How NHL players traded in-season have performed with new teams

Now just under two months until the NHL trade deadline, we can expect rumours to pick up in pace, though with playoff races still tightly packed — especially in the Eastern Conference — it may yet take some time for the sellers to be ready to do business.

Since the season opened in North America in October, 16 trades have been made, ranging from top-four defencemen to important goalies, depth players and even a couple of intriguing youngsters.

At this pace, and with the salary cap projecting to jump quickly, we could be in for an exciting trade season.

By this time season, 12 trades had been made. The Cutter Gauthier-Jamie Drysdale swap was one of the more dramatic, while Nikita Zadorov to Vancouver was the most immediately impactful. In fact, four of those 12 trades were made by the Canucks, who have made just one in-season move this season (and we await what happens with J.T. Miller and/or Elias Pettersson).

Before the flurry of action picks up again — any day now — we're using the halfway mark of the season to look back at the 16 moves that have been made, and take stock of how the more notable NHL players have been performing for their new teams.

Olli Maatta, Utah Hockey Club

On track to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, 30-year-old Maatta had fallen out of favour in Detroit, as his ice time decreased at even strength and on the penalty kill from 2022-23 to 2023-24, falling by a total average of over two and a half minutes per game. In seven games with the Wings this season, Maatta was averaging just under 16 minutes a game. Just before Halloween, he was dealt to the Utah Hockey Club for a third-round draft pick as Salt Lake's team was dealing with a number of injuries.

It was a deal Utah had to make with Sean Durzi and John Marino — both projected top-four defencemen — out long term. And Maatta has met the challenge, averaging 21:44 a game and returning to a prominent role on the penalty kill. His underlying defensive numbers are some of the best among all Utah blueliners. And all this earned him a spot on Finland's 4 Nations roster.

With Durzi and Marino both skating and perhaps nearing returns (Marino hasn't played at all this season), it will be interesting to see what becomes of Maatta's utilization. Right now, he's playing on the right side next to Mikhail Sergachev, but with both returning defencemen being right shots, and Maatta as a lefty, he'll at least give head coach Andre Tourigny some flexible options.

Timothy Liljegren, San Jose Sharks

Unable to earn a regular spot in Toronto's playoff lineup over the years, Liljegren was cut out of the Leafs' plans completely by new head coach Craig Berube, who scratched the right-shot defender for nine of the team's first 10 games this season. A new beginning was clearly needed, and Toronto found a trade partner in San Jose that had both the cap space to absorb the entirety of Liljegren's $3-million cap hit through next season, and the time to see how/if the 25-year-old grows with opportunity.

Liljegren has played 30 games for the Sharks and he's averaging 18:26 of ice time per game, including two minutes on the power play. His goal production has been modest, but an improvement from his time as a Leaf — Liljegren has four goals after scoring three times all last season and 14 over his entire tenure in Toronto.

Underlying numbers were never a concern for Liljegren in Toronto, and though they aren't fantastic in San Jose, that can largely be attributed to the fact the Sharks are 31st in the league (in points) and with the worst goal differential overall. Nonetheless, his goals percentage and expected goals percentages at five-on-five (46.34 and 46.26, respectively) are both second-best among San Jose's blueliners.

Daniel Sprong, Seattle Kraken

Two years ago, Sprong had a career season in Seattle, scoring 21 goals and 46 points in 66 games to set new personal bests. But rather than being a jumping-off point for the then-25-year-old, Sprong has back-pedalled since, scoring 18 goals in 76 games for the Red Wings last season. So far in 2024-25, he's struggled to even see game action on two different teams.

Sprong started off in Vancouver after signing there as a free agent on July 20, but got into just nine games and scored once. Cap and roster pinches led to him being traded back to Seattle for future considerations but with a new coaching staff in place, the transition back hasn't been so smooth. Sprong has been healthy-scratched on multiple occasions and been in the lineup for just 10 of the 26 games the Kraken of played since the trade. He had a goal and an assist in those games and was placed on waivers by the Kraken Wednesday.

Lars Eller, Washington Capitals

Realizing that, Hey, we're actually going to be in the mix this season, the Capitals jumped the trade market early and acquired a familiar face in Eller on Nov. 12. A great addition to their bottom six as their top six thrives, Eller has three goals and seven points in 22 games but his primary contributions come in other ways.

