but the game was over by then.
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Chicago received a conditional 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 second-round pick, Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev in exchange for McCabe, Sam Lafferty, a conditional fifth-round pick in 2024 and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2025.
McCabe had 20 points (two goals and 18 assists) through 55 games with the Blackhawks this season.
The 29-year-old defenseman has a plus-minus rating of plus-7 this season.
McCabe signed a four-year deal with Chicago in July 2021 after spending eight seasons with the Buffalo Sabres.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
How does this trade fit Chicago’s rebuild plan?
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson has been after as many high draft picks as he can get ever since he was promoted last season. This trade continues that trend. He probably would have liked first and second-round picks sooner than 2025 and 2026, but they’re still early draft picks in the near future. With those draft picks now added to the count, the Blackhawks have seven first-round picks and eight second-round picks over the next four drafts. Plus, they just had three first-round picks and two round-picks in 2022.
If the Blackhawks can hit on enough of those picks, especially if they can get a top-four pick in 2023, they should be well on their way with their rebuild. — Powers
What are the Leafs getting in McCabe and Lafferty?
McCabe’s first season in Chicago, coming off major knee surgery, was something of a disaster, but he looked like his old self this season, a rock-solid, steady defenseman. How effective was he this season? Well, the Blackhawks have a minus-53 goal differential at 5-on-5 but outscored opponents 41-39 with McCabe on the ice. He brings a little snarl, too, and is well-liked in the locker room. To get him for two years at just $2 million thanks to the Blackhawks’ salary retention is a nice coup, even for a future first-round pick. And nearly a decade into his NHL career, McCabe finally will get to play in a playoff game.
Lafferty, part of something of a scrap-heap trade for Alex Nylander last year, came into his own in Chicago, emerging as a dynamic force at both ends of the rink. One of the fastest players in the league, Lafferty is always moving, and he hit career highs in goals (10) and assists (11) this season. With his speed and savvy, he’s a very effective penalty-killer, tied for the league lead with four shorthanded goals. — Lazerus
It’s hard not to read this trade as an effort to stay on pace with the ongoing arms race in the Eastern Conference. While the Leafs made one of the biggest swings leading up to the trade deadline with the acquisition of Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari, the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils have all made significant adds over the past few weeks.
The Leafs’ road to the Stanley Cup Final out of the Eastern Conference is likely going to run through at least two of those teams, and so the additions of McCabe and Lafferty feel like efforts from Toronto general manager Dubas to give his team the kind of depth and physicality that should help them in what could be a grueling playoff run. — Kloke
Where does Lafferty fit with the Leafs?
Lafferty stuck out during the Leafs’ last two meetings against the Blackhawks in February as an energetic depth forward who can move with pace and isn’t afraid to throw his body around. While he’s not going to bring much offensively, it’s become clear Dubas and the Leafs want to build a fourth line that can sustain the physical toll of the playoffs. Could a line of, say, Zach Aston-Reese, Acciari and Lafferty, for example, wear down the opposition in the playoffs?
While it’s still too early to tell what the team’s bottom six will actually look like come playoff time, you could make a case the Leafs have identified an area of weakness in past playoff series, particularly when the team rolled out aging veterans who couldn’t keep up with the pace of the playoffs, and have tried to rectify things. — Kloke
Where does McCabe fit with the Leafs?
Though McCabe didn’t have his best showing against the Leafs in February, he works as a largely reliable top four defenseman who now has a decent cap hit and gives Sheldon Keefe some versatility on his blue line. There are going to be some pieces moving around: Justin Holl has fallen out of favor, if only slightly, with Keefe as of late. Though McCabe is a left shot, could Holl be moved down the lineup? A more likely scenario: could this trade all but signal the end of Rasmus Sandin’s chances of playing in the playoffs?
The Leafs needed some nastiness to fill the hole left by Jake Muzzin’s absence. They’ll likely look to McCabe to be that guy. — Kloke
MONTREAL — General Manager Kent Hughes has stayed in Montreal as his Canadiens begin a four-game road trip through the NHL's Western Conference.
