The trade may signify Pittsburgh's position as sellers and comes on the heels of a 7-1 blowout defeat at the hands of the Stars on Monday. Eller tallied 19 goals and 19 assists in 99 regular season games across two seasons in Pittsburgh. He returns to Washington where he's previously spent parts of seven seasons, registering 208 points in 488 games from 2016 to 2023.
Sprong heads back to Seattle where he spent parts of 2021-22 season and the entire 2022-23 season. He played just nine games with the Canucks after signing a one-year deal with them in the off-season, scoring one goal and adding two assists. Sprong enjoyed the most productive season of his career with the Kraken, tallying 21 goals and 25 assists in 66 games in 2022-23.
Gleason has just four career games to his name and has not appeared in an NHL game since the 2018-19 season with the Dallas Stars. He has one goal and three assists through seven AHL games this season.
Attard played just 12 games with the Flyers last year and is yet to play in an NHL game this season. Attard compiled two goals and four assists in 29 career games across parts of three seasons with the Flyers.
The 17th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Liljegren had fallen out of favour under new Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube. He appeared in just 1 game this season after playing in 183 regular season games over the last three seasons. He amassed 14 goals and 51 assists in 197 career games with the Maple Leafs and should be afforded plenty more playing time in San Jose.
Benning will likely fill a depth role for the Maple Leafs and does not figure to earn a lot of immediate playing time. He was yet to register a point and was a -5 through seven games with the Sharks this season. Benning leaves San Jose after totaling one goal and 25 assists in 98 games over parts of three seasons.
Utah's blueline has been shorthanded after John Marino went back surgery and Sean Durzi had shoulder surgery, so they've added an NHL-calibre defenseman to help fill the void. Maatta, who is in the final year of a two-year, $3.0M AAV deal, has no points, three SOG, seven blocked shots and three hits in seven games this season.
Burke was acquired by San Jose alongside Yaroslav Askarov, and a 2025 3rd-round pick from Nashville for Magnus Chrona, David Edstrom and a 2025 1st-round pick (VGK - Top 10 protected). Burke is an undrafted rookie who signed in the offseason after a successful season with Atlanta (ECHL) after four years of junior hockey in Sarnia (OHL). The 21-year-old center had five goals, 15 points and 32 PIMs in 2023-24 with Atlanta and is expected to be a depth player for the San Jose Barracuda (AHL) after this trade.
Chrona was acquired by the Predators alongside David Edstrom and a 2025 1st-round pick (VGK - Top 10 protected) from San Jose for Yaroslav Askarov, Nolan Burke and a 2025 3rd-round pick on Friday. The 23-year-old goaltender made his NHL debut in 2023-24 but struggled behind a weak San Jose team with a 1-6-1 record, 4.71 GAA and .859 SV%. He is expected to be the Predators' third goaltender behind Juuse Saros and Scott Wedgewood.
Edstrom was acquired by Nashville alongside Magnus Chrona, and a 2025 1st-round pick (Top 10 protected) from San Jose for Yaroslav Askarov, Nolan Burke and a 2025 3rd-round pick on Friday. The 19-year-old Swedish center was drafted in the 1st round of the 2023 NHL Draft (32nd overall) and has spent his last two seasons in the SHL with Frolunda HC. In 2023-24, he had seven goals and 19 points in 44 games with the Swedish club.
The Askarov trade sweepstakes finally ended on Friday as San Jose acquired the goaltender alongside Nolan Burke and a 2025 3rd-round pick from Nashville for David Edstrom, a 2025 1st-round pick (VGK- Top 10 protected) and Magnus Chrona. The 22-year-old goaltender was Nashville's 2020 1st-round pick (11th overall) and had an impressive 30-13-1 record, 2.39 GAA and .911 SV% with Milwaukee (AHL) last season.
When Rutger McGroarty announced he would be returning to Michigan (NCAA) this upcoming April he handcuffed Winnipeg which has led to them trading his rights to Pittsburgh for Brayden Yager. Yager was Pittsburgh's 2023 1st round pick (14th overall) and has already signed his three-year, entry-level contract. The 19-year-old is expected to return to Moose Jaw for the 2024-25 season where he had 35 goals and 95 points in 57 games played in 2023-24.
McGroarty had announced in April that he was planning on returning to Michigan (NCAA) for the 2024-25 season but has been dealt from Winnipeg to Pittsburgh for Brayden Yager and is now expected to sign his entry-level contract. The 20-year-old was Winnipeg's 2022 1st-round pick (14th overall) and has excelled at the NCAA level, with 16 goals and 52 points in only 36 games played in 2023-24 with Michigan.
Edmonton and St.Louis continued to make news on Tuesday as they made a minor deal involving Paul Fischer and a 2028 3rd-round pick heading from St. Louis to Edmonton for future considerations. The 19-year-old Fischer was St. Louis' 2023 5th-round pick (138th overall) and had spent his freshman season with the University of Notre Dame (NCAA) where he had two goals and 16 points in 34 games played.
Patrik Laine's offseason saga comes to an end after he was traded to Montreal on Monday alongside a 2026 2nd-round pick for Jordan Harris. Harris heads to Columbus after three strong seasons in Montreal and has eight goals and 32 points in 131 career games played. The 24-year-old was Montreal's 2018 3rd-round pick (71st overall).
Laine's well-documented time in Columbus has come to an end after he was traded to Montreal alongside a 2026 3rd-round pick for Jordan Harris. The 26-year-old only appeared in 18 games in 2023-24 after a clavicle injury and trip to the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program took his season from him. The 26-year-old has not surpassed 60 points since 2019-20 and is far from his 19-year-old self who had 44 goals and 70 points in 82 games played. He is expected to join Montreal's top-six for the start of the 2024-25 season.
With Edmonton needing to offload salary after St.Louis tenured two of their restricted free agents this week (Broberg, Holloway), they have dealt Cody Ceci and a 2025 3rd-round pick to San Jose for Ty Emberson. Emberson made his NHL debut in 2023-24 and had a goal and 10 points in 30 games played. The 24-year-old should make a solid replacement for Ceci and a dependable sixth defenseman on the Oilers' third defensive unit.
Edmonton needed to clear some cap space after St. Louis tenured two of their restricted free agents earlier in the week (Holloway, Broberg) and have dealt defensemen Cody Ceci and a 2025 3rd-round pick to San Jose for Ty Emberson. In 79 games with Edmonton in 2023-24, the 30-year-old Ceci had five goals, 25 points, and a +12 plus/minus in 2023-24.
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.
