What’s Going On In The Pacific Division: Trade deadline edition!

Photo credit:Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

1 month ago

With a few days remaining before the trade deadline, what are the teams in the Pacific Division up to?

This week, we’ll take a look at what each of the eight teams in the division could do before the National Hockey League trade deadline on Friday. As it stands, there are four sellers and four buyers in the division.

Let’s get started on the latest edition of What’s Going On In The Pacific Division!

Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks are firmly sellers, as their 47 points are the third-worst in the league. That begs the question, what are their deadline plans?

Well, the Ducks made a trade on Wednesday, as the Ducks sent Adam Henrique at 50% retention and Sam Carrick, also at 50% retention, to the Edmonton Oilers. In return, they received the Oilers’ 2024 first-round pick as well as a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2025 draft.

Although Henrique was the most talked about asset at the year’s deadline, the Ducks have another player who could net them a good haul in Frank Vatrano. He has an additional season of term left on his contract, and he has a $3.65 cap hit. The 29-year-old leads the team with a career-high 29 goals and 48 points in 61 games.

The only other pending unrestricted free agent is Jakob Silfverberg.

Calgary Flames

It appears it’s a matter of when, not if, Noah Hanifin is traded. There are several teams interested in the 27-year-old left-shot defenceman, but it seems like the Tampa Bay Lightning is his preferred destination. Other teams that have been reported are the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, and Vegas Golden Knights.

Another team has been linked to Hanifin as well, as the Detroit Red Wings could be a player for him. First of, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta noted in this article that the Red Wings have looked into Hanifin and are open to an extension. Pagnotta mentions winger Jonatan Berggren as a player the Flames like.

Calgary Sun’s Wes Gilbertson also mentioned that the Red Wings, along with the Bruins and Panthers are interested in the 27-year-old defenceman.

Out of any team looking at Hanifin, the Red Wings by far have the most assets to give up and make an extension work. Berggren is the most NHL-ready prospect, as he scored 15 goals and 28 points in 67 games last season in the NHL, as well as 19 goals and 46 points in 43 American Hockey League games this season.

However, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranks their farm system as the second best in the league, with two top 10 goalies (Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine) and two top 10 defencemen (Simon Edvinsson and Axel Sandin Pellikka).

Edmonton Oilers

As already mentioned, the Oilers traded their 2024 first-round pick and a conditional 2025 fifth-round pick for Adam Henrique (at 50% retention), Sam Carrick (50% retention). The Tampa Bay Lightning will receive a 2025 fourth-round pick from the Oilers to take on 25% of Henrique’s salary. Tampa will send a 2024 seventh-round pick to the Oilers, as well as reserve goaltender Ty Taylor.

It’s a lot for a player who hasn’t scored in a playoff game since Barack Obama’s first term as the United States President, as well as a player who only became an established NHL’er in 2021-22. However, both play significant minutes on the penalty kill as Carrick has the fifth-most minutes among NHL forwards, while Henrique has the eighth-most minutes.

Moreover, Carrick has eight goals and 11 points, while Henrique has 18 goals and 42 points in 60 games and is pacing to have a career-high in the latter category.

The big question is, do the Oilers do anything else heading into the trade deadline? It was reported by Bob Stauffer during Tuesday’s intermission that they’d be adding a depth defenceman, so with 75% retention, expect the Oilers to continue to be active

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings are one of several teams interested in Calgary Flames’ Noah Hanifin, but who knows what they’ll be up to this deadline.

Their goaltending situation is solid, as Cam Talbot has a .916 save percentage and a 2.45 goals-against average in 39 games played, while David Rittich has a .914 save percentage and 2.32 goals-against average in 18 games played.

They’ve also had some injuries to key players. Defenceman Mikey Anderson is out week-to-week and Hanifin could potentially be his replacement. Viktor Arvidsson has played just four games and was added to the long-term injured reserve in late February. Moreover Adrian Kempe is out week-to-week but will potentially be back in March at some point.

