On Tuesday’s episode of "Daily Faceoff Live" Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna talk about the sneakiest deadline acquisitions.
Frank Seravalli: We still have a few deadline topics to wrap up, and one is when you take a look, Mike, at players who were added for mid to late first-round picks over the deadline period, and there are lots of them, who stands out to you as a sneaky deadline addition — someone you think could make a bigger impact than the price that was paid for him?
Mike McKenna: You know, I really like the Minnesota Wild picking up Oskar Sundqvist. For a fourth-round pick, to get a player whose salary isn’t high and didn’t cost a lot, he essentially is supposed to come in and replace Jordan Greenway on that third line and play alongside Marcus Foligno and Frederick Gaudreau. He’s going to be a lot to handle down below the goal line. This is a player who is capable of playing center, but I think he factors more so on the wing for the Wild.
He’s got a reputation for being someone of not only plays hard, but is a great teammate, knows how to win. He was a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues back in 2019. If you talk to anybody on that team they will say how important he was and how versatile he was for the Blues. He can skate, he’s 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, and he can fly. Even this year in Detroit he played some penalty kill, averaging about a minute per game. You can stick him in front of the net on the power play if you’re looking for someone to stand in front of the goalie, take his eyes away and tip some pucks. I think to me Sundqvist looks like a great pickup for Minnesota. He has the experience, and I think Bill Guerin hit a home run.
Frank Seravalli: OK, so I’m going to give you a hot take and say that he’s not even the best player that the Wild added a fourth-round pick at the deadline. I would say, that would be John Klingberg. When you take a look at the price for Klingberg, relative to Sundqvist and others, the fact they were able to get him for essentially a fourth-round pick is still pretty impressive.
To me, that’s not the sneaky deadline addition though. People all are over the Carolina Hurricane saying they didn’t do enough at the deadline period. This is a team who took a flier on Jesse Puljujarvi, and for me, I think Shayne Gostisbehere, adding a 50+ point defenseman for basically a third-round pick in 2026. Half of this team might not even be here by 2026 when that pick is made. Gostisbehere steps immediately into the Hurricanes lineup, and on Sunday he records three points all on the power play. You look at his impact on the scoresheet, and not just there but you look at that Carolina defense and how it’s slotted out, even if he’s playing third-pair minutes for you he’s improving your team from that perspective. I love the addition of Gostisbehere for a third-round pick, let alone it was in 2026. To me, I think for a team that’s been the best in the NHL since Jan. 11 that they didn’t really need to do a whole lot.
You can watch the full episode here…
More must-reads: