Sharks Acquire Letunov From Coyotes

1:35pm: General Fanager gives us this great little tidbit about the trade: Arizona can now fulfill a condition of the previous Sam Gagner–Nicklas Grossmann deal from 2015. Since they’ve acquired a 2016 fourth round pick, they can now choose to send Philadelphia that one instead of the original 2017 third rounder that was originally included.

1:25pm: Craig Morgan of AZ Sports gives us a quote from 27-year old Arizona GM John Chayka: “Signing an NCAA player with lots of development still left is always a concern. That becomes compounded when you have depth at center like we do with our prospects. It’s a good fit for San Jose.”

1:06pm: According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the San Jose Sharks have acquired Maxim Letunov from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a 2016 fourth round pick (120th overall), and 2017 third rounder.  San Jose will also be sending back a sixth round pick in 2017.

Letunov, 20, was a former second-round pick of the St. Louis Blues back in 2014 and was dealt to the Coyotes in the Zbynek Michalek deal last year’s deadline.  He put up a huge season in 2015-16 for the University of Connecticut with 40 points in 36 games as a freshman. The 6’2″ winger possesses an outstanding shot can score from anywhere in the offensive zone.

With the deal, Arizona will replace the fourth round selection that they dealt with Keith Yandle to the New York Rangers this past season. They’ll now have eight selections this weekend.

For the Sharks, they’ve added another young forward prospect and dealt away draft currency. The team will now have only five selections at this weekend’s draft, including only one in the first three rounds (60th overall).