NHL Trade Buzz: Hurricanes will be 'aggressive' ahead of Deadline

Golden Knights trade Weber's contract to Coyotes; Capitals feel sense of 'urgency'

Welcome to the NHL Trade Buzz. There are 10 days remaining until the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET, March 3). Here's a look around the League at the latest deadline doings.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes plan be aggressive in trying to add a player or two before the deadline to put them over the top in their bid to win the Stanley Cup this season, owner Tom Dundon said Wednesday.

"I think we're leaning on the more aggressive side than ever right now because we've lost four years in a row when we could've won," Dundon said on the Daily Faceoff's Frankly Speaking podcast Wednesday.

Carolina (38-10-8) is first in the Metropolitan Division and headed toward qualifying for Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth straight season following a nine-season drought. But the Hurricanes have been unable to take the next step since reaching the Eastern Conference Final in 2019, and Dundon believes it would be worth giving up pieces for the future to do it.

Finding a replacement for forward Max Pacioretty, who is out for the season after tearing his Achilles tendon for the second time, will likely be a priority.

"I think we've got ourselves in a position, with the amount of assets we have for the future and the age of our team and where we are, that we can probably be a little more aggressive giving up something in the future to increase our odds today without changing the window much, whatever that means," Dundon said. "Because I don't believe in the window thing. The reason we have so much turnover is we expect to be good every year."

Vegas Golden Knights 

The Golden Knights removed Shea Weber's contract from their long-term injured reserve and added depth at defenseman by acquiring Dysin Mayo in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday. In addition to Weber, they sent a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Weber, a defenseman who has not played the past two seasons and will likely not play again because of a foot/ankle injury, was acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on July 16, 2022. Moving his contract, which has three seasons remaining after this one with an annual NHL salary cap charge of $7.85 million, will give Vegas salary cap flexibility to make other moves in the offseason. 

Mayo, a fifth-round pick (No. 133) by the Coyotes in the 2014 NHL Draft, was assigned to Henderson of the American Hockey League. A right-hand shot, Mayo split this season between Arizona and Tucson of the AHL.

The 26-year-old had no points in 15 games with Arizona this season and seven points (two goals, five assists) in 26 AHL games with Tucson. Mayo, who scored in his NHL debut against the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 21, 2021, had 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 82 NHL regular-season games with the Coyotes.

Washington Capitals

The Capitals' 3-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday was their fifth straight, leaving them two points behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Tied with Detroit and one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington (28-25-6) faces an uphill climb to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth straight season and might have to consider selling at the deadline if it continues to struggle.

The Capitals have 11 healthy players eligible to become unrestricted free agents after this season, including defensemen Dmitry Orlov, Nick Jensen, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Erik Gustafsson, Matt Irwin and Dylan McIlrath and forwards Lars Eller, Garnet Hathaway, Conor Sheary, Marcus Johansson and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.

"There's a lot of guys that don't have contracts beyond this year, but that's part of the game," Hathaway said. "That's the business. But the guys right here in this room are committed to this team right now and winning with this team and winning with this group of guys."

The rest of this week could determine the Capitals' direction. They host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday and the New York Rangers on Saturday before visiting the Buffalo Sabres, who they lead by two points, Sunday. They did get Alex Ovechkin back after he missed five games following the death of his father on Feb. 17. He could play Thursday.

"I think this is kind of the biggest week of the year right now and I feel like guys know there's an urgency," forward Tom Wilson said. "The business part of it always creeps in, but we can't worry about that right now."

Anaheim Ducks

Defenseman John Klingberg was a late scratch for the Ducks' 6-1 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday because of a lower-body injury. The Ducks are likely to be careful with Klingberg's health with him expected to be moved before the deadline.

The 30-year-old signed a one-year contract last offseason and is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after the season. Anaheim (17-34-7) is tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets for last in the NHL with 41 points and looking for pieces for the future to help its rebuild.

Although Klingberg's production has dipped to 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 48 games this season after he had 47 (six goals, 41 assists) in 74 games with the Dallas Stars last season, he could help a contender in need of an offensive defenseman who can play the power-play point.

Forward Adam Henrique's health is also a concern after he did not play in the third period Tuesday because of a lower-body injury. There has been some speculation Henrique, who is tied with Trevor Zegras for the Ducks' lead with 19 goals in 57 games this season, will be moved before the deadline as well. But the 33-year-old's contract, which has one season remaining on it after this one, could be an impediment.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs announced on Wednesday that defenseman Jake Muzzin has been ruled out for the rest of the regular season and the postseason while he recovers from a cervical spine injury. The Maple Leafs announced on Nov. 15 he was out indefinitely and would be reevaluated in late February.

Though this news does not come as a shock to the Maple Leafs, and they have fared well without him this season (he's played just four games), this does free up some crucial NHL salary cap space for Toronto.

With Muzzin on LTIR, Toronto has about $4.4 million of cap space to work with ahead of the deadline.

"If we can improve [the defense] of course we will do that," general manager Kyle Dubas said last week, "but shift the focus from just singularly on the back end to the overall team and how we can improve it."