The NHL has seen several trades come to pass before and during the NHL Entry Draft. Several notable names have been moved, while there were other players involved in cap dumps. Let’s break down the trades.
Table of Contents
2024 NHL Trade Tracker
Sharks Add Defenseman in Jake Walman
While Steve Yzerman said the intentions for this move were for cap dump reasons with pick no. 53 (which became Leo Sahlin Wallenius) attached, the loss of Walman stings. It did, however, give them $3.4 million in cap space as they look to address their goaltending and their defensive core, and one can argue further that Yzerman is gearing up for potential big extensions to Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond.
The other question for Yzerman is about how much cap space they truly need. Simon Edvinsson is due for his first full NHL season, and they are in the sweepstakes to land Jacob Trouba. Yzerman is making his intentions clear on adding impact pieces over the summer.
Walman is coming off a career-high in points and goals, with 21 and 12, respectively. Injuries have limited him to 63 games, and the pairing of him and Seider had some of the hardest minutes in the league. With the news that the Sharks are not giving Calen Addison a qualifying offer, this makes the addition of Walman impactful for the Sharks. While he averaged under 20 minutes per game in the past two seasons, that he was paired with Seider is going to help him a lot.
Blackhawks Accelerate Their Rebuild with Ilya Mikheyev
This trade was a rollercoaster, as Mikheyev had to waive his modified no-trade clause to facilitate this deal. He, Sam Lafferty, and a 2025 second round pick went to Chicago for a 2027 fourth round pick. Initially, the Canucks were going to trade Mikheyev to the Sharks, but they were on his 12-team no-trade list.
The Canucks were intent on shedding salary. Mikheyev scored his first 10 of 11 goals on the team’s first 21 games of the season, but faltered later down the stretch. He also went through surgery to repair a torn ACL last offseason. This marks the second time in a three-year span that the Blackhawks traded for a reclamation project from Vancouver, with Mikheyev’s confidence plummeting as he could not find his game that relies on speed and the forecheck.
Not only does Chicago get one speedy forward, but they land two on the same trade. Mikheyev will have a lot more playing time to get his career back on a positive note. With Lafferty, though he has since signed with the Sabres, had the Blackhawks re-signed him, it would have been his second stint with them. He was a very reliable bottom-six forwards in the league, with 13 goals and 24 points in 73 games while averaging under 12 minutes a night. A solid forechecker who can contribute to the penalty kill, he will likely serve a similar role with Buffalo.
The Canucks get cap flexibility, and it opens up the possibilities on where they want to go from here. They offloaded Mikheyev’s $4.75 million cap hit in what is shaping up to be an aggressive offseason for them. It will give them a shot at what they can do to improve the roster next season.
Capitals Look to Extend Playoff Window with Andrew Mangiapane
Before this trade was made, Brian MacLellan said he wanted to go after a forward via trade or free agency. While he did get a reclamation project in Pierre-Luc Dubois, Mangiapane is two seasons removed from a career year, where he had a career-high 35 goals and 55 points. The work was not done for MacLellan, as, despite the Capitals making the playoffs in 2024, they had the 5th-worst goals per game average in the regular season (2.63).
The hope from the Flames at the time when he got signed to a three-year, $17.4 million contract was that his 2022 season was a sign of things to come. However, he wasn’t able to match that season. Calgary is now committed to a rebuild after they dealt all of Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, Jacob Markstrom, and now Mangiapane in a one-year span, as they now have two first round picks and two second round picks in 2025. Now with $29 million in cap space, they can either be aggressive in free agency or on the trade front.
The Capitals are taking on Mangiapane’s full $5.8 million cap hit with no salary retained. Only three players on the Capitals last season had more points than him: Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and John Carlson. MacLellan noted that if the Caps want to extend the playoff window, there needs to be improvements on the attack. While Washington is technically over the cap, Nicklas Backstrom and his $9.2 million cap hit is on LTIR. TJ Oshie’s availability for next season is also in question, and if he can’t play, his $5.75 million cap hit will also be added to the LTIR pool.
Carl Grundstrom/Kyle Burroughs One-for-One Swap
What essentially could be explained for this trade for the Sharks is that a domino effect has shone on the defense core: Many of their defensemen were overworked trying to fill in Erik Karlsson’s shoes. Kyle Burroughs suffered the most from this, as top pairing minutes was not a role that was meant for him when he was paired with Mario Ferraro. Two goals and eight points in 73 games with a -42 rating will do that, but he does have some promise. He and Ferraro controlled 48.1% of expected goals when deployed together, the best among any Sharks pairing. He also led the Sharks in hits, with 233, and was second in blocks, with 134.
While that is good in itself, he’s better suited for a third pairing role with the Kings, where he will compete for that spot. A duo of him and Andreas Englund would be one of the most fearsome third pairings in the league. Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke are promising right-shot defensemen, but both are candidates to be on the second pairing as Matt Roy is likely testing the market, though the role is likely going to be filled by free agent signing Joel Edmundson. The Sharks, on the other hand, are also prioritizing youth with Ty Emberson and Henry Thrun seeking more minutes next season.
San Jose also gets checking forward depth in Grundstrom. However, they have to either issue him a qualifying offer to retain his signing rights as an RFA or re-sign him straight up. Injuries limited him to 50 games last season, though he has contributed to valuable fourth line minutes. He has decent puck possession minutes, and the energy he provides can form a tenacious bottom six group that now features Ty Dellandrea and Barclay Goodrow, who were acquired via trade and waivers, respectively.
Alexandre Texier Heads to the Gateway City
Not only do the Blues acquire Texier from the Blue Jackets; they have also signed him to a two-year, $4.2 million contract that equates to a $2.1 million cap hit. After he spent the 2023 season on personal leave, on loan to the Swiss National League to be closer to his family in France, he had career-highs across the board in 2024: 12 goals, 18 assists, and 30 points in 78 games. He has been an interesting player, but injuries and COVID limited him to a previous career-high of 46 games across three full NHL seasons.
Columbus put him higher in the lineup, getting him to the wing and got him a decent chunk of time on the penalty kill, but with a new wave of prospects on the rise, Texier was the odd man out.
What St. Louis gets in him is a solid depth forward who is heavy on the forecheck, and all it cost them was a 2025 fourth round pick. Doug Armstrong was looking for players that were in the age range between 23 and 26. With Kasperi Kapanen and Jakub Vrana testing free agency, the acquisition of Texier makes sense as he can play on the wing on the Blues’ third line.
The biggest offseason need for St. Louis is team defense, and the other question is what they are going to do with Pavel Buchnevich. While the Blues did lock down Scott Perunovich, they would want to figure out what happens with Buchnevich, as adding another forward could complicate matters with him. Do they bring in an elite defenseman next? Does Brandon Saad become expendable?
Utah Makes Splash with Mikhail Sergachev
Utah Hockey Club
This is the first blockbuster trade of the offseason that involved a skater. They entered the offseason with the most cap space, which made them a team to watch. Bill Armstrong is one of the best general managers in financial management, and this is what allowed him to take on such a large contract in a way that other teams were not able to do so. Plus, with the need of a no. 1 defenseman, he successfully addressed that in this trade.
Sergachev fractured his tibia and fibula last season, but was able to return for Game 4 of the Lightning’s first round series against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Panthers. He demonstrated in his time in Tampa Bay that he is a minute-muncher who can make a lot of plays. The question is if he is truly an $8 million per year player. He lived in the shadow of Victor Hedman for many years, but he did break through with a career-best 64 points in the 2023 season. However, when healthy, Sergachev’s five-on-five possession numbers are good.
While he’s in the same age range as Clayton Keller, the future of this team lies with Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther. It does hurt to lose a promising high-end prospect in Conor Geekie, and to add a defenseman who is coming off a major injury feels risky, though if Sergachev is able to bounce back into form, this is a good trade for Utah to make, which would effectively end a search for a no. 1 defenseman that has taken them through Jakob Chychrun and Shayne Gostisbehere.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Creating any form of cap space is important for free agency. But also, this allows the Lightning to get younger by adding Geekie and J.J. Moser while adding draft capital.
Geekie is a top prospect who is just two years removed from being selected 11th overall in 2022. He projects to be a second line forward in the NHL, and is coming off a 43-goal, 99-point season split between the Wenatchee Wild and the Swift Current Broncos. At 6″ 4″ and 197 lbs., he has improved on his ability to move his body around since his Draft year, and has looked better with the puck. He signed his entry-level contract at the end of Swift Current’s season, so he is set to turn pro in the 2025 season.
Moser just turned 24 earlier in June and is due a new contract in the summer as an RFA. He was a second round pick in Armstrong’s first NHL Draft, and is a smooth-skating defender with a lot of upside on both ends of the ice. Moving forward, he’s a good piece for the Bolts and could slot in on the second pairing, playing for a fraction of what Sergachev costs. The blueline on the Coyotes was thin, but now Moser will have a bigger opportunity in Tampa.
