This is the first trade in the league database in which brothers were traded for each other.
Nick Ritchie has nine goals and 21 points in 58 contests. The 27-year-old, who has a $2.5-million cap hit, is an impending unrestricted free agent.
Stecher has zero goals and seven points in 61 games. The 28-year-old is also an impending UFA.
The right-shot blue-liner was acquired by the Los Angeles Kings at last year's trade deadline. He tallied two goals and four points in four playoff games with the Kings.
Brett Ritchie has six goals and eight points in 34 games. The older Ritchie is on a league-minimum contract that expires after this season.
Mackey has two goals and three points in 10 NHL contests this season. The 26-year-old is an impending restricted free agent.
General manager Steve Yzerman poured cold water on the idea of the Detroit Red Wings having an aggressive trade deadline to supplement their chances in a crowded Eastern Conference wild-card race.
"I was not going to be a buyer under any circumstance," Yzerman said, per WZYZ Detroit's Brad Galli. "Not this year."
A hot stretch in February made it seem as though Detroit could push to end its six-year playoff drought, but recent back-to-back losses to the Ottawa Senators, who are also fighting for a spot, cemented Yzerman's stance.
"If I really thought that this group had a chance to make the playoffs, and ultimately, not just make them, but really go on a run, then maybe you keep your team together," Yzerman said.
He added: "Do I think we're a Stanley Cup contender this year? No. Did I think we had a chance to make the playoffs? Yes. And if I thought we were a Stanley Cup contender I would not have traded our unrestricted free agents."
Yzerman's recent trades recouped a bevy of assets for Detroit, who now own five picks in the opening two rounds of the 2023 draft and two first-rounders in 2024.
The Red Wings have banked 65 points on the season, and are five back of the New York Islanders for a wild-card spot with three fewer games played. However, four teams in the East currently sit between Detroit and New York at 66 points.
Yzerman took over as Red Wings GM in 2019 after eight seasons in charge of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
General manager Steve Yzerman poured cold water on the idea of the Detroit Red Wings having an aggressive trade deadline to supplement their chances in a crowded Eastern Conference wild-card race.
"I was not going to be a buyer under any circumstance," Yzerman said, per WZYZ Detroit's Brad Galli. "Not this year."
A hot stretch in February made it seem as though Detroit could push to end its six-year playoff drought, but recent back-to-back losses to the Ottawa Senators, who are also fighting for a spot, cemented Yzerman's stance.
"If I really thought that this group had a chance to make the playoffs, and ultimately, not just make them, but really go on a run, then maybe you keep your team together," Yzerman said.
He added: "Do I think we're a Stanley Cup contender this year? No. Did I think we had a chance to make the playoffs? Yes. And if I thought we were a Stanley Cup contender I would not have traded our unrestricted free agents."
Yzerman's recent trades recouped a bevy of assets for Detroit, who now own five picks in the opening two rounds of the 2023 draft and two first-rounders in 2024.
The Red Wings have banked 65 points on the season, and are five back of the New York Islanders for a wild-card spot with three fewer games played. However, four teams in the East currently sit between Detroit and New York at 66 points.
Yzerman took over as Red Wings GM in 2019 after eight seasons in charge of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Ducks are reportedly retaining 50% of Klingberg's $7-million cap hit.
Klingberg was one of the more prominent rearguards on the market. The 30-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent who bet on himself by signing a one-year pact with Anaheim in July. He had a modified no-trade clause that allowed him to list 10 teams to which he was willing to be traded, according to CapFriendly.
The Swede produced eight goals and 16 assists while averaging a career-worst 20:52 of average ice time in 50 games with the Ducks this season. Klingberg also posted subpar underlying numbers in that span, but Anaheim is among the worst teams in the NHL.
Klingberg has a track record of success on a better club, having topped 40 points in six of his eight campaigns with the Dallas Stars - including a 67-point effort in 2017-18 and 58 in 2015-16. The Stars drafted him 131st overall in 2010.
Sustr has spent his entire 2022-23 season in the AHL, collecting two goals and 10 assists in 39 games with the Iowa Wild. The 32-year-old defenseman is rejoining the Ducks organization after playing 23 games for Anaheim last season. Minnesota signed him as a free agent in July.
Nesterenko has 11 goals and 19 assists in 32 contests in his junior season at Boston College. The Wild selected the 21-year-old center 172nd overall in 2019.
Sundqvist has seven goals and 14 assists in 52 contests while seeing 14:16 of ice time per game.
A pending unrestricted free agent, Sundqvist comes with a cap hit of $2.75 million.
The 28-year-old was shipped to Detroit during last season's trade deadline as part of the package that sent defenseman Nick Leddy to the St. Louis Blues.
Sundqvist has 116 points in 340 career NHL games split between the Pittsburgh Penguins, Blues, and Red Wings.
Quick-hit analysis of big-league trades completed Friday, March 3.
