National Hockey League free agency began on Wednesday with five Canadians traded. Let’s see who were the players on the move.
Mavrik Bourque
Bourque, a centre from Plessisville, Quebec was traded from the Dallas Stars to the Nashville Predators with defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin for two draft picks (second round pick in 2027 and a third round pick in 2028). Bourque is joining his second NHL team after three seasons with the Stars. In 82 games with the Stars in 2025-26, Bourque had 20 goals and 21 asserts for 41 points. He was a +6 with 22 penalty minutes, five power-play points, one game-winning goal, one hat trick, 147 shots on goal, 107 faceoff wins, 21 blocked shots, 79 hits, 15 takeaways and 51 giveaways.
Bourque’s hat trick and game-winning goal in 2025-26 came on April 13 in a 6-5 Stars win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored from Canadian Olympic gold medalist Matt Duchene of Haliburton, Ontario and defenseman Alexander Petrovic of Edmonton, Alberta with five minutes and eight seconds left in the third period to break a 5-5 tie. Duchene won a gold medal for Canada in men’s hockey at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
Sean Durzi
Durzi, a defenseman from Mississauga, Ontario, was traded from the Utah Mammoth to the New York Rangers with prospect centre Cole Beaudoin of Ottawa, Ontario and a third round pick in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft for centre Vincent Trocheck. Durzi is joining his fourth NHL franchise after two seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, one season with the Arizona Coyotes and two seasons with the Mammoth. In 60 games with the Mammoth in 2025-26, Durzi had five goals and 22 assists for 27 points. He was -12 with 50 penalty minutes, two game-winning goals, four power-play points, 84 shots on goal, 88 blocked shots, 40 hits, 11 takeaways and 58 giveaways.
Durzi’s first game-winning goal of the season came on January 5 in ironically a 3-2 Mammoth win over the New York Rangers. Durzi scored from Lawson Crouse of Mount Brydges, Ontario and Nick Schmaltz at 1:06 of overtime. Durzi’s second game-winning goal of the season came on January 9 in a 4-2 Mammoth win over the St. Louis Blues. Durzi scored from Schmaltz and Crouse at 11:43 of the second period to put the Mammoth up 3-1 at the time.
Keegan Kolesar
Kolesar, a right winger from Brandon, Manitoba, was traded from the Vegas Golden Knights to the Detroit Red Wings for a seventh round pick in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft and a third round pick in the 2029 NHL Entry Draft. In 2025-26, Kolesar had six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 82 games with Vegas. He was a -14 with 55 penalty minutes, one shorthanded point, 67 shots on goal, 12 faceoff wins, 43 blocked shots, 270 hits, six takeaways, and 39 giveaways. Kolesar won a Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023. He played the last seven seasons in Vegas and his joining his second NHL team.
Darnell Nurse
Nurse, a defenseman from Hamilton, Ontario was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the San Jose Sharks for prospect defenseman Zack Sharp and defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin. Nurse had seven goals and 17 assists for 24 points in 2025-26. He was a -12 with 104 penalty minutes, two shorthanded points, 164 shots on goal, 166 blocked shots, 137 hits, 19 takeaways and 88 giveaways. Nurse spent the last 12 seasons with the Oilers.
Nurse’s two shorthanded points came in Oilers wins. The first came on October 11 in a 3-1 Oilers win over the Vancouver Canucks. Nurse set up Leon Draisaitl to close the scoring into an empty net with one minute and 13 seconds left in the third period. Connor McDavid of Richmond Hill, Ontario had the other assist. The second came on December 18 in a 3-1 Oilers win over the Boston Bruins. Nurse set up McDavid at 1:41 of the third period on an all-Canadian goal to close the scoring. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of Burnaby, British Columbia had the other assist.
Nick Paul
Paul, a left winger from Mississauga, Ontario was traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Toronto Maple Leafs for goaltender Dennis Hildeby, a fourth round pick in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft and a third round pick in the 2028 NHL Entry Draft. Paul is joining his third NHL team after seven seasons with the Ottawa Senators and five seasons with the Lightning. In 2025-26 with the Lightning, Paul had seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 51 games. He was a -15 with 32 penalty minutes, three power-play points, one game-winning goal, 68 shots on goal, 300 faceoff wins, 22 blocked shots, 75 hits, nine takeaways and 31 giveaways.
Paul’s game-winning goal came on January 10 in a 7-2 Lightning win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Paul put the Lightning up 3-1 at 13:37 of the second period on an all-Canadian goal. Defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous of Rimouski, Quebec and Anthony Cirelli of Etobicoke, Ontario had the assists.
