Thursday's hockey: Hurricanes acquire Guentzel; Isles two points behind Wings
It took until almost midnight on NHL trade deadline eve, but the Carolina Hurricanes joined the list of Stanley Cup contenders making major moves with their biggest splash in years.
The Hurricanes acquired Jake Guentzel in a blockbuster trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins late Thursday night, sending forward Michael Bunting, three prospects and two conditional draft picks for the two-time 40-goal scorer.
New teammate Brady Skjei grew up playing summer hockey with Guentzel in Minnesota and approved of the move, saying, “Jake’s an unbelievable guy and he’s going to fit in great here and all the guys are going to love him.”
With the Penguins retaining a quarter of Guentzel's salary and also trading defenseman Ty Smith, they received prospects Ville Koivunen, Vasili Ponomarev and Cruz Lucius and conditional first- and fifth-round picks in this year's draft. The first becomes Philadelphia's second-rounder if the Hurricanes don't reach the final, and Pittsburgh only gets the fifth if Carolina wins it all for the second time in franchise history.
“Jake is an elite goal scorer and playmaker who has produced at a high level for his entire NHL career,” Carolina general manager Don Waddell said. “Ty is a young, offensive-minded defenseman who will provide us with another reliable option on the blue line. We’re thrilled to bolster our lineup as we compete to bring the Stanley Cup back to Raleigh.”
The Guentzel trade capped off a flurry of activity over the past 48 hours that included nearly every Cup favorite making a move. The Toronto Maple Leafs joined the trading party Thursday, while two of the best in the West made more additions to improve in crucial areas.
Colorado acquired a pair of versatile forwards from Central Division rivals, Brandon Duhaime from Minnesota and Yakov Trenin from Nashville, Edmonton got defenseman Troy Stecher from Arizona and Toronto received Joel Edmundson from Washington.
“Every team has a window in which they see success or a key moment of time for the organization – whether it’s two years, five years, depending on expiring contracts who they have to renew,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s lots of teams going all-in: teams that feel like they’ve got a chance to win, if they add certain things to their lineup, they’re going to go all-in. Your goal is to win the Stanley Cup. We’re not trying to be a mediocre team.”
It shows. Colorado and Edmonton stayed active, after the Avalanche added center Casey Mittelstadt and defenseman Sean Walker in separate deals and the Oilers giving themselves serious depth down the middle by trading with Anaheim for Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick.
The Avalanche sent a 2026 third-round pick to the Wild for Duhaime and a 2025 third and defense prospect Jeremy Hanzel to the Predators for Trenin and the rights to unsigned draft pick Graham Sward. The Oilers sent a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Coyotes for Stecher, and the Leafs got Edmundson from the Capitals for a a third-rounder this year and a 2025 fifth.
The deadline is 3 p.m. Friday.
Toronto's trade for Edmundson started the action Thursday, adding some much needed toughness on the blue line. He's a left shot, which the Leafs have plenty of, but his playoff experience alone makes Edmundson a potentially important acquisition for a team dreaming of an extended run this spring.
The Capitals are retaining a quarter of Edmundson’s salary after Montreal already has half from a trade last offseason and getting a third-rounder that originally belonged to the New York Islanders. Salary retention makes Edmundson quite the bargain for the Leafs at a cap hit of $875,000, just above the league minimum.
“He’s a really, tough, strong player when it comes to physical battles,” retired forward-turned-NHL Network analyst Brian Boyle said. “The Leafs need a little more of that, and they just got it.”
Edmundson, 30, helped the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019 and is a pending free agent. He has skated over 16 minutes a game this season with Washington.
More than just the top championship contenders are getting in on the action.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Cup back to back in 2020 and '21 acquired offensive-minded winger Anthony Duclair from San Jose on Thursday night. They sent a third-round pick this year and minor league defenseman Jack Thompson to the Sharks for a 2025 seventh-round selection and Duclair, who has seven goals in his past eight games.
Tampa Bay, currently in a wild card spot in the East, is attempting to extend its playoff streak to seven years while missing injured defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who's out indefinitely because of a broken left leg.
“It’s unfortunate that one of our big guys back there is out, but we’ve been able to hang around here without him,” coach Jon Cooper said. “This group here is ready to make a run and so see what we can do.”
The Predators, in the wild-card race in the West, acquired winger Anthony Beauvillier from Chicago for a 2024 fifth-round pick and claimed forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings.
Among the other players expected to be moved before the deadline are New Jersey winger Tyler Toffoli, Washington center Nic Dowd and a couple of more Arizona pending free agents: defenseman Matthew Dumba and ex-Penguins forward Jason Zucker – none of whom played Thursday night.
Seattle's Jordan Eberle, who's also on an expiring contract, could also be the next to go after the Kraken sent Alexander Wennberg to the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
“From a player standpoint, we just want to continue to win,” Eberle said. “From a management standpoint, it’s a little harder, right, because they’re stuck between, do we have a chance, or do we want to get rid of some pieces? I can’t really say anything on their behalf. I think I can only say as a player, we’re just focusing on winning.”