Eller has won over 53 per cent of the faceoffs he's taken, second on the team. He's dabbled on the second penalty-killing unit and can reliably be moved to the left wing when the team needs, as well. Come trade deadline, competitive teams often look for depth centres, and the Capitals got theirs early this season.

Philip Tomasino, Pittsburgh Penguins

Amid Nashville's flailing and a halfway "rebuild" plan from the GM, the Predators sent away 23-year-old Tomasino to Pittsburgh, a first-round pick in 2019. In return, Nashville received a fourth-round draft pick in 2027.

Tomasino immediately went on a hot streak with the Penguins, scoring three goals in his first five games, but has scored just once in the 11 games since. A crash into the boards and a lower-body injury has kept him out of Pittsburgh's lineup since last week.

As the Penguins creep back into the playoff picture, the plan still appears to be to sell off what makes sense and recoup young players to move forward with. Tomasino hasn't been a high-end performer in his NHL career: his rookie season remains his best, when he scored 11 goals and 32 points in 2021-22, but in the past two half-seasons he played with the Predators, Tomasino's production was pacing around 20 goals and 40 points over a full schedule.

Scott Wedgewood and MacKenzie Blackwood, Colorado Avalanche

These players were acquired in two separate trades made 10 days apart, but are related moves, so we'll roll them in together.

The No. 1 reason the Avalanche got off to such a wobbly start this season was because their goaltending tandem of Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen ranked at the bottom of the league in save percentage. Sure, there were injuries the team had to contend with, but the netminders' play was only adding to those pressures.

So, the front office wasted no time completely changing the situation in the crease. First came Wedgewood, a 32-year-old career backup who could plug a hole for a time. Then came Blackwood, a former No. 1 for the New Jersey Devils and a star-on-the-rise at the position before injuries contributed to declining numbers. He was able to stabilize himself in San Jose this season behind a weak defence and was brought in to Colorado to do most of the lifting in a tandem with Wedgewood.

Since the second of these trades was made a month ago, the Avalanche have the league's best all-situations team save percentage at .919 and have gone 10-3-1. Blackwood has been especially excellent, with a 7-1-1 record, .938 save percentage and 1.69 GAA in Colorado. He has the fifth-best goals saved above expected in the league over the full season, according to MoneyPuck.com, and signed a five-year extension with a $5.25-million cap hit.

In that span, the Avalanche have made up two points on division-rival Dallas, three on Winnipeg and five on Minnesota. More importantly, the've earned six more points than Vancouver and eight more than Calgary over the past 31 days to pass both of them in the wild-card race and create a little space in the standings.

As for the outgoing goalies, Annunen has actually thrived in Nashville, where he's had a .930 save percentage and 2.28 GAA in six appearances. Still just 24 years old, he's worth watching as Juuse Saros' backup. We'll have more on Georgiev below.

David Jiricek, Minnesota Wild

Quick check in on Jiricek, the sixth-overall pick from 2022 who Columbus' new front office moved off in a hurry. Giving up four draft picks (including a 2025 first) and Daemon Hunt to get him, the Wild have a strong blueline already in place and thus have time to develop Jiricek in the AHL a little longer if they want. That's where he's been since the trade was made, suiting up in 11 games for the Iowa Wild and recording two points with a minus-2.

While this was a long play for the Wild, Jiricek has 53 games of NHL experience and can be called up when needed. And that's where we're at today. With Brock Faber injured, Jiricek was recalled to Minnesota on Wednesday and could possibly make his NHL Wild debut Thursday night.

Jacob Trouba, Anaheim Ducks

On Nov. 25, rumours started swirling that the New York Rangers were exploring trades for both Chris Kreider and their captain, Jacob Trouba.

While Kreider remains, it turns out Trouba wasn't long for the Big Apple. Eleven days after the initial report, Trouba was sent to Anaheim in basically a salary-dumping, roster-clearing move that came with the threat of waivers if he used his partial no-trade clause to nix the deal.

Trouba has played 15 games with the Ducks, recording two assists. More to his nature, Trouba has been credited with 41 hits in that time, second on the team to bash brother — and captain — Radko Gudas.

Although it remains unlikely the Ducks will make the playoffs and are still a year or two away from taking a meaningful step up, it should be noted that they are 7-7-1 since the move, while the Rangers keep spiralling and have been 5-10-1 since sending Trouba away. Playoffs or not, the Ducks are now a more difficult team to play against.

