CarterHud

 

       The Florida Panthers have acquired forward Sam Bennett and a 2022 6th round draft pick from the Calgary Flames in exchange for forward Emil Heineman and a 2022 2nd round pick. 

Yeah, the value is not great for the Panthers. At best, Bennett is a third line center. He is really a fourth liner, though, and he makes $2.55 million on a deal that will get higher when he becomes a restricted free agent after this season. A former 4th overall pick, Bennett did not bring much offensive production when he first came into the league, and that has dipped even more over the past two seasons. The best he has ever played was in the most recent postseason, when he scored five goals with three assists in eight games. A second round pick for Bennett, a physical player who often takes penalties, is too much on its own. Then they added Heineman, their second round pick from last year. Bennett does make their team harder to play against, but that does not change the value from being rough. 

Bennett, 24, has scored four goals with eight assists for 12 points with 79 hits in 38 games for Calgary this year. In his NHL career, all for the Flames, Bennett has scored 67 goals with 73 assists for 140 points with 678 hits in 402 games. 

It was unclear if the Flames would move on from Bennett, as even though they are out of the playoff picture, the team still has some hope for next year, while Bennett is an RFA, not a UFA after the season. But after this offer from Florida, it makes sense why GM Brad Treliving made a move. A second round pick is solid, especially in a deep draft next year. Heineman is a Swedish winger who is playing professionally overseas right now. He is still a teenager, and his draft position last year shows that he has promise. 

Heineman, 19, has scored seven goals with six assists for 13 points in 43 games for Leksands IF in Sweden this year. In his SweHL career, Heinenman has those 13 points, plus two extra assists in 54 games. 

 

       The Vegas Golden Knights have acquired forward Mattias Janmark and a 2022 5th round pick from the Chicago Blackhawks in a three team deal with the San Jose Sharks. The Blackhawks acquired a 2021 2nd round pick and a 2022 3rd round pick from the Golden Knights, while the Sharks got a 2022 5th rounder from Vegas. Chicago retained 50% of Janmark\’s salary, and San Jose retained an additional 25%. 

Starting off with the easy analysis, San Jose gets a free pick here. Just like they did yesterday by retaining some money for Nick Foligno, the Sharks used up some of their cap space to acquire a mid-to-late round draft pick. They got a fourth yesterday, and give up even less to bring in what should be a late 5th round pick. They only take on $562k of cap space so Vegas can stay cap compliant. 

The Golden Knights make a good addition, but severely overpay in the process. The 5th round picks cancel out, although the one acquired by Vegas should be a bit higher than the one they gave up. Janmark is a middle-six winger who is good defensively and can kill penalties. He scored a lot of goals early in his career, but the two years before this year saw his shooting percentage tank. It is back up this year, to 13.9%. He definitely improves their lineup, but is a pending free agent. They had to give up a bit more because they are so close to the cap, that Janmark\’s $562k cap hit was the maximum they could take on. 

Janmark, 28, has scored 10 goals with nine assists for 19 points in 41 games for Chicago this year. In his NHL career for the Blackhawks and Dallas Stars, Janmark has scored 56 goals with 72 assists for 128 points in 338 games. 

The Blackhawks are the definite winners of this trade. In pure value added and lost, San Jose does, but Chicago gains a lot. A second and a third is a great get for a player who they gave a one year, $2.25 million deal in the offseason. They are one of the main winners at this year\’s deadline. 

 

       The Colorado Avalanche have acquired forward Carl Soderberg from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forwards Ryder Rolston and Josh Dickinson. 

Soderberg is a familiar face to many in the Colorado organization, as he was a middle-six center for the team for four seasons, but left after scoring 49 points in 2018-19. He is now a few years older, and is closer to a 4th line player than a 2nd line one. He gives the team center depth, and at just $1 million through this season, it is a nice addition for GM Joe Sakic. The cost is also very low, with the headliner being a 5th round pick from the 2020 draft. 

Soderberg, 35, has scored seven goals with eight assists for 15 points in 34 games for the Blackhawks this year. In his NHL career for Chicago, the Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes and Boston Bruins, Soderberg has scored 110 goals with 185 assists for 295 points in 586 games. 

The two players that the Blackhawks get back don\’t have much promise, but they are the very least both young, and are guaranteed to be more important to Chicago\’s future than Soderberg would be. Dickinson was an undrafted forward who has split time between the ECHL and the AHL this year. His best professional season came last year for the ECHL\’s Utah Grizzlies, as he finished with 30 points in 29 games. Rolston, the son of former NHL veteran and Avalanche Brian Rolston, was a 5th round draft pick by the Avalanche a year ago. He is a freshman at Notre Dame currently, but has struggled offensively. 

Rolston, 19, had one goal with five assists for six points in 28 games at Notre Dame this year. For the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL last year, he scored 16 goals with 17 assists for 33 points in 42 games. 

 

       The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired forward Adam Gaudette from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for forward Matthew Highmore.

From Vancouver\’s point of view, this is a confusing trade. Gaudette has not had good underlying numbers in his NHL career and is not good at face-offs, but he is young and scored 12 goals last year. He has fallen back to earth after a 16 shooting percentage last year, and has been a replaceable 4th liner. But he had potential coming out of college, scoring 30 goals with 30 assists in 38 games for Northeastern in 2017-18. Looking at the salary cap, they clear up $225k, as Highmore is under contract through next year at $725k, while Gaudette is a pending RFA, making $950k this year. Highmore will be an RFA when his contract expires. The undrafted Highmore has been nothing more than an extra forward in his time with Chicago, averaging under 10 minutes of ice time with little scoring production and no defensive value. It is for sure a confusing deal for the Canucks, unless they really see something in Highmore.

Highmore, 25, has two assists with just 20 shots in 24 games for the Blackhawks this year. In his NHL career, all in Chicago, Highmore has scored four goals with six assists for 10 points in 73 games. 

The Blackhawks are not huge winners here, but they do gain some value. Gaudette was a fine player last year, although he did have a very high shooting percentage that showed to be unsustainable this year. But, he is actually younger than Highmore and should not get a big deal as an RFA at the end of this season. He is for sure an upgrade from what they had.

Gaudette, 24, has scored four goals with three assists for seven points in 33 games for the Canucks this year. In his NHL career, all in Vancouver, Gaudette has scored 21 goals with 31 assists for 52 points in 153 games. 

 

       The Edmonton Oilers have acquired defenseman Dmitry Kulikov from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a conditional 2022 4th round pick. If Edmonton wins a playoff round this year, the pick upgrades to a 2022 3rd rounder. 

His two points may not show it, but Kulikov was a nice addition to the Devils out of free agency in 2020-21. He added defensive value while playing physical during third pairing minutes. The Oilers have a group of mostly young defensemen, and added Kulikov gives them a steady veteran rental to help with their playoff run. If they do not win a playoff round, then just a 4th round pick for a good defensive defenseman is still a fine trade. So is a third round pick, and at that point you would be happy with a playoff series win. Kulikov has a $1.15 million cap hit before becoming an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

Kulikov, 30, has two assists with 39 blocked shots and 72 hits in 38 games for New Jersey this year. In his NHL career for the Devils, Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres, Kulikov has scored 35 goals with 137 assists for 172 points with 947 blocked shots and 1128 hits in 715 games.

This will become repetitive at some point, but the Devils are sellers that will be happy to get assets back for a pending UFA. Kulikov was a nice player for them this season, but he was not a part of their core. A 3rd or 4th round pick is solid for a guy who signed for just over a million dollars in the offseason.