With all the rumors floating around, I’m surprised that no deals were announced on Saturday. Trade deadline day in recent seasons seemed to have a bunch of small deals with the bigger trades taking place earlier, like on the weekend.<\/p>\n
Although Saturday did not feature any major trades, it did have plenty of NHL action to talk about.<\/p>\n
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Mika Zibanejad<\/a> and Taylor Raddysh<\/a> each scored in the Rangers’ 3-2 shootout win over Pittsburgh. Igor Shesterkin<\/a> stopped 31 of 33 shots to earn the win.<\/p>\n For the Penguins, Anthony Mantha<\/a> scored, giving him seven goals and 14 points over his last 11 games. I wrote more about Mantha yesterday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ryan Shea<\/a> also scored for the Penguins, giving him eight points in his last 10 games. The 29-year-old defenseman won’t be on many fantasy radars, but he has amassed 24 points in 58 games this season. All of his points this season have come at even strength, as he is only a part-time option for any power-play time. Aside from his team-leading plus-23, Shea doesn’t really stand out as a fantasy option in terms of peripherals. Prior to his recent run he went 11 games without a point, so this scoring isn’t likely sustainable.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n In the Flyers’ 3-1 win over Boston, Jamie Drysdale<\/a> and Travis Konecny<\/a> each scored a goal while adding an assist.<\/p>\n Dan Vladar<\/a> stopped 26 of 27 shots to earn the win. Vladar has now reeled off four consecutive quality starts dating back to before the Olympic break. Vladar has not allowed more than two goals in each of those four games, giving the Flyers much more dependable goaltending than Samuel Ersson<\/a>. Only three goalies have more quality starts than Vladar (25 QS) this season.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Michael Misa<\/a> led the Sharks with a goal and an assist in their 5-4 afternoon win over Edmonton. Misa was on a scoring line with Tyler Toffoli<\/a> and William Eklund<\/a>, but he totaled only 12 minutes of icetime in this game. Checking in on Misa in his rookie (draft) season, he has three goals and 10 points in 20 games. Don’t forget that he missed some games to play for Canada at the World Juniors, where he registered seven points in seven games. He isn’t ready to be universally rostered in single-season leagues, but he should obviously be stashed in keeper leagues.<\/p>\n For the Oilers, Evan Bouchard<\/a> scored a goal with two assists, while Connor McDavid<\/a> chipped in three assists. Bouchard leads all defensemen with 69 points in 61 games, including nine points over his last four games. Despite the scoring ability, he was left off Canada’s Olympic roster, which would have had more to do with his defensive skills.<\/p>\n #LetsGoOilers<\/a> Connor McDavid Last 33 Games:<\/p>\n Goals \u2013 24 \u2014 Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) February 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Dougie Hamilton<\/a>, Nico Hischier<\/a>, and Timo Meier<\/a> each scored goals in the Devils’ 3-1 win over St. Louis. Meier is on a shooting spree since returning from the Olympics. With eight shots on Saturday, Meier has 18 shots over his last three games. Two of those shots have resulted in goals. Meier has also been credited with nine hits over those three games, flexing his multicategory muscles. He has reached 100 hits for the fifth consecutive season and is about to reach 200 shots for the fifth consecutive season as well.<\/p>\n Jacob Markstrom<\/a> stopped 25 of 26 shots to earn the win. Dating back to before the Olympics, Markstrom has quality starts in each of his last four games for the Devils. Markstrom had a rough first half of the season with a 3.48 GAA and .878 SV% in 22 games, but he seems to be turning things around with a 2.40 GAA and .905 SV% over his last 10 games.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n The Blue Jackets made Kent Johnson<\/a> a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game against the Islanders. Johnson had been held without a point in his last three games, while his production is way down (18 PTS in 56 GP) from last season (57 PTS in 68 GP). I wonder if teams inquire about Johnson before Friday’s trade deadline. His icetime is down nearly four minutes per game from last season, while his power-play time is down nearly a minute per game from last season. Johnson’s decline from 24 goals last season to just six this season is due to a shooting percentage that has plummeted from 19.5% to 7.0%, evidence that he has been snakebitten to some degree this season.<\/p>\n With two assists on Saturday, Zach Werenski<\/a> extended his point streak to nine games. Over that span he has 13 points. Among defensemen, only Evan Bouchard<\/a> has more points than Werenski (65).<\/p>\n In the Islanders’ 4-3 win over Columbus, Scott Mayfield<\/a> and Jean-Gabriel Pageau<\/a> each scored a goal and added an assist.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Cale Makar<\/a> scored a pair of goals in the Avalanche’s 3-1 win over Chicago. Makar has four points over his last four games, but he had not scored a goal in his previous eight games.<\/p>\n Nathan MacKinnon<\/a> and Martin Necas<\/a> each registered two assists for Colorado. MacKinnon has six points (all assists) over his last three games. MacKinnon has also taken 14 shots over his last two games, including six shots on Saturday. Necas also has six points over his last three games.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Shayne Gostisbehere<\/a> and Taylor Hall<\/a> each scored a goal and added two assists in the Hurricanes’ 5-2 win over Detroit. Gostisbehere is not a top-10 scorer among defensemen because he has missed some games this season. Yet with 41 points in 42 games, Ghost Bear sits just below the point-per-game mark. Only six defensemen are scoring at a point-per-game pace this season, which gives you an idea of how productive he has been.