The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Jake McCabe, forward Sam Lafferty, and two conditional draft picks from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.

The Maple Leafs send forward Joey Anderson, forward Pavel Gogolev, a conditional 2025 first-round pick, and a 2026 second-round pick to Chicago in the transaction.

Toronto's 2025 first-round pick is top-10 protected. If the selection is in the top 10, Chicago will receive a 2026 first-rounder, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Chicago is retaining 50% of McCabe's salary in the trade. Toronto will receive the blue-liner at a $2-million cap hit through 2024-25.

McCabe has 20 points in 55 games while averaging 19:29 per game. The 29-year-old left shot is in the second season of a four-year contract signed with the Blackhawks in 2021.

Lafferty's 10 goals and 21 points this season are already career highs. The 27-year-old is averaging 15:07 and has won 52.4% of his faceoffs. The right-shot center is signed through next season at a $1.15-million cap hit.

Anderson cleared waivers Thursday. He's played 14 games with the Maple Leafs this season, tallying two goals and three points. The 24-year-old has 14 goals and 27 points in 30 contests in the AHL and is a pending restricted free agent. He was acquired by Toronto in 2020 for Andreas Johnsson.

Gogolev was signed by the Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2021. The 23-year-old has spent a majority of the campaign in the ECHL, where he has 21 goals and 48 points in 33 games.

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The Vegas Golden Knights acquired forward Ivan Barbashev from the St. Louis Blues for prospect Zach Dean on Sunday.

Barbashev has 10 goals and 29 points in 59 games this season. He's a pending unrestricted free agent carrying a $2.25-million cap hit.

The 27-year-old had a breakout campaign in 2021-22, tallying 26 goals and 60 points in 81 contests. In 50 career playoff games, Barbashev has three goals and nine points. He'll reunite with Alex Pietrangelo in Vegas, who Barbashev won the 2019 Stanley Cup alongside with the Blues.

The Golden Knights drafted Dean 30th overall in 2021. The 6-foot forward has 49 points in 38 QMJHL games this season. He captured gold with Team Canada at the 2023 World Junior Championship, scoring a goal and three points at the tournament.

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The Dallas Stars acquired forward Evgenii Dadonov from the Montreal Canadiens for forward Denis Gurianov on Sunday.

Montreal is retaining 50% of Dadonov's $5-million cap hit in the deal.

The pending unrestricted free agent scored four goals and 18 points in 50 games with the Canadiens. Montreal acquired Dadonov last June for Shea Weber's contract.

Dadonov will be reunited with head coach Peter DeBoer in Dallas. The 33-year-old had a resurgent 2021-22 campaign under DeBoer with the Vegas Golden Knights when he registered 20 goals and 43 points.

"Evgenii is a skilled forward that can play anywhere in our lineup," general manager Jim Nill said. "Recording 20 or more goals in four of his previous five seasons, he is a proven goal-scorer at the NHL level and will bolster our offensive attack."

Gurianov tallied two goals and nine points through 43 contests with the Stars. The 25-year-old posted a career-high 31 points in 2021-22, while his lone 20-goal campaign came in 2019-20. A pending restricted free agent, Gurianov has a cap hit of $2.9 million.

Dallas drafted the 6-foot-3 goal-scorer 12th overall in the 2015 draft.

The Stars free up $400,000 in cap space in the trade. They'll have just over $2 million in cap space come deadline day, according to CapFriendly.

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Patrick Kane's time with the Chicago Blackhawks appears to be ending.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion is sitting out Saturday's road game against the San Jose Sharks due to roster management, the Blackhawks announced. Forward Sam Lafferty also won't play for the same reason.

"Based on the current status of Patrick's situation, we collectively felt it was more appropriate to have him not play during this period of reflection," said Kane's agent, Pat Brisson, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

The 34-year-old is believed to have left the team and returned to Chicago, per TSN's Darren Dreger.

Much has been speculated about Kane's future as he's a pending unrestricted free agent and holds a no-trade clause in his contract. The Buffalo native's preferred destination is the New York Rangers, according to The Athletic's Scott Powers and Arthur Staple.

Kane has 16 goals and 45 points through 54 contests this season, including three multi-goal efforts in his past four games.

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The Vancouver Canucks acquired forward Vitaly Kravtsov from the New York Rangers on Saturday for forward William Lockwood and a 2026 seventh-round pick.

The Rangers drafted Kravtsov ninth overall in 2018. He has six points in 28 NHL games this season.

Kravtsov had a tumultuous tenure in New York. He requested a trade in Nov. 2021 and was subsequently loaned to the KHL. Kravtsov returned to the Rangers this season but struggled to gain minutes. He again requested a trade earlier this month.

The 23-year-old has an $875,000 cap hit and is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

"Vitaly is very happy going to the Canucks, he has always liked Vancouver, he has lots of friends on the team," Kravtsov's agent Dan Milstein said, according to CHEK News' Rick Dhaliwal.

Kravtsov won bronze at the 2019 World Juniors with Russia alongside Vasily Podkolzin, his new teammate in Vancouver.