Penguins bring back Bonino
Pittsburgh acquires: F Nick Bonino San Jose acquires: TBD
Bonino, a member of the Stanley Cup-winning Penguins of 2015-16 and 2016-17, is headed back to Pittsburgh after a six-year hiatus in a reported three-way trade. Now 34, Bonino's not the player he used to be, but he's not entirely washed up. He can fill a bottom-six role and block shots on the penalty kill for the Pens, who currently occupy a playoff spot. Bonino's been hot and cold this year, recording one point in his first 20 games, then 18 in his past 39 games. There's nothing wrong with this move in isolation; the player is useful and the price is fair. However, the Penguins' approach to the deadline has been puzzling. Instead of pulling the trigger on deals that include difference-makers, general manager Ron Hextall has only acquired Bonino and Mikael Granlund. Simply put, neither veteran will move the needle down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Blues take chance on Vrana
St. Louis acquires: F Jakub Vrana Detroit acquires: F Dylan McLaughlin, 2025 7th-round pick (Red Wings retain 50% of Vrana's salary)
This trade is about giving Vrana a fresh start. The 27-year-old winger spent several months earlier this season in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program dealing with an undisclosed issue. After returning to the Wings in December, Vrana played three NHL games (no points) and 17 AHL games (11 points). St. Louis is banking on the classic change-of-scenery bump while Detroit is offloading half of Vrana's $5.25-million cap hit this year and next. Vrana's shown flashes of 40-goal potential during previous stretches with Detroit and Washington. The Blues recently picked up Kasperi Kapanen, another project at forward, off waivers. Vrana and Kapanen are low-risk adds for a franchise trying to turn over most of its roster while remaining relatively competitive. It's worth a shot, though there's no guarantee either pans out.
Recapping weeks of activity
As we wait for trade activity Friday, below is a high-level recap of the past month - perhaps the wildest lead-up to a trade deadline in NHL history.
The first domino fell when Bo Horvat was shipped to the New York Islanders on Jan. 30. Between then and Thursday, 46 trades were registered with the league, according to the indispensable CapFriendly. The swaps involved 59 NHL players, as well as 38 minor leaguers and prospects. A whopping 62 draft picks were transferred, including 13 guaranteed first-rounders and three other potential firsts (if conditions are met). Four trades saw one team move "future considerations" to the other in lieu of a player or pick. Meanwhile, 15 of the 46 trades - or roughly 33% - featured salary retention of some kind.
Dave Reginek / Getty Images
The 48-8-5 Bruins, who became the fastest team in history to hit 100 points in a season on Thursday, bulked up with the acquisitions of defenseman Dmitry Orlov, and forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Garnet Hathway. (For good measure, Boston threw in a $90-million extension for David Pastrnak.)
In an attempt to keep pace with their division rivals, the Maple Leafs added six pieces - Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari, and Sam Lafferty up front, and Jake McCabe, Erik Gustafsson, and Luke Schenn on the back end. Out the door: forwards Pierre Engvall and Joey Anderson, and blue-liner Rasmus Sandin.
The Eastern Conference has owned the West on the ice this season, and on the trade market. The Devils won the Timo Meier sweepstakes. The Senators landed highly sought after Jakob Chychrun. And the Rangers double dipped by reeling in two impact forwards, Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane.
The Capitals and Predators have been the most compelling selling teams. Washington has been aggressive in unloading veterans as part of a retool, bidding farewell to Lars Eller, Marcus Johansson, Gustafsson, Orlov, and Hathaway. Nashville, a club cutting deep into its core, has flipped Mattias Ekholm, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, and Tanner Jeannot.
That Jeannot trade - a middle-six winger moving from the Predators to the Lightning for defenseman Cal Foote and five draft picks, including a first-rounder - boggled minds across the league. Will anything top it Friday?
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).
Detroit will retain 50% of Vrana's salary. He's signed through 2023-24 at a $5.25-million cap hit, so St. Louis takes on Vrana at $2.625 million.
The 27-year-old entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in October. He returned to the Red Wings in December and was subsequently placed on waivers.
Vrana tallied six goals and 11 points in 17 AHL contests. Detroit called him up in February, but he failed to find the scoresheet in three games. He scored a goal and two points in two games before entering the player assistance program.
Prior to 2022-23, Vrana struggled to remain in the lineup due to various injuries. He played a combined 76 games across 2020-21 and 2021-22. However, when he's been in the lineup, he's been an efficient scorer.
Since 2020-21, Vrana's 1.60 goals per 60 at five-on-five ranks behind only Auston Matthews among players with more than 80 games, according to Natural Stat Trick.
McLaughlin was signed by St. Louis in July 2022. The 27-year-old, who returned to action Feb. 25 after a lengthy injury, has one goal in six AHL contests this season. The pending unrestricted free agent has yet to play in the NHL.
After the trade, the Red Wings have a little over $8 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly.