Hughes has presumably stayed home to better make deals ahead of Friday's trade deadline as the Habs will likely once again be sellers. Defenceman Joel Edmundson, who missed 20 games this season with a lower-body injury, travelled with the Canadiens was scheduled to practice with his teammates on Monday in San Jose.
Centre Sean Monahan, another tradable asset for Hughes, remains on the long-term injury reserve. He has been out with a lower-body injury since Dec. 5 and was placed on LTIR on Jan. 17.
Hughes is in his second season as Montreal's GM and was very busy at last year's trade deadline, drastically remaking the Habs' lineup.
In the leadup to the 2021-22 deadline, Hughes sent forward Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames for forwards Tyler Pitlick and Emil Heineman, a 2023 fifth-round pick and a 2022 first-round pick used to draft forward Filip Mesar.
Hughes also shipped defenceman Ben Chiarot to the Florida Panthers for conditional first- and fourth-round picks in 2023 along with forward prospect Ty Slimanic.
He sent winger Arrturi Lehkonen to the Colorado Avalanche for defenceman Justin Barron and a 2024 second-round draft pick. Hughes also dealt blue liner Brett Kulak to the Edmonton Oilers for prospect forward William Lagesson and a 2022 second-round pick which they used to select defenceman Lane Hutson.
The Canadiens are 5-3-0 since the all-star break, putting Hughes in a better position to sell again.
Montreal already sent forward Evgenii Dadonov to the Dallas Stars in return for fellow Russian forward Denis Gurianov on Sunday. The Habs retained 50 per cent of Dadonov’s US$5 million salary.
Forwards Jonathan Drouin and Mike Hoffman have also been performing better through January and February, likely putting them on Hughes's trade block.
Drouin, from Ste-Agathe, Que., has yet to score this season but has put up 12 of his 18 total assists since Jan. 1. The winger — playing out the final season of a six-year, $33 million contract paying him $5.5 million annually — knows he could be moved to another team
"It’s up to me to show that if a team wants to get me on March 3 that I’m capable of playing well and go play for another team," Drouin said after a three-assist performance in Montreal’s 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 14. "But for now I have a job to do with the Canadiens and we’ll see what happens then."
Hoffman has another season left on his three-year deal paying him $4.5 million annually. However, the winger has been making the most of his additional minutes with nine points (one goal, nine assists) in his last 10 games, including a three assists in a 4-3 overtime win against the New York Islanders on Feb. 11.
Hughes could also turn the Canadiens into a third-party broker to facilitate deals for other teams leading up to Friday's deadline. A new trend this season, third-party brokers get compensated for accepting a percentage of a player’s salary in a blockbuster trade situation.
For example, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin helped centre Ryan O’Reilly’s move from the St. Louis Blues to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 17. The Wild received a 2024 fourth round draft pick in exchange for retaining 25 per cent of O'Reilly's $7.5 million cap hit for the remainder of the season.
According to CapFriendly, Hughes and the Canadiens currently have almost $4.14 million to manoeuvre under the salary cap, putting them in an ideal position to help contending teams stay under the cap in return for valuable draft picks.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2023.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have made a huge splash, acquiring another inexpensive, versatile forward to try and help them reach the Stanley Cup. Nashville Predators forward Tanner Jeannothas been sent to the Lightning in exchange for a massive trade package. The Predators will receive:
Jeannot, 25, comes to Tampa Bay as he finishes up a two-year contract that carries an $800K average annual value. That nearly league-minimum salary is exactly why the Lightning had to pay so much, and continues their trend of acquiring players with team control. Jeannot will be a restricted free agent this summer and though he has a strong case to land a hefty raise through arbitration, will help improve the Lightning for more than just the next few months.
A breakout star last season with the Predators, the physical forward scored 24 goals and 41 points as a rookie, while racking up 318 hits. The hitting remains this year but the offensive production has dried up, with just five goals so far for Jeannot in 2022-23.
It will be interesting to see if that goal-scoring touch returns in Tampa Bay, as the draft haul they gave up makes a lot more sense if they are acquiring the player from last year. The Lightning have continued to fill out their lineup with gritty, in-your-face players that can still contribute, and if Jeannot returns to his past form he may be the best among them.
