In Vancouver, the surprise of the night came from an unlikely place: Leevi Meriläinen.
The waiver-wire pickup from Ottawa turned in a performance against Calgary that was hard to miss. The Flames produced 2.07 expected goals against him, but he allowed only one, finishing with a 1.07 GSAx.
In plain terms, he stopped about a goal more than an average goalie likely would have. He didn’t do it alone, either.
Vancouver’s defensive structure held up well in front of him and limited Calgary to just three high-danger chances for the game.
That kind of outing doesn’t prove anything on its own, but it does give the Canucks something interesting to monitor. For a rebuilding team still sorting out what it is, getting a solid night from a goalie nobody expected to be much more than a waiver claim is the sort of development that can sneak up and matter.
Edmonton, meanwhile, may be looking to make a different kind of move.
According to Elliotte Friedman, the Oilers are shopping for a forward and are open to moving a depth defenseman to make it happen. The names that keep coming up are Ty Emberson, Spencer Stastney, and Shakir Mukhamadullin, all of them inexpensive depth options earning under $2 million.
Emberson has quietly stood out as steady and dependable in a more disciplined defensive setup. Mukhamadullin has had a rough start, sitting at minus-6, though the coaching staff still likes his size and upside.
Stastney has not played yet this season and could be the easiest piece to move if Edmonton is treating him as emergency depth.
There’s no rush for the Oilers, though. They’re at the top of the NHL standings with five points in three games, and injured forwards Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are both expected back soon. That puts Edmonton in a position to negotiate from strength rather than chase a fix, which usually changes the way a trade conversation goes.
And then there’s the weirdest thread in the mix: the idea that a bunch of recent NHL trade requests all somehow trace back to one Team USA locker room.
The names being tossed into that theory include Tkachuk, Hellebuyck, Larkin, Werenski, and Hughes, which is enough to make people wonder if the players fed off one another’s frustrations during the tournament and came away with a shared sense of what they wanted. It’s a compelling thought, especially with the timing looking so strange and previous Team Canada groups never producing anything similar.
But the individual cases don’t really line up neatly with a grand theory. Hughes and Tkachuk wanted to play with their brothers before the Olympics ever entered the picture.
Werenski has not asked for a trade; he has simply been noncommittal. Larkin and Hellebuyck appear to have their own separate issues with their organizations.
And Auston Matthews, the team’s actual captain, is said to be perfectly happy in Toronto. So the pattern is real enough to notice, but the explanation probably has more to do with separate frustrations than any secret Team USA pact.
In Other News...
Flames Loss In Vancouver Exposed A Familiar Problem Again
Vancouvers win over Calgary had the kind of hard-edged, scrappy feel that tends to reveal a teams habits as much as it rewards them. The Canucks leaned into a physical, patchy game and got important work from Leevi Merilinen in goal, where his calm, effective presence helped steady things when the pace got choppy. Schenn and others brought the sort of straight-ahead physicality that can tilt a matchup like this, especially when both sides are grinding for every loose puck.
Still, the game also looked familiar in one area the Canucks would probably rather not revisit. Even with the result going their way, the power play struggled badly throughout the night, and it remained the one part of the performance that did not match the rest of the effort. For a team trying to build on wins like this, the frustration is that the margin for error gets thinner when a familiar weakness keeps showing up in the same moments. [Read more 🡒]
Elias Pettersson Looked Like A Difference-Maker Again In Canucks Win
The Canucks got what they needed in a 4-1 win over the Flames, and Elias Pettersson was in the middle of it again. The center not only picked up an assist, he also led Vancouver in hits, a reminder that his value stretches well beyond the scoring sheet when the game gets heavy.
Behind him, the night also brought a milestone in goal, with Leevi Merilinen earning his first win in Vancouver after stopping 23 shots. Luke Schenn added the kind of physical presence and leadership the Canucks often lean on in divisional games, helping set the tone in a matchup that had plenty of edge from the opening shift. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Blue-Line Trouble Just Made This Trade Rumor More Interesting
The early-season picture around the Vancouver Canucks has only made one of the leagues lingering trade ideas feel a little more complicated. Elias Pettersson has gotten off to a strong start and given the organization something to think about at a time when every conversation about the roster seems to come with a bigger strategic question attached, especially with the Canucks trying to sort out where they stand in the longer view.
Ottawas injury situation on the blue line adds another layer to the chatter. With Artem Zub and Jake Sanderson both out, the Senators have a real need on defense and could be pushed toward exploring the market, which is why a name like Simon Edvinsson is suddenly worth watching after reports that contract talks with Detroit have stalled and he would rather be moved than sign a new deal. For Vancouver, it is one more reminder that the trade board around the league is starting to shift in ways that could eventually spill over into their own decisions. [Read more 🡒]