Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow is the NHL Trade Deadline and all the important trades will be covered here at Dobber Hockey. There is sure to be a lot of fantasy impact, one way or another, on the trades that are made before the Deadline so check in all through Friday for some updates.

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Trades have been happening for over a month now, and the latest big swap went down on Wednesday afternoon as the Seattle Kraken sent Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Tampa Bay Lightning for two first-round picks, another draft pick, and Mikey Eyssimont. Alex MacLean had his take on the trade and it can be read here.

In real-hockey terms, I like Tampa Bay adding Gourde. He is still a good third-line centre who can contribute well at both ends of the ice. It'll give that team a much-needed boost to that third line, even if he's not very fantasy relevant in most formats.

Bjorkstrand is the interesting name. He has never had a huge fantasy season (no 30-goal seasons, no 60-point seasons, only reached 25 goals once) but that also underrates his production. Over the last three seasons in Seattle, he has posted 0.8 goals and 0.67 primary assists per 60 minutes at 5-on-5. Here are some names with very similar rates to that over the last three seasons: Tim Stutzle, Andrei Svechnikov, Brock Boeser. When looking at things like shot and hit rates, the only real difference between Bjorkstrand and Boeser is ice time.

That is what makes the landing spot interesting. Tampa Bay has enough players for a great top PP unit, but we have seen them experiment at times with guys like Mitchell Chaffee and Nick Paul. Who is to say that Bjorkstrand won't get a crack at that top PP unit at some point? If he's skating in the top-6, and can get top PP time, he would be in a perfect spot to start posting career-best rates.

This is as good a landing spot as Bjorkstrand could hope for. It would not be surprising to see him go on a tear for the next six weeks.

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There was a very interesting trade on Wednesday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired forward Tommy Novak and defenceman Luke Schenn from the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Michael Bunting and a fourth-round pick:

Believe the full deal is Luke Schenn and Tommy Novak to Pittsburgh for Michael Bunting and a 4th Rd pick in 2026

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 6, 2025

This is interesting because neither team is making playoffs so trading useful players with each other is… odd. LeBrun later said there is a decent chance Schenn is flipped, so maybe there's something with salary retention in play in a later trade. We shall see.

Alex had his take on the trade here.

Regardless, Novak going to Pittsburgh piqued my interested. On a per-minute basis, Novak has been a very good producer at 5-on-5 for a few years now. He has just never been afforded a key role (at least consistently). With Pittsburgh's aging core, and particularly Evgeni Malkin's declining play, it isn't implausible he ends up as a pseudo second-line centre in Pittsburgh – think of what Carolina does with Jordan Staal and [insert some under-25 centre here] most seasons.

Novak is a very good playmaker and good shooter. Those are things the Penguins need. Whether he can be a difference-maker for them next season to the point of contending for a playoff spot is another matter, but he should see more ice time in the short-term, and that's a good start to boosting his fantasy value.

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Some very bad news for the New Jersey Devils and Jack Hughes:

#NEWS: Jack Hughes underwent shoulder surgery earlier today and will be placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR).

Jack is expected to make a full recovery and be available for training camp.

📰: https://t.co/m06KjtAdPj pic.twitter.com/E2qNzfROk6

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 5, 2025

This always seemed likely when he was initially injured, but now that it's confirmed, all we can hope for is that he can return to his normal self at some point. He is still 23 years old and has now had three shoulder surgeries. That is not a good sign, but the hope is always there he can return and be as productive as ever (I think of Taylor Hall as an example here).

Even worse was New Jersey also said that defenceman Dougie Hamilton is week-to-week after being injured in their most recent game. With only six weeks left in the season, even 20-or-so days would be a huge hit to fantasy managers. For the foreseeable future, we should expect a lot more ice time, including top power-play minutes, for Luke Hughes.

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After trading Spencer Knight, it seemed likely that the Florida Panthers would go look for a backup to Sergei Bobrovsky, and they did just that by adding San Jose's Vitek Vanecek. Vanecek may get a fair amount of starts, too, as Florida has just 20 games left and 10 of those games are either half of a back-to-back. Vanecek may get 6-7 starts over the next six weeks.

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After Jake Evans signed an extension with the Montreal Canadiens, a couple of other Eastern Conference teams signed some depth players to extensions as Buffalo extended Jordan Greenway for two years while Mathieu Olivier got a six-year deal from the Columbus Blue Jackets. According to PuckPedia, Olivier's deal is for $3-million per season while Greenway's is for $4-million per season. On top of that, Olivier got a 10-team no-trade list while Greenway got a 5-team no-trade list.

To be clear: good for these guys in getting their money and securing their futures. I am never against a player getting that.

With that said, how is Olivier, who has 55 career points at the age of 28, getting a six-year contract with a partial no-trade clause? Did he want a *seventh* year instead of a no-trade? Maybe $3.5-million a season? I am not against signing depth players to serve as mentors, but for a couple years (like Greenway). Six years? With a partial no-trade? What?

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Chris Kreider did not play on Wednesday night, but he was skating in the morning:

Battle drills now and Kreider is on the other side of the ice, skating on his own. #NYR https://t.co/VVOjQPSiOQ

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) March 5, 2025

A good sign for him and the Rangers as Kreider continues to fight injuries that seem to be going back months now. They need him healthy and contributing if they want to make a run for a playoff spot.

