It was deja vu for the Calgary Flames on Friday night as the team outshot the Anaheim Ducks 37-18 but failed to pick up the win.
"It does feel pretty repetitive," defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said postgame. "We gotta find ways to win. It's another night of outshooting your opponent but coming up short."
The 3-1 loss is Calgary's 19th this season when outshooting its opponent by 10 or more shots, breaking the NHL record. The 1995-96 Boston Bruins previously had the most with 18 losses in this fashion.
"In the third, it's the same old push," Weegar continued. "We have the puck the whole time, but we don't seem to score. It is a bit frustrating for sure."
"I'm so frustrated," defenseman Rasmus Andersson said. "We didn't score, honestly, I think that's the easiest way to say it. We just didn't score today, and we have a lot of looks, especially in the third. We're dominating the game in the third, and we just can't get that tying goal or the leading goal."
Calgary falls to 29-24-13 on the campaign and remains four points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild-card position. The Flames are two points up on the Nashville Predators, who have four games in hand.
It was a barnburner in Winnipeg on Saturday night as the Jets prevailed over the Edmonton Oilers 7-5.
"Just disappointed to let them down," Oilers netminder Jack Campbell said following the contest. "A couple I want back, and that would've been the difference."
The 31-year-old allowed six goals on 38 shots against the Jets. He's lost five consecutive starts, allowing 23 goals with a .846 save percentage over this stretch.
"I just know I can be so much better for this group," Campbell continued. "I'm definitely gonna keep working to get there."
Campbell signed a five-year, $25-million contract with Edmonton last summer.
"I think both coaching staffs look at that game as a lot of sloppy mistakes and in the end, they found that extra goal, found the extra save, and they found the two points and we didn't get that tonight," Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said.
Leon Draisaitl recorded his eighth career hat trick to eclipse the 40-goal plateau for the fourth time in the losing effort.
"That's not really the game we want to play," Draisaitl said of the high-scoring affair. "It's obvious we can play that way but that's not the style we want to play."
The Oilers fall to 34-22-8 on the campaign with the loss. Edmonton is fourth in the Pacific Division and is in the Western Conference's top wild-card position.
"As coaches, you've got to put your team in the best position to win, and 99.9% of the time, those guys give us the best chance to win when they're on the ice," Cooper said following the game, per Bally Sports Florida. "It just felt, in the third period, they weren't giving us the best chance to win."
Kucherov, Point, and Stamkos are Tampa Bay's top three scorers this season. The trio didn't play a single shift in the third period.
"We have a set of standards here that everybody adheres to, and it's not pick-and-choose; it's everybody," Cooper continued. "It's how it was for today. Like I said, those guys are an extremely important part of our team, but for 20 minutes tonight, I thought the other guys could get it done, and, you know what, they almost did."
The Lightning were losing 4-1 at the start of the final frame and being outshot 30-21. Tampa Bay turned the tide without Kucherov, Point, and Stamkos, outshooting the Sabres 15-4 in the third, but ultimately came up short in the comeback bid.
"Those guys are the reason we have a standard that high. It's because of those guys. Just for a period tonight, that was it," Cooper concluded.
The Lighting have lost four straight games and fallen five points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for second in the Atlantic Division.
This is the first trade in the league database in which brothers were traded for each other.
Nick Ritchie has nine goals and 21 points in 58 contests. The 27-year-old, who has a $2.5-million cap hit, is an impending unrestricted free agent.
Stecher has zero goals and seven points in 61 games. The 28-year-old is also an impending UFA.
The right-shot blue-liner was acquired by the Los Angeles Kings at last year's trade deadline. He tallied two goals and four points in four playoff games with the Kings.
Brett Ritchie has six goals and eight points in 34 games. The older Ritchie is on a league-minimum contract that expires after this season.
Mackey has two goals and three points in 10 NHL contests this season. The 26-year-old is an impending restricted free agent.
Detroit will retain 50% of Vrana's salary. He's signed through 2023-24 at a $5.25-million cap hit, so St. Louis takes on Vrana at $2.625 million.
The 27-year-old entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in October. He returned to the Red Wings in December and was subsequently placed on waivers.
Vrana tallied six goals and 11 points in 17 AHL contests. Detroit called him up in February, but he failed to find the scoresheet in three games. He scored a goal and two points in two games before entering the player assistance program.
Prior to 2022-23, Vrana struggled to remain in the lineup due to various injuries. He played a combined 76 games across 2020-21 and 2021-22. However, when he's been in the lineup, he's been an efficient scorer.
