With one sleep left before the NHL trade deadline, the Toronto Maple Leafs joined the party Thursday by bulking up on defense, while two Western Conference Stanley Cup contenders made more moves to improve in crucial areas.
And one of the top teams in the East looks to be on the verge of making a big splash.
Colorado acquired a pair of versatile forwards from Central Division rivals, Brandon Duhaime from Minnesota and Yakov Trenin from Nashville, Edmonton got defenseman Troy Stecher from Arizona and Toronto received Joel Edmundson from Washington.
“Every team has a window in which they see success or a key moment of time for the organization — whether it’s two years, five years, depending on expiring contracts who they have to renew,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s lots of teams going all-in: teams that feel like they’ve got a chance to win, if they add certain things to their lineup, they’re going to go all-in. Your goal is to win the Stanley Cup. We’re not trying to be a mediocre team.”
It shows. Colorado and Edmonton stayed active, after the Avalanche added center Casey Mittelstadt and defenseman Sean Walker in separate deals and the Oilers giving themselves serious depth down the middle by trading with Anaheim for Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick.
The Avalanche sent a 2026 third-round pick to the Wild for Duhaime and a 2025 third and defense prospect Jeremy Hanzel to the Predators for Trenin and the rights to unsigned draft pick Graham Sward. The Oilers sent a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Coyotes for Stecher, and the Leafs got Edmundson from the Capitals for a third-rounder this year and a 2025 fifth.
Carolina raised some antennas by putting goaltender Antti Raanta, defenseman Tony DeAngelo and forward Brendan Lemieux on waivers, moves that would clear significant salary cap space. Then the Hurricanes held out Michael Bunting from their game Thursday night for trade-related reasons, sparking buzz that they might be getting the top player available, Pittsburgh winger Jake Guentzel.
The deadline is 3 p.m. Friday.
Toronto’s trade for Edmundson started the action Thursday, adding some much needed toughness on the blue line. He’s a left shot, which the Leafs have plenty of, but his playoff experience alone makes Edmundson a potentially important acquisition for a team dreaming of an extended run this spring.
The Capitals are retaining a quarter of Edmundson’s salary after Montreal already has half from a trade last offseason and getting a third-rounder that originally belonged to the New York Islanders. Salary retention makes the him quite the bargain for the Leafs at a cap hit of $875,000, just above the league minimum.
“He’s a really, tough, strong player when it comes to physical battles,” retired forward Brian Boyle said of Edmundson. “The Leafs need a little more of that, and they just got it.”
Edmundson, 30, helped the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019 and is a pending free agent. He has skated over 16 minutes a game this season with Washington.
Earlier in the week, Edmundson seemed content with the possibility of being traded to a contender, though his focus at the time was on helping the Capitals.
“Everyone wants to win,” he said. “I want to win every year, so I think once you get that feeling once, you just want it to happen every year and when you see other teams win it, you just kind of get jealous and frustrated. So yeah, we all want to win it every year.”
But it’s not just the top championship contenders getting in on the action. The Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Cup back to back in 2020 and ’21 acquired offensive-minded winger Anthony Duclair from San Jose on Thursday night. They sent a third-round pick this year and minor league defenseman Jack Thompson to the Sharks for a 2025 seventh-round selection and Duclair, who has seven goals in his past eight games.
Tampa Bay, currently in a wild card spot in the East, is attempting to extend its playoff streak to seven years while missing injured defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who’s out indefinitely because of a broken left leg.
“It’s unfortunate that one of our big guys back there is out, but we’ve been able to hang around here without him,” coach Jon Cooper said. “This group here is ready to make a run and so see what we can do.”
The Predators, in the wild-card race in the West, acquired winger Anthony Beauvillier from Chicago for a 2024 fifth-round pick and claimed forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings.
Among the other players expected to be moved before the deadline are Penguins forward Reilly Smith, New Jersey winger Tyler Toffoli, Washington center Nic Dowd and a couple of more Arizona pending free agents: defenseman Matthew Dumba and ex-Penguins forward Jason Zucker.
Like the Hurricanes with Bunting, the Coyotes scratched Dumba and Zucker and the Devils Toffoli because of trade-related reasons.
Seattle’s Jordan Eberle, who’s also on an expiring contract, could also be the next to go after the Kraken sent Alexander Wennberg to the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
“From a player standpoint, we just want to continue to win,” Eberle said. “From a management standpoint, it’s a little harder, right, because they’re stuck between, do we have a chance, or do we want to get rid of some pieces? I can’t really say anything on their behalf. I think I can only say as a player, we’re just focusing on winning.”
Boyle, now an NHL Network analyst, pointed to Florida’s injury attrition in the final last year before losing to Vegas as just another example of why some seemingly minor moves for depth can prove valuable when it matters most — especially when it’s adding the sandpaper and grit that’s essential for playoff hockey.
“You need all the skill, you want obviously your goaltending to play well, but you need some meat in your lineup,” he said. “You need to be able to be physical and play that game if it happens.”
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