Still, it is a massive price to pay for a player who has struggled this year. The Lightning now don’t have a pick in 2023 until the sixth round, and won’t select in the first round until 2026 at the earliest, assuming no other moves. “Win now” is the name of the game with this group, but it will be an impressive experiment to see just how long they can keep the window open.
The Lightning scouting and development team has been excellent at finding diamonds in the rough, but even they will be hard-pressed to refill the cupboard with just a handful of late-round picks in play.
For the Predators, a sell-off like this on the day they announced David Poile’s upcoming retirement is quite something. Jeannot was an undrafted, homegrown prospect that the program can be proud of, especially now that he’s turned into a massive return. If they can pull off a few more deals like this, new GM Barry Trotz will be set up for success.
KAMLOOPS — Kerri Einarson's curling team won a fourth straight Canadian women's curling championship with a 10-4 win over Manitoba's Jennifer Jones in Sunday's final.
Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Harris became just the second team to win four consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
"Oh my god, it means so much," Einarson said. "I think this one is even better than our first. It never gets old."
Colleen Jones' foursome won four in a row from 2001 to 2004.
"So much grit, determination, this team never gives up," Einarson said. "That's what makes us who we are.
"We just go out there and enjoy every single minute, have some fun and that's when we really shine."
Einarson will represent Canada in the women's world championship March 18-26 in Sandviken, Sweden.
Einarson stole two points in the fifth end for a 4-2 lead.
When Jones missed her attempted raise in the ninth end, Einarson made an open hit to score four, and Jones shook hands.
Manitoba had hammer to start the game because of earning the higher playoff seeding
After holding each other to single points in the opening four ends, Einarson stole two points in the fifth for a 4-2 lead.
With two Einarson stones at the top of the eight-foot rings covering the button, Jones had to throw more to the wings and her draw came up light.
"If I could throw one again, that would be it," Jones said.
The two sides again traded single points until the ninth.
The defending champions beat Northern Ontario's Krista McCarville 7-5 in the afternoon semifinal to get to the championship game.
Harris, who is pregnant and due in June, was a sweeping workhorse Sunday in back-to-back wins for Einarson.
"She's just determined. She pushes through anything," Einarson said. "She doesn't ever complain."
Einarson and company return to the 2024 Tournament of Hearts in Calgary wearing the Maple Leaf again as Team Canada, with a chance at a record fifth consecutive title.
They also pocket $108,000 from a prize purse of $300,000 and are eligible for Sport Canada "carding'" money as part of Curling Canada's national-team program.
Einarson won the first of four Canadian crowns in 2020 in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Less than a month later, the world championship was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Einarson placed sixth in the 2021 world championship in Calgary's bubble.
Her foursome won the bronze medal last year in Prince George, B.C.
Einarson said earlier in the tournament in Kamloops she felt her team had unfinished business at the world championship.
Jones fell a win short of a record seventh Canadian championship.
The 46-year-old skip had taken over a young team of curlers under the age of 25, who played in their first Hearts final Sunday.
"I'm just disappointed we didn't come out and put our A game together, but all in all, pretty happy with the week," Jones said.
Einarson, Sweeting and Birchard were selected first team all-stars at their position with Northern Ontario's Sarah Potts chosen at lead.
Ontario skip Rachel Homan, Wild card third Laura Walker, Ontario second Emma Miskew and Harris comprised the second all-star team.
KAMLOOPS — Kerri Einarson's curling team won a fourth straight Canadian women's curling championship with a 10-4 win over Manitoba's Jennifer Jones in Sunday's final.
Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Harris became just the second team to win four consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
"Oh my god, it means so much," Einarson said. "I think this one is even better than our first. It never gets old."
Colleen Jones' foursome won four in a row from 2001 to 2004.
"So much grit, determination, this team never gives up," Einarson said. "That's what makes us who we are.
"We just go out there and enjoy every single minute, have some fun and that's when we really shine."
Einarson will represent Canada in the women's world championship March 18-26 in Sandviken, Sweden.
Einarson stole two points in the fifth end for a 4-2 lead.
When Jones missed her attempted raise in the ninth end, Einarson made an open hit to score four, and Jones shook hands.
Manitoba had hammer to start the game because of earning the higher playoff seeding
After holding each other to single points in the opening four ends, Einarson stole two points in the fifth for a 4-2 lead.
