This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
We'll need to get confirmation, but we may have had the NHL's latest trade ever last night. Around 3am the trade call was confirmed, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie, who, it has now been confirmed, never sleeps. The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Carl Hagelin, sending David Perron and Adam Clendening to the Anaheim Ducks.
This is an interesting trade for fantasy purposes, because both teams are looking to rekindle some offense where there hasn't been enough. Coming into the season it'd have been reasonable to assume that these are two teams will be competitive in the playoffs and one of their major strengths would be the ability to solve goaltenders.
That's been far from the case for these teams, who have spent the majority of the season outside playoff contention. For the Ducks, they've been in the NHL's cellar for goals scored almost the entire year.
Similarly, Perron and Hagelin are a couple of guys have not met our offensive expectations this year. This trade might make a lot of sense for both guys.
Perron, not incredibly fleet of foot, may find success in Anaheim's new defensively-focused plan of attack. There's a ton of talent floating around the team and he's likely to be getting a shot with some elite forward talent. He could take Hagelin's spot on Ryan Kesler's line with Jakob Silfverberg.
On the Pittsburgh end, it's been said that GM Jim Rutherford likes Hagelin's speed. (Who doesn't?) That speed may be of more use on a faster team than Anaheim. Hagelin is likely to get a shot playing with the most high-end offensive talent any team has to offer. So, despite his offensive totals on the season so far, he could be an interesting pick up today.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Rangers (Antti Raanta) at Flyers (Steve Mason), 1:00 PM
Devils (Cory Schneider) at Coyotes (Louis Domingue), 2:00 PM
Senators (Craig Anderson) at Kings (Jonathan Quick), 4:00 PM
Maple Leafs (James Reimer) at Bruins (Jonas Gustavsson), 7:00 PM
Capitals (Braden Holtby) at Sabres (Chad Johnson), 7:00 PM
Avalanche (Semyon Varlamov) at Blue Jackets (Anton Forsberg), 7:00 PM
Canadiens (Mike Condon) at Blues (Brian Elliott), 7:00 PM
Wild (Devan Dubnyk) at Predators (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 PM
Flames (Karri Ramo) at Oilers (Cam Talbot), 10:00 PM
Stars (Kari Lehtonen) at Sharks (Martin Jones), 10:30 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Saturday
New York Rangers
Dan Girardi, D (hand) - is likely for Saturday's tilt
Philadelphia Flyers
Healthy
New Jersey Devils
Patrik Elias, LW (knee) - may not play again this season
Michael Cammalleri, LW (upper body) - is not on the road trip
Jordin Tootoo, RW (head) - is questionable
Jiri Tlusty, LW (upper body) - is still dealing with his injury
Jacob Josefson, C (lower body) - is on Ir
John Moore, D (undisclosed) - didn't play Thursday
Bobby Farnham, LW (suspension) - will serve the second game in a four-game suspension
Arizona Coyotes
Joe Vitale, C (fractured orbital bone) - remains out
Mike Smith, G (lower body) - has skated again, but isn't ready to return
Ottawa Senators
Chris Phillips, D (back) - is looking more and more unlikely to play this season
Clarke MacArthur, LW (concussion) - has skated again, but is still without a timetable for return
Los Angeles Kings
Matt Greene, D (shoulder) - will not play this season
Kyle Clifford, LW (upper body) - is making progress
Toronto Maple Leafs
Stephane Robidas, D (knee) - has still not played this season and doesn't have a timetable
James van Riemsdyk, LW (foot) - is going to miss at least another month
Nick Spaling, C (upper body) - resumed skating Saturday
Boston Bruins
David Pastrnak, LW (upper body) - is questionable
Chris Kelly, RW (femur fracture) - won't play this season
David Krejci, C (upper body) - isn't ready to return
Adam McQuaid, D (upper body) - also not ready yet
Washington Capitals
Brooks Orpik, D (lower body) - started skating again, but won't be back for a bit
John Carlson, D (lower body) - didn't travel with the team to Buffalo
Jay Beagle, C (hand) - has skated, but isn't likely to play
Buffalo Sabres
Nicolas Deslauriers, LW (lower body) - is out
Zemgus Girgensons, C (upper body) - was injured in Friday's game
Tyler Ennis, LW (upper body) - is on IR
Colorado Avalanche
Brad Stuart, D (back) - attempted to skate this week, but it didn't go well
Reto Berra, G (ankle) - remains on injured reserve
Jesse Winchester, LW (concussion) - has been on the shelf all season
Erik Johnson, D (lower body) - is unlikely for Saturday
