Carrick provides some depth in the Oilers' bottom six despite struggling offensively over the last two seasons with the Anaheim Ducks. In his last 113 games with the Ducks, Carrick has tallied only 18 points (11G / 7A), after scoring a more impressive 25 points (13G / 12A) in his previous 77.
Adam Henrique's name has circulated trade rumours, finally being materialized on Wednesday in a trade to the Edmonton Oilers. Henrique is pacing for the best offensive season of his career, already with 42 points (18G / 24A) in 60 games, just nine points less than his 51-point career high set in the 2011-12 season with the New Jersey Devils.
After trading Ryan Johansen to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Avalanche filled their center-ice gap by acquiring Mittelstadt from the Buffalo Sabres. The 25-year-old Mittelstadt was enjoying his best season with the Sabres, with 47 points (14G / 33A) in 62 games.
The Sabres blueline will be a treat for years to come after acquiring Byram on Wednesday, adding to an already talented core of Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. Byram was having a down year offensively with the Avalanche, with 20 points (8G / 12A) in 55 games this season.
Tarasenko joined the Senators in the offseason on a one-year contract, a move that did not materialize for the club as they are trending towards another season without playoff hockey. On Wednesday, the Panthers acquired Tarasenko from the Senators in return for a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick and a 2025 third-round pick, with Ottawa retaining half of his salary. Tarasenko was playing some of his best hockey of the season before the trade, scoring nine points (4G / 5A) in his last 13 games.
Colorado cleared up $775,000 in cap space a week before the trade deadline as they traded Kurtis MacDermid for Zakhar Bardakov and a 2024 seventh-round pick. The Avalanche acquired Bardakov, a 23-year-old winger who was drafted in the 2021 seventh round (203rd overall). He currently skating with SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) and had six goals and 12 points in 51 games with them this season.
MacDermid's three-year tenure in Colorado is up after he was traded a week before the Trade Deadline to New Jersey for a 2024 seventh-round pick and Zakhar Bardakov on Friday. The 29-year-old hybrid bruiser has found himself the odd man out of Colorado's lineup more often than not this season but still has managed two goals, 12 SOG, 23 PIMs and a +3 plus/minus while averaging only 5:05 TOI per game.
The Maple Leafs get Lyubushkin from the Ducks, who received a third-round pick and retained 50 percent of his $2.75M AAV cap-hit. The Hurricanes received a sixth-round pick to retain 25 percent of the contract. Lyubushkin is in his sixth NHL season and heads to Toronto with four assists, 112 hits and 138 blocked shots in 55 games this season.
Brady was a fifth-round pick of the Devils in 2019. The 23-year-old netminder has gone 4-2-2 with a 3.03 GAA and .886 SV% in nine games at UMass-Amherst (NCAA) this season.
Grushnikov was a second-round pick (No.48 overall) of the Stars in 2021. The 20-year-old Russian defenseman turned pro at the end of his 2023 season with the Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL) and has five points (1G / 4A) in 45 AHL games since. He should report to Calgary's AHL affiliate.
The Stars gave up a 2024 second-round pick, a 2026 fourth-round pick, Artem Grushnikov and a conditional 2026 third-round pick to acquire Tanev. The Flames retained 50 percent of Tanev's $4.5M AAV cap-hit, while the Devils' retained 25 percent. Tanev is a rugged defenseman, who has racked up 171 blocked shots this season to go along with one goal and 13 assists (14 points) in 56 games. He should bring plenty of stability to the Stars' second-pairing.
Nylander was never able to secure a full-time role with the Penguins, making just 14 appearances for the team over the last two seasons. The former eighth-overall pick has played primarily with the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season, scoring 17 goals and adding 15 assists in 43 games.
A fourth-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Bemstrom scored 31 goals and 38 assists in 204 games across parts of five seasons in Columbus, playing predominantly in the team's bottom-six. It's unclear where the Penguins plan to deploy the 24-year-old Swede in their lineup.
The Canadiens will receive a 2027 third-round pick if the Winnipeg Jets win the Stanley Cup. Monahan has a $1.985M cap-hit and is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2023-24. The 29-year-old centre had 13 goals and 22 assists (35 points) in 49 games with Montreal prior to the trade. He should settle in as the Jets' No.2 centre.
Brzustewicz was a third-round pick (No.75 overall) of the Canucks in the 2023 NHL Draft. The 19-year-old defenseman is in his second year with Kitchener (OHL), where he leads all OHL defensemen with 69 points (8G / 61A) in 47 games.
Kuzmenko is on his way to Calgary as the key piece to the trade for Elias Lindholm after struggling to live up to the 39-goal season he posted as a rookie. Kuzmenko reportedly had to waive a no-trade clause in order to facilitate the deal, as the Flames were said to be on his 12-team no-trade list. The 27-year-old should be in line for a bigger role in Calgary after struggling to secure minutes in Vancouver's top-six this season. Kuzmenko scored eight goals and added 13 assists in 43 games for the Canucks this season while playing less than 15 minutes a night.
With his contract set to expire at the end of this season, Elias Lindholm was long rumoured to be one of the top trade targets in the NHL this season, and that came to fruition on Wednesday when the Canucks acquired him in exchange for Andrei Kuzmenko, a pair of prospects, a first-round draft pick, and a conditional fourth-round draft pick. Lindholm had struggled to produce at his usual clip in Calgary this season, registering just nine goals and 23 assists in 49 games despite playing over 20 minutes a night. It's been reported that Lindholm did not agree to any sort of extension with Vancouver as part of the deal, so he does appear to be a rental for the time being. You can expect him to centre one of Vancouver's top two lines, though we likely won't get an official projected lineup until after the All-Star break.
Jurmo was a third-round pick (No.82 overall) of the Canucks in 2020 and has spent the entire 2023-24 season in the Liiga (Finland) with Ilves Tampere and KooKoo Kouvola. In total, the 6-foot-3, 207 lbs. left-shot defenseman has tallied one goal and two assists (three points) in 34 Liiga games.
Minnesota completed a minor deal Thursday as it moved right winger Maxim Cajkovic to Pittsburgh for Will Butcher. The 29-year-old Butcher has played in a limited amount of games this season for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) but had three goals, seven points and six PIMs in 14 games prior to the trade.
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.