With two Einarson stones at the top of the eight-foot rings covering the button, Jones had to throw more to the wings and her draw came up light.
"If I could throw one again, that would be it," Jones said.
The two sides again traded single points until the ninth.
The defending champions beat Northern Ontario's Krista McCarville 7-5 in the afternoon semifinal to get to the championship game.
Harris, who is pregnant and due in June, was a sweeping workhorse Sunday in back-to-back wins for Einarson.
"She's just determined. She pushes through anything," Einarson said. "She doesn't ever complain."
Einarson and company return to the 2024 Tournament of Hearts in Calgary wearing the Maple Leaf again as Team Canada, with a chance at a record fifth consecutive title.
They also pocket $108,000 from a prize purse of $300,000 and are eligible for Sport Canada "carding'" money as part of Curling Canada's national-team program.
Einarson won the first of four Canadian crowns in 2020 in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Less than a month later, the world championship was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Einarson placed sixth in the 2021 world championship in Calgary's bubble.
Her foursome won the bronze medal last year in Prince George, B.C.
Einarson said earlier in the tournament in Kamloops she felt her team had unfinished business at the world championship.
Jones fell a win short of a record seventh Canadian championship.
The 46-year-old skip had taken over a young team of curlers under the age of 25, who played in their first Hearts final Sunday.
"I'm just disappointed we didn't come out and put our A game together, but all in all, pretty happy with the week," Jones said.
Einarson, Sweeting and Birchard were selected first team all-stars at their position with Northern Ontario's Sarah Potts chosen at lead.
Ontario skip Rachel Homan, Wild card third Laura Walker, Ontario second Emma Miskew and Harris comprised the second all-star team.
KAMLOOPS, B.C. – It’s back to the drawing board for Krista McCarville and her rink out of the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay after another tough exit from the Scotties Tournament of Hearts playoffs.
The Northern Ontario foursome – featuring McCarville, third Kendra Lilly, second Ashley Sippala, lead Sarah Potts and coach Rick Laing - dropped their semi-final clash to Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson, 7-5, Sunday afternoon at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops.
The game was an improvement from Saturday’s loss to Manitoba’s Team Jennifer Jones in 1 vs. 2 page playoff, but far from their strong 7-1 round robin performance which earned them the top seed in Pool B.
"Once again close, but not quite there," McCarville said. "Proud of the team for battling and working this hard and getting to the final day again in the Scotties, but of course very disappointing.”
Similar to Saturday’s playoff loss, the middle of McCarville’s lineup – Sippala and Lilly – were outplayed by their counterparts on Team Einarson in second Shannon Birchard and third Val Sweeting, leaving McCarville with difficult shot attempts throughout most of the game.
Sippala shot 79 per cent and Lilly 69 per cent on Sunday compared to 86 per cent and 84 per cent from Birchard and Sweeting, respectively. McCarville still managed to shoot a stronger percentage (79 per cent) than Einarson (71 per cent), who struggled at times during the win.
McCarville says the team as whole weren’t as sharp with their draw weight in the playoff games.
Northern Ontario skip Krista McCarville reacts after another tough exit in the Tournament of Hearts playoffs. #STOH2023pic.twitter.com/gNQOFHTO86
“I felt like we managed our draw weight a lot better in the round robin,” she said. “I thought we had it [in the playoffs], but we were just a little bit off with our draw weight. When you’re playing great teams like Jones and Einarson, a hair short or a hair deep is a difference with them. I think that’s maybe where we went wrong.”
Team McCarville weren’t able to score an all-important deuce in the semi-final.
Strong runs at the Tournament of Hearts, capped by losses in the playoffs have been a recurring theme for Team McCarville since their formation in 2015.
In their six Scotties appearances together, the close-knit group have made the playoffs each time, losing in the gold-medal game in 2016 and last year in their hometown of Thunder Bay.
McCarville and company tweaked a few things during the off-season – including changing how they practise and a focus on mental performance - following their loss to Team Einarson in last year’s final and the skip is hoping they can build on those changes going forward into the 2023-24 curling campaign.
“We worked really hard this year and made a few changes,” explained McCarville. “We thought we were doing some things right and I though we were really consistent this year and maybe that’s a good thing for building into next year.”