Since 2020-21, Vrana's 1.60 goals per 60 at five-on-five ranks behind only Auston Matthews among players with more than 80 games, according to Natural Stat Trick.
McLaughlin was signed by St. Louis in July 2022. The 27-year-old, who returned to action Feb. 25 after a lengthy injury, has one goal in six AHL contests this season. The pending unrestricted free agent has yet to play in the NHL.
After the trade, the Red Wings have a little over $8 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly.
Johansson has 13 goals and 28 points in 60 games this season. The pending unrestricted free agent was traded to the Capitals at last year's deadline by the Seattle Kraken.
The 32-year-old has a cap hit of $1.1 million.
Johansson spent the 2020-21 campaign with the Wild, tallying six goals and 14 points in 36 games. He appeared in three postseason contests with Minnesota as well.
After acting as a third party for salary retention purposes twice in February, Johansson is the first player Minnesota has added in advance of the trade deadline.
General manager Bill Guerin expressed his interest last week in being "very active" prior to the deadline.
Minnesota is third in the Central Division with a 33-21-6 record.
Puljujarvi has five goals and 14 points in 58 games this season. The 24-year-old tallied a career-high 14 goals and 36 points in 2021-22.
The Oilers aren't retaining any of Puljujarvi's $3-million cap hit, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun. He's an impending restricted free agent.
Puistola was drafted in the third round in 2019 by the Hurricanes. The 22-year-old winger has had a breakout campaign in Finland, scoring 15 goals and 38 points in 56 games. His exclusive rights are set to expire June 1, which would make him an unrestricted free agent.
The Detroit Red Wings signed defenseman Jake Walman to a three-year extension Tuesday with an average annual value of $3.4 million.
Walman has five goals and 10 points through 40 games this season while averaging 18:55. He was a pending unrestricted free agent.
The extension is all base salary and includes a 10-team no-trade list for each season of the contract, according to CapFriendly.
The 27-year-old has blossomed on the Red Wings' top pairing with Moritz Seider. In 324:29 at five-on-five, the duo have posted a 52.6% Corsi-for and 58.2% expected goals-for, according to Natural Stat Trick. They lead both categories among Detroit pairings that have played at least 100 minutes.
Walman was acquired by the Red Wings on Mar. 21, 2022, along with Oskar Sundqvist and a 2023 second-round pick from the St. Louis Blues for Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski. He signed a one-year contract worth $1.05 million as a restricted free agent in August.
The Red Wings are fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 28-23-8 record. They are three points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.
As top names continue to drop off the board in the lead-up to Friday's trade deadline, more focus is shifting to players in the secondary market, a number of whom can make a notable impact should they move by the end of this week.
Here are five under-the-radar NHLers who teams should target before the trade deadline.
Nick Schmaltz, Arizona Coyotes
Norm Hall / National Hockey League / Getty
A name recently appearing in trade rumors is Arizona Coyotes forward Schmaltz. If the 27-year-old is available, multiple teams should be seriously interested in the underrated winger.
Acquiring a player with term remaining on their contract can be tricky at the trade deadline. This is especially true when the player has a significant salary. In Schmaltz's case, his $5.85-million cap hit through 2025-26 is a tough deal to bring in for any contending team.
That being said, a few teams that can certainly make it work and have the need. The Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes are likely in the market for a top-six forward and have maneuverability both this year and into the future.
Considering Schmaltz has a 10-team no-trade list that kicks in this summer, it makes a lot of sense for the Coyotes to entertain offers now.
Schmaltz's scoring has flown under the radar over the past two seasons. His 0.92 points per game since the start of 2021-22 ranks 60th in the leagueamong players with at least 82 games played over this span. That's ahead of the likes of Alex DeBrincat, Sam Reinhart, and Nikolaj Ehlers.
The Wisconsin native is a high-end playmaker. According to Corey Sznajder's tracked data, Schmaltz is in the 90th percentile or above in shot assists, chance assists, high-danger assists, and rush assists. He's also among the league's best entering the offensive zone with the puck on his stick (97th percentile in carry entries) and exiting the defensive end with control (95th percentile in pass exits).
Should he be traded, Schmaltz would be among the highest-impact players to move despite not being one of the top names.
He's been a potent threat when on the ice over the past three seasons. Since 2020-21, Vrana ranks among the league's most efficient goal-scorers at five-on-five.
