The Vancouver Canucks have traded forward Sam Gagner to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for forward Ryan Spooner, the team announced.

Gagner, 29, will rejoin the team that drafted him with the sixth overall selection in 2007. The London, Ontario native played his best hockey in Edmonton, reaching the 40-point mark in each of his first five seasons with the club.

The 5-foot-11 winger has spent the majority of the campaign on loan with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL and is in the second of a three-year contract with Vancouver. His deal has an annual cap hit of $3.15 million.

Gagner won't have to wait long for his chance in Edmonton, as the team announced that defenseman Matt Benning has been placed on injured reserve. The move clears a roster spot for Gagner to join the lineup against the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Spooner, 27, was acquired by Edmonton on Nov. 16 from the New York Rangers. It's been a trying season for the centerman, who's tallied three goals and five points through 41 games between the two clubs this year.

The Ottawa, Ontario product is in the first of a two-year contract with an annual cap hit of $4 million.

The move marks the second trade for the Oilers in less than 24 hours after the team sent Cam Talbot to the Philadelphia Flyers for Anthony Stolarz in a goaltender swap.

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Buffalo Sabres head coach Phil Housley didn't sugar coat his words after a 6-2 loss at home to the New York Rangers on Friday.

“We didn’t pin a guy in a cycle, we didn’t kill a play, we just let them roam and now we’re just riding our checks and it just looks like we’re soft," Housley told reporters after the game.

The Sabres got off to a sluggish start, spotting the Rangers a 2-0 lead after the first period.

“When we don’t execute we look slow, we look sloppy, we let guys off the wall in D-zone coverage, we were easy to play against in the first period.”

After boasting a league-best 11-3-1 record in the month of November, the Sabres have struggled to find consistency, failing to win back-to-back contests since Dec. 13.

"You have to understand the desperation at this time of the season. Every shift counts, every plays counts, the details of the game, that’s what is disappointing because you feel like we’re moving in the right direction and you take a step back.”

Heading into Saturday's action, the Sabres sit four points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They begin a three-game road trip on Sunday in New Jersey.

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The Edmonton Oilers traded goaltender Cam Talbot to the Philadelphia Flyers for netminder Anthony Stolarz, the clubs announced Friday night.

It's a trade that gives the Oilers a bit more wiggle room under the salary cap, as they gain a pro-rated $3.4 million in cap space for the rest of the season, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

That'll allow them to activate defenseman Andrej Sekera off injured reserve when they're ready to do so.

As part of his modified no-trade clause, Talbot had a 10-team list outlining the clubs he'd be willing to accept a trade to, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. The Flyers were not on the list, meaning Talbot had to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to materialize, LeBrun added.

Once Talbot plays for the Flyers, they'll set an NHL record by using eight goaltenders in a single campaign, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Talbot, 31, spent four seasons with the Oilers, who acquired him from the New York Rangers at the 2015 draft. He's a pending unrestricted free agent carrying a cap hit of about $4.17 million.

Stolarz, 25, played 19 games with the Flyers over the last three years. He's a pending restricted free agent with a $761,250 cap hit.

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Jesse Puljujarvi's agent, Markus Lehto, spoke out Friday on the situation surrounding his client and the Edmonton Oilers, suggesting a change of scenery might be best for the struggling winger.

"I think it's hard to reset," Lehto told Sportsnet's Mark Spector. "It's like, when the player isn't trusting anymore ... 'Do these guys really want me here? Do they really trust me to be a top-six guy? A top-nine guy? An offensive player?' The player is uncertain.

"Are we reaching the point that for the team and for the player, it might be actually beneficial for going different paths, different routes?"

Lehto's comments come after TSN's Ryan Rishaug reported that the Oilers are open to trading Puljujarvi if a proper return can be found.

Puljujarvi was drafted fourth overall by the Oilers in 2016 with tremendous hype after he recorded 17 points in seven games while winning gold for Finland at the world juniors. His NHL career thus far hasn't yielded anything close to the same success; Puljujarvi's notched just nine points in 45 games this season entering Friday while averaging 12 minutes per contest.

He's had three different stints with the AHL's Bakersfield Condors since being drafted, most recently in November, when he recorded four points in four games.

Puljujarvi is currently playing out the final year of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent at season's end.

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A certain New Jersey Devils goaltender finally got off the schneid.

Cory Schneider picked up his first regular-season victory since Dec. 27, 2017 as the Devils stormed back to defeat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in overtime Friday night.

Schneider came on in relief of Keith Kinkaid with New Jersey trailing 4-1, but the Devils then erupted for four unanswered goals, including Nico Hischier's overtime winner with less than two minutes remaining in the extra frame.

He did win a playoff game during the skid, helping New Jersey capture Game 3 of the first-round series it ultimately lost in five contests to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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The Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets are keeping Mark Stone on their radars prior to the Feb. 25 trade deadline.

Vegas has shown heavy interest in acquiring the Ottawa Senators superstar, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Meanwhile, Garrioch notes that Winnipeg is also in heavy pursuit of Stone, describing the Jets as "one of the most aggressive teams" in their pursuit of the Manitoba native.

Stone - a premier two-way player and pending unrestricted free agent - is one of the biggest names said to be available prior to the deadline, but the Senators are still pushing to sign the 26-year-old to a contract extension before being forced to trade him or risk losing him for nothing in the offseason, Garrioch adds.

The veteran winger was drafted 178th overall by the Senators in 2010 and has spent his entire career with the organization. Stone leads the club with 26 goals and 57 points in 57 games this season.

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Should the New York Islanders make the playoffs, any first-round home games will take place at NYCB LIVE, the site of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the club announced Friday.

If they advance beyond the opening round, they'll play their home games at Barclays Center, the team's other home in Brooklyn, "reflecting that the Nassau Coliseum does not qualify as an NHL major-league facility."

The Islanders currently sit three points clear of the Washington Capitals atop the Metropolitan Division with a game in hand.

New York is scheduled to play 21 of its 41 regular-season home contests at the Coliseum this season.

The Coliseum served as the Islanders' primary facility from their inception in 1972 until 2015.

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Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill is hoping to address his team's biggest weakness, the offense, ahead of the trade deadline.

"It's hard to score goals right now," he told NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger. "You watch games, every team seems to be in playoff mode right now.

"Every game seems to be 2-1, 3-2 right now. It's hard to score goals. I think that's where our game is going a little bit. If we could add a little more scoring, you can never have enough of it."

The Stars rank 29th in goals, averaging 2.54 per game. Only four Dallas players have managed double-digit goals. Meanwhile, the team has scored three-plus goals in a game just three times in 17 contests since the calendar flipped to 2019.

Nill says he's open to almost anything in his pursuit of more talent, but his willingness to make a trade could change if the Stars don't hold on to their playoff spot.

"I think there are a lot of teams, because of how tight things are in the standings, they're waiting to see where it all goes," he said. "So over the next two weeks that's something we're going to watch. We're very open to making a hockey trade if it's going to make us better. If we stay in the hunt the way we are, we're open to adding to our team."

The Stars currently occupy the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

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