Team McCarville’s consistency at the national championship is an impressive achievement for any rink, especially this foursome considering the limited schedule they play against elite competition leading up to the Scotties.
However, the 40-year-old McCarville says ramping up their schedule next year isn’t in the cards due to work, family and just the logistics of getting to places from up in Thunder Bay.
"We'd have to really dial down with our jobs and that's something we're not willing to do right now," she said. "We like our schedule. It would be easier if we could play some more [events] around us that didn't involve taking as much time off work. Being from Thunder Bay, it's a lot of time off work to even fly to Toronto, it’s two-to-three extra days sometimes with the way things are.”
McCarville is an elementary school teacher, Lilly works as an operations manager, Sippala is a lab technician and Potts is a social worker. McCarville, Sippala and Potts live in Thunder Bay while Lilly resides in Sudbury.
"You always want to be in that final,” said McCarville. “One day we're going to win. We just don't know when."
KAMLOOPS — History was going to be made at the Canadian women's curling championship Sunday. It was a matter of what kind.
Kerri Einarson beating Northern Ontario's Krista McCarville 7-5 in the afternoon semifinal kept Einarson's bid for a four-peat in play.
The defending champions advanced to the evening final against Manitoba's Jennifer Jones with that skip chasing a record of her own in Kamloops, B.C.
Einarson's team was a win away from becoming just the second to win four straight Scotties Tournament of Hearts after Colleen Jones between 2001 and 2004.
Jones was a win away from becoming the first woman to claim seven Canadian championships.
Einarson's victory over McCarville made for a Manitoba matchup in the final, with Einarson of Gimli, Man., taking on a Winnipeg-based team for the title.
"Feels pretty amazing," Einarson said. "We've worked extremely hard to get here all week. To come out with a good game with that, and we can even push it up a few notches because we're going to need to against Team Manitoba."
The semifinal was a rematch of last year's championship game in Thunder Bay, Ont. Einarson beat McCarville in her hometown to win a third straight Hearts in 2022.
McCarville is a perennial playoff team in the Canadian championship, but the skip and her teammates are looking for their first title after eight years together.
"Once again close, but not quite there," McCarville said. "Proud of the team for battling and working this hard and getting to the final day again in the Scotties, but of course very disappointing.
"One day we're going to win. We just don't know when."
While Einarson struggled with her draw weight in the semifinal, she was bolstered by teammates Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard and Briane Harris far outcurling their Northern Ontario rivals Kendra Lilly, Ashley Sippala and Sarah Potts.
Up one point coming home with hammer, Einarson's big weight on her final throw cleared the rings of two Northern Ontario counters.
McCarville didn't generate a two-point end and rarely had a high percentage chance to score a deuce.
"When you're playing great teams like Jones and Einarson, a hair short or a hair deep is the difference with them," McCarville said.
With full-time jobs and young children, McCarville's team limits its tour travel.
They try to compensate with a lot of practice and flying Lilly in from Sudbury for training. Playing in more events in a season isn't an option, the skip said.
"We'd have to really dial down with our jobs and that's something we're not willing to do right now," McCarville said. "It would be easier if we could play some more (events) around us that didn't involve taking as much time off work.
"Being from Thunder Bay, it's a lot of time off work to even fly to Toronto."
Einarson's first loss of the tournament in Kamloops was to Jones in a Friday playoff game. Einarson spotted Jones a 4-0 lead after two ends and fell 8-6.
"Just don't give up a four-ender early," Einarson said with a laugh.
The final's winner represents Canada in the women's world championship in Sweden later this month and returns to the 2024 Tournament of Hearts in Calgary wearing the Maple Leaf as defending champions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2023.
Mikaël Kingsbury checks into every moguls competition as the undisputed favourite — the man to beat.
That routine excellence was on display over the weekend with a gold-medal sweep in men's moguls at the freestyle world championships in Bakuriani, Georgia.
"I'm so happy to be an eight-time world champion," Kingsbury, 30, said as he sipped a celebratory beer while talking with Canadian reporters via video conference. "It's always my favourite thing crossing the finish line in a big event when you've done something good."
Good? Try great.
