The Tampa Bay Lightning have added some more depth to the blue line, acquiring Fredrik Claesson from the San Jose Sharks. The Lightning will send the rights to goaltending prospect Magnus Chrona back the other way. GM Julien BriseBois released a short statement on the deal:
Bringing in Fredrik allows us to have five left shot defensemen and six right shot defensemen with NHL experience on our reserve list. History has proven that you will need depth on defense if you are going to have an extended playoff run.
Claesson, 28, has played just nine NHL games since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, but likely won’t be asked to play much more than that for the Lightning unless they suffer some catastrophic injuries. The Lightning already added David Savard to solidify their top-four, and now have brought in a little more depth at the position as well.
He carries just a $700K contract and can report directly to the Tampa Bay taxi squad, meaning he does not affect the cap hit at all.
Chrona, 20, just finished his sophomore season at the University of Denver, where he put up a .907 save percentage in 18 appearances. Selected in the fifth round of the 2018 draft, the Swedish netminder would need to be signed to enter the Sharks development system.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic was first to report a deal was coming.
That’s a good goalie prospect for a barely used d-man…good on SJ
Dude what are you smoking? He is a 5th rounder nothing prospect .907 for minors = backup depth at best
@Tatsumaki – That .907 was for NCAA (NCHC), not the minors yet. If he stays at DU, he’ll get the chance for a bounce-back season next year, since the whole team had a down year. It’s a little early to shoehorn him into just being a backup. He might develop into a decent option for SJS, since their current future outlook between the pipes is a bit grim now. He needs to have a decent year or two with a “normal” NCAA schedule (if that will even be possible). No guarantees, yet, of course, but we’ll have to wait and see…
@tatsumaki – do you write off 20 yr goalies after one not-so-hot college season? He is highly touted..heck look at Stewart Skinner was horrible in the AHL last year and now he looks like a stud. And he’s not even that highly-touted.
liked Claesson when in Ottawa. underrated big guy who is a stable 3rd pairing guy
Had no idea Claesson was still in or even near the league.
Magnus Arvidsson trade coming next?