The NHL trade deadline is on Monday afternoon, but we all talked and decided to wrap the whole thing up before dinnertime on Sunday. A handful of big trades have been made this weekend, and most of them have improved eastern-conference teams that Washington may meet in the playoffs.
A quick rundown for your early afternoon.
Boston gets defender Hampus Lindholm
The Anaheim Ducks have only a two percent chance of making the playoffs according to HockeyViz, so they parted with the big 28-year-old. The Ducks are retaining half the $5.2 million cap hit, but it’s costing Boston some good picks (a first in 2022, a second in 2023, and a second in 2024).
I like Lindholm a lot, though everyone who is paying closer attention than me says he has fallen off this season.
Hampus Lindholm (traded to Boston) is a strong defence-only defender. pic.twitter.com/qpgd4X9XAi
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) March 19, 2022
On Sunday, the Bruins announced an eight-year deal with Lindholm, paying $6.5 million per season, which is a lot.
Florida gets forward Claude Giroux
Giroux, 34, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The Flyers subconsciously aware that they are a bazillion miles from Cup contention, so they sent him to an already very good Florida team. Word on the street is the Panthers were the only team Giroux would allow himself to be traded (as is his right: he has a no-move clause), so Philly did not get much back overall. They got 23-year-old forward Owen Tippett, and a first- and third-round pick in coming years. There’s more, but it’s complex and tedious, so check out NHL.com’s story for all the boring entrails.
Welcome to the Territory, @28CGiroux 😼 pic.twitter.com/DxJLBl6yme
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) March 20, 2022
Adding Giroux to an already scary team makes the Panthers officially Radagon of the Golden Order level scary.
Other stuff
- Minnesota got depth winger Nicolas Deslauriers from Anaheim. They’ve also been linked to Chicago goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who is so dead to us anyway, we don’t even care.
- Tampa got decent middle-sixer Brandon Hagel from Chicago in exchange for two late- and conditional first round picks in 2023 and 2024, plus prospects. Tampa now says they’re done.
- Filip Forsberg now leads the Nashville Predators in franchise goals, but his future is uncertain. Flip a coin if the team will deal him before the deadline or not.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
