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From Hughes to Peterka: Recent acquisitions running hot and cold in the 2026 playoffs

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
Apr 30, 2026, 15:06 EDT
From Hughes to Peterka: Recent acquisitions running hot and cold in the 2026 playoffs
Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs has been replete with drama. Three teams have advanced, two in a sweep, but the other five matchups are destined to go at least six games.

The playoffs are as good an opportunity as any for players to prove themselves, and even moreso for those who have recently changed teams. When faced with the adversity that the postseason always brings, some players rise to the occasion — and others falter.

We’ve already seen multiple examples of both in the early stages of these playoffs. Here’s a quick look at a half-dozen players, all of whom have moved via trade or free agency in the last 12 months, who are running hot or cold in their first playoff experience with their new clubs.

Running hot: Quinn Hughes

Would the Minnesota Wild be leading the Dallas Stars three games to two without Hughes averaging more than 32 minutes a night? No, that’s not a misprint: Hughes has logged more than half an hour per game in what has been arguably the most competitive quarterfinal series of the bunch. The 26-year-old rearguard has been worth every single piece the Wild gave up to acquire him from the Vancouver Canucks in December, putting up 53 points in 48 games to conclude the 2025-26 regular season and now managing five points (all assists) through five playoff contests.

While it’s undeniably still a little strange to see Hughes wearing Minnesota green instead of Vancouver blue, you can bet the rest of the Central Division is already having nightmares about that No. 43 Wild jersey. With Hughes on the ice at 5-on-5 in this series, the Wild have outshot Dallas 70-55 while outscoring them 6-0. It’s only a matter of time before Hughes scores his first playoff goal with the Wild, and if they do get past Dallas, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them give the Colorado Avalanche a real scare in Round 2. Of course, once these playoffs are over, everyone will start talking about whether Hughes will stay in Minnesota as a pending free agent — but why not live in the present?

Running cold: Tyler Myers

Sticking with the subject of players recently traded by the Canucks, Myers has had a much more difficult go of things on the other side of the Minnesota/Dallas series. The 6’8″ righty is coming off a horrendous showing in Game 5 against the Wild, ending up a minus-2 in just 14:11 of ice time, and is set to sit out Thursday’s pivotal contest in Minnesota as a healthy scratch in favour of Alex Petrovic. Considering Myers is now a minus-5 through five playoff games, and that he sat on the Stars’ bench for all but 28 seconds of the final 12 minutes of regulation time on Tuesday, it’s not entirely surprising to see Glen Gulutzan and his staff opt to go in a different direction for Game 6.

Stars general manager Jim Nill has repeatedly attempted to shore up the right side of his defensive group at the trade deadline in recent years, with varying degrees of success. In 2024, he swung a deal to acquire Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames, but was unable to retain him as a UFA that summer; the next year, he acquired Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks, but after a subpar playoff showing, Ceci and the Stars parted ways. Despite being a Texas native himself, Myers appears to be yet another short-term fix for this Dallas team. The Stars have legit Cup-or-bust expectations, having bowed out in the Western Conference Final in each of the last three seasons, and if they bow out in Round 1, Myers may not be their only roster casualty.

Running hot: Alex Lyon

After replacing a shaky Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen midway through their 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 2, Lyon has allowed just four goals in three starts to allow his Buffalo Sabres to build a 3-2 series lead. The undersized journeyman goaltender has been nothing short of dominant in only his second career playoff series, posting a .953 save percentage through four games. It took a perfect move by David Pastrnak to beat Lyon in overtime at the KeyBank Center in Game 5, and with the Sabres’ offense primed for a bounce-back after scoring just once on Tuesday, Lyon just needs to keep doing his thing to give Buffalo a real chance to win its first playoff series since 2007.

