We're down to just over a week before the 2021-22 NHL trade deadline, and it's shaping up to be a compelling one. There are some tantalizing possibilities with plenty of big names and skilled players on the block.

While some of these scenarios may not come to fruition, here are five moves that'd be satisfying to see put into motion before March 21:

Avalanche grab Giroux

This one is actually conceivable, and the Colorado Avalanche should make it a priority. Claude Giroux would make that explosive club even more of a matchup nightmare, and with Gabriel Landeskog likely out until at least the start of the playoffs, Giroux is the best option to fill the void because he's proficient at playing on the wing and at center.

Colorado could offer a first-round pick in the 2023 draft, a defensive prospect like Drew Helleson or Justin Barron, and a roster player like J.T. Compher, who'd be expendable with Giroux's arrival. The Philadelphia Flyers could retain half of Giroux's salary in addition to Compher's full contract to even out the money.

We'd be remiss not to mention Giroux's no-movement clause and his career-long tenure with the Flyers. But if he and Philadelphia's brass agree that a change of scenery is the right course of action, Giroux would surely approve a blockbuster trade to the perennial Stanley Cup hopefuls in Denver.

Panthers haul in Hertl

The Florida Panthers are one of several teams - including the Avalanche - reportedly interested in Giroux, but it'd be more fun (and make more sense) for them to snag Tomas Hertl if he's available. The Panthers have an even more productive offense than the Avalanche (they're ranked first and second in the NHL, respectively), so adding a forward who's younger than Giroux and on a 30-goal pace would make the league's most high-flying club even more dangerous.

Of course, the San Jose Sharks may not trade Hertl if they can sign him to a contract extension before the deadline, and the Czech center said March 1 that talks were "positive." But if the Sharks can't secure his services beyond this season, it'd be in their best interests to get something for him before the deadline. The Panthers don't have a pick for the first two rounds of the draft this year, but they have all of their 2023 selections and a couple of good prospects to dangle in a potential swap.

Hertl would give Florida a major upgrade up the middle and turn its solid power play into an elite one. The Sharks have enough cap space to retain some of his salary and take back another roster player in a trade. The 28-year-old may stay in the Bay Area, but this would be a truly enjoyable outcome if he doesn't.

Oilers fetch Fleury

If Marc-Andre Fleury decides he wants to go to a contender, there'll be plenty of competition to lure him away from the Chicago Blackhawks. While the Washington Capitals probably make the most sense for the veteran goaltender, the Edmonton Oilers would be a far more entertaining destination. Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen won't cut it in the playoffs, and it'd be a shame to see the peak years of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl continue to be wasted.

So what can Edmonton offer to get it done? Chicago will want a first-round pick considering it'd be parting with the best available goalie. Given the uncertainty about his future, the price may not be as high as it'd be for others on the market, but Edmonton would have to at least include a decent prospect - like forward Xavier Bourgault or defenseman Dmitri Samorukov, who's been one of general manager Ken Holland's best trade chips for a while.

The Blackhawks would have to retain a portion of Fleury's $7-million cap hit. If they kept 50%, the Oilers could balance the books by sending a roster player like Zack Kassian ($3.2 million), though Chicago might be reluctant to take a fourth-liner under contract through 2023-24. The Oilers shouldn't go overboard to obtain a netminder who could bolt to free agency or retire at season's end, but they have a glaring need that Fleury's addition would immediately address. Edmonton, Fleury himself, and the hockey world as a whole would all be better off for it.

Capitals reunite with Holtby

The Dallas Stars are still in the hunt for a playoff spot, but Jake Oettinger is the club's present and future in the crease. Having two proven goalies is an advantage during a postseason push, but Stars backup Braden Holtby has value as a pending unrestricted free agent with experience who's playing reasonably well. Dallas also has depth at the position with Anton Khudobin waiting to slide back into the No. 2 role, so the team would be dealing from a position of relative strength.

If the Stars fall out of the race or choose to get something in return for Holtby rather than risk losing him for nothing in the summer, what better landing spot would there be than the Capitals? Washington needs a better backup goalie, and Holtby's done well enough in basically a 40/60 split with Oettinger recently that he could fulfill the same role with Vitek Vanecek while Ilya Samsonov figures out his game in the AHL.

