Hoffman was acquired by San Jose in a three-way trade involving Pittsburgh and Montreal which saw Erik Karlsson head to the Penguins. The 33-year-old left-winger joins San Jose after scoring 14 goals, 20 assists, 148 SOG, 28 PIMs and a -10 plus/minus through 67 games with Montreal in 2022-23. He has 218 goals and 464 points across 679 career NHL games played.
Granlund has been acquired by San Jose as part of a three-way trade which involved Montreal and superstar Erik Karlsson heading to Pittsburgh. The 31-year-old centre is coming off a 10 goals, 31 assist, 111 SOG, and -16 plus/minus season in 2022-23 with both Nashville and Pittsburgh and will be joining his fourth NHL team in San Jose. He has 145 goals, 484 points and 1,400 SOG through 750 career NHL games.
Legare was acquire by Montreal as part of a three-team trade including San Jose and which saw three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson head to Pittsburgh. The 22-year-old right-winger was Pittsburgh's 2019 third-round pick (74th overall) and has yet to see any NHL action through his first two seasons in the AHL. In 2022-23 he had eight goals, 19 points, 76 PIMs and a -17 plus/minus through 68 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
DeSmith was acquired by Montreal as part of a three-team deal with Pittsburgh and San Jose that include Erik Karlsson going to the Sharks. The 31-year-old goaltender will join only his second team after five season in PIttsburgh and has a career 58-44-15 record with a .912 SV% and a 2.81 GAA. He was 15-16-4 with a .905 SV% and a 3.17 GAA in 33 starts in 2022-23 with Pittsburgh.
Petry surprisingly returns to Montreal after just one season after being included as part of a three-way trade which saw Erik Karlsson head to Pittsburgh and three players and a 1st-round pick head to San Jose. The 35-year-old defensemen left Montreal for Pittsburgh after eight seasons and had five goals, 26 assists, 113 SOG, 24 PIMs and a +2 plus/minus in 61 games in 2022-23.
Pitlick was acquired by Pittsburgh as part of a three-way trade involving San Jose and Montreal that included Erik Karlsson after having six goals, nine assists, 30 SOG, 22 PIMs and a -15 plus/minus through 46 games with Montreal in 2022-23. The 26-year-old joins the Penguins after five NHL seasons with two teams (MTL, NSH) and has 21 goals and 54 points across 123 career NHL games.
Hamaliuk was acquired by Pittsburgh as part of the three-way trade involving San Jose and Montreal that saw superstar Erik Karlsson also land with the Penguins. The 22-year-old left-winger was San Jose's 2019 second-round pick (55th overall) and has yet to make his NHL debut. In 2022-23 he had three goals, nine points and 37 PIMs across 44 games with San Jose (AHL) in his first professional season.
Karlsson was acquired by Pittsburgh as part of a massive blockbuster trade with involves both San Jose and Montreal. The 33-year-old defensemen is fresh off of winning the 2022-23 Norris Trophy after a season which saw him surpass 100+ points for the first time in his career with 25 goals, 76 assists, 209 SOG, 36 PIMs and a -26 plus/minus through 82 games with San Jose last season. The addition of the superstar brings 178 goals and 761 points in 920 games alongside three Norris Trophies to the Penguins' blue line.
Sebrango was a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and split the 2023 season between Grand Rapids (AHL) and Toledo (ECHL). The 21-year-old was fairly deep on the Red Wings' defensive prospect depth chart, so it's not a huge loss for an organization that has invested a lot of draft capital in defensemen in recent years. During his time in the AHL, Sebrango had five goals and 13 assists (18 points) in 135 games over the last three seasons.
The Senators get an NHL-ready winger to help replace the loss of DeBrincat. Kubalik had a nice 202-23 season, scoring 20 goals with 25 assists (45 points) in 81 games for the Red Wings. However, Kubalik struggled with consistency. He posted 25 points (10G / 15A) in his first 25 games of the season but finished with just 20 points (10G / 10A) in his final 56 games. For now, Kubalik looks like a potential top-6 fit for the Senators but may best as a third-liner with Shane Pinto.
DeBrincat was an RFA that had made it known that he was not interested in re-signing with the Senators. After one season, where he scored 27 goals with 39 assists (66 points) in 82 games, DeBrincat was traded to his hometown team, where he immediately becomes their best goal-scorer and a crucial part of the Red Wings' rebuild. DeBrincat is a two-time 40-goal scorer and has averaged 38 goals and 38 assists (76 points) per 82-games over the last three seasons.
Edmundson has one year left on a contract that carries a $3.5M cap hit. Edmundson will solidify the Capitals' third pair and could be a candidate to skate with John Carlson. Edmundson had 13 points (2G / 11A), 112 hits and 149 blocked shots in 61 games with Montreal last season.
Chicago continues to acquire veteran leadership to help them through this transition period. Perry spent the last two seasons in Tampa, where he had 31 goals and 34 assists (65 points) in 163 games. Perry is a pending UFA, so the Blackhawks must get him under contract before Saturday.
Kostin is an RFA, who was traded to the Oilers last October for Dmitri Samorukov. The 2017 No.31 overall pick, had 11 goals and 10 assists (21 points) in 57 games last season. Kostin is a big body (6-3, 215 lbs) who is not afraid to throw his weight around, averaging 2.8 hits per game in 2022-23.
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.