Player
Games
5-on-5 goals/60
Auston Matthews
178
1.77
Jakub Vrana
80
1.62
David Pastrnak
179
1.39
Max Pacioretty
92
1.38
Filip Forsberg
158
1.35
He's also missed significant time due to various injuries, didn't play in the early part of the 2022-23 campaign while receiving care from the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, and cleared waivers in January.
There may not be a bigger boom-or-bust player available at the deadline than Vrana. Despite his $5.25-million cap hit through next season and all of the risks involved, he's still a worthwhile swing at the deadline.
Simply put, goal-scorers with Vrana's upside don't typically become available. Everyone recognizes that he isn't an Auston Matthews- or David Pastrnak-level scorer, but he doesn't need to be for his cap hit to be worth it. Middle-six wingers who can score as efficiently as Vrana are valuable. Factor in the likelihood of the Red Wings adding a sweetener to move the contract, and there's too much potential to pass on.
It'd be a shame if Vrana doesn't move at the deadline and continues to spend time in the AHL. Someone should take the gamble, whether it be a team on the playoff bubble with cap space or a club that misses out on Timo Meier and pivots to try and find goal-scoring elsewhere.
It's safe to assume the Capitals aren't done shedding players from their roster after trading their best healthy defenseman. Another Washington blue-liner that should be on many teams' radars is Jensen.
The 32-year-old is in the midst of a splendid year, having already broken his career high in points with 24 while playing 20:58 per game, the highest mark of his NHL tenure.
Jensen has often gone overlooked despite being a consistently strong defensive presence. Since he became a full-time NHLer in 2017-18, only Chris Tanev has accumulated more defensive goals above replacement.
Player
Games
Def. GAR
Chris Tanev
354
37.9
Nick Jensen
420
37.4
Jonas Brodin
399
35.3
Brandon Carlo
376
33.6
Charlie McAvoy
359
32.6
Jensen's excellent defensive metrics are thanks in large part to a superb ability to retrieve pucks and break out of the zone with control. From Corey Sznajder's tracked data, Jensen is in the 98th percentile in defensive zone retrievals and 97th percentile in carry exits.
Numerous teams in the playoff mix could use a defender like Jensen. As underrated as he is, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a bidding war develop for the Minnesota native.
Dante Fabbro, Nashville Predators
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
A drop in production has resulted in Nashville Predators defenseman Fabbro reportedly becoming available. Still only 24 years old, the former first-round pick makes for a prime buy-low candidate at the deadline.
With just eight points through 43 games, a career-low 15:57 per game, and an impending $2.4-million qualifying offer in the summer, the market for Fabbro likely leans toward teams on the outside of the playoff picture with cap space.
Don't let the basic stats fool you - Fabbro is still a quality puck-moving blue-liner. He's in the 95th percentile in pass entries and the 90th percentile in pass exits, results based largely on his league-leading success rate retrieving the puck in the defensive zone, according to Corey Sznajder's tracked data.
Two teams that would be smart to inquire about Fabbro are the Ottawa Senators and the San Jose Sharks.
The Senators are still in need of a top-four right-side defenseman. Fabbro's ability to break the puck out of the defensive zone makes for an intriguing potential fit with Jake Sanderson and their exciting top-six forward group.
As for the Sharks, Fabbro played his first two years at Boston University under current San Jose coach David Quinn. He knows the player well, and the Sharks have plenty of ice time to go around to help build Fabbro's stock back up.
Mikey Eyssimont, San Jose Sharks
Kavin Mistry / National Hockey League / Getty
Prior to 2022-23, Eyssimont was a full-time AHLer with one notable offensive season under his belt as a professional.
This season, Eyssimont has taken his opportunity in the NHL and run with it, spending the early part of the campaign with the Winnipeg Jets and later being claimed off waivers by the Sharks.
Across 38 games with the two teams, the 26-year-old has four goals and 13 points. Nothing remarkable, but solid production nonetheless.
Eyssimont begins to stand out as an intriguing target when you look a bit deeper. He leads the Sharks at five-on-five in Corsi For rating (58.1%) and expected goals for (64.1%), outscoring the opposition 16-14 as well. Even in Winnipeg, Eyssimont was posting above-average metrics.
As a result of his strong play, Eyssimont has gone from playing 9:16 in his Sharks debut to featuring on the top line and playing 19:13 in his most recent outing.
Of course, that's not to suggest Eyssimont is a top-line player. With a league-minimum cap hit of $750,000 and restricted free-agent status in the summer, the Littleton, Colorado, native would make for a truly under-the-radar add for a capped-out playoff team looking to bolster depth at the bottom of their lineup.