Thursday's NHL games
(At) Boston 4, Toronto 1: Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves, David Pastrnak, Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie and Brandon Carlo scored to help Boston win for the 20th time at home ice this season.
At 37-13-15, the Bruins trail Atlantic Division rival Florida by a point for the NHL lead.
Mitch Marner scored for Toronto, and Joseph Wall made 22 saves. The Maple Leafs are 10-3-0 in their last 13 – and 36-19-8 overall.
Boston extended its winning streak to seven games against Toronto, which last beat the Bruins on Nov. 22, 2022. The teams met Monday night in Toronto, with Boston also winning 4-1.
Vancouver 3, (at) Vegas 1: Thatcher Demko made 27 saves, Quinn Hughes, Phillip Di Giuseppe and Conor Garland scored and Western Conference-leading Vancouver beat Vegas.
Canucks center Elias Pettersson got his 400th career point with a first-period assist. He’s the second-fastest player in franchise history to reach the mark, doing it in 390 games – 30 more than Pavel Bure. Pettersson also has 16 points in 14 career games against the Knights, most among active Canucks.
The Canucks have won three in a row. With 89 points, they are a point behind Florida for the NHL lead.
Michael Amadio scored Vegas. The defending champion Knights are 2-8-1 over their past 11 games, putting their playoff hopes in jeopardy.
N.Y. Islanders 7, (at) San Jose 2: Bo Horvat opened New York’s four-goal, second-period burst with his 25th goal and the Islanders routed San Jose.
Kyle McLean, Matthew Barzal and Sebastian Aho also scored in the second period, with the goals coming in a 5:01 span. Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov and Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders, and Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves.
Horvat also had two assists, and Brock Nelson finished with three. The Islanders, beginning a four-game trip, are two points out of the final wild card in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Red Wings and Lightning.
Thomas Bordeleau and Mike Hoffman scored for San Jose in its ninth straight loss. Magnus Chrona had 26 saves in his third career start. The Sharks traded Anthony Duclair to Tampa Bay before the game.
Minnesota 5, (at) Arizona 2: Joel Eriksson Ek broke a third-period tie with his 29th goal, Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves and Minnesota beat Arizona.
After Zach Bogosian pulled the Wild even at 2-2 two minutes into the third period, Ek beat goalie Karel Vejmelka with a wrist shot from the left circle at 7:16.
Kirill Kaprizov had his 30th goal, Brock Faber and Connor Seward added empty-netters and Mats Zuccarello had three assists. Minnesota has won two straight after a three-game skid dropped it nine points out of the final Western Conference wild card.
Clayton Keller and Michael Carcone scored seven seconds apart in the first 1:28 of the third to give Arizona a 2-1 lead. The Coyotes have lost two in a row and 16 of 18.
(At) L.A. Kings 4, Ottawa 3 (OT): Kevin Fiala scored on a spinning backhander two minutes into overtime to lift Los Angeles past Ottawa for its third victory in four games.
Jacob Moverare had his first career goal, Quinton Byfield and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored and Cam Talbot made 28 saves.
Drake Batherson had a goal late in the third period to tie it at 3, Dominik Kubalik scored on the power play, and Brady Tkachuk had a goal for the Senators.
Washington 6, (at) Pittsburgh 0: Alex Ovechkin scored his 840th goal and added an assist to help Washington rout Pittsburgh.
Ovechkin passed Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey for 15th place on the NHL’s career scoring list. The Russian superstar has 1,532 points, one shy of Hall of Fame forward Mark Recchi in 14th.
The 38-year-old’s 10th goal in his last 15 games – a rebound early in the second period that put Washington firmly in control – moved him within 54 goals of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record career total of 894.
Charlie Lindgren, who got the start with Darcy Keumper out with an illness, made 39 saves for his sixth career shutout.
Tom Wilson scored a short-handed goal less than two minutes into the game and added an assist for Washington. Nick Jensen, Sonny Milano and rookies Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko also scored for the Capitals, who won for the sixth time in nine games as they try to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Philadelphia 2, (at) Florida 1: Garnet Hathaway scored off a rebound with 22 seconds left to lift Philadelphia past Florida.
Ryan Poehling also scored for Philadelphia. Samuel Ersson made 29 saves.
Gustav Forsling scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots. The Panthers had won six in a row.
(At) Columbus 4, Edmonton 2: Matthew Olivier, Alex Nylander and Dmitri Vornkov scored in the first period and Columbus ended Edmonton's winning streak at five.
Daniil Tarasov stopped 29 shots for Columbus, which has won three of its last four but remains last in the Metropolitan Division. Jack Roslovic also scored.
Connor McDavid got his 100th point of the season with an assist for Edmonton. Zach Hyman and Corey Perry scored.