There was speculation that if Kempe hit the long-term injured list, the Kings could have looked for a winger through a trade, but overall, it may be a quiet deadline for the team.

San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks have the second fewest points in the league, but they’ll get a whole lot worse if they decide to sell at the deadline.

They have several pending unrestricted free agents that may be of interest to contenders. Kevin Labanc has a cap hit of $4.725 million and had 17 goals and 56 points back in 2018-19. This season, he has just two goals and seven points in 37 games.

Winger Anthony Duclair is probably their most coveted asset, as the 28-year-old set career-highs in 2021-22 with 31 goals and 58 points in 74 games with the Panthers. The following season, he scored four goals and 11 points in 20 postseason games. This season for the Sharks, Duclair has 16 goals and 27 points in 56 games.

Mikael Granlund is the wild card in all this, as the 32-year-old centre has a $5 million cap hit until the end of the 2024-25 season. With Tomáš Hertl out, Granlund has taken over the team lead in points with 38, along with nine goals in 48 games.

The Sharks are still a long way from contending, but it’ll be interesting to see what they do.

Seattle Kraken

The Seattle Kraken aren’t out of the playoff race just yet, but it appears that they’ll be selling off a few assets. For example, they’ve kept Alexander Wennberg out of the lineup against the Calgary Flames on Monday.

This season, the 29-year-old has nine goals and 25 points, along with a cap hit of $4.5 million and a modified no-trade clause. He’s not as good as he used to be, but he’s a highly coveted third-line centre. In fact, it appears the New York Rangers are going to land Wennberg as this article was being written. Just shows you how quickly things move around the deadline!

Another player that may be traded is Canada’s clutchest player, Jordan Eberle. After a rough start to the season, the 33-year-old winger now has 14 goals and 37 points in 58 games, and is just a season removed from a 20-goal season and 63 points, the most he’s had since the 2014-15 season.

There are other players that are also pending unrestricted free agents, such as Tomáš Tatar and Justin Schultz. Kraken may be out of a playoff spot, but if they trade their soon-to-be unrestricted free agents, they’ll set themselves up nicely for the future.

Vancouver Canucks

On Tuesday, it was reported by TSN’s Chris Johnston that the Vancouver Canucks were looking to potentially flip Elias Lindholm to land Pittsburgh Penguins’ winger Jake Guentzel.

As you probably know, the Calgary Flames traded Lindholm to the Canucks at the end of January, receiving a sizable haul that included Andrei Kuzemenko, prospects Joni Jurmo and Hunter Brzustewicz, as well as their 2024 first-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024.

After signing Elias Pettersson, it seems as if the Canucks are in tinkering mode and wish to add a winger, instead of a defensively responsible second-line centre. Who knows what will happen, but the Canucks are legitimate this season.

Vegas Golden Knights

With captain Mark Stone hitting the long-term injured reserve due to a lacerated spleen (which doesn’t sound fun in the slightest), the Vegas Golden Knights have an additional $9.5 million to play with at the deadline.

They’ve already made a trade, acquiring Anthony Mantha for a 2024 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick. This season, Mantha has 20 goals and 34 points and is on pace for a career-high 27 goals and 46 points, which would be two shy of his career-high.

That doesn’t mean that the Golden Knights are done though, as they still have $4,276,683 in current cap space. Perhaps they’ll make a push for Noah Hanifin? Maybe they’re still in on Jake Guentzel, who they have been linked to as well.

Don’t expect the Golden Knights to be done yet at this trade deadline.

Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D.

Get ready for the Daily Faceoff Live Trade Deadline Show, coming to you on March 8th LIVE from 11 AM to 3 PM EST!! Join Tyler Yaremchuk, Frank Seravalli and friends for 4 hours of non-stop action as they dive deep into the heart of the trade deadline. They will be breaking down every trade, discussing the impact on teams, predicting the playoff picture, and giving you the inside scoop on all the wheeling and dealing happening around the league. Tune in live on March 8th from 11 AM to 3 PM EST for the The Daily Faceoff Live Trade Deadline special you won’t want to miss!

Editorials