NHL clubs swapped 15 players and eight draft picks in the final 72 hours before the 6 March trade cutoff, with Utah, Edmonton and Dallas each adding veteran help for a postseason push.
Blockbuster Sends Weegar to Utah for Three Picks
Calgary unloaded top-pair defender MacKenzie Weegar to the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday for defenceman Olli Määttä, right-wing prospect Jonathan Castagna and three 2026 second-rounders. Weegar, 30, carries a $6.8 million cap charge through 2030; Utah absorbs the full ticket while the Flames retain none. The package gives Calgary picks originally belonging to Ottawa, the Rangers and Utah itself—two of which project in the 33-45 range, a tier clubs increasingly treat as late first-rounders. For Utah, the move plugs a 22-minute, right-shot presence onto a blue line that already ranks sixth in five-on-five expected-goals prevention. The Mammoth have not reached the second round since the 2020 bubble; club sources told THN they view Weegar as the type of “sum-of-the-parts” add that can stabilise pairings without costing core youth.
Oilers Double Dip on Physicality
Edmonton completed separate deals with Chicago within 24 hours, first landing defenceman Connor Murphy (50 % retained) for a 2028 second-rounder, then importing centre Jason Dickinson and prospect Colton Dach for winger Andrew Mangiapane plus a top-12 protected 2027 first. The twin moves remake the bottom third of the roster: Murphy logs 19:42 a night on a rebuilding Blackhawks squad and still grades in the 78th percentile for defensive rebound percentage, per Sportlogiq. Dickinson, meanwhile, wins 54 % of draws and is among the league’s top-20 forwards in shorthanded shot suppressions per 60. General manager Stan Bowman framed the first-rounder as “a necessary ticket for cap flexibility,” because Dickinson’s retained hit plus Dach’s entry-level salary shave only $650 k off the books. Edmonton enters the final quarter two points shy of the West’s last wild-card berth with games in hand; the pair of trades signals club belief that a single point could decide the Pacific’s final playoff lane.
Stars Reload Blue Line with Myers
Dallas pounced on Vancouver’s Tyler Myers minutes after the Weegar swap, sending 2027 second- and 2029 fourth-round picks north and receiving the 6-foot-8 rearguard at half price. The deal mirrors the 2024 Tanev acquisition that preceded the Stars’ run to the Western Conference final: right-handed, shot-blocking, penalty-kill staple who can slide beside Miro Heiskanen in shutdown situations. Myers ranks fifth among NHL defenders in blocked shots (149) and first in shorthanded ice time on a playoff-hopeful Canucks team. Dallas owns the league’s third-lowest goals-against average (2.51) but lost Tyler Seguin indefinitely to hip surgery, creating the cap space required to absorb the retained charge. Club analytics staff value Myers’ reach in cross-ice passing lanes; model data suggests his presence trims 0.15 expected goals per 60 on the league’s most dangerous seam plays.
Depth Market Moves in Final 48 Hours
Nashville became the week’s busiest seller, parting with Cole Smith, Michael McCarron and Nick Blankenburg in three staggered deals that netted a second-, third- and fifth-round pick. Smith, 30, led all Predators wingers in hits (119) and will join a Vegas fourth line that already cycles pucks at an 56 % rate. McCarron, a 6-foot-6 centre, gives Minnesota face-off insurance after the club dealt Ryan Hartman to Boston last month; he wins 52.8 % of draws and chips in 2.1 hits per game. Colorado paid the cheapest price of the week—only a 2027 fifth—for Blankenburg, a 27-year-old right-shot who has already set career highs across the board (6-15-21 in 49 GP). Avalanche scouts view him as competition for Sam Malinski on the third pair and power-play insurance if Cale Makar misses time.
Buyers, Sellers and the One That Got Away
The flurry leaves a handful of prime names on the board. Calgary centre Nazem Kadri, New York pivot Vincent Trocheck and Blues playmaker Robert Thomas all garnered serious interest yet remain with their original clubs after internal price tags exceeded the market’s comfort level. The Athletic reported Florida fielded calls on Sergei Bobrovsky’s $10 million deal but balked at retaining 50 % without a first-round return. Meanwhile, insiders say the Washington Capitals pivoted from sell mode to “quiet hold” once the club crept within three points of wild-card position, effectively removing winger Tom Wilson from consideration. With the clock now passed, GMs turn toward buy-out windows, entry-level signings and the mid-June draft in Las Vegas, where many of this week’s picks will be on the move again.
Recommended Resources
- NHL.com Transactions Page – Official, time-stamped log of every trade, waiver and signing
- CapFriendly.com – Up-to-the-minute salary-cap calculations, retained-salary details and trade-builder tool
- Sportlogiq’s Public Model – Free access to team-level shot-quality and defensive impact data cited in many deadline reports
- The Hockey News Trade Board – Running list of 25 players most likely to move next season, updated weekly
Source: The Hockey News