Calgary 6, (at) Tampa Bay 3: Yegor Sharangovich had two goals and two assists, Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves and Calgary beat Tampa Bay for its sixth victory in seven games.
Dryden Hunt, Jakob Pelletier, Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane also scored for the Flames.
Conor Sheary, Anthony Cirelli and Michael Eyssimont scored for Tampa Bay.
(At) New Jersey 4, St. Louis 1: Timo Meier scored three goals and added an assist on an empty-net goal by Erik Haula and New Jersey beat St. Louis, giving New Jersey interim coach Travis Green his first win since replacing Lindy Ruff r this week.
Linemates Nico Hischier and Ondrej Palat each had two assists as the Devils snapped a three-game losing streak and won for only the fourth time in 11 games. Nico Daws made 23 saves for New Jersey.
Brandon Saad scored for St. Louis.
(At) Carolina 4, Montreal 1: Brady Skjei scored two goals, Frederik Andersen made 24 saves after a four-month absence and Carolina beat Montreal.
Stefan Noesen and Andrei Svechnikov also scored.
Joshua Roy scored for Montreal.
Playoff tracker
Atlantic
▶ Panthers (90)
▶ Bruins (89)
▶ Maple Leafs (80)
Metropolitan
▶ Rangers (84)
▶ Hurricanes (80)
▶ Flyers (74)
Wild card
▶ Red Wings (72)
▶ Lightning (72)
(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)
▶ Islanders (70)
▶ Capitals (67)
▶ Devils (66)
▶ Pittsburgh (64)
▶ Sabres (63)
Tarasenko feeling at home with Florida
Vladimir Tarasenko was born and raised in Russia, and has spent his NHL career playing in St. Louis, New York and Ottawa.
Now he's home – in Florida.
Tarasenko's wife and children have made South Florida their full-time home for the last year or so, which is one of many reasons why the veteran winger and Stanley Cup champion jumped at the chance to join the Panthers. Florida swung a trade with Ottawa on Wednesday for Tarasenko, sending two draft picks to the Senators.
“We usually spend the summers, but this year we decided they'll stay here, the kids will play hockey and get in school,” Tarasenko said. “And get some sun.”
He came to get some wins, too.
Tarasenko is leaving an Ottawa team that was well outside of the playoff race for a Florida team that has the best record in the NHL. He went through morning skate with his new club on Thursday for the first time and coach Paul Maurice had him in the lineup for Thursday's game against Philadelphia – on a line with Aleksander Barkov and 45-goal scorer Sam Reinhart.
Tarasenko has relationships already with plenty of Panthers. Among his ties: he's close friends with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, played in St. Louis with defenseman Niko Mikkola and has worked out in the summers with forward Matthew Tkachuk.
“We feel the strength of this group is that idea of the group, the togetherness,” Maurice said. “So, when you bring somebody in, you're always mindful of that. We spent a lot of time talking about how we think he'll fit in the room.”
Forsling signs 8-year extension
Gustav Forsling came to the Florida Panthers four years ago simply looking for a chance.
He earned a whole lot more.
Forsling – the NHL’s leader in plus-minus this season by a wide margin – and the Panthers have agreed to an eight-year extension, the team announced Thursday. He was slated to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, with this season the last he had on a three-year, $8 million deal.
“It sends a message that guys want to play here," Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “And guys are willing to buy in.”
Zito was emotional when he made the announcement about both Forsling and Jonah Gadjovich, a forward who agreed to a two-year extension.
Forsling is now locked in as part of the core going forward along with the likes of Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk. A person with knowledge of the agreement said Forsling will receive a deal with an annual value of $5.75 million – so $46 million in total. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the financial portion was not announced.
Michigan-area hockey this week
Friday
▶ Red Wings at Arizona, 9 (BSD/97.1)
▶ Chicago at Grand Rapids, 7 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Notre Dame at Michigan, 7
▶ Miami University at Western Michigan, 7
▶ Bowling Green at Michigan Tech, 7
▶ Northern Michigan at Mankato, 8
▶ Ferris State at Bermidji State, 8
Saturday
▶ Red Wings at Vegas, 10 (BSD/97.1)
▶ Grand Rapids at Milwaukee, 7 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Notre Dame at Michigan, 7
▶ Miami University at Western Michigan, 6
▶ Bowling Green at Michigan Tech, 6
▶ Northern Michigan at Mankato, 7
▶ Ferris State at Bermidji State, 7
▶ NTDP U17s at Chicago, 7
Sunday
▶ Bowling Green at Michigan Tech, 5 (if necessary)
▶ Notre Dame at Michigan, 7 (if necessary)
▶ Northern Michigan at Mankato, 5 (if necessary)
▶ Ferris State at Bermidji State, 6 (if necessary)
▶ NTDP U18s at Chicago, 4
Wednesday
▶ Avalanche 7, Red Wings 2
Monday
▶ Cleveland 5, Grand Rapids 3