CarterHud

The Winnipeg Jets have acquired defenseman Brenden Dillon from the Washington Capitals in exchange for second-round draft picks in 2022 and 2023.

The Capitals have their work cut out for them this offseason. They need to improve a roster that has not won a playoff series since taking home the Cup in 2018. After Alex Ovechkin inevitably extends with the team, they will not have the cap space necessary to not only make improvements, but to just sign RFA Ilya Samsonov. The team also needs to find a backup for Samsonov after losing Vitek Vanecek in the expansion draft. So, cap space was needed. Dillon was the perfect player on their roster that was expendable and still had value while having a high enough cap hit to make a difference. The team overall got a really, really good deal here. Defensemen have come expensive this offseason, and this is a perfect case of that.

Dillon is a fine defensive defender, but is not two second-round picks good. The Jets overpaid for a player with a $3.9 million cap hit for three more seasons. But at some point they needed to improve their defense. The left side especially was awful last year. Josh Morrissey does not have the skill to handle a number one role. Dillon does not either, but he can be a good second-pairing player to play in front of Connor Hellebuyck. He will be a decent improvement over the departing Derek Forbort. The contract, however, is not great. It may not be a surprise if he is traded again while still under it.

Dillon, 30, scored two goals with 17 assists for 19 points in 56 games for the Capitals in 2020-21. In his NHL career for Washington and the San Jose Sharks, he has scored 24 goals with 109 assists for 133 points in 654 games.

The Arizona Coyotes have acquired defensemen Anton Stralman and Vladislav Kolyachonok plus a 2024 2nd round draft pick from the Florida Panthers in exchange for a 2023 7th round pick.

The Coyotes have done it again. They pick up another second-round pick as a price for taking on a bad contract. Just like the deal for Shayne Gostisbehere, this is not an unbearable deal to stomach. Stralman is still a serviceable, defensive third-pairing player. He only has just one more year left on his contract at a $5.5 million cap hit. The team gets two intriguing pieces in return. One is a 2024 2nd rounder. That is still a long time away, but adds to the long list of second-rounders added this offseason. Kolyachonok was also drafted with a second-round pick. The Panthers selected him 52nd overall in 2019. He started the year in the KHL and then came to the American Hockey League at the end of the year. This is a low risk, high reward pickup for the Coyotes.

Stralman, who will be 35 in a week, scored three goals with six assists for nine points in 38 games for Florida this year. In his NHL career for the Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Toronto Maple Leafs, Stralman has scored 55 goals with 215 assists for 270 points in 856 games.

Kolyachonok, 20, had two assists in 10 games for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch in 2020-21. In the same year for the KHL’s Minsk Dynamo, he scored one goal with five assists in 46 games.

The Panthers need to clear cap space. They might add another defenseman, but they don’t necessarily need to. Stralman became expendable on the roster, and unwanted on the payroll. The team understands that the one year left on the contract is not that bad, but the salary cap doesn’t. The team now has more space to improve the roster that outplayed the Stanley Cup champions at times last year.

The San Diego Padres have acquired infielder Adam Frazier and cash from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for IF Tucupita Marcano, RHP Michell Miliano, and OF Jack Suwinski.

The Padres were major players in the offseason and last year’s Trade Deadline. The 2021 edition may not be that much different for San Diego. GM AJ Preller has made the first of what could be many moves in the next few days. As a good player on the awful Pirates, Frazier was destined to be moved. He has one more year left of control after 2021. The Pirates also sent $1.4 million to the Padres for better prospects. The main return here is Marcano, who MLB Pipeline rated as the fifth best player in the Padres’ farm system. His discipline led to him rising quickly through the San Diego system, as Marcano earned a call-up earlier this season. However, he did not do much. He can play all around the infield and has good speed. A 2016 15th round pick, Suwinski struggled in his first few minor league seasons but his offense has come along in AA this year. Miliano is a young Dominican reliever with a ton of strikeouts this year. Walks have been an issue for him. The return is fine, although they likely could have received more since Frazier has an extra year left of control.

Marcano, 21, hit no home runs with a .280 OBP and a .485 OPS in 50 Plate Appearances for the Padres this year. In his minor league career, Marcano has hit nine home runs with 44 stolen bases, a .359 OBP, and a .720 OPS in 199 Plate Appearances.

Suwinski, who will be 23 next week, has hit 15 home runs with seven stolen bases, a .398 OBP, and a .949 OPS in 267 Plate Appearances for AA San Antonio this year. In his MiLB career Suwinski has hit 46 home runs with 25 stolen bases, a .328 OBP, and a .715 OPS in 1834 Plate Appearances.

Miliano, 21, has a 3.60 ERA with 59 strikeouts and 25 walks in 30 innings for Single-A Lake Elsinore and High-A Fort Wayne in 2021. In his minor league career Miliano has a 6.11 ERA with 146 strikeouts and 78 walks in 98.1 innings pitched.

