Libor Hajek Was The Key Addition In The Ryan McDonagh Trade
The key to the Ryan McDonagh to Tampa Bay trade was the inclusion of prospect defenseman Libor Hajek and had he not been involved, McDonagh would still be with the Rangers, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post. The 2016 second-round pick is having a strong season at the WHL level and put forth a very strong showing back at the World Juniors and figures to be an important piece of their retooling on the back end. Brooks adds that Pittsburgh, Washington, and Florida made runs at McDonagh before the trade deadline while noting that the Capitals would have needed to get a third team involved to get a deal done.
Trade Deadline Recap: Eastern Conference
After a month of lead up, a sprinkling of trades over the last week or so, and a wild deadline day today, NHL teams are done with transactions for the 2017-18 NHL season. Here are the deals that improved contenders in the Eastern Conference:
Deadline Day
Tampa Bay Lightning receive:
D Ryan McDonagh
F J.T. Miller
New York Rangers receive:
F Vladislav Namestnikov
F Brett Howden
D Libor Hajek
2018 first-round pick
Conditional 2019 second-round pick
Columbus Blue Jackets receive:
F Thomas Vanek
Vancouver Canucks receive:
F Tyler Motte
F Jussi Jokinen
Columbus Blue Jackets receive:
D Ian Cole
Ottawa Senators receive:
F Nick Moutrey
2020 third-round pick
New Jersey Devils receive:
F Patrick Maroon
Edmonton Oilers receive:
F J.D. Dudek
2019 third-round pick
New York Islanders receive:
F Chris Wagner
Anaheim Ducks receive:
F Jason Chimera
Boston Bruins receive:
F Tommy Wingels
Chicago Blackhawks receive:
Conditional 2019 fifth-round pick
Pittsburgh Penguins receive:
F Josh Jooris
Carolina Hurricanes receive:
F Greg McKegg
Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers Swap Minor Leaguers
In an unusually late announcement, the Colorado Avalanche have agreed to send defenseman Chris Bigras to the New York Rangers for defenseman Ryan Graves, per BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater. Both players will remain at the AHL level for now.
Bigras, 23, has actually played in 46 NHL games, including 15 this season. However, the 2013 second-round pick has not shown enough ability and upside to warrant keeping him at the top level in a regular role. The former OHL standout is still very raw and needs some seasoning before the Rangers could expect to hand him a full-time job.
Graves, also a 2013 draft pick, is in his third pro season but has yet to make his NHL debut. The massive 6’5″ defender needed a change of scenery and may get the opportunity to display both his physical ability and modest possession game in Colorado.
Ryan McDonagh Acquired By Tampa Bay Lightning
Ryan McDonagh has been traded. The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired the New York Rangers captain, pending a trade call according to Bob McKenzie of TSN. Darren Dreger adds that J.T. Miller is also expected to be in the trade. McKenzie tweets that the return will be Vladislav Namestnikov, Libor Hajek, Brett Howden, a 2018 first-round pick and a conditional second-round pick that will become a first-round pick if the Lightning win the Stanley Cup this year or next.
In the biggest deal of the year, the Lightning have added that much-needed defensive help by bringing in McDonagh. The 28-year old former captain is a legitimate first-pairing player, but will be able to slot in behind Victor Hedman to give Tampa Bay two impressive pairings. They also completed the deal without giving up Mikhail Sergachev, who projects to be a long-term option for the club’s top-4 and can continue to be sheltered in his rookie while quarterbacking one powerplay unit.
Miller, 24, is another huge addition for the Lightning, who had been looking for help on the wing all season. Though he had been transitioned back to center this season for the Rangers, it seems more likely that he’ll move back to the left side as Tampa Bay still has a glut of options down the middle. The 15th-overall pick in 2011, Miller has shown a consistent scoring ability and is coming off back-to-back 20-goal seasons. This year he has just 13 goals, but has already totaled his third straight 40-point season and could challenge his career-high with a good final stretch.
The addition of both players pushes the Lightning back to a favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference and win the Stanley Cup, but did come at a hefty price. Though Sergachev and Brayden Point were both not included, the package given up includes several pieces with very high potential.