Holtby spent the first decade of his 12-year career with the Capitals and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2018. He has a team-friendly cap hit of $2 million. Washington is up against the cap ceiling, but it wouldn't be hard to make room for that amount by sending some salary the other way in addition to an asset. Given the Stars' surplus in goal and the Capitals' need, this reunion makes sense and needs to happen.

Maple Leafs land Giordano

Another grizzled vet who's still contributing is Mark Giordano, the former Calgary Flames captain who now wears the "C" for the Seattle Kraken. We know Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas would prefer to add players with term over rentals, but there are several reasons they should reel in this pending UFA.

The Maple Leafs have to address their goaltending, but they also need stability on defense. Despite being 38 years old, Giordano is still playing well at both ends with favorable underlying numbers considering how bad the Kraken are. The rearguard is logging over 21 minutes per game, and he'd solidify Toronto's second pairing. He hails from Ontario's capital, and Dubas has known Kraken GM Ron Francis for his entire life.

There will be younger options on the market, but they'll likely cost more in terms of assets. Giordano's cap hit is a hurdle, but not if the Kraken and Leafs find a third team with cap space to help pull it off. He has a modified no-trade clause, but between the homecoming angle and his pursuit of the Stanley Cup in his 16th season (if Toronto can win a playoff round, that is), this would be a desirable trade for both Giordano and the hockey world at large.

(Salary source: CapFriendly)

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Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher after Ottawa Senators forward Parker Kelly hit him hard into the boards from behind early in Saturday's game.

The officials handed Kelly a five-minute major for boarding. Murphy gave a thumbs-up as he was being taken off.

Murphy entered Saturday's matchup ranking second on the Blackhawks in average ice time at 22:08. The soon-to-be 29-year-old has played all but three of Chicago's games this season, posting four goals and six assists.

Kelly was playing just his 26th NHL game and his 25th in 2021-22. The 22-year-old has split the campaign between the Senators and their AHL affiliate in Belleville.

Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson later left Saturday's contest to enter concussion protocol. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews also took several punches to the head in a fight with Zach Sanford in the first period, not long after the veteran center missed more than a month with a concussion of his own. However, he appeared no worse for wear when he scored twice in under two minutes at the start of the second frame.

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Edmonton Oilers forward Josh Archibald and defenseman Tyson Barrie are expected to be in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team announced.

The Oilers activated Archibald from long-term injured reserve and removed Barrie from injured reserve on Saturday afternoon.

Archibald has yet to play this season due to myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, after contracting COVID-19. Oilers general manager Ken Holland confirmed in September that Archibald was unvaccinated.

"I think (Archibald) can help our team win a game here," head coach Jay Woodcroft said Saturday, according to The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman. "That's what we're all about."

Woodcroft told reporters Archibald currently can't play games outside of Alberta because of his vaccination status and would have to drive to play the Flames in Calgary.

Barrie, meanwhile, suffered an upper-body injury against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 3 and has missed the Oilers' last three games.

Archibald is projected to play on the fourth line alongside Zack Kassian and Brad Malone. Barrie is expected to slot in on Edmonton's third defensive pairing with Philip Broberg.

Archibald, 29, has 39 goals and 31 assists in 235 NHL games.

Barrie, 30, has three goals and 20 assists in 49 contests this season while averaging 19 minutes of ice time a night.

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The Colorado Avalanche signed goaltender Pavel Francouz to a two-year extension, the team announced Saturday.

The deal carries an average annual value of $2 million, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Francouz has done an admirable job this season after missing the first 24 games on injured reserve. He owns a .920 save percentage and 2.46 goals against average to go along with a sterling 10-3-1 record.

The 31-year-old was set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

"Pavel is an important component to our goaltending tandem and someone we have full trust in to be a key piece of our team going forward," general manager Joe Sakic said in a statement. "He has showed tremendous perseverance and dedication in overcoming the challenges and injuries he has faced."

Francouz missed the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign after undergoing double-hip surgery.

