3:50 p.m.: One final trade to note: The Colorado Avalanche picked up former Bruins forward Anton Blidh in a trade with the Rangers for defenseman Gustav Rydahl.
It’s a fitting end to an absolutely dreadful deadline day, one of the more boring deadline days in recent memory. But, as we mentioned earlier, that was to be expected a worth price to pay for a wild few weeks that set the stage for a fascinating end to the NHL season.
3:16 p.m.: John Klingberg, living the dream while making $7 million living in Southern California, gets to go spend his spring in Minnesota. At least he’s still going to get his money.
Still waiting on a return.
3:12 p.m.: The Canucks, in the end, opted to keep both Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller. Have to imagine there were some conversations ahead of the deadline that will be revisited in the offseason.
3:06 p.m.: The James van Riemsdyk rollercoaster was legitimately perplexing, and it comes to a close with JVR staying in Philly.
3:01 p.m.: The trade deadline has come and gone. We’ll now wait patiently to see if anything comes through after being processed at the top of the hour.
2:53 p.m.: Meanwhile, Radko Gudas would be an interesting pickup for a team looking for a physical presence on the blue line. He could be on the move before 3 p.m.
2:50 p.m.: Plot twist! James van Riemsdyk is … not going to Detroit?
2:45 p.m.: The Red Wings are really working hard against the clock here.
2:39 p.m.: They’re coming fast and furious now!
2:33 p.m.: At long last, we know where Oskar Sundqvist is going. He’s on his way to Minnesota where he’ll apparently replace Jordan Greenway.
2:23 p.m.: Not exactly sure what the Red Wings have in mind, but they’re reportedly joining the mix for James van Riemsdyk.
JVR is in the final year of his contract, and the Red Wings aren’t contending for anything. In fact, they just shipped off Tyler Bertuzzi earlier this week. Perhaps Steve Yzerman has an extension in mind?
2:19 p.m.: Jordan Greenway is going home-ish. The Minnesota Wild are reportedly trading the New York native to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for draft picks.
The winger is a Canton, N.Y., native, which is about four and a half hours from Buffalo. As to whether he’ll actually make an impact remains to be seen. The former second-round pick has two goals and five assists in 45 games.
1:50 p.m.: It sure sounds like James van Riemsdyk will be on the move before 3 p.m.
1:14 p.m.: The Penguins are lingering as a wild-card team in the Eastern Conference, which is a daunting place to be given the East’s meat-grinder status. Pittsburgh has largely sat back and watched the arms race intensify among contenders. However, the Penguins have made a few moves the last couple of days to reinforce their roster, apparently believing a stretch run is possible.
After an overnight deal to land Nick Bonino, the Pens reportedly have bolstered the blue line with a trade for Anaheim defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.
12:35 p.m.: The Sharks’ firesale continues, and now it’s Vladislav Namestnikov on his way to Winnipeg. The Jets could also probably use an upgrade on the back end, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they’ve got some more work to do before 3 p.m.
As some have already pointed out, too, this likely means the Jets will not be making a push for James van Riemsdyk.
12:10 p.m.: On a slow deadline day like this, all trades must be noted … even if it’s Brendan Lemieux to the Flyers.
11:50 a.m.: Former Bruins depth forward Curtis Lazar is once again on the move. He’s headed to New Jersey, according to multiple reports, as the Devils look to bolster their group up front.
11:45 a.m.: John Klingberg is among those high-priced rentals mentioned earlier in the day. He’s an effective puck-mover on the back end, and he has 59 games of playoff experience in his career (though he’s been truly awful in his own end this season). There’s reportedly some interest, per DailyFaceoff’s Frank Seravalli, who says the Lightning could be an option if they can make the money work.
Seravalli also mentions the Kraken as a team monitoring the Klingberg situation.
11:05 a.m.: Maybe the Bruins aren’t done?
10:30 a.m.: Here’s the Flyers’ reported ask for winger James van Riemsdyk.
9:38 a.m.: This encouraging Brad Marchand update might end up being the biggest news of the day.
9:12 a.m.: Senators general manager Pierre Dorion just did an interview on TSN. James Duthie’s final question for Dorion was whether there would be any real action in the final hours. “Eh, I don’t know if you’re gonna like my answer,” Dorion said after a long pause.
All signs still pointing to a sleepy day.
8:30 a.m.: An interesting stat just popped up on the TSN “TradeCentre” broadcast. Things have remained pretty consistent in recent years when it comes to actual deadline day. Last year, there were 32 deadline-day trades involving 51 players. In 2020, there were 32 trades involving 55 players. Those 55 players equaled the “record” set in 2010 when 55 players were moved on deadline day in 31 deals.
Suffice it to say, we probably won’t see 31 or 32 deals Friday.
7:45 a.m.: A couple of teams couldn’t even wait until Friday to make a couple of deadline adjustments, starting with the wide-open Western Conference.
The Dallas Stars beefed up their forwards group, becoming the latest team to pick off the Chicago Blackhawks’ fire sale, acquiring forward Max Domi. Dallas also got minor league goalie Dylan Wells in exchange for goalie Anton Khudobin and a second-round pick in 2025.
Meanwhile, the Penguins continued their own shake-up by bringing back a familiar face. Pittsburgh, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, has acquired forward Nick Bonino from San Jose.
Bonino was a playoff legend for the Penguins winning a pair of Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017.
7:30 a.m. ET: The 2023 NHL trade deadline is a bit of a good news/bad news sort of deal. The good news is that the last month has been fascinating with blockbuster deals across the league. The downside of that, though? Friday’s actual deadline day might be a little sleepy.
Taking a look at TSN’s Trade Bait list gives you an idea of what we could be in for Friday. They currently have Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk as the top player on that board followed by Vancouver winger Brock Boeser and Montreal defenseman Joel Edmundson. The three of them have a combined annual average value of more than $17 million. John Klingberg and his $7 million cap hit also make the top-10. If you’re in the market for a high-priced rental, it could be a big day.
The more likely scenario? A whole bunch of depth moves for bottom-six forwards and emergency defensemen, who may or may not actually play when the games matter most. There is certainly importance to adding those sorts of players when you’re contending for a championship, but there’s not a whole lot of sizzle. Ultimately, at the end of the day, we’re also probably going to hear countless general managers say “We were in on a lot, but ultimately, the prices were just too high.” We shall see.
Regardless, we’ll be following it all right here with our live blog tracker, all the way up to the 3 p.m. ET deadline.