The Sabres have run with a three-headed monster in goal for most of the season, alternating between Lyon, Luukkonen, and Colten Ellis (keeping all three of them on their roster simultaneously). They also have Devon Levi developing with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Lyon is probably the least highly-touted goaltender in that group, but he’s also been the most reliable when it matters. The 33-year-old netminder almost single-handedly lifted the Florida Panthers into the playoffs in 2023, and he nearly did the same with the Detroit Red Wings the following year. This season, Lyon has gone from No. 2 or 3 on Buffalo’s depth chart to their playoff rock, building upon his 20-10-4 record and .907 save percentage in the regular season to give the Sabres a real shot at going deep.

Running cold: Carter Hart

The Vegas Golden Knights lead the Utah Mammoth three games to two in their Western Conference quarterfinal series, but if not for the wildly inconsistent play of their starting goaltender, these Golden Knights might already have clinched their spot in Round 2. Vegas has heavily outplayed Utah for much of the series, controlling more than 58 percent of the scoring chances and nearly 54 percent of the shot attempts at 5-on-5, but owing to Hart’s league-worst .855 save percentage at even strength, the Golden Knights have kept the door open for the Mammoth to hang around.

Hart stopped all 12 Utah shots across both overtime periods on Wednesday, but before that, he had conceded 12 goals on the last 69 shots he faced dating back to the start of Game 3, in which he made just eight saves — tied for the third-fewest over a full start in modern Stanley Cup Playoff history. John Tortorella has leaned heavily upon Hart since taking over behind the Vegas bench in late March, but given the rapidly diminishing returns offered by the 27-year-old goaltender, it’s a little surprising that the Golden Knights haven’t turned to Adin Hill. Even considering his own struggles this year, Hill has a Stanley Cup ring as a member of the 2023 Golden Knights and has a stronger track record of recent success. Vegas may get past Utah, but they’ll have a tough time advancing further without getting their goaltending situation squared away.

Running hot: Mikael Granlund

Dating back to his early years with the Wild, Granlund has never been the strongest playoff performer, which makes his early success with these Anaheim Ducks all the more surprising — and welcome. The 34-year-old forward already has two goals and six points through five games against the Edmonton Oilers this spring and has played a pivotal role as Anaheim’s No. 2 center between Beckett Sennecke and Alex Killorn.

For reference, this is Granlund’s 11th career playoff appearance, but he has only ever exceeded six points in a single playoff year twice before. He most recently did so last year, collecting five goals and 10 points over 18 games with the Stars during their run to the West Final. But the 5’10” Finn is already more than halfway to matching that output this spring in less than a third of the games played, and he’s one win away from getting personal revenge on an Edmonton team that denied his Stars access to the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. It’ll be difficult for any of the teams of the Pacific Division side of the playoff bracket to overcome whichever of Dallas, Minnesota, and Colorado comes out of the Central, but Granlund has given the Ducks something tangible that many of their Pacific brethren lack: secondary scoring.

Running cold: JJ Peterka

Ostensibly acquired to become one of Utah’s top scorers, Peterka has struggled to produce at any level against Vegas in these playoffs. The 24-year-old winger has seemingly already run afoul of head coach Andre Tourigny, with his careless high-sticking penalty midway through the third period in Game 4 earning him a seat on the bench for the remainder of regulation and all of overtime. And Peterka played similarly sparingly in Utah’s double-overtime loss to Vegas in Game 5, playing in just 14 of a possible 85 minutes and watching helplessly from the high slot as Brett Howden scored the winning goal, shorthanded, to give the Golden Knights a crucial 3-2 series lead.

Peterka has zero points and a minus-3 rating through five games in his first career playoff experience with Utah. After scoring 68 points in 77 games with the Sabres in the 2024-25 regular season, the German forward saw his output decrease to 47 points across a full 82 games with the Mammoth this year. Compared to Josh Doan, who has been exactly what the doctor ordered in Buffalo after going the other way in last year’s blockbuster trade, Peterka has been highly disappointing in Utah. Yes, it can be difficult for young players to acclimate to new surroundings, but Peterka needs to provide far more to justify what the Mammoth gave up to get him, as well as the $7.7 million cap hit he’ll command for each of the next four years after this one.

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POST SPONSORED BY bet365

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