NHL Trade Deadline Reaction

Story posted March 22, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Evan Smith

The NHL trade deadline passed Monday, March 21 at 3 p.m. and there were a flurry of moves throughout the day.

Speaking of flurry, Marc-Andre Fleury was the first big domino to fall on Monday as the Blackhawks traded the goaltender to Minnesota in exchange for a conditional pick.

This is a good trade for both sides as Chicago is nowhere near playoff contention and the Wild only need to give up their first-round pick if they reach the conference finals.

The Carolina Hurricanes made a last minute splash by acquiring versatile forward Max Domi from Columbus in a three-team trade.

Carolina added a bit of grit to the lineup that it was lacking before, while adding to its incredibly deep offensive lineup. They didn’t give up much and used some assistance from the Florida Panthers to remain under the salary cap.

The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Rickard Rakell from the Anaheim Ducks. Pittsburgh gave up goaltending prospect Calle Clang, depth forwards Dominik Simon and Zach Aston-Reese, and a 2nd round pick.

Rakell can be a major boost to the Penguins’ scoring depth, which has been lacking throughout the season.

They also gave up a return that may not affect them much going forward. Simon and Aston-Reese were struggling this season and were seemingly included as salary dumps. The Penguins also have a depth in goaltending, especially with Tristan Jarry looking like a long-term option for the team.

The deadline didn’t pass without controversy courtesy of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Shortly after 3 p.m. a trade was revealed in which the Anaheim Ducks would send defenseman John Moore and  the contract of Ryan Kesler to Vegas in exchange for winger Evegnii Dadonov and a second-round pick.

However, later in the afternoon Vegas put out a statement that the trade was under review. Dadonov signed a contract with the Ottawa Senators that included a 10-team no trade clause. This means he can choose 10 teams that he is permitted to block trades from.

Dadonov reportedly submitted this 10-team list to Ottawa prior to being traded to Vegas over the offseason. The issue is that the Golden Knights never received that list.

The issue comes in the fact that Anaheim was included on Dadonov’s no trade list, meaning he should have been able to block the trade. Since none of Vegas, Anaheim, nor the NHL themselves had the trade list on file, the deal went through originally.

Currently, the NHL and the National Hockey League Players’ Association are investigating the deal to decide whether or not Dadonov was eligible for the trade.

If it goes through, the trade would provide Vegas with salary cap flexibility in case some of their stars return for the long-term injury reserve prior to the postseason.

The last major move took place the night before the deadline when the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Seattle Kraken captain Mark Giordano.

Toronto gave up two second-round picks and a third-round pick to Seattle, while also acquiring center Colin Blackwell.

Giordano adds defensive prowess that has been missing from the Maple Leafs for multiple years. The team later traded Travis Dermott to Vancouver in order to clear room on their lines.

Outside of those deals, most contenders spent Monday making depth moves including the Colorado Avalanche and The New York Rangers.

 

Evan Smith is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ers5828@psu.edu.