Quick, Bertuzzi, other NHL stars traded
Jonathan Quick is on the move again, back to the Pacific Division to solve the Vegas Golden Knights' latest goaltending quandary.
Vegas acquired Quick from Columbus on Thursday, less than 36 hours after the Los Angeles Kings traded the two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender and 2014 playoff MVP to the Blue Jackets.
After losing All-Star starter Logan Thompson to an injury, the Golden Knights sent a 2025 seventh-round pick and journeyman netminder Michael Hutchinson to complete the deal with Columbus, which retained half of Quick's salary.
Another playoff-bound team in the Western Conference upgraded at forward, with Edmonton getting Nick Bjugstad from Arizona. The Coyotes got a 2023 third-round pick and prospect Michael Kesselring for Bjugstad and minor-leaguer Cam Dineen.
Bjugstad going off the market and Quick getting dealt again leaves Philadelphia winger James van Riemsdyk and Anaheim defenseman John Klingberg as the top players left to be traded before the 3 p.m. EST Friday deadline. Chicago's Max Domi is also expected to change places after being scratched for trade-related reasons.
In by far the busiest two-week stretch leading up to the deadline over the past decade, teams have made 42 trades involving 82 players — including Quick twice and counting the contracts of Shea Weber and Jakub Voracek — and 53 draft picks, leaving slim pickings for what's usually a frantic final day.
“I haven't seen anything like it at all,” Boston Bruins president Cam Neely said. “I think everybody is looking at their clubs and saying, `We have a chance.' And we're no different, obviously, with the season we've had.”
Neely's NHL-leading Bruins got the action going Thursday by acquiring winger Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit for a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2024 and a fourth-rounder in 2025, the latest move by a Stanley Cup contender to keep pace in the loaded East. The Red Wings are retaining half of Bertuzzi's salary for the rest of the season.
Bertuzzi is a 28-year-old pending free agent winger who gives Boston depth up front and insurance for injured winger Taylor Hall. The team put Hall on long-term injured reserve, ruling him out until late March.
Enter Bertuzzi, who has 88 goals and 114 assists in 305 regular-season games. He has yet to reach the playoffs in the NHL. BRUINS ROUT SABRES TO BECOME FASTEST TEAM TO 100 POINTS >> David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists just a few hours after signing a new contract and the surging Boston Bruins became the fastest team in NHL history to reach 100 points by beating the Buffalo Sabres 7-1 on Thursday night.
Boston improved to 48-8-5 in its 61st game, besting the Montreal team from 1976-77 that reached 100 points in 62 games. The Bruins are on pace to surpass that Canadiens club for most points (132) in a season.
But the Bruins got a injury scare on Thursday when Brad Marchand took a big hit in the second period and didn't return for the third.
Skiing
DIGGINS CONTINUES MAKING HISTORY
AT WORLDS >> Jessie Diggins became the first American to win world championship gold in an individual cross country ski race, finishing 14 seconds in front of Sweden's Frida Karlsson on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old Diggins outlasted the competition in the 10-kilometer race, crossing the line in 23 minutes, 40.8 seconds to become the first racer outside of Europe to win gold at a world championships in the sport since 2017.
She also made history at the Winter Olympics last year. Diggins closed the Beijing Games with silver, the best result by an American in an individual cross-country skiing event since 1976, after earning bronze in an event to become the first woman from the U.S. to win an individual cross-country medal.
Diggins, who is from Minnesota, is a rising star at the right time. Minneapolis will host a World Cup cross country ski event next year, the first scheduled stop by the circuit in the U.S. since 2001.
Diggins, a three-time Olympian, won gold in the team sprint five years ago at the Pyeongchang Games and plans to compete at least through the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Women's college basketball SAINT MARY'S ADVANCES, SANTA
CLARA UPSET IN WCC TOURNEY >> Saint Mary's used a 20-5 seconnd quarter to pull away from Loyola Marymount in a 74-43 win in the first round of the West Coast Conference tournamennt in Las Vegas on Thursday.
The seventh-seeded Gaels (1317) were led by Taycee Wedin, who scored 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 5-for-8 from 3-point range.
Saint Mary's will face sixth seed Pacific at 2:30 p.m. today at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Carondelet alum Ali Bamberger added 14 points and nine rebounds.
In the earlier game, WCC Newcomer of the Year Tess Heal scored 29 points for Santa Clara, but the Broncos blew a 14-point lead and lost to Pepperdine 63-60.
Santa Clara finishes its season with a 15-17 record.