Guhle was a second-round pick (No.51 overall) in the 2015 draft and has picked up five assists in 23 carer NHL games. The 21-year-old has great mobility and has enjoyed a quality second season in the AHL, picking up five goals and 22 assists (27 points) in 50 games with Rochester.
Montour was originally a second-round pick (No.55 overall) in 2014 and has become a trusted defenseman in Anaheim. Montour has five goals and 20 assists (25 points) while averaging 22:40 TOI/gm through 62 games this season. Montour projects to take Matt Hunwick’s spot in the Sabres lineup and will likely skate in their top-4.
Zuccarello had a slow start to the season, scoring just four goals with 10 assists (14 points) in his first 28 games but has collected seven goals and 16 assists (23 points) in his last 18 games. The Stars lacked some serious winger depth capable of playing in their top-6 and Zuccarello is a player capable of playing on a line with either Jamie Benn and/or Tyler Seguin.
Duclair has fallen out of favour in Columbus but is a player who possesses a lot of potential and upside. Duclair has scored 11 goals and eight assists (19 points) in 52 games this season. Duclair could play a big role in Ottawa with the team selling off most of their top players at the deadline.
Dzingel has enjoyed a breakout season, scoring 22 goals and 22 assists (44 points) in 57 games. Dzingel brings a ton of speed to the Blue Jackets lineup and could lineup with Matt Duchene, who was also acquired from Ottawa on Friday. Dzingel has played 52.5 percent of his 5v5 minutes with Duchene this season and the duo has averaged 27 ScoringChancesFor/60.
Carrick has not played much this season but could get a chance in New Jersey. The 24-year-old, right-shot defenseman has one goal and three assists in 14 games this season, adding 16 shots, five hits and 11 blocked shots to his line as well. He should replace Lovejoy and see some time on the Devils third-pair.
Lovejoy is a defensive-defenseman with pretty good size and excellent mobility but really doesn’t bring any offence to the table. Lovejoy has just two goals and five assists (seven points) in 51 games this season. He has also picked up 70 shots, 59 hits and 77 blocked shots along the way. He provides the Stars with some added depth and will likely play the right-side on the Stars third-pair.
Bowey is a former second-round pick (2013) who started the year with the Capitals but has been a healthy scratch a lot recently. Bowey has one goal and five assists (six points) in 33 games this season. The 23-year-old is a strong skater, good passer and was a tremendous hitter in juniors but hasn’t shown it as frequently in the NHL. He should settle in as a third-pairing defenseman in Detroit for now and the Red Wings hope he can continue to grow into a top-4 defenseman.
Jensen was a fifth-round pick back in 2009 and was a late-bloomer. Jensen didn’t make his NHL debut until 2017, after 222 career AHL games, and never looked back. Jensen is a reliable two-way defenseman that can be leaned on to kill penalties. He will likely line-up next to Brooks Orpik/Christian Djoos in the third pairing.
Davidsson is a more under the radar prospect, who quickly rose up the ranks in Columbus after a strong season in Sweden a year ago. Davidsson has continued that play with similar numbers this season, scoring 10 goals with 10 assists (20 points) in 35 games as a 21-year-old with Djurgårdens IF.
Abramov is a highly touted prospect, who was at the top of the Blue Jackets farm system after being picked in the third-round (No.65 overall) in 2016. The under-sized winger (5-foot-9, 171 lbs) has excellent elusiveness and dangling ability, that he he has used to score 12 goals with 10 assists (22 points) in 52 AHL games this season.
Bergman is a right-shot defenseman that was originally drafted by the Sharks in the second-round of the 2014 NHL Draft. The 23-year-old was shipped to Ottawa as a part of the Mike Hoffman deal and is on the move for the second time in a year. Bergman’s offence has dropped off in each of the last two seasons. So far this year, he has no goals and six assists in 33 AHL games and is expected to report to Cleveland (AHL).