Lockwood played 13 games with the Canucks in 2022-23, tallying one assist. The 24-year-old has 12 goals and 18 points in 26 contests in the AHL. Vancouver selected the former Michigan Wolverine in the third round of the 2016 draft.

The trade gives the Rangers needed cap space to potentially target Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane. The 34-year-old was scratched for Saturday's contest against the San Jose Sharks due to roster management. New York would have enough cap space to add Kane come Mar. 1 should Jake Leschyshyn be dropped from the roster Sunday, according to PuckPedia.

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After stumbling out of the All-Star break, the Minnesota Wild's five-game point streak has general manager Bill Guerin interested in being a major player at the trade deadline.

"They're showing me they're serious," Guerin told The Athletic's Joe Smith on Friday. "We're going to be in a dogfight until the very end. We'd like to be active. What we can do or whatever we'll be able to do is another story. But we have to take a look at being very active."

The Wild already helped broker major trades for other teams in the past week. Minnesota acted as a third party for additional retention in Ryan O'Reilly's move to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Dmitry Orlov's trade to the Boston Bruins.

"I think we've managed our cap well and have flexibility that's important," Guerin said. "But it just doesn't mean that we're going to go out and use it all, because that costs assets. And we're just not necessarily in that spot."

Minnesota is in a unique position with upward of $10 million in available cap space at the trade deadline but limited room to maneuver past this season. The Wild's dead cap space rises to nearly $15 million in 2023-24 due to the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.

Guerin added they don't want to trade first-round picks or top prospects. With the lowest goals for record of any team currently in a playoff position, his preference is to make additions at forward.

Despite speculation that defenseman Matt Dumba could be traded, the pending unrestricted free agent appears set to remain with the Wild through the end of the campaign.

"I would lean that way," Guerin said of keeping Dumba. "Matt's played really well. His game is in a very good place. Right-shot defensemen who can skate - it's tough to replace. Matt being a big part of the room and the organization for a number of years, it's not an easy thing to do."

The Wild are third in the Central Division with a 32-21-6 record. The Colorado Avalanche are one point back of Minnesota with three games in hand.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward Kasperi Kapanen on waivers Friday afternoon.

Kapanen has seven goals and 20 points through 43 contests this season. He is signed through 2023-24 at a cap hit of $3.2 million.

The 26-year-old has fallen out of favor in Pittsburgh, finding himself a healthy scratch and playing the lowest average ice time of his career since his rookie campaign.

"When a team doesn't live up to expectations, change is inevitable - that's part of it," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "(Kapanen) is a really talented player. To a certain extent, it's on all of us because we didn't find a way to maximize his potential."

"The feeling was that last year was a bit of a down year and that he would bounce back," general manager Ron Hextall said. "He's still almost a half-a-point-a-game guy. I think he can be a productive player. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked here. Tough decisions have to be made along the way, and that's what this was."

Should Kapanen clear waivers and be sent down to the AHL, the Penguins will gain $1.125 million in cap space.

Kapanen's best offensive year came in the shortened 2020-21 season when he tallied 11 goals and 30 points in 40 games. His lone 20-goal campaign came in 2018-19 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Penguins acquired Kapanen in August 2020 from the Maple Leafs along with Pontus Aberg and Jesper Lindgren in exchange for Filip Hallander, Evan Rodrigues, David Warsofsky, and a 2020 first-round pick that was used to draft Rodion Amirov.

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The Montreal Canadiens claimed forward Chris Tierney off waivers Thursday.

Tierney has two goals and three points in 13 games with the Florida Panthers this season, along with three goals and 16 points in 20 AHL contests with the Charlotte Checkers.

The 28-year-old is a veteran of 574 NHL games. His best offensive season came in 2018-19 with the Ottawa Senators when he scored nine goals and 48 points in 81 games.

Tierney has a league-minimum cap hit of $750,000 and is a pending unrestricted free agent.

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The Seattle Kraken waived goaltender Chris Driedger on Thursday.

Driedger has not played since sustaining an ACL tear during the gold medal game of the 2022 World Championships as a member of Team Canada.

The 28-year-old has two seasons remaining on his contract with a $3.5-million cap hit and a 10-team no-trade clause. The Kraken will gain $1.125 million in cap space should Driedger clear waivers and be sent to the AHL.

Driedger posted an .899 save percentage in 27 appearances with the Kraken in 2021-22. He was impressive at the World Championships before his injury, though, notching a .915 save percentage in six starts.

Seattle selected Driedger from the Florida Panthers in the 2021 expansion draft. The native of Winnipeg was among the league's best backups in his stint with the Panthers, registering a .931 SV% in 35 games across two seasons.

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Alex Ovechkin is returning to the Washington Capitals' lineup Thursday against the Anaheim Ducks after missing four games on personal leave, head coach Peter Laviolette confirmed, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.

The Capitals captain had been away from the team since Feb. 14 following the death of his father, Mikhail.

Ovechkin has 32 goals and 54 points through 54 contests this season. The 37-year-old is 82 tallies away from matching Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL record of 894 career goals.

Washington is sixth in the Metropolitan Division with a 28-25-6 record. The Capitals are two points behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.

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