Nikolai Kovalenko and Alexandar Georgiev, San Jose Sharks

First, the bad news: Georgiev has allowed fewer than four goals in just two of his six starts for the Sharks — and he allowed three against in both of those games. That's 23 goals allowed in six appearances and an .881 save percentage (which is actually slightly better than it was in Colorado, which tells you how horribly it was going there).

Now, the good news: Kovalenko started with five points, all assists, in his first four games with the Sharks when he was getting some run with Macklin Celebrini as his linemate. Before this season began, Kovalenko was a wild-card Calder candidate because of the chance he would get an opportunity to play alongside Nathan MacKinnon and deliver offence. The rookie of the year case is out the window now, but the early connection with Celebrini allowed the Blackwood trade to be painted with optimism. That line hasn't stuck and Kovalenko's production has tailed off, but the 25-year-old has flashed his top-six potential.

Cam Fowler, St. Louis Blues

A defenceman the Ducks leaned upon, Fowler's average time on ice has actually gone up over 22 minutes per game in St. Louis and, with nine points in 12 games since the trade, he's been the Blues' most productive blueliner at even strength and with the man advantage. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blues are outshooting opponents 90-80 with Fowler on the ice, and outscoring them 12-9. Also consider that only Colton Parayko has more defensive zone starts than Fowler, making his achievements all the more impressive.

It hasn't quite paid off in the standings yet, as the Blues are 5-5-2 since trading for Fowler and still sit on the outside of the playoff picture. But they're just three points back of the second wild-card spot and have overall been a better team since Jim Montgomery was hired as head coach in late November.

Kaapo Kakko, Seattle Kraken

Trade rumours had been swirling around Kakko since before last off-season started, but he wound up signing a one-year extension with the Rangers. That was more of a bridge to some sort of conclusion in New York, which is exactly what happened on Dec. 18, when the No. 2 overall pick from the 2019 draft was sent to Seattle for Will Borgen.

While the Rangers were unsure which direction Kakko was going after he failed to build on a career-best 40-point season in 2022-23, he was also growing frustrated with the organization and head coach Peter Laviolette's decision to make an example out of him with a healthy scratch, despite healthy underlying numbers. One day after Kakko discussed this with the media, the trade was made.

Lo and behold, the early returns have been massively positive for Kakko, who has been given a top-line job on right wing with the Kraken and delivered five points in eight games.

Will Borgen, New York Rangers

Mostly a bottom-pairing defender in Seattle, Borgen's average ice time has jumped by more than three minutes with the Rangers as he's been utilized in a top-four capacity. He has the second-most hits and third-most blocked shots on the Rangers' defence, and though the team has been outshot 71-68 when he's been on the ice at five-on-five, that shots-for percentage (48.92) is actually one of the better marks for New York blueliners in the nine games he's played.

The Rangers are 3-5-1 since making this trade and they replaced Kakko up front with Arthur Kaliyev, who they claimed on waivers this week. But the damage, it seems, has been done. The Rangers have been leaking high-quality chances all season, a fact that hasn't been improving. And since the Trouba-Kreider trade rumours initially got out, New York is 6-13-1 for a .325 points percentage, which ranks 30th in the league.

Alexandre Carrier, Montreal Canadiens

There is a promising rebuild going on in Montreal and the Canadiens are suddenly in the thick of a playoff race at the halfway mark. But while it's nice to have a steady stream of potential coming into the organization, some other rebuilds (ahem, Buffalo) have warned us what can happen if you rely on young players arriving and immediately delivering.

These youngsters need to be insulated with more experienced players, which may not always mean mid-30s veterans. In Montreal's case, it was able to key in on Carrier, a 28-year-old who plays heavy PK minutes, well over 20 minutes in all situations and blocks plenty of shots. Basically, he knows how to play important minutes against tough assignments and is young enough to still be part of this team when it's scheduled to really take off. Carrier is under contract for another two seasons beyond 2024-25 and, with so many younger and inexperienced defencemen already in the stable, the Habs could afford to offload Justin Barron.

In nine games with the Canadiens, Carrier has five points, and is among the team leaders in hits and blocked shots. Perhaps it's not a coincidence Montreal has been 7-2-0 since making this trade, including an impressive road trip over the holidays.