In Namestnikov, the Rangers are acquiring a 25-year old forward in the midst of a career-best season. The 27th-overall selection from 2011, he has scored 20 goals for the first time in his career to go along with 44 points through 62 games. He’ll immediately become one of the Rangers’ best options at center, but does come with some work still left to do. A pending restricted free agent, Namestnikov is in for a hefty raise—something Miller will also be in line for this summer—given that he has just two years before being scheduled for unrestricted free agency. Any long-term deal will have to come with a substantial raise from his current $1.94MM cap hit.
The prospects, Howden and Hajek, are both among the best in the game. Howden was selected 27th-overall in 2016, and still plays in the WHL with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Despite the fact that he’s not yet in professional hockey, he does have some experience at the AHL level after playing eight games for the Syracuse Crunch at the end of last season. Since then, he’s put up 58 points in 38 games for the Warriors, and played a key role in Canada’s gold medal at the World Juniors.
He plays a dynamic two-way role, and projects to be an excellent center in the NHL capable of both contributing offensively and playing against some of the opponent’s best. He brings size and speed, and makes the Rangers future down the middle even brighter. When grouped with Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, suddenly a position that was an organizational weakness a year ago now ranks among the league’s best.
Hajek brings his own high potential, and could turn into the best player in the deal for the Rangers down the road. A prototypical shut down defenseman, Hajek is an excellent skater that has continued to improve since being taken 37th-overall in 2016. He also has experience with the Crunch, playing eight games for them last season, but is currently with the Regina Pats of the WHL. The 20-year old can play various different styles and arguably becomes the Rangers top defensive prospect, even ahead of the recently acquired Ryan Lindgren and current NHLers Neal Pionk and Anthony DeAngelo.
The fact that the deal also brings with it the potential of two first-round picks makes it worthwhile for the Rangers, even if it hurts to lose two of their best players. After this trade and the others completed over the last few weeks, New York now has seven selections in the top three rounds this year including three in the first round, and could really jump-start the rebuild they promised their fans.
While the Rangers have completed what they promised to do this season, the Lighting are now ready to compete for the Stanley Cup not only this season but next. McDonagh carries just a $4.7MM cap hit through the end of the 2018-19 season, when he is scheduled to be one of the top unrestricted free agents. It seems unlikely that Tampa Bay will have the cap space to retain his services at that point, but if we’ve learned anything from GM Steve Yzerman over the last few seasons, it is to expect the unexpected.
Photo of McDonagh courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Rangers Receiving Interest In J.T. Miller And Mats Zuccarello
The Rangers are receiving plenty of interest in center J.T. Miller and winger Mats Zuccarello, reports TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link). However, he adds that the offers haven’t been enough to suggest a trade is likely. New York is in full selloff mode and have already dealt their top pending unrestricted free agents so now the focus shifts to players under team control beyond this season. Miller is set to be a restricted free agent this summer with a $2.75MM qualifying offer while Zuccarello is making $4.5MM through 2018-19. The two players lead the Rangers in scoring this season with Zuccarello recording 43 points and Miller 40.
Edmonton’s Maroon Could Be Next Chip To Be Moved
With a few trades already in the books today, the trading scene only seems to have intensified. Now with the market established for several players, teams are working the phones even harder now. In fact, Pierre LeBrun reports that Edmonton Oilers scorer Patrick Maroon could be the next piece to go as the scribe reports that seven teams have reached out to Edmonton.
Having already moved Mark Letestu in a three-team deal earlier in the day, general manager Peter Chiarelli can focus more on Maroon. The 29-year-old winger could easily bring in a similar haul that the New York Rangers got for Rick Nash when they traded him to Boston this morning for a first-round pick, Ryan Lindgren and veterans Ryan Spooner and Matt Beleskey. Even better is Maroon’s contract situation, which is better than Nash’s. Nash had a cap hit of $7.5MM, but Maroon is in the final year in which he is making $1.5MM, meaning many playoff teams could easily fit that into their remaining cap space.