The Deux-Montagnes, Que. product is so dominant that he makes bigger headlines on the rare occasions he fails to demolish the field — much like sprinter Usain Bolt, swimmer Michael Phelps and quarterback Tom Brady in their time.
On Sunday, Kingsbury soared to the top of the podium in dual moguls, dispatching Sweden's Walterberg Wallberg 19-16 in the final.
WATCH | Kingsbury earns 8th career world medal, 3rd in dual moguls:
Mikaël Kingsbury wins gold in world championships dual moguls competition
9 hours ago
Duration 5:18
The Deux-Montagnes, Que. native defeated Sweden's Walter Wallberg in the final to place first in the event during the 2023 FIS freestyle world ski championships from the Bakuriani ski resort in Georgia.
The win came 24 hours after he claimed gold in single moguls with a score of 89.82 in the super final, ahead of Australia's Matt Graham and Wallberg.
Not surprisingly, come Sunday, Kingsbury said he felt exhausted.
"After arriving in finals, I was like, 'OK, you got that much energy in the tank,"' he said, holding his thumb and his index finger centimetres apart. "'Let's empty the tank and push as hard as you can."'
And push he did, leaving no doubt about the identity of the best men's moguls skier in the world.
"I wanted to not leave anything on the table and push," said Kingsbury, who settled for silver at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing after a shocking final run for gold by Wallberg.
"If I learned something from the Olympics — it probably helped me for this event to go for it 100 per cent.
"And yeah. It was awesome."
'I believe in me, and I love competing'
Kingsbury defeated his compatriot Elliot Vaillancourt of Drummondville, Que., as well as Dylan Marcellini of the United States, to begin his day. He then bested Benjamin Cavet of France and Pavel Kolmakov of Kazakhstan to advance to the final.
This is the third gold-medal sweep for Kingsbury at the world championships, having already won both titles in 2019 and 2021.
"I believe in me, and I love competing," Kingsbury said. "I bet there's some people who get very nervous in competition. For me, it's important that I still feel a bit of emotion and stress at the top, because it means I care.
"But I'm just super focused."
In the big picture, Kingsbury is looking toward competing for at least another three years and suiting up for Canada at the 2026 Winter Games in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.
At age eight, Kingsbury started mogul skiing. By age 10, he printed off a colour picture of the Olympic rings and wrote "Je vais gagner" on the piece of paper, meaning "I'm going to win."
He taped the paper on the ceiling above his bed — not knowing that he was staring every night at the words that would shape his destiny.
"The really great ones, like Mik, really take satisfaction in the daily pursuit of that kind of achievement, "said Peter Judge, CEO of Freestyle Canada. "He just has a hunger for the sport. He loves winning, but I think he loves doing the work to get there even more than that."
Mogul skiing is punishing on the knees, and Kingsbury has been navigating the bumps and jumps for more than two decades.
'Students of their own body'
But the opportunity to compete in two Olympic events — with the dual moguls event making its debut in 2026 — has Kingsbury determined to keep going for as long as he can.
"Look at a guy like LeBron James — or somebody like Mik — they become students of their own body," Judge said of Kingsbury, who won gold at the 2018 Winter Games and silver at the 2014 Winter Games. "They really understand how to get the most out of their body but also how to protect it.
"And that comes doing deep due diligence and having a real deep understanding of your own physical self and then also really listening to yourself — and not stepping into places where you might put it at risk, either by inaction or by overaction."
Gabriel Dufresne of Joliette, Que., also had an excellent Sunday in Bakuriani, defeating American Cole Macdonald 20-15 and Rasmus Karjalainen of Finland 22-13. However, he lost his quartefinal race to Kolmakov, 20-15.
Dufresne rounded out the top five for a career best result in the event.
The World Cup moguls season concludes March 17-20 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. From there, Kingsbury will hit the gym back home in Quebec to prepare for the next campaign.
"I love the life that I live," Kingsbury said. "It's an amazing lifestyle. It's healthy. And I love competitions. And I know I've won everything. So why not win it two, three, four more times?"
In the women's competition, Maia Schwinghammer's day came to an end in her quarterfinal against Jaelin Kauf of the U.S. The Saskatchewan native finished the day eighth. Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert of Sainte-Adèle, Que., was eliminated in the round of 16 and finished the event a personal best 10th.