The Padres are always looking to improve, and they do accomplish that here. Frazier is a second-baseman who can play left-field and third-base among some other positions. He will likely start at second with the Padres, as Jake Cronenworth can move to first-base, giving San Diego four all-star infielders. Eric Hosmer has just a 100 OPS+ and will move to the bench. He joins Ha-Seong Kim and Jurickson Profar there. All can play in the infield. Frazier has been an average left-handed hitter for most of his career but has exploded in 2021. He leads the league in hits and has dropped his K-rate to 10.6 percent. He is batting an amazing .335 against fastballs and .423 versus offspeed pitches. Frazier does not have much power. That is shown by an 85.7 mph average exit velocity and a 26.3 hard hit percentage. Those are concerns against Frazier, but his .300 xBA shows that he at least deserves a high batting average.

Frazier, 29, has hit four home runs with five stolen bases, a .392 OBP, and an .844 OPS in a major league leading 424 Plate Appearances this season. In his MLB career, all in Pittsburgh, Frazier has hit 39 home runs with 25 stolen bases, a .347 OBP, and a .767 OPS in 2228 Plate Appearances.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have acquired forward Jakub Voracek from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forward Cam Atkinson.

This is a high-stakes gamble including two modern-day icons for each of these teams. Both are aging, expensive, and have years left on their contract. Let’s start with the Flyers. This is a tough trade to love, considering overall, Voracek is the better player. He can consistently rack up assists; the shortened season broke up his six-year streak of at least 40 apples, although in an 82-game season he was on pace to hit the mark. But Voracek has never been a great goal scorer. He failed to reach double-digits this past year. The Flyers need to clear cap space to sign RFAs Carter Hart and Travis Sanheim, and they do here. Voracek has a $8.25 million cap hit for three more seasons. The team clears up nearly $2.4 million in space with this trade. Atkinson is more of a shoot-first winger. He scored 41 goals in 2018-19, but just 27 over the past two seasons. Yes, a shooting percentage under ten in each of those years played a part. But, Atkinson may not be the scorer he once was anymore. Still, he can play second-line minutes on the Flyers. Atkinson has four years left with a $5.875 million cap hit.

Atkinson, 32, scored 15 goals with 19 assists for 34 points in 56 games for the Blue Jackets in 2020-21. In his NHL career, all in Columbus, Atkinson has scored 213 goals with 189 assists for 402 points in 627 games.

Right after Seth Jones, Atkinson is the next man out of the revolving door in Columbus. Atkinson, Nick Foligno, and David Savard led the Blue Jackets for many seasons. After the latter two were dealt earlier this year, they are all gone. Voracek is a better player, but that contract is ugly. They do have the space for it, as the team is still under the cap floor as of now. Voracek’s assist production has been much steadier than Atkinson, so that is a plus. Voracek was actually selected by Columbus 7th overall in 2007. As a 20-year-old in 2009-10, Voracek recorded 50 points. However, he was dealt in the ill-advised Jeff Carter trade.

Voracek, who will be 32 next season, scored nine goals with 34 assists for 43 points in 53 games for the Flyers this past season. In his NHL career for Philadelphia and Columbus, Voracek has scored 216 goals with 522 assists for 738 points in 968 games.

The Florida Panthers have acquired forward Sam Reinhart from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for goalie Devon Levi and a conditional 2022 first-round pick. The draft pick is top-10 protected.

This may be the most even trade of the past few days, which is not saying much. The Sabres are able to trade their second-best player. The return is not perfect, but it is passable. Reinhart wanted out due to the team’s recent lack of success. He is about to become a restricted free agent and is just a year away from unrestricted free agency. The Sabres were not keeping Reinhart for long. As the Panthers look to compete over the next few years, Buffalo should not expect a high pick, especially with the protection. In Levi, they get a goaltender selected in the 7th round last draft. He was amazing as Canada’s starter in the past World Juniors, posting a 0.75 GAA and a .964 save percentage over seven games. He has the chance to become much better than his seventh-round peers.

Levi, 19, had a 1.47 GAA with a .941 save percentage and eight shutouts in 37 games for the CCHL’s Carleton Place Canadians.

The Panthers get a lot better with this trade. Reinhart was the Sabres’ best player in 2020-21 with Jack Eichel injured and Taylor Hall struggling before a trade. He can center and play the wing. He is a big net-front presence on the power-play, where he scored 10 times this past year. The 2nd overall pick in 2014 needs to be signed, which could be the problem here. Given how close he is to having the chance to leave, the Panthers cannot give him a 1-2 year deal. The price is not absorbent, as the condition on the pick gives them a safety guard.

Reinhart, 25, scored 25 goals with 15 assists for 40 points in 54 games for the Sabres in 2020-21. In his NHL career, all in Buffalo, Reinhart has scored 134 goals with 161 assists for 295 points in 434 games.