Anaheim’s acquisition of Alexander Volkov from Tampa Bay last month raised some eyebrows considering the relatively low acquisition cost of prospect Antoine Morand and a 2023 seventh-round pick. But Tampa Bay needed more cap flexibility and the Ducks were able to take advantage of that.
However, it turns out that wasn’t the only factor in the trade. The 23-year-old told Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register that he had requested a trade from the Lightning, citing a desire to play more regularly instead of being someone that was in and out of the lineup. He should get that opportunity with Anaheim and played a season-high 13:32 in his debut last night while scoring a goal. A good showing down the stretch would go a long way towards bolstering his case in restricted free agency where he will have arbitration eligibility for the first time this summer.
More from Anaheim:
- Jamie Drysdale played in his seventh game of the season on Friday. Normally, that’s not a particularly notable milestone but using the proration factor that’s being applied this season (56/82), he has reached the equivalent of the ten-game mark that officially activates the first year of his entry-level deal, meaning the contract can no longer slide. The next threshold to watch for in these situations is the 40-game mark for accruing a season towards UFA eligibility. Using that same proration factor, that will be hit at 27 games. However, Anaheim only has 20 games left in their season and with them sitting last in the West Division, they’re not making the playoffs so it’s safe to say that Drysdale isn’t going to reach that threshold. That means they will still have seven years of team control remaining.
- Center Ryan Getzlaf left Friday’s game in the first period due to an upper-body injury, Teaford notes in a separate column. It has been a tough season for the long-time captain as he has just three goals in 36 games so far. GM Bob Murray has previously indicated that he wouldn’t move Getzlaf unless he wanted to be traded but with so many teams being close to being capped out, it would be difficult to put a viable trade together regardless of his no-move clause.