NHL Trade Details and Updates

Recently in the NHL, many trades happened in the past few days and weeks leading up to the March 3 deadline at three P.M. Some of these trades included big names and helped solidify teams as the Stanley Cup Playoffs are right around the corner.

One of the trades that occurred during this time was between the Chicago Blackhawks and the New York Rangers. Patrick Kane and Cooper Zech from the Blackhawks were traded to the Rangers for Andy Welkinski, a conditional pick in the 2024 draft, a 2023 second-round pick, a 2025 fourth-round pick, and Vili Saarijarvi.

Another big trade involved Jonathan Quick from the Los Angeles Kings. He was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Joonas Korpisalo and Vladislav Gavrikov. Roughly 48 hours after the Blue Jackets acquired Quick, they traded him to the Vegas Golden Knights for Michael Hutchinson and the 2025 seventh-round pick.

The New Jersey Devils and the San Jose Sharks finalized a big trade with various players. The Devils acquired Timo Meier along with Timur Ibragimov, Scott Harrington, Santeri Hatakka, and Zachary Edmond with a fifth-round pick in the 2024 draft. The Sharks acquired Fabian Zutterlund, Andreas Johnsson, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Nikita Okhotiuk, and a second and seventh-round selection in the 2024 draft.

The Ottawa Senators were also involved in a trade as they added Jakob Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes to their roster. The Coyotes obtained a conditional first-round pick in 2023, a conditional second-round pick in 2024, and a second-round pick in 2026 from the Senators.

Since this blog would be extremely long if I kept on listing all of the trades that occurred, the last covered is between the Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals. The Bruins added Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway while the Capitals received Craig Smith and a first-round pick in the 2023 draft.

Along with all of the trades were plenty of contract extensions. Some of the big ones include Dylan Larkin from the Detroit Red Wings and David Pastrnak from the Boston Bruins. Larkin was signed to an eight-year contract extension with an average annual value of $8.7 million. Pastrnak was also signed to an eight-year contract extension, but he has an annual NHL cap hit of $11.25 million.

With all of the movement and extensions, lots of teams are competing even better right now and proving they belong in the playoffs. As of March 6, the Bruins are the team to watch as they lead the league with 103 points.

The Carolina Hurricanes are second in the league currently with 90 points, but the Devils are trailing with 88. The Toronto Maple Leafs land in fourth place with 84 points and the Golden Knights are in fifth with 82.

In the Eastern Conference, the Hurricanes and Devils are leading the Metropolitan Division with the New York Rangers in third with 79 points while the Bruins and Maple Leafs are leading the Atlantic Division with Tampa Bay Lightning in third with 79 points also. The New York Islanders lead the Wild Card with 72 points but the Pittsburgh Penguins are close behind with 71.

Heading over to the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars lead the Central Division with 81 points, the Minnesota Wild following with 78 points, and the Colorado Avalanche in third with 74. Meanwhile in the Pacific Division, the Golden Knights are leading while the Kings are close behind with 80 points. The Seattle Kraken fall in third with 78 points. The Edmonton Oilers take the first Wild Card spot with 76 points and the Winnipeg Jets are following them with 74.

This is definitely the perfect time to watch hockey as things are heating up in the playoff race. With all of the trades and close matches, it is very hard not to be entertained with this last stretch of hockey before the Stanley Cup belongs to the best team.