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After losing three of four games coming out of the Four Nations break, the Ottawa Senators picked up a much-needed two points with a 4-3 overtime win in Chicago on Wednesday night. Tim Stutzle played the hero, scoring his 20^th goal of the season to lift the Sens to victory in the extra frame.

Josh Norris scored in the second period, also tallying his 20^th goal of the season. Both Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored in the first period to round out Ottawa's scoring.

Tkachuk had another typical stat-stuffing night with that one goal on two shots, adding two PIMs and three hits along the way.

Drake Batherson had a pair of helpers, one shot, and two hits in the win. He is now one point shy of his third straight 50-point season, and he needs 11 points over Ottawa's final 21 games to crack the 60-point mark for the third year in a row.

Jake Sanderson also had two assists, totaling two shots and two blocks as well. He has seven points in five games since the NHL resumed its schedule.

Linus Ullmark stopped 17 of 20 shots for the win.

Ryan Donato, Teuvo Teravainen (PP), and Craig Smith tallied for the Blackhawks. That makes 36 points in his last 32 games for Teravainen who has been extremely productive for nearly three months now.

Arvid Soderblom took the loss in net, allowing four goals on 26 shots.

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In another overtime matchup, Tom Wilson scored in extra time to lift the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. That was Wilson's second point of the night after assisting on an earlier goal from Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Wilson now has 49 points on the season. He needs four points the rest of the way to set a new career-best mark, and two goals to reach 30 for the first time in his career. He has truly been a fantasy stud this season in multi-category formats with 28 goals, 21 assists, 16 power-play points, 139 shots, 176 hits, 54 blocks, and 59 penalty minutes in 61 games.

Alex Ovechkin scored the other goal for Washington, and now sits 10 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time record.

Charlie Lindgren got the start for the Caps and was solid enough, stopping 16 of 18 shots faced for the win.

Artemi Panarin and Sam Carrick had the goals for New York. Zac Jones assisted on the Carrick goal, and he added two shots, two blocks, and two PIMs in a solid fantasy night. He skated over 19 minutes again, the third straight game in which he's done so, while maintaining his top power-play role.

Igor Shesterkin took the loss in net for the Rangers, allowing three goals on 26 shots.

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Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin, Tanner Pearson, and Tomas Hertl each had a goal and an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights skated away with a 5-2 win at home to Toronto. That goal was Eichel's 20^th of the season, and he's now scored at least 20 goals in every season where he's played at least 40 games.

Pearson played the game on the top line with Eichel and Mark Stone, and put up more points (2) in this game than he did in his prior 18 games (1). Pearson finished the game with six shots and three hits in 12:42 of ice time.

Adin Hill stopped 29 of 31 shots in the win.

Auston Matthews (PP) and Mitch Marner had the goals for the Maple Leafs. Marner was moved down to the second line with John Tavares for the third period while William Nylander was moved to the top line. Bobby McMann (up to Tavares line) and Pontus Holmberg (down to Max Domi line) also swapped during the game.

Joseph Woll was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots.

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A big second period from the Vancouver Canucks, which featured goals from Jake DeBrusk (PP), Teddy Blueger, and Carson Soucy was enough to lift them to a 3-2 win at home to the Anaheim Ducks. It was a big win for the Canucks as Quinn Hughes was given the night off, and the team had gone 1-4 since the Four Nations break. This kind of helped stop the bleeding, at least temporarily.

Filip Hronek had a pair of assist, including one on the power play, with three shots.

Kevin Lankinen faced just 16 shots but stopped 14 of them for the win.

Sam Colangelo and Brian Dumoulin had the goals for the Ducks. Colangelo's goal was assisted by Mason McTavish and Cutter Gauthier. Since Halloween, McTavish has 16 goals, 13 assists, and 105 shots in 45 games played. That is an 82-game pace of 29 goals, 24 assists, and 191 shots. Pretty good production considering just 5/29 points have come on the power play. Gauthier, meanwhile, has three goals and four assists in seven games since returning from the break.

John Gibson started the game for the Ducks but was lifted late in the second period due to injury when Drew O'Connor ran into him on a fast break. Gibson allowed two goals on 21 shots before the injury.  

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St. Louis and Los Angeles skated into a shootout with a 2-2 tie and the Blues got shootout goals from Jake Neighbours and Robert Thomas to give them the 3-2 win and a much-needed extra point.

Jake Neighbours and Robert Thomas (PP) had the goals for St. Louis, while Neighbours added two blocks and two hits along the way. That was his 16^th goal, so he won't reach the goal-scoring highs of last year when he scored 27, but he's already far clear of his assist total from last year (15-11), and has exceeded last season's hit total (139-138) in 14 fewer games played. It has still largely been a solid multi-cat season from him.

Since December 1^st, Thomas has had 15 goals, 26 assists, and 91 shots in 38 games. Those are 82-game paces of 32 goals, 56 assists, and 196 shots.

Jordan Binnington stopped 21 of 23 shots in the win. He is 4-1 with a .923 save percentage since the Four Nations break, with the lone blemish being that loss to Dallas where the Stars had four power-play goals.

Quinton Byfield and Trevor Moore had the goals for Los Angeles. Byfield had four shots, a block, and five hits in a very good multi-cat performance. Over his last 40 games, Byfield has 26 points, and just three of those points have been on the power play. His 2.0 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 in that span is a first-line rate.

Darcy Kuemper stopped 28 of 30 shots but took the shootout loss.