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Anton Forsberg<\/a> stopped all 29 shots he faced in the Kings’ 2-0 win over Calgary. Forsberg snapped a three-game string of really bad starts, which included an appearance in relief on Thursday when the Kings got trounced 8-1 by Edmonton. The win was Los Angeles’ first in the month of February, snapping a five-game losing streak.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Cole Caufield<\/a> continues to be Mr. Saturday Night. With two goals against Washington, Caufield has 15 goals and 24 points in 17 Saturday games this season. It’s getting to the point where you should be placing your prop bet on him every Saturday because he seems so automatic. He also took five shots and a plus-3 in the 6-2 win for the Canadiens. With 35 goals on the season, Caufield is tied for second in goals in the league with Connor McDavid<\/a> and Matt Boldy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Caufield’s linemate Nick Suzuki<\/a> finished with a goal and two assists with a plus-4. \u00a0<\/p>\n All-time goal leader Alex Ovechkin<\/a> scored a pair of goals with six shots on goal. With the goals, Ovechkin broke a seven-game goal drought, which has been uncommon for him throughout his career.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n The Sabres can’t be stopped right now, which means they might finally end their long playoff drought. In the 6-2 win over Tampa Bay, Rasmus Dahlin<\/a> scored a goal while adding two assists. Josh Norris<\/a> scored two goals, giving him four points in four games (dating all the way back to January 14 because of a rib injury). \u00a0<\/p>\n Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/a> was pulled early in the second period after allowing five goals on 14 shots. The really bad start was Vasilevskiy’s first of 2026, as his last RBS was back on December 20. Prior to Saturday, the Big Cat had reeled off nine consecutive wins. Vasilevskiy is tied with Karel Vejmelka<\/a> for the league lead in wins with 28. Consider this start just a hiccup in what has been another impressive season for the Bolts netminder.<\/p>\n Andrei Vasilevskiy pulled after allowing 5 goals on 14 SOG tonight vs the Sabres.<\/p>\n It’s his quickest hook since December 29, 2017 vs the Flyers<\/p>\n \u2014 Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) March 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Dylan Cozens<\/a> and Drake Batherson<\/a> each scored twice in the Senators’ 5-2 win in Toronto. Cozens also contributed an assist for a three-point game. He also filled the statsheet with four shots and six hits. A further look at Cozens’ overall stats shows that he is a very strong peripheral contributor. He leads the Sens with 25 power-play points and 161 hits, which might not normally be the case with Brady Tkachuk<\/a> having missed 20 games this season. Regardless, Cozens is having a fine season.<\/p>\n The Leafs are watching their playoff chances disappear. At the rate they’re going, at least their fans won’t be disappointed by their playoff performance this season. Although the Leafs managed 23 shots on Saturday, they were at a grand total of four shots midway through the second period with Ottawa really carrying the play at that point. It will be interesting to see how far into sell mode they go by Friday, and how much longer Craig Berube will be the coach.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Wyatt Johnston<\/a> and Jason Robertson<\/a> each scored a goal with an assist in the Stars’ 3-2 overtime win over Nashville. For Johnston, the goal was his league-leading 20th power-play goal of the season. He’s in the top 10 in total goals with 32. Robertson is also in the top 10 in that goal category with 33 goals, and he also has five points over his last four games. The Stars have now won eight games in a row.<\/p>\n Like Johnston and Robertson, Steven Stamkos<\/a> is also now a member of the 30-goal club. With a goal on Saturday, Stamkos has eight points over his last six games. How’s this for a swing: Stamkos scored just a single goal in his first 14 games before hitting the twine 29 times in his last 45 games. Hopefully you didn’t give up on him too early (I did in one league, but I added him in another).<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Jordan Eberle<\/a> scored a pair of goals with an assist in the Kraken’s 5-1 win over Vancouver. Eberle’s assist looked like it was a goal for a hat trick, but the scorers awarded the goal to Matty Beniers<\/a> because it went off him.<\/p>\n Chandler Stephenson<\/a> scored a goal and added an assist for his own three-point game for Seattle.<\/p>\n Elias Pettersson<\/a> (the forward) has now gone 13 games without a goal with just a single assist over his last four games. He didn’t see any power-play time in the third period and wasn’t on the ice when the Canucks pulled the goalie. Rumors are swirling that he could be dealt before the deadline, but the Canucks are also believed to not be interested in retaining any of his $11.6 million cap hit. At this point, the only thing that might get him even close to his previous production levels is a fresh start elsewhere.<\/p>\n The Canucks game was so uninspired (familiar story) that I put it on mute to watch a certain ex-Canuck and his brother appear on Saturday Night Live. In case you missed it, here they are (they appear about halfway through the video). Not sure they have a future in acting, but they seem pretty popular south of the border right now.<\/p>\n \u2013 Follow me on X\u00a0@Ian_Gooding<\/a>\u00a0and Bluesky\u00a0@goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social<\/a><\/p>\n
Assists \u2013 40
Points \u2013 64
Plus\/Minus +19
Multi-Point Games \u2013 20<\/p>\n