Like Kingsbury, Perrine Laffont of France won a second gold medal in as many days in Bakuriani and is the most successful female moguls racer in history with five world championships.
Laffont defeated Jaelin Kauf in the super final and Avital Carroll of Austria completed the medal podium.
WATCH | Full coverage of men's and women's dual moguls from Georgia:
FIS freestyle world ski championships Bakuriani: Dual moguls
15 hours ago
Duration 1:55:53
Watch the men's and women's dual moguls events at the 2023 FIS freestyle world ski championships from the Bakuriani ski resort in Georgia.
VANCOUVER - Linus Ullmark made it one memorable night in Vancouver as he woke up the crowd with 48 seconds left in the third when he potted his first career goal into an empty net to secure the B's 3-1 victory - their sixth straight win - over the Canucks on Saturday at Rogers Arena.
"It's hard to describe what I'm feeling right now...I have to digest it. I'm just so bloody happy," said Ullmark.
Linus the Legend
Not only did Ullmark make history on Saturday night, but he also continued to dominate between the pipes. The Canucks were making Ullmark work, forcing 26 saves to earn him his 30th win - the first goalie in the league to reach that mark this season - and improve the Bruins record to a remarkable 45-8-5.
This is the first time Ullmark has reached 30 wins in his eight seasons in the NHL. The Sweden native also became the second-fastest in league history to hit the 30-win plateau, doing it in just 37 games, which is two shy of Tiny Thompson's record of 35 set with the Bruins in 1929-30.
"He's been doing it all year for us," Brad Marchand said when asked about how important Ullmark has been to the success of the team.
Saturday was no different, of course, in terms of Ullmark's ability to stop pucks, but also his perfectly placed empty netter in the final 48 seconds, becoming the first Bruins goaltender to ever score a goal. Ullmark's tally was also just the 16th by a goalie (regular season and playoffs) in league history and first since Nashville's Pekka Rinne in Jan. 2020.
"I'm really happy for him," said coach Jim Montgomery. "He almost had one earlier in the year and at the Winter Classic...[Jeremy] Swayman thought about it one game. It's good to have talented goaltenders."
As far as exactly what happened, his teammates were the ones to let Ullmark know what he had done. "As soon as I shot, I see three guys jumping towards me, and I had no idea where it was," said Ullmark. "I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything, and then you become a little bit more aware of what's happening, then the guys are starting to look up ice and then I see it going towards the net, and the rest is history."
History, indeed.
"It doesn't happen often and just tops off an incredible season for him," said Marchand.
Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov made their Bruins debuts on Saturday night, fitting right in and having some fun right off the bat. "I'm really impressed with Hathaway's details and penalty killing and seems like he understands our D-zone coverage already," said Montgomery. "And Dmitry Orlov made some special plays, special passes on breakouts, in neutral zone and in the offensive zone."
As for how Hathaway felt coming into this game, he said he felt he was welcomed with open arms. "I felt immediately welcome," said Hathaway, who landed two hits in 11:40 of ice time while playing mostly as the fourth-line right wing alongside Nick Foligno and Tomas Nosek, the latter of whom returned to the lineup after missing over a month with a foot fracture.
"It's the whole Bruins nation, the whole Boston area, that has made it feel like Day 1 I'm part of the team."
Orlov, who played the right side on a pairing with Derek Forbort, was appreciative of the help from the players and staff when playing with a new system.
"I played for only one team for 11 years," Orolv said after landing a shot on goal and two hits in 20:04 of ice time. "So, it wasn't easy, but it was fun to get the win."
Hampus Lindholm started it off by giving the B's the 1-0 lead on the power play with 2:52 to go in the first period. It was Lindholm's seventh goal of the season and helped improve Boston to 30-0-3 when scoring first. Per NHL Stats, the Bruins' streak is the fifth-longest such point streak in league history. Montreal (43 games in 1977-78) holds the record.
Marchand extended the Bruins' lead to 2-0 with 35 seconds left in the first for his 19th goal of the season. The winger now has seven goals in 14 career games (regular season and Stanley Cup Final) in Vancouver.
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