Duchene is expected to walk across the hall and make his Blue Jackets debut tonight in Ottawa. It remains to be seen where Duchene will slot into the lineup, but the second line seems like the most reasonable spot. Despite playing for a mostly poor Senators team, Duchene is on-pace to set a new career-high in goals (39) and points (84). The 2019 first-round pick is lottery protected and the Senators will only receive the 2020 pick if Duchene re-signs in Columbus.
The Capitals waived Devante Smith-Pelly on Wednesday, trying to clear space to add Hagelin, beefing up their bottom-6. The 30-year-old has tremendous speed but has struggled offensively this season, scoring just two goals with six assists (eight points) in 38 games.
Donato was a highly touted prospect coming out of Harvard University. The 22-year-old was picked in the second-round (No.56 overall) in 2014 and dazzled Bruins fans in a 12-game stint after turning pro late last season. However, Donato struggled to find his way this season, scoring just six goals with three assists (nine points) in 34 games. Since then he has been in the AHL, where he has 12 points (7G / 5A) in 18 games with Providence but could replace Coyle on the big-club as the Wild continue to push for a playoff berth.
Coyle, 26, was born 45 minutes outside of Boston and attended Boston University for two seasons before playing one season in the QMJHL. Coyle was a first-round pick (No.28 overall) in 2010 and has registered 242 points (91G / 151A) in 479 career NHL games since then. Coyle has excellent hands for a player who is 6-foot-3, 221 lbs. but has settled in as more of a playmaker in the NHL, posting a career-high of just 21 goals back in 2016. This season, Coyle has 10 goals and 18 assists (28 points) in 60 games and should be a nice addition to the Wild’s middle-6. Coyle is capable of playing both centre and wing.
Spooner has been with Bakersfield lately, scoring two goals with four assists (six points) in seven games. The 27-year-old heads to his third team of the season with three goals and two assists (five points) in 41 shots between the Rangers and Oilers this season.
Gagner was originally drafted by the Oilers back in 2007 and played seven seasons and 481 career games with Edmonton. The 29-year-old has only appeared in seven NHL games with Vancouver this season and has picked up 12 goals and 25 assists (37 points) in 43 AHL games while on loan with the Marlies. He is expected to report to the Oilers on Saturday.
Stolarz is set to become a restricted free agent this summer but provides the Oilers with over $3.4M AAV in cap savings this year by replacing Talbot. The 25-year-old netminder is a former second-round pick but has had two knee surgeries in the last two seasons and has only played in 21 professional hockey games over that stretch as a result. This season, Stolarz is 4-3-3 with a 3.33 GAA and .902 SV% and will basically be trying out for Mikko Koskinen’s backup job for next season during the final 25 games of the season.
The Oilers needed to shed some cap-space so that they could activate defenseman Andrej Sekera and Talbot is in the final year of a three-year deal that carries a $4.166M AAV cap-hit and Stolarz’s $761K AAV provides them with over $3.4M in savings. Since his breakout year in 2017, Talbot has struggled—tying for 39th in the NHL in SV% (.903) and 43rd in GAA (3.13). Talbot has ties to rookie netminder Carter Hart, as they train together in the summer, so bringing in a quality veteran to help Hart along the way is the reason the Flyers made this deal. If Talbot plays well, Philly may re-sign him and make Hart-Talbot their 1-2 punch in net for the next couple of seasons.
NHL trades are decided between two or more team general managers. The front office’s job is building a winning team. Building a winning team means discussing trades with other general managers across the league.
During the NHL regular season, players can be traded up until the trade deadline. The deadline is the official cutoff point for when teams can no longer make moves between each other. Players can also be traded throughout the offseason.
Teams trade players in hockey for a variety of reasons, but generally, it is done to find success, whether that is in the short term or long term. Teams may trade their top players in search of draft picks if they are undergoing a rebuild, whereas contending teams may look to acquire talent to boost their playoff chances.
Trades are a common occurrence throughout the NHL and happen often. Some years feature less trades than others, it all depends on each teams needs and the availability of attractive talent.