NHL On Tap: Kraken, Devils, Canucks play home games amid trade rumors

There are five games on the NHL schedule for Wednesday, including two nationally televised in the United States. Here are the five things to watch today, along with the complete game schedule.

Kraken the top three

The Seattle Kraken can again jump over the Edmonton Oilers into third place in the Pacific Division when they play the St. Louis Blues at Climate Pledge Arena (10 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+). The Oilers moved one point ahead of the Kraken with a 5-4 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, but Seattle can move back into third, and potentially into a tie for second place with the Anaheim Ducks, if it can win its third straight game and sixth in a row at home. The Kraken (29-22-9) won 2-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday after a 5-1 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. They lost their first two games coming out of the break for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, including 5-1 at St. Louis on Feb. 26. Seattle goalie Joey Daccord has won six of his past seven starts and made 35 saves against Carolina. The Kraken have allowed two goals or fewer in every game of their five-game home winning streak and have never won six in a row at home. The Blues (22-29-9) are caught in the crosshairs of the NHL Trade Deadline at 3 p.m. ET on Friday. A number of their players, including captain Brayden Schenn and center Robert Thomas, have their names in trade rumors.

Devilish surge

The hill is steep, but the New Jersey Devils, 11 points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 21 games to play, will continue their attempt to climb it when they face the slumping Toronto Maple Leafs at Prudential Center (7 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SN, TVAS). The Devils (30-29-2) have won their past two games, 3-1 against the Blues on Saturday and 5-1 against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, when they had five different goal-scorers. Jack Hughes has five points in four games since returning from the Olympics, but the Devils center is still searching for his first goal since scoring the "Golden Goal" in overtime to lift Team USA to a 2-1 win against Team Canada on Feb. 22. Auston Matthews won gold with Hughes in Milan, but he also has not scored in four games since returning and it hasn't gone near as swimmingly for the Maple Leafs (27-24-10), who have lost four in a row (0-3-1) to fall nine points out of a playoff spot with 21 games to play. The Deadline looms large for each of these teams.

Western Cane-ada

The Hurricanes will look to start a new streak when they continue a four-game road trip against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNP, FDSNSO). It's the first of three straight games in Western Canada for Carolina (38-16-6), which had a 12-game point streak end in Seattle on Monday. It was 10-0-2 during the run, tied for the fourth longest in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history. There's certainly plenty of questions about the Canucks, who traded defenseman Tyler Myers to the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. Vancouver (18-35-7) is on a six-game slide (0-4-2), lost its past two games to Seattle and the Dallas Stars by a combined 11-2 and is 2-15-4 in the calendar year.

Calder showdown

Arguably the top two rookies in the League this season will go head-to-head when defenseman Matthew Schaefer and the New York Islanders visit forward Beckett Sennecke and the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center (10 p.m. ET; Victory+, MSGSN, KCOP-13, SNW, SNO, SNE). Sennecke leads all rookies with 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) and Schaefer is first with 20 goals and third with 44 points. Neither rookie had a point in the first game between the Ducks and Islanders on Dec. 11, when New York won 5-2 with Schaefer playing a team-high 25:19. The Ducks (33-24-3) had a five-game winning streak end with a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. The Islanders (35-21-5) have won five in a row with Schaefer, 18, scoring four goals in three games since returning from the Olympic break. Sennecke, 20, could join Bobby Ryan (2008-09) as the second Ducks skater to lead rookies in scoring at season's end.

Markin' Larkin

Dylan Larkin has a chance to join some exclusive company when the Detroit Red Wings play the Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, SCRIPPS). Larkin, with 28 goals, is two away from becoming the fifth player in Red Wings history with six 30-goal seasons. The previous four are all in the Hockey Hall of Fame; Gordie Howe (14), Steve Yzerman (11), Sergei Fedorov (nine) and Brendan Shanahan (seven). He also needs three points to tie Shanahan (633) for 10th in team history. Detroit (35-20-6) is two points behind the Buffalo Sabres for second in the Atlantic Division. Vegas (28-19-14) has lost three in a row, including 3-2 at Buffalo on Tuesday, and is 4-8-2 since Jan. 19.

The schedule

Vegas Golden Knights at Detroit Red Wings (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, SCRIPPS)

Toronto Maple Leafs at New Jersey Devils (7 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SN, TVAS)

Carolina Hurricanes at Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNP, FDSNSO)

New York Islanders at Anaheim Ducks (10 p.m. ET; Victory+, MSGSN, KCOP-13, SNW, SNO, SNE)

St. Louis Blues at Seattle Kraken (10 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+)