The picks are a nice add, with one of those selections being Noah Steen (the 7th round pick they got in the deal). The Bolts are in a retool mode, as they are looking to keep their playoff window alive but not tear down the whole roster. If Geekie lives up to his potential with the Lightning, this move is a great return for Tampa on the long haul.
Utah Bolsters Defensive Core Further with John Marino
There were rumors and rumblings about Marino’s availability ahead of the Draft, with the Devils becoming a suitor for Brett Pesce (and eventually signing him to a six-year deal). It may be the path that they will go down, though they will also have to account for having to keep their seven free agents in mind, headlined by Dawson Mercer, who was in a prominent top six role with the team.
This in turn had Utah pouncing in on the opportunity, with Marino being the second defender they acquired to form their new top pairing. He appeared to be the odd man out in New Jersey with the Devils having a healthy Dougie Hamilton back, plus Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and the arrival of Seamus Casey. Marino was the odd man out, as there was no more room for him, so he got dealt along with Pick 153 (used to select Ales Cech). On the other way, the Devils acquire Pick 49 (which they used to select goaltender Mikhail Yegorov) and the Oilers’ 2025 second round pick.
Marino is a reliable defensive defenseman throughout his tenures with the Penguins and Devils, though that was when he was on a consistent second pairing role. Now he is being thrust into the top pair, which gives him a new challenge, but he has a lot of upside left to give, and he can find his stride on Utah’s blueline with a lot of space.
With both Kevin Bahl and Marino out of the window, the Devils are doing a defensive overhaul, and Pesce does bring another stay-at-home option, and an upgrade at the penalty kill. He does mark for an improvement on the right side of the defense, and he leaves Nemec with less defensive pressure and allows for him to continue on his game.
Kings Take on Reclamation Project in Tanner Jeannot
When Jeannot arrived with the Lightning, the expectation for him was that he gets back to the point totals that made his rookie season a big one, where he scored 24 goals. He did not get back to the same scoring totals with the Bolts despite bringing the sandpaper where he threw 211 hits in 55 games last season.
This trade that sends him to Los Angeles is a low-risk, high-upside move. He has a $2.665 million cap hit, and he essentially takes the place of the departing Carl Grundstrom. The Kings have utilized Grundstrom’s grit to his advantage, and they may likely get a more effective version of that in Jeannot, who has more drive with the puck and confidence with it.
It is a staple that general manager Rob Blake wants on his team, but that physical brand of winger was not around the top nine forward core for the Kings. In theory, this should be a nice addition for the Kings, and for that to happen, he should get closer to his 2022 numbers rather than his 2024 numbers. He’s not expected to be a star player, but he makes the Kings harder to play against. Ideally, he’d want to clean up his penalties, but penalty troubles are expected for someone who plays his brand of hockey.
The Lightning receive Pick 118 (used to select Jan Golicic) and the Kings’ 2025 second round pick in return, and while it is a sign of the impending cap crunch they are experiencing, the plan for them was to clear up more cap space.
Penguins Take on Final Two Years of Kevin Hayes
This is another low-risk, potentially high-reward move by the Penguins in the retool effort. Center depth has been a weakness for the Penguins and Kyle Dubas filled in the need by getting him from the Blues in a cap dump that saw the Blues give up their 2025 second round pick for future considerations.
The trade took place just a year after St. Louis acquired him from the other side of Pennsylvania. 50% of his cap hit is retained by the Flyers, and has two more years left on his deal. He’s a towering forward at 6′ 5″ and 216 lbs., but he does not use his size to his advantage. He’s less of a rugged forward and more of a complementary player on the offensive side of the ice.
Last season, he looked more like a third line center on the Blues, and that is likely going to be his role with the Penguins. He hasn’t played on a penalty kill role in a few years, as he spent a total of 15 minutes on the ice shorthanded on the 2024 season. His value also comes at the faceoff dot, where he has won 57% of faceoffs. He can either go on the second line left wing next to Evgeni Malkin or on the third line taking important faceoffs, similar to Jeff Carter.
Another downside to this trade is that it takes up a roster spot that could have been filled by one of the Penguins’ prospects, namely Vasily Ponomarev or Sam Poulin. This isn’t really the best of trades, and this might be redundant to Lars Eller and Noel Acciari, it does add faceoff support and adds to Dubas’ mission of picking up as many draft picks as possible to prepare for the post-Crosby Penguins.
