CarterHud

 

       The Boston Bruins have acquired forwards Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for forward Anders Bjork and a second round draft pick. 

The Taylor Hall sweepstakes are finally over, as the real winner is obviously the player who gets to leave the tire fire that is the 2020-21 Sabres. Hall emulated that best, as while he made a positive offensive impact, he could not score to save his life, with a 2.3 shooting percentage. Even with that shooting percentage, he is an above-average winger who will definitely improve the Boston offense. Hall has had a really rough past three years after winning the Hart Trophy in 2017-18. Injuries have played a part, but Hall has scored just 29 goals in 135 games over that stretch. The pending UFA will only have a $4 million cap hit for the Bruins, who also get Lazar in this trade. A bottom six defensive forward at best, Lazar has been on injured reserve since the first of April. He is currently considered week-to-week, and upon his return gives depth and physicality to the Bruins lineup. Unlike Hall, Lazar is under contract for next year, with an $800k cap hit. He becomes an unrestricted free agent afterwards. Lazar and Bjork cancel each other out in value terms, so Hall for a second round pick is basically the trade in value terms. That is amazing for the Bruins, considering Columbus got more than a first round pick for Nick Foligno and David Savard each, and the Devils got a first for Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac. 

Hall, 29, has scored just two goals with 17 assists for 19 points in 37 games for the Sabres this year. In his NHL career for Buffalo, the New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers and Arizona Coyotes, Hall has scored 220 goals with 362 assists for 582 points in 664 games. 

Lazar, 27, has scored five goals with four assists for nine points in 33 games for Buffalo this year. In his NHL career for the Sabres, Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators, Lazar has scored 25 goals with 45 assists for 70 points in 317 games. 

The Sabres had so much time to pull off a trade, and after the Foligno trade, Hall\’s value should have skyrocketed. The end result means that it didn\’t. Sabres GM Kevyn Adams had to hit big with this trade, and he instead fell flat. Hall probably should have been worth a second rounder given his production this year, but to not get more is disappointing. They do exchange Lazar for Bjork, but the players are not too different. Bjork has been given playing time for the past four years, and the former fifth round pick has failed to capitalize. He is still young, but if you can\’t score in Boston, Buffalo shouldn\’t be too much better. His contract situation is not great for the team, as Bjork has two additional years worth $1.6 million after 2020-21, and he is still a restricted free agent afterwards. 

Bjork, 24, has scored two goals with three assists for five points in 30 games for the Bruins this year. In his NHL career, all for Boston, Bjork has scored 16 goals with 23 assists for 39 points in 138 games. 

 

        The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired forward Jeff Carter from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a 2022 3rd round pick and a 2023 4th round pick. Both picks have unknown conditions on them. The Kings also retained half of Carter\’s salary.

This is an odd trade to begin with, as even after salary retention, Carter