Ben Street, C (chest) - remains out
Columbus Blue Jackets
Nick Foligno, LW (upper body) - out
Matt Calvert, LW (knee) - is likely to miss another couple weeks
David Savard, D (upper body) - will be out an "extended period of time" after Wednesday's injury
David Clarkson, RW (upper body) - is on IR
Curtis McElhinney, G (ankle) - remains on IR
Montreal Canadiens
Carey Price, G (leg) - remains out
Tom Gilbert, D (lower body) - won't play Saturday
St. Louis Blues
Jake Allen, G (lower body) - is week-to-week
Carl Gunnarsson, D (upper body) - is week-to-week
Magnus Paajarvi, LW (upper body) - will miss an "extended period of time"
Jaden Schwartz, LW (ankle) - resumed skating, but isn't likely to return until after the All-Star break
Jay Bouwmeester, D (upper body) - is officially week-to-week, but was seen on the ice at morning skate
Alexander Steen, LW (undisclosed) - was injured in Thursday's game and hasn't had his status updated
Steve Ott, C (hamstring) - will miss upwards of another month
Minnesota Wild
Ryan Carter, LW (hand) - has been ruled out Saturday
Nashville Predators
Colin Wilson, LW (lower body) - is on IR
Gabriel Bourque, LW (upper body) - returned to practice Monday and is approaching a return
Calgary Flames
Jiri Hudler, RW (groin) - has been ruled out Saturday
Lance Bouma, C (laceration) - is week-to-week
Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid, C (collarbone) - is out until after the All-Star break
Oscar Klefbom, D (finger) - has no timetable to return
Matt Hendricks, LW (suspension) - is still suspended
Andrew Ference, D (undisclosed) - is on IR
Dallas Stars
Healthy
San Jose Sharks
Dainius Zubrus, RW (upper body) - is on IR
Raffi Torres, LW (knee) - is in the AHL rehabbing
Hot
Dylan Larkin, C, DET — The 19-year-old rookie continues to shine, assisting on an overtime winner on Thursday. He was held without a point the prior game and that snapped a five-game point streak. He's scoring like crazy and outside of his fantasy value, his defensive play has been a worthy of ballads. Over the last seven games he has a goal and five assists with a plus-3 rating, four penalty minutes, an average of over two shots per game, three hits and two blocked shots.
Patrick Kane, RW, CHI — Here's something that will surprise you: Kane's hat trick on Friday? That was the first regular season hat trick of his career. Really. The 27-year-old is one of the league's most dynamic scorers and that was his first hat trick. So, he grabbed a hat trick, but how hot has he been since his record-breaking streak? Just nine goals and 21 points in 16 games. No big deal. As of Saturday morning he leads the league in goals, assists, points, power play goals, is second in game-winning goals and sixth in shots.
Cold
Pekka Rinne, G, NSH — It's been a rough run for All-Star selection Pekka Rinne. He hasn't had a single game with a save percentage over .900 in the last four starts. He's crossed that pretty minimal threshold just once in the last eight games. In his most recent start, he posted a .792, allowing five goals on 24 shots. Nashville's defense has been as good as you'd expect. He's only faced north of 30 shots once in those games and even faced as few as 17 in a sub-.900 performance. It's been a horror show for the All-Star.
Jason Pominville, RW, MIN — Speaking of horrors, Pominville can't be happy with his season. It took him a shocking 21 games to get a goal on the scoresheet to start the year. That's a career-long drought. It started to look like the fairly consistent playmaker was turning things around, but now he hasn't posted a single point in 11 games. With just 14 shots in this stretch, he's not doing much to fix the problem, unlike the early-season slump when he was putting rubber on net consistently.
Recommended Pickup
Nail Yakupov, LW, EDM — Yakupov is finally returning from a lower-body injury suffered in late November. In his first game back he looked like a number one overall pick. He was buzzing all over the ice, grabbing a goal, three shots and drawing a penalty in a very limited 11:30 of ice time. A big part of the limited ice time is giving him a little time to adjust back to game speed. He'll get back toward his usual amount of ice time soon enough. Importantly, he's available in many leagues right now and is affordable in daily games. Combine that with the fact that he'll be reunited with linemate Connor McDavid after the All-Star break and things are looking up. The Yakupov-McDavid-Benoit Pouliot line was one of the most exciting in the league before McDavid went down with a broken collarbone.
