Daily Faceoff’s 2022 NHL Trade Deadline Live Blog

Cam Lewis
Cam Lewis
Mar 21, 2022, 07:25 EDTUpdated: Mar 21, 2022, 13:30 EDT
Daily Faceoff’s 2022 NHL Trade Deadline Live Blog

It’s trade deadline day!

Saturday and Sunday were loaded with action, as five of the top 10 players listed on Frank Seravalli’s pre-deadline Trade Targets board have been moved. Hampus Lindholm was traded to the Boston Bruins and inked an eight-year contract and Mark Giordano was moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of an explosion by the Seattle Kraken.

To catch up on all of the moves that have been made thus far, make sure to check out our Trade Deadline Tracker. As the day goes along, I’ll be updating this post with news, rumors, and analysis, so come along for the ride.

UPDATE: 7:20 AM ET

Brian Burke and Ron Hextall were up early in Pittsburgh, as the Penguins sent a conditional seventh-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for defenseman Nathan Beaulieu. He’s currently on the Long-Term Injured Reserve and won’t count against the Penguins’ cap until he’s activated.

UPDATE: 8:00 AM ET

This isn’t a trade, but the Arizona Coyotes have inked goaltender Karel Vejmelka to a three-year contract worth $2.725 million annually. Signed as a free agent back in May, Vejmelka has posted a .905 save percentage in 36 games in his first season in the NHL.

Arizona just traded away goaltender Scott Wedgewood to the Dallas Stars on Sunday evening.

UPDATE: 9:00 AM ET

There isn’t much going on thus far, but here’s an interesting note about the Calgary Flames and Mark Giordano.

Calgary apparently kicked tires on their former captain but nothing ever came into fruition as an Expansion Draft rule stipulated that Seattle wouldn’t be able to retain salary to send Giordano to his former club. Even going through a third team to have the salary retained wouldn’t work, so a return to Calgary for Gio was never really an option.

UPDATE: 10:00 AM ET

Forget Trade Deadline day, it’s actually Goaltender Contract Extension Day!

The Ottawa Senators announced that Anton Forsberg has inked a three-year deal worth $2.75 million annually.

Forsberg, who went from Edmonton to Carolina to Ottawa via waivers last year, has been excellent this season, posting a .918 save percentage through 31 appearances. The Sens now have $9 million tied up between their goaltending tandem of Forsberg and Matt Murray.

UPDATE: 10:20 AM ET

We have ANOTHER contract extension! This time, it’s the Boston Bruins coming to terms with forward Jake DeBrusk on a two-year deal worth $4 million.

As Frank Seravalli notes, this cap hit is less than what DeBrusk’s qualifying offer would have netted him this summer, which might help the Bruins find a trade partner for the young winger. DeBrusk is looking for a change of scenery as he requested a trade back in October.

UPDATE: 10:45 AM ET

Bryan Little’s contract is on the move to Arizona. It carries a $5,291,667 cap hit for two more seasons after this one but won’t count against the cap as he’s on the Long-Term Injured Reserve due to an issue with vertigo.

For saving the Jets some actual cash, the Coyotes will receive prospect Nathan Smith and a fourth-round draft pick. This is actually a pretty hefty price for Winnipeg to pay, as Smith scored 49 points in 34 games for Minnesota State University, Mankato this season.

UPDATE: 10:50 AM ET

Finally, we have a trade involving a player who’s actually playing. The Seattle Kraken are sending Marcus Johansson to the Washington Capitals, where he spent the first seven seasons of his career.

UPDATE: 11:10 AM ET

Here’s a big one. The Minnesota Wild have acquired Marc-Andre Fleury.

As Seravalli reports, it’ll be a second-round pick that could become a first-round pick going back to Chicago in exchange for the two-time Stanley Cup winner and 2021 Vezina Trophy recipient.

Earlier today, Seravalli noted that the Wild and Hawks were locked in a stalemate, as Chicago wanted a first-round pick for Fleury and Minnesota didn’t want to go that high. This seems to be the middle-ground.

It also seems that the Wild will be moving Kaapo Kahkonen in order to make room for Fleury to form a tandem with Cam Talbot.

It makes sense that the Wild are going all-in on this season, as the team is going to have a difficult challenge to navigate next year with Ryan Suter and Zach Parise’s buyouts jumping from $4,743,588 combined to $12,743,588 combined.

An interesting thing to note here is that Kahkonen actually has a better save percentage this season than both Fleury and Talbot, but Kahkonen has never played in an NHL playoff game, and Fleury has a tremendous amount of pedigree and the ability to steal games. Fleury’s .908 save percentage this season will also likely improve playing on a Wild team with a much better team defense than the one that was in front of him in Chicago.

According to Seravalli, Kahkonen is headed to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenseman Jacob Middleton.

UPDATE: 12:30 PM ET

The Edmonton Oilers are adding to their blueline, as the team has acquired defender Brett Kulak from the Montreal Canadiens. A defensive defenseman, Kulak carries a $1.85 million cap hit and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. He gives Edmonton more depth on the left side of their blueline.

Another defensive defenseman is on the move, as the New York Rangers have acquired Justin Braun from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a third-round pick in 2023.

UPDATE: 1:30 PM ET

Since things are quiet right now, here’s something funny. The Tampa Bay Lightning photoshopped the newly-acquired Nick Paul to be wearing the team’s new uniform and Blake Coleman recognized that they were using his body.

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