While he’s not duplicating the 27-goal season he put together a year ago, Maroon has 14 goals and 16 assists this year with the Oilers and at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, he is a physical winger who can put the puck in the net, a prized possession for a team looking for playoff help.
KHL’s Kovalchuk Intends To Sign With NHL After This Season
It looks like the free agent market is expanding as KHL insider Aivis Kalnins tweeted that Russian winger Ilya Kovalchuk has confirmed that he intends to leave the KHL and sign with an NHL team after this season.
Kovalchuk, who said a similar thing a year ago and then changed his mind, is in a much different situation this year. Last year, Kovalchuk was still considered to be property of the New Jersey Devils and was relient on the Devils trading his rights to another team. However, Kovalchuk will now be an unrestricted free agent, according to Pierre LeBrun.
Kovalchuk helped the Olympic Athletes from Russia capture the gold medal Saturday’s exciting victory over Germany and was named the MVP of the tournament. The 34-year-old might be getting old, but isn’t slowing down as his last two season in the KHL have been among his best. He scored 32 goals for St. Petersburg SKA last year and has 31 goals this season despite taking a break to play in the Olympics.
As an unrestricted free agent, Kovalchuk can pick his own destination as last year, he wanted to either play in New York or in Florida. While it was well-known he wanted to play for the New York Rangers last year, that may not be the case this year as the Rangers have been selling off many of their assets, which might not attract the veteran.
Multiple Players Placed On Waivers
With today being the last day to place players on waivers, many teams have placed players on waivers in hopes of adding some roster flexibility for the remainder of the season. According to Bob McKenzie, many players have been placed on waivers, including defensemen Christopher Breen and Paul Postma of the Boston Bruins, forward Jussi Jokinen of the Columbus Blue Jackets, defenseman Cody Goloubef of the Calgary Flames, forward Lance Bouma of the Chicago Blackhawks, forward Chris Stewart of the Minnesota Wild, forwards Alexandre Burrows and Jim O’Brien and defenseman Johnny Oduya of the Ottawa Senators, defenseman Mark Alt and goaltender John Muse of the Philadelphia Flyers and forward Chris Thorburn of the St. Louis Blues.
McKenzie adds that New York Rangers forward cleared waivers today.
Of teams that are still in the playoff race, the New York Islanders will likely get the first shot on many of these players if the team is looking to add more depth after trading for defenseman Brandon Davidson Saturday.
While several of these players are AHL players who aren’t seeing time, there are several veteran players who are affected by the moves. Two of the most obvious are Burrows and Oduya. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch writes that the team failed to find anyone interested in trading for either players, so the hope is a team might be willing to claim them without having to give anything up.
Burrows is one of those the team would like to close the book on. Acquired at the trade deadline a year ago for prized prospect Jonathan Dahlen, the team then made it worse by signing him to a two-year extension, worth $2.5MM per season. While he scored 15 goals between Vancouver and Ottawa last year, Burrows has struggled, having tallied just three goals in 51 games. Oduya was signed in the offseason and the veteran could be a solid candidate to be claimed by a team that needs some defensive depth.
Another player who is likely to be claimed is Stewart, who the Minnesota Wild placed on waivers as the team wants to make room for adding 2016 first-rounder Luke Kunin or if the team signs Boston University star Jordan Greenway. The veteran is an excellent locker room presence, has quite a bit of experience and can score as he has nine goals in 47 games this year. Jokinen who has already been on waivers this year returns to it and could be claimed if a team wants some depth to their forward line. Chicago’s Bouma is another who could be claimed as he has fallen out of the Blackhawks lineup, but provides forward depth that could be useful for a team making a playoff run. He’s played in 53 games this year, totaling three goals, six assists and +1 plus/minus ratio.
Other players like Alt and Postma are likely just heading to the AHL to join their playoff rosters. Alt has played just eight games in Philadelphia, spending most of his season in Lehigh Valley. Postma has been with the Bruins all year and might be heading to the Providence Bruins to help the team with their playoff push. He has appeared in just 12 games all season for Boston.
Both Breen, O’Brien, Muse and Goloubef each signed two-way contracts in the last 24 hours and had to be passed through waivers in order to assign them to their respective NHL teams. O’Brien signed a two-way contract today, while Goloubef signed yesterday. FlamesNation’s Ryan Pike reports that Muse signed a two-way deal today.
Boston Bruins Acquire Rick Nash From Rangers
The New York Rangers announced they have completed a trade that will send veteran winger Rick Nash to the Boston Bruins in exchange for a 2018 first-round pick, defensive prospect Ryan Lindgren, forwards Ryan Spooner and Matt Beleskey and a seventh-round pick in the 2019 draft. The Rangers are expected to retain 50 percent of Nash’s salary (the maximum allowed)according to Pierre LeBrun. The Bruins are also expected to retain some of Beleskey’s salary.
For Boston, the deal adds a solid veteran to their top-nine core and improves the team’s depth. The 33-year-old was having a solid season in New York as he has 18 goals and 10 assists this year. His knack for finding the goal makes him a welcome addition. He has 434 career goals and is one point away from reaching 800 career points. However, it is the intangibles of a veteran leader and playoff veteran that makes him so coveted as Nash has played in 77 career playoff games. He is in the final year of a eight-year, $62.4MM deal he signed in 2009 with the Columbus Blue Jackets. With the salary retention, however, the Bruins will only have to pay him $3.9MM of his deal for the remainder of the year, which was the only way the trade would have worked without involving a third team. NHL.com’s Joe Yerdon tweets that Nash is expected to join Boston for their game tonight in Buffalo.
Perhaps the key to the trade will be the Bruins first-rounder. That will give the Rangers two first, two second and two third-round picks in this upcoming draft. The Rangers, who are trying to build through the draft, already had two first-round picks in last year’s draft when they drafted centers Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil.
The Rangers add more to its struggling defense as they add Lindgren to their improving core of prospects. The Bruins 2016 second-round pick, the 20-year-old is in his second season at the University of Minnesota. The six-foot, 198-pound blueliner looks to be more of a physical defenseman who might eventually provide team depth as he has two goals and five assists this year in 33 games playing in the Big-10. He also has 49 penalty minutes.
Beleskey and Spooner were both added into the deal to make the salaries match up. Beleskey signed a five-year, $19MM deal in 2015 after he had put up a 22-goal season with the Anaheim Ducks. However, he has not been able to duplicate those numbers, although he did score 15 goals in the 2015-16 season. He only played in 49 games last year and just 14 for Boston this year as he was sent down to the Providence Bruins and has played for much the season there. The Bruins retained 50 percent of his salary as well. Spooner, on the other hand, could be flipped again if the Rangers can find a taker for the 26-year old. In 39 games this year, the center has nine goals and 16 assists.
Dreger adds that the deal for Nash could prompt a response from the Bruins’ Atlantic Division rivals as both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning might be more likely to improve their rosters for the upcoming playoff push. Both Toronto and Tampa Bay are looking to add depth to their defense.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie was the first to report the initial deal.
Boston Bruins Frontrunners For Rangers’ Nash
Multiple sources, including Elliotte Friedman, are indicating that the Boston Bruins are the leading candidates to acquire New York Rangers winger Rick Nash. Pierre LeBrun writes that Boston made an offer earlier today that the Rangers are considering.
With the trade deadline less than two days away, talks are heating up and the Bruins are doing what it can to bolster their forward line for a playoff run. Nash would be a solid addition to a team that already has a lot of pieces in place to make a deep playoff run. With Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bruins have now fallen into third place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and three points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning. With so many assets, it might make sense to upgrade.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie adds that Boston has the assets to make a deal happen. They have their own first-round picks and have a number of solid prospects that the Rangers might find interesting, including Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, Ryan Lindgren and Trent Frederic among others.
The only problem will be whether Boston can absorb Nash’s salary. According to CapFriendly, the Bruins have $491,370 available in cap space, which is the equivalent of a $2.176,067 cap hit. Nash’s $7.8MM cap hit translates to $1,761,2890, which falls way short. So more salary would need to be unloaded, which seems unlikely, the Rangers would have to retain some of Nash’s salary or a third team would be needed for the trade to continue.