Capitals Land Their Starter in Logan Thompson
To answer the question about whether or not the Capitals will have to turn to either Hunter Shepard or Clay Stevenson as their backup to Charlie Lindgren, that answer is no, because they won’t have to worry about that anymore with their new goalie acquired from Vegas. Thompson gives the team a quick answer on who is going to fill the hole left behind by Darcy Kuemper.
Kuemper was limited to 33 games, and he wasn’t at Arizona form in the games he played, with 13 wins and an .890 save percentage, the first time he had a save percentage worse than .900 in his career. Lindgren then made a strong claim on the starting role, with 25 wins and a .911 save percentage, and showed the potential to win games for the Caps when their offensive attack was not clicking.
Thompson’s consistency, however, can speak to the highest upside of the trio of him, Lindgren, and Shepard. Lindgren at this moment is the current favorite to be the 1A goaltender, but Thompson gives him competition. Thompson assumed the starting role in Vegas due to injuries to Adin Hill, and while his 2024 season wasn’t anything special, he did record 58 wins and a .912 save percentage in 107 games with the Golden Knights, which is a good track record to acquire via trade, especially for a contract where the cap hit is less than the current league minimum at $775k.
This trade was a signal from Vegas that they weren’t in on Thompson, but getting Pick 83 (which Vegas used to select goaltender Pavel Moysevich) and Washington’s 2025 third round pick in return makes this a nice trade to make. While they did get Akira Schmid and Alex Holtz from New Jersey for Paul Cotter and a 2025 third round pick, the Knights not giving Schmid a qualifying offer meant they were likely turning to free agency for a goalie to be the 1B to Hill, which they did when they signed Ilya Samsonov.
Leafs Prioritize Defense, Land Chris Tanev’s UFA Rights
Not only that, but they have also signed him to a six-year deal worth $27 million total after a trade that sent prospect Max Ellis and a 2026 7th round pick the other way. Getting his rights allowed the Leafs to have a window to get a deal done before he was able to reach the open market.
The sign was that the Stars were not able to afford to bring back Tanev. A late pick and a prospect never hurts for Dallas, which is a tiny bit of business done by Jim Nill. While his scoring was bleak, he doesn’t need to score to be one of the better defensive defensemen in the league. In his playoff run with the Stars, he had 30 hits and 73 blocked shots, leading the league in the latter stat.
This is his fourth organization, and he and Brad Treliving have history with one another when Tanev signed a four-year deal with the Flames in the 2020 offseason. One can see him easily fitting next to Morgan Rielly, which allows the puck-mover to focus on the offense while he manages the back end. The concern with the contract, however, is the term, given that Tanev is 34 and will be 40 when the contract expires. The no-movement clause attached to the contract, however, doesn’t make a lot of sense.
However, this signing is the reality of the situation in Toronto. They are directly competing with the southern teams that do not have state income tax, and this is the kind of contract that the Leafs need to make to get themselves in a better spot. The chance of him playing all six years of this contract, however, don’t look good. Defensive defensemen start to fade out by 37 or 38, and later they will be subject to the LTIR. He will be good for them on the short-term, as long as the body holds up, which, in this case, is not a guarantee.
Lightning Land Jake Guentzel’s UFA Rights
One of the big fish on the board heading into free agency, the Bolts swooped in to acquire Guentzel’s UFA rights and subsequently signed him to a seven-year, $63 million deal. The move essentially ended all speculation of Steven Stamkos coming back on a new deal with Tampa, and it was confirmed when he signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Predators. Though trading away both Mikhail Sergachev and Tanner Jeannot did give them the cap space for Guentzel and Victor Hedman’s next contract.
Guentzel transitioned nicely in his time with the Hurricanes, and he showed that he’s not a Sidney Crosby sidekick. He’s a standalone star in his own right, and continues to be a fantastic playoff performer. Despite the midseason change of scenery, he scored at the highest pace of his career, which is incredibly encouraging for Tampa Bay. And even so, it’s hard to call 2024 a breakout year for him—he scored 40 goals in both 2019 and 2022.
He fits on the top line with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, where he can easily set new records on points and goals in forming one of the most terrifying top lines in the league. He’s a play-driving goal-scorer, and is far from a defensive liability at his own end of the ice. Guentzel is four years younger than Stamkos and slightly better defensively. With Stamkos’ departure, there is added pressure for Guentzel to live up to being his replacement, and it can make sense knowing the average age of the revitalized top line is now 29.33 with this acquisition.