He has spent his entire 50-game NHL career as a member of the Avalanche and has a career save percentage of .923.

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Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog will undergo knee surgery Monday and will be out indefinitely, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar announced Saturday, according to The Athletic's Peter Baugh.

Bednar said the team is "hoping" to have the forward back for the beginning of the playoffs, but his availability won't be clear until after the surgery. The ailment is not ACL-related.

"Hopefully, he'll be available for us for the stretch line, but he's going to miss some time," he said. "It's something going on with his knee that's been bothering him for a while. It was getting worse."

Bednar added that defenseman Samuel Girard will miss four weeks.

Landeskog, 29, leads all Avalanche skaters with 30 goals in 51 games this season. Girard, 23, ranks third among Colorado blue-liners with 27 points in 56 contests.

Here's how the Avalanche's lineup looked without the duo during Saturday's practice:

Colorado currently leads the NHL with 87 points and sits atop the Central Division with a 41-13-5 record.

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Montreal Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson will make his season debut Saturday night against the Seattle Kraken, the team announced.

A back injury has sidelined Edmundson dating back to training camp. Before the regular season began, he was initially expected to miss two-to-three weeks, but significant setbacks delayed his return.

The 28-year-old potted three goals and 10 assists in 55 contests last season while averaging 20 minutes of ice time. He led the team with 75 blocks and was second among Canadiens defensemen with 98 hits.

Edmundson was an important piece during the Habs' run to the Stanley Cup Final, logging over 23 minutes per contest and tallying six helpers over 22 games.

The Canadiens announced a slew of other injury updates as well:

Meanwhile, goaltender Andrew Hammond has a lower-body injury, and there's no timetable for his return. Defenseman David Savard is continuing to rehab his ankle injury.

The Canadiens have enjoyed a turnaround under interim head coach Martin St. Louis but currently sit in the basement of the Atlantic Division with a record of 15-35-7.

Puck drops on Edmundson's season debut at 7 p.m. ET.

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HAMILTON, Ont. - The sky is dark gray. The temperature is hovering above freezing. Snow is falling in flakes the size of a nickel. An ice surfacer is doing laps while crew members shovel mounds of snow off the NHL-sized sheet.

It's shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday, and this is the scene at field level at Tim Hortons Field, the venue for Sunday's outdoor game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres. Snow removal is likely to continue past midnight.

"We've got snow until, I think, 1 a.m. The guys will just keep doing this," Derek King, one of the league's head ice makers, says as he surveys the commotion around him. "We started at 10 o'clock this morning and haven't stopped."

Technically a Sabres home game, the 2022 Heritage Classic is being staged 63 miles north of Buffalo's KeyBank Center and 43 miles south of Toronto's Scotiabank Arena. The pro football stadium, situated in a residential area in the east end of Hamilton, will welcome roughly 25,000 people through its gates on Sunday. Smokestacks from nearby steel factories fill the skyline, and the original Tim Hortons restaurant - whose co-founder and namesake played for the Leafs and Sabres during a Hall of Fame career - is a short walk away.

Two Mondays ago, a 53-foot, 300-ton capacity mobile refrigeration unit and rink system was parked outside the stadium to signal the start of the build-out process. By week's end, boards were standing and ice-making had officially begun. On Wednesday, lines and logos were painted, and on Thursday, the glass was installed while the ice got topped up with its last quarter of an inch.

This is the NHL's third and final outdoor game of the season and 35th since 2003. Each passing event serves as an education for future events. And up until recently, only one man had been at the controls. Known for 24 years as the league's leading "ice man," Dan Craig retired - or "graduated," as he put it - this past November. His legacy on the sport will be on full display Sunday.

"These events, and the success of these events, and the quality of the ice in our 32 rinks, have Dan's prints all over them. And they will as long as we're doing them," says Kris King, senior VP of hockey operations for the NHL.

Mike Craig (Dan's son) and Derek King (no relation to Kris) have taken over as head ice men. Engineers by trade, both are longtime league employees who go by the title of senior manager of facilities ops and hockey ops. Mike Craig, who's based out of Kelowna, B.C., has worked in chilly hockey arenas his entire adult life, while Derek King, of Winnipeg, entered the workforce as a paramedic before switching to ice making in the early 2000s.

