Wednesday, March 4, was a day for defensemen to change teams.
Tyler Myers got the ball rolling by accepting a trade from the Vancouver Canucks to the Dallas Stars. The 6-foot-8 Houston native will be playing in his home state on the same team as 6-foot-7 defenseman Liam Bischel.
Nick Blankenburg also moved from the Nashville Predators to the Colorado Avalanche for a 2027 fifth-round pick.
But the biggest move of the day was the Utah Mammoth acquiring defenseman MacKenzie Weegar from the Calgary Flames.
“Acquiring MacKenzie solidifies our back end as we continue to push towards the playoffs, and he will be a great addition to our team on and off the ice,” Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong said.
Here are the details and grades on the MacKenzie Weegar trade:
MacKenzie Weegar trade details
The Utah Mammoth acquire defenseman MacKenzie Weegar from the Calgary Flames for defenseman Olli Määttä, forward Jonathan Castagna and three 2026 second-round picks (Utah’s own and others previously acquired from the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers). Both players had to waive their no-trade clauses for the deal to go through.
Utah Mammoth trade grade: A-
Armstrong has been aggressively remaking the defense since the team moved to Utah in 2024. He added Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino and Ian Cole that first season and Stanley Cup winner Nate Schmidt last summer. Weegar gives the Mammoth a solid top four as they try to hold onto their wild-card position. And the Mammoth landed him without trading Tij Iginla, who would seem a natural to be part of a trade to Calgary, where his father Jarome had starred.
Calgary Flames trade grade: B-
Considering that Weegar is signed through 2031, it’s surprising that the Flames didn’t pry away a first-round pick. But three second-rounders are good in what’s expected to be a deep draft. Olli Määttä is a pending unrestricted free agent and Castagna, a third-round pick, is averaging a point a game in his third season at Cornell.
When is the NHL trade deadline?
The NHL trade deadline is at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, March 6.