NHL Trade Buzz: Klingberg, Kulikov held out by Ducks
Sabres won't risk future for rentals; van Riemsdyk still in Flyers lineup
By
NHL.com @NHLdotcom
Anaheim Ducks
John Klingberg and Dmitry Kulikov will not play for the Ducks agains the Washington Capitals on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; BSSC, NBCSWA, ESPN+, SN NOW) for trade related reasons.
The defensemen can each become unrestricted free agents July 1. Klingberg, 30, has 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) in 50 games for Anaheim this season, while Kulikov, 32, has 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in 61 games.
There has been a run on defensemen in the past few days, with Vladislav Gavrikov going from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Los Angeles Kings, Mattias Ekholm was traded from the Nashville Predators to the Edmonton Oilers for a package that included Tyson Barrie, Luke Schenn was traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the Toronto Maple Leafs,
Riley Stillman
was traded from the Canucks to the Buffalo Sabres, Jake McCabe was traded by the Chicago Blackhawks to the Maple Leafs and Dmitry Orlov was traded by the Washington Capitals to the Boston Bruins.
The Ducks (20-34-7) are last in the Western Conference, 25 points out of a playoff spot.
Calgary Flames
Defenseman Rasmus Andersson is hoping the Flames will be buyers before the deadline.
"I hope they do something, obviously, but it's not my job and I'm not focused on that," Andersson said. "I believe in this group and all 23 players in here believe in this group. We're just trying to win hockey games here."
The Flames find themselves in a precarious position leading into the deadline.
Calgary (27-21-13) is five points behind the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers for the two wild cards into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, and is also five back of the Seattle Kraken for third in the Pacific Division with one more game played.
General manager Brad Treliving told NHL.com, "you've got to be careful how far you chase it when you're in the position we're in" in early February with Calgary in closer proximity to a playoff spot.
"We have a good team here, good players," forward Andrew Mangiapane said. "If we add players it'd be great, but if we don't we still have a great team in here that we can still make the playoffs and go on a run at the end."
The Flames, however, haven't won more than three in a row this season, and haven't won consecutive games since Jan. 21-23.
Calgary has four wins in the past 12 games (4-5-3), and host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNW, TSN4, ESPN+, SN NOW) in its final game before the trade deadline.
"At the end of the day we have a really good team in the room here," forward Tyler Toffoli said. "We take a lot of pride and every one of us wants to win. Regardless of if we make a move to get better or not, we believe in ourselves and we just have to get the job done."
Buffalo Sabres
General manager Kevyn Adams said trade chatter has been "crazy busy" this week, adding that the Sabres are keeping their options open on any and all fronts.
"I think it's my job to be a part of every conversation to know what's available, what it takes, what the landscape is," Adams told NHL.com. "It's my job."
Is Buffalo interested in rental players?
"We're looking to improve but we're trying to set up the long-term sustainability for success," Adams said. "We'll see if there are ways to improve but we're not going to do something short-term at the cost of what it could do to our franchise long-term."
Adams said the Sabres are not focusing in on any particular position.
"I don't look at it that way. I think you have to be careful not to limit yourself like that," he said. "I think you try to add talent to your team in whatever way makes sense.
"If the deadline passes, I'm extremely confident in the roster we have now. But that doesn't stop you from trying to make it better. In fact, I get up every day saying, 'How can we make it better'."
The Sabres (31-24-4) are three points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and four points behind the New York Islanders for the first wild card. They have one game in hand on Pittsburgh and five in hand on the Islanders. They haven't been in the playoffs since the 2010-11 season, the longest drought in the NHL.
Vancouver Canucks
Brock Boeser admits it has been harder this season to block out the distractions that come with rumours ahead of deadline.
"I'd say really not (dealing with it) as good this year as past years. I think it's a little more serious this time around," the Canucks forward said. "Pretty different in knowing it could be a real possibility."
The 26-year-old heard his name in rumors plenty of times before while playing all seven of his NHL seasons with Vancouver. But even after signing a three-year, $19.95 million contract ($6.65 million annual average value) July 1, Boeser has been prominent in trade talk this year, including reports Tuesday linking him in a possible trade to the Penguins.
"I tried putting my phone away yesterday, just try to have a relaxing day and it turned into not so relaxing, so it is what it is," Boeser said. "I guess that's part of being part of trade talks."
Boeser has 38 points (11 goals, 27 assists) in 52 games this season and is on pace for 15 goals and 52 points, his lowest full-season goal total since joining the Canucks at the end of the 2016-17 season. He missed six games from Oct. 24 to Nov. 8 after the incision scar from Sept. 26 hand surgery opened up, and two more games with illness in mid-December.
Boeser was selected by the Canucks in the first round (No. 23) of the 2015 NHL Draft and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy as the League's top rookie after he had 55 points (29 goals, 26 assists) in 62 games in 2017-18. He has 294 points (132 goals, 162 assists) in 376 NHL games.
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Dallas Stars
The Stars have lost six of their past seven games, but that hasn't altered their plans before the deadline.
"The only thing that really changes anything is if you start to get a bunch of injuries that you didn't expect and is it positions that you thought you had a surplus in and now all of a sudden, now you don't," Dallas general manager Jim Nill told NHL.com on Tuesday. "That would probably change the plan more than anything."
Nill said the Stars would like to add depth at forward. They added some already, acquiring forward Evgenii Dadonov from the Montreal Canadiens for forward Denis Gurianov on Sunday. Dadonov scored in his Dallas debut, a 5-4 loss to Vancouver on Monday.
The Stars also won't give up anything big for an acquisition.
"You always want to add, but what's the cost of doing business? That's our biggest thing. I've already traded away our first-round pick [when] we did almost a trade-deadline acquisition when we picked up Nils Lundkvist," he said.
The Stars gave the New York Rangers a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and conditional fourth-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft for the defenseman on Sept. 19.
"I'm not going to trade high-end draft picks or prospects for a rental. If there's a hockey deal there that makes us better, yes, we'll look at doing that. But as far as picking up a guy that's going to come in for two to three months then walk out the door and cost me a top prospect or a high pick, we're not going to do that."
Dallas (31-16-13) enters its home game against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET; BSSW, BSAZX, ESPN+, SN NOW) in first place in the Central Division, one point ahead of the Minnesota Wild.
Philadelphia Flyerrs
James van Riemsdyk was in the Flyers lineup for their game against the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
"I'm a hockey player, I want to play, I love to play," the forward said. "That's what's fun for me. There's a game to be played. I'm ready to go."
Van Riemsdyk is in the final season of a five-year contract and has been mentioned prominently in trade rumors. That outside noise, however, isn't affecting his preparation.
"I'm trying to just stay in the moment, stay day to day," he said. "I think there's a time and a place for some of that stuff. Right now there's a game in front of us. I'm focusing on that. All the other stuff around it ... obviously there's some uncertainty there, but I'm just trying to just focus on doing a job, playing a strong game."
The 33-year-old didn't play in a 7-0 loss at the New Jersey Devils on Sunday because of an undisclosed injury. He said earlier Wednesday that it was some bumps and bruises that he had been playing through, and viewed sitting out Sunday as a way to get one extra day of rest.
"Physically I'm feeling good," he said. "Was kind of just a minor thing and I just figured it made sense with a pocket of a break that we had coming up [after Sunday] to just be smart about it. And that was kind of the decision."
