Wild West: Trades and Draft Galore! Ducks, Blues, and More

Happy Monday y'all! Boy, was last week a treat. We had entertainment all throughout the week as NHL teams were making moves everyday and we ended the week with the draft.

Before we dive into some of the trades that were made, it was announced that the league is considering expansion in Texas; either Austin or Houston. They would be added to the Central Division, thus kind of diluting the inter-division schedule. If the NHL keeps expanding, I really hope they look into changing the schedule format to focus more on division/conference matchups, but there are many more hurdles to hop before this becomes a reality.

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Getting into the transactions that were made, I'll recap the ones that have high roster implications.

Anaheim Ducks: It was clear Mason McTavish fell out of Joel Quenneville's good graces and the team was trying to move the center for a current NHL player. That didn't materialize, but when Nikita Klepov was sitting there at pick 15, the Ducks made the move to send him to St. Louis for that pick and number 29. By the end of the season, McTavish was in the bottom-six or healthy scratched so it doesn't open a ton of minutes, but it does provide opportunity. Anaheim has had a lot of young players make the jump the last few years, so look for former first round pick Roger McQueen to impress in development and training camp this summer.

Nashville Predators: I wonder if new GM Chris MacFarland knows he can trade with teams other than his former employer. But that just tells me he sees big things for Ross Colton and Jack Drury, the latter just signed to a massive five-year contract extension. Both of these players will have roles for their new organization and could be great late round picks going into next season. 

St. Louis Blues: The Blues made the most of their four first round selections, making two picks and trading two of them. The first move of the week, they sent Jordan Kyrou packing and brought in Connor McMichael, a prospect, and pick 16. They later acquired Mason McTavish for two first round choices. McMichael has ties to Robert Thomas, dating back to their junior days, so maybe they get an opportunity to line up with one another again. McTavish will fit nicely behind Thomas and he could come at a discount in your drafts based on how his season ended.

San Jose Sharks: The Sharks moved William Eklund and a couple of prospects for the 9th overall selection, in which they selected Keaton Verhoeff. Everyone knows their biggest need is on defense and being gifted Ivar Stenberg at number 2 was an easy layup to replace Eklund in their lineup. They also picked up Ryan Lin at pick 21, another defenseman they hope to develop. Check out all of their bios over at DobberProspects.

One underrated trade Mike Greir made was the acquisition of Mike Kesselring. San Jose just re-signed the right shot defender to a three-year contract worth $13 million. Kesselring had a tough year trying to impress Lindy Ruff, but the previous campaign in Utah was his coming out party. If you play in a league with lots of peripheral categories, he contributes all across the board. As of this writing, Kesselring has the second most games played on defense on this roster, so he will get playing time. He should be a value pick late in drafts for 2026.

Utah Mammoth: The Mammoth made two big moves over the weekend. After moving two beloved players on their team and in the community for JJ Peterka last summer and then paying him a boatload of money, the Mammoth moved on from him after one season, trading him to the Boston Bruins for two first round picks. Utah has a ton of young, skilled players and the juice wasn't worth the squeeze to them in this situation. Management then sent one of these first rounders to the Detroit Red Wings for goaltender Sebastian Cossa.

Karel Vejmelka led the NHL in games played last season, hitting the ice in 64 games (not including the Olympics and playoffs). Cossa was acquired to keep Vejmelka fresh and my guess is they split the crease next season so don't overvalue Vejmelka in re-draft leagues.

Utah has a good amount of cap space and a number of future assets, they could try to fill Peterka's role via trade, but I think they look internally. Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley averaged less than 17 and a half minutes, while Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz were above 19. I feel they'll try to even that out, so if you give Guenter and Cooley a couple of extra shifts each game, they could easily hit a point-per-game average.

Vegas Golden Knights: The Western Conference Champions are moving on from their leading goal scorer for the past two seasons in Pavel Dorofeyev. The Russian winger has scored 72 goals in the regular season the last two campaigns, but if Brett Howden can do in the regular season what he did this postseason, that will ease this loss. Dorofeyev was a restricted free agent and Vegas is already right against the cap with roster spots to fill. They acquired pick 26 (and moved back twice to add more draft capital), and third rounder this year, and a first in 2028 to restock the cupboard. We mentioned him a few weeks ago, but with Dorofeyev gone, keep an eye on Braden's Bowman for 2026-27. A huge opportunity just opened up and Bowman thrived in the top-six when given the chance last season.

With the draft in the rear view, we look ahead towards free agency. There is not much out there this summer, so hopefully you can go outdoors and relax this July 1 and July 4. Have a safe and happy holiday!