"Dan was always a hands-on guy, and we tried hard to get him to spread the wealth," Kris King says. "'Dan, you don't have to be here for 24 hours a day. Trust the guys. You've taught them well.' Near the end, he finally figured it out."

While their mentor is a phone call away, the Heritage Classic is Mike Craig and Derek King's show, and the objective is to produce the finest ice possible for the players. They lead a veteran crew of workers that's encountered basically everything imaginable over the years, from freezing rain, high winds, and dense fog to warm temperatures, high humidity, and bright sunshine.

According to The Weather Network forecast, the temperature at 4 p.m. puck drop should be 30 F, with a cloudy sky, 16 miles-per-hour wind, and a 40% chance of snow. Relatively speaking, those are decent conditions for an outdoor game.

"There's no such thing as a perfect event," Mike Craig says, reciting a common joke among the group. Mother Nature always finds a way to alter best-laid plans, which isn't particularly enjoyable in the moment, but it results in a sense of great satisfaction when the event's nearing the finish line. "They all have their challenges," he adds, "and they all have their pretty cool moments."

Aside from one rainy day, the weather gods have largely cooperated with the league's itinerary for Hamilton. Rain can be a killer, especially in warmer climates. Just a couple of weeks ago, ahead of the Stadium Series game in Tennessee, stress levels rose when a lengthy storm ran through Nashville.

"We had 73-degree weather with 16 hours of straight rain," Kris King says. "We couldn't freeze the water fast enough." The rink lost an inch and a quarter of ice, and it's supposed to be two inches thick on game day. However, since the crew had anticipated the ugly stretch of weather and started the build-out a few days earlier than normal, the ice was salvageable.

The league had learned its lesson from the 2020 Winter Classic in Dallas, where crap really hit the fan thanks to a cocktail of relentless rainfall, warm temperatures, and high humidity. It got so bad they had to temporarily remove a section of the end boards so workers could squeegee water more efficiently.

"We lost everything in Dallas. We lost the lines and logos. We lost the white paint ... everything," Derek King says. Once the storm passed and the refrigeration unit started stabilizing the rink temperature again, the build was back on track. "We had three days to get the sheet back, thankfully," he adds.

The head ice men have multiple weather apps on their smartphones, as well as a special ice monitoring app called Eye On The Ice. This 24/7 surveillance of the venue is crucial no matter the air temperature. For instance, during the build-out for the 2011 Heritage Classic, the temperature in Calgary hit minus-31 F, yet "our ice is melting because it was so sunny out," Kris King laments.

At ice level Friday evening, Derek King, dressed for the elements with a thick winter jacket and a baseball cap emblazoned with the NHL crest, brings up the 2018 Stadium Series game between the Leafs and Washington Capitals at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. That windy experience in Annapolis, Maryland, will inform how he and Mike Craig handle this weekend in Hamilton.

"We had to remove all of the glass the day before game day," Derek King recalls of the 2018 adventure. "The whole site got shut down because of how strong the winds were. We're looking at something similar for tomorrow."

If the wind is having a material impact on the game, Kris King says, the Leafs and Sabres will switch sides halfway through the third period. Both teams will spend 10 minutes each with the wind at their backs and in their faces.

On top of the outdoor events, the head ice men are responsible for ice standards across the league, as well as rinks used for special programming like showcase games in Europe and the Hockeyville exhibition series. They're on the road for long stretches, with Derek King, for example, leaving Winnipeg on Feb. 12 to head the Nashville event and returning home on March 20.

"It's a work family, for sure," he says. On cue, Kris King enters his field of view and starts poking the bottom of the sideboards with an ice-chipping tool. "We even have the boss working," Derek King says, letting out a hearty laugh.

Mike Craig, son of the original ice man, knows it's important to soak up the uniqueness of the gig. "At some point, even just during the game or on the practice day, whatever it is, just to take a few minutes to realize how special it is and how cool of an opportunity it is to do these kinds of events," he says.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

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