We’ve got ourselves a couple of trades between Pacific Division rivals.

On Sunday, the Calgary Flames dealt defenceman Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for defenseman Zach Whitecloud, defence prospect Abram Wiebe, a 2027 first-round pick, and a conditional 2027 second-round pick. The second-round pick will become a first-round selection if the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup this year.

The Flames will also retain 50 percent of Andersson’s contract. The native of Malmö, Sweden, is signed through the end of the 2025-26 campaign with a cap hit of $4.55 million and is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Andersson was selected by the Flames in the second round of the 2015 draft. The defender made his NHL debut during the 2016-17 season, playing one game with Calgary in April. After appearing in 10 games with the Flames in 2017-18, Andersson broke through as an everyday player in 2018-19, scoring 19 points over 79 games and logging an average of 16:02 per night.

Since then, Andersson has developed into a top-pairing defender for the Flames. The 6-foot-1 left-hander scored 57 goals and 261 points over 573 games with Calgary between the 2018-19 and 2025-26 seasons. This year, he’s third on the team with 30 points in 48 games, and ranks first in time-on-ice at 24:14 per night on average.

The Flames are seventh in the Pacific Division at 21-23-4, while the Golden Knights are two points up on the Edmonton Oilers for top spot with a 24-11-12 record.

On Monday morning, the Vancouver Canucks traded forward Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for second-round selections in 2026 and 2027, along with minor-league defenceman Cole Clayton.

The Canucks inked Sherwood to a two-year, $3 million contract on July 1, 2024, and the rugged winger put together a breakout performance in his first season in Vancouver, setting career-highs with 19 goals and 40 points, while also setting an NHL record with 462 hits.

An undrafted free agent from Miami University (Ohio), Sherwood made his NHL debut with the Anaheim Ducks in 2018-19. Before signing with the Canucks, he played parts of six seasons with the Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, and Nashville Predators, scoring 24 goals and 58 points over 187 games.

This season, Sherwood is on pace to shatter the career-high in goals that he set with Vancouver in 2024-25. The 30-year-old has 17 goals through 44 games, just three shy of reaching the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his NHL career.

The Canucks sit dead last in the league with a 16-27-5 record, and it seems nobody is off the board in Vancouver when it comes to trade talk. Earlier this season, the team moved captain Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild when the star defenceman indicated he didn’t want to sign a new contract with the club.

For San Jose, the move signals a push to snap a six-year playoff drought. At 24-20-3, the Sharks are one of four teams tied at 51 points for the final two Western Conference playoff spots. Macklin Celebrini leads the team with 24 goals and 72 points, a whopping 40 points ahead of Alexander Wenneberg in second.

Matthew Tkachuk confirmed Monday that he’ll make his season debut when the Florida Panthers host the San Jose Sharks. The winger has been skating with the team for the past couple of weeks and took reps during morning skate on a line with Mackie Samoskevich and Evan Rodrigues.

Tkachuk has missed the first half of the season after undergoing surgery in August to repair a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia. The injuries stemmed from the 4 Nations Face-Off last February and ultimately cost him the remainder of the 2024-25 regular season. He did return for the playoffs, though, and even while clearly limited, still managed 23 points in 23 games. That included seven points in the Stanley Cup Final, helping Florida secure its second straight championship.

His return comes at an important time. With Aleksander Barkov sidelined, the Panthers have been inconsistent and sit at 25-19-3, currently outside the playoff picture in a crowded Eastern Conference.

Tkachuk’s comeback is also good news for USA Hockey. With the Winter Olympics approaching, these next few weeks give him a chance to find his rhythm and game speed before heading to Milan.