At the cost of just a 2025 third round pick, this is a smart move for general manager Julien BriseBois. With his new linemates, he’s fitting in with a center who has hovered around the 50-goal mark in the last two seasons and a perennial top performer in the NHL who has come off a 100-assist, 144-point campaign to win his second Art Ross Trophy.
Jakob Chychrun to the US Capital
Nearly a year and a half after the Senators acquired Chychrun from the Coyotes, he immediately goes from Canada’s capital to the US capital, with Ottawa getting Nick Jensen and a 2026 third round pick in return. This adds to an ever-so-aggressive offseason by the Capitals where they added all of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Logan Thompson, and signed both Matt Roy and Brandon Duhaime, with Roy getting signed to a seven-year, $38.5 million deal.
Chychrun is going to immediately step into a top-four role on the defensive core on the blueline. In his only season with the Senators, he had 14 goals and tied a career-high in points, with 41, with 16 of those points coming on the power play. He provides the Capitals another option on the top power play unit for a team that has struggled to score last season.
The critique with Chychrun is on the defensive side of his game. He finished the season with a -30 rating on the team’s top pairing, though in his defense, the Senators had bad goaltending which factored into a .880 save percentage with him on the ice in all situations. The poor defensive metrics from him were in part of the Senators’ style of play. And given that he was unwilling to sign with the team, they got out of the final year of his contract while keeping their defensive structure in place.
Jensen, on the other hand, entered the 2024 season on a 153-game span where he had 10 goals and 50 points, but was rather disappointing last season, with one goal and 14 points. A second-pairing defenseman, he could put up similar results to where his pace was at before the 2024 season with Ottawa next to Jake Sanderson or Thomas Chabot depending on where he is deployed.
Reilly Smith Acquired by the Rangers
Rumors of Smith getting traded gained traction later down the stretch, but Kyle Dubas and Chris Drury made it official when he was dealt to Midtown Manhattan for a 2027 second round pick and a conditional 2025 fifth round pick, which will be the worst of the two picks the Rangers own in that round, between theirs and the Wild’s. The Penguins are also retaining 25% of Smith’s salary.
Smith could not translate his strong upside with the Golden Knights to the Penguins. He developed into a capable middle-six scorer, and his offense held up in the midst of an inconsistent role with the Penguins. He’s an unrestricted free agent after this season, which gives Drury a look at where his roster stands before committing to another deal with Smith. Do remember that the Rangers rotated right wingers on the Chris Kreider line in the past between Frank Vatrano, Vladimir Tarasenko, Patrick Kane, and, most recently, Blake Wheeler.
Smith can also match the playmaking skills of Alexis Lafrenière, and can do so in a secondary role to boost their scoring output. A lack of goal-scoring depth has haunted the Rangers in the past, which has forced them to lean on their star players a lot. Smith is also a consistent playoff performer, and an addition like him to the Rangers’ lineup could point towards the Rangers’ commitment to Lafrenière.
For Pittsburgh, retaining 25% of Smith’s salary means they will hold onto $1.25 million of his cap hit in addition to what they are already retaining when the dealt Jeff Petry away. With Kevin Hayes acquired by the Penguins, it became a matter of who was going to be the odd man out, and signs pointed towards Smith. Getting two draft picks in return is a good piece of business by Kyle Dubas.
Sponsor: Upside
This article and so much more is brought to you by Upside. Upside is a free not strings attached app that will pay you cashback for the purchases you already make. Gas, Groceries, or a Good Meal, with just 3 clicks, you can earn CashBack today at HUNDREDS of locations. Use our code Sam363682 to save an additional 15 cents per gallon on your next fuel purchase. With discounts up to 25 cents per gallon, you could earn 40 cents back per gallon on your first purchase. Again use our code Sam363682 at sign up.
YouTube
Please also help us continue growing on our YouTube Channel by subscribing if you haven’t already. Also like and comment on any videos you enjoy! Thank you for your support and we hope you continue to tune in!
Thursday Broadcast Schedule
Dynasty Academy 8:00 pm ET (Fantasy Football)
Discord/Facebook Groups
Are you on discord or facebook? Join our server/groups to jump in the conversation, stay up to date on your favorite leagues and give us your jot takes. You can also promote your content!
Discover more from Shady Sports Network
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.