JOE SAKIC

The combination of jumbled standings in the Western Conference and a flat salary cap has stalled much of the trade market around the NHL.

The end of the NHL draft only ushers in more questions about what's coming next this offseason.

New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has been talking to Colorado counterpart Joe Sakic for almost two years about acquiring defenseman Ryan Graves. It led the two general managers to renew their discussions about the 26-year-old Graves, and they beat the deadline with a deal on Thursday night. “I slept very well,” Fitzgerald said Friday, less than a day after he sent forward Mikhail Maltsev and a second-round pick in this year's draft to the Avalanche for the former New York Rangers draft pick.

Jonathan Marchessault and Max Pacioretty scored 45 seconds apart in the third period to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series.

Mikko Rantanen scored a power-play goal 2:07 into overtime, Philipp Grubauer outdueled fellow Vezina Trophy finalist Marc-Andre Fleury and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Some of the NHL's top teams got a head start on the trade deadline by making moves.

The Colorado Avalanche have acquired goaltender Devan Dubynk from the San Jose Sharks for defenseman Greg Pateryn and a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft.

Colorado Avalanche right wing Joonas Donskoi reacts after scoring a goal against the Arizona Coyotes in the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, march 31, 2021, in Denver. Donskoi scored three times during Colorado’s five-goal first period, and the Avalanche beat the Arizona Coyotes 9-3 on Wednesday night in front of a smattering of boisterous fans. “Everybody was fired up and I think we showed it.”Donskoi secured his second career hat trick over a 3:27 span. AdAndre Burakovsky and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored in a wild first period that included Arizona goals by Michael Bunting and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Gabriel Landeskog finished with two goals, Mikko Rantanen added another and Burakovsky scored his second with 3:11 remaining on an assist by Donskoi.