The NHL trade deadline this year was a bit wild. Some big names were moved, like longtime Philadelphia Flyers captain, Glaude Giroux, who made his move to help Joe Thornton win a cup with the Florida Panthers. The Pacific Division didn’t see as many exciting trades as some of our friends on the East did, but Vegas did some especially strange things and we’re going to talk about it.
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks were sellers this year. The front office knew they needed to do something to boost the struggling line-up and letting go of some dead weight was beneficial for our enemies near Disneyland. They were hoping to give up the contracts of John Moore and Ryan Kesler (I haven’t heard that name in years) to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Evgenii Dadonov and a 2024 second-round pick.
Here’s where it gets weird: Dadonov has a no-trade clause, the trade was canceled and he returned to Vegas and scored a goal in their next game. You can’t write this stuff, man. Apparently, Dadonov didn’t want to live in Orange County and had the Ducks on his 10-team no-trade list. Now the league wants to change the rules, so that this weird stuff doesn’t happen again. I guess Kesler’s contract is still stuck with the team. He hasn’t hit the ice since 2019.
In moves that did happen, Anaheim sent Hampus Lindholm and Kodie Curran to the Boston Bruins for a handful of draft picks, plus defensemen Urho Vaakanainen and John Moore, Josh Manson headed to the Colorado Avalanche for a 2023 second-round pick and defensemen Drew Helleson. Nicolas Deslauriers went to the Minnesota Wild for draft picks, Rickard Rakell was sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins for goaltender Calle Clang, center Dominik Simon and winger Zach Aston-Reese. This Ducks team is looking a lot different than we are used to.
Calgary Flames
The biggest move by the Flames was made on Valentine’s Day when they added Tyler Toffoli to their roster. However, they didn’t sleep at the deadline. The first place Pacific team added San Jose Barracuda legend Ryan Carpenter (remember him?) in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks. They also added Calle Jarnkrok to their squad from the Seattle Kraken. A handful of draft picks went to Seattle in return.
Unlike the Ducks, Calgary was a bit quiet but bulked up their depth, as they hope to make a run for the Stanley Cup this season.
Edmonton Oilers
What if I told you the Edmonton Oilers traded Connor McDavid? I mean, they didn’t, but what if I said that. In the real world, the Oilers snagged Brett Kulak from the Montreal Canadiens for William Lagesson, a conditional second-round pick and a 2024 seventh-round pick. Plus, the Habs are maintaining half of Kulak’s salary. Not a bad grab for the Oilers.
Next, the Oilers acquired center Derick Brassard from the Flyers for a 2023 draft pick. Ken Holland called it a day there.
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings also had a quiet trade deadline. They made a single trade, grabbing Troy Stecher from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a draft pick and that was it for the big club. They moved some AHL players around, sending Brayden Burke from the Ontario Reign to the Nashville Predators for Frederic Allard and Markus Phillips moved to the Winnipeg Jets for Nelson Nogier, for all of you Barracuda fans out there.
Seattle Kraken
It was baby’s first trade deadline and they really went for it. They were the biggest sellers at the trade deadline, looking to the future by collecting a surplus of draft picks — both for drafting, and future trades. They grabbed themselves 25 draft picks and sent Calle Jarnkrok to the Flames, while Mark Giordano and Colin Blackwell went to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jeremy Louzon now calls Nashville home and Marcus Johansson went to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Daniel Sprong.
Vancouver Canucks
The biggest acquisition for the Canucks was defender Travis Dermott, who they got from the Maple Leafs in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2022 draft. They also sent Travis Hamonic to the Ottawa Senators for a draft pick. Other than those two trades, the Canucks stayed put.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights were in a silly, goofy mood on trade deadline day. Like I mentioned earlier, they had that whacky non-trade with the Ducks. Since the team is dealing with a lack of cap space and a slew of injuries, fans were hoping to see more done.
However, they just didn’t get it finished. They’re above the cap by over 9 million dollars and can’t activate Mark Stone or Alec Martinez when they’re ready to play post-injury — that is until the playoffs, when the cap won’t matter. They’ll have to not slip in the standings in the meantime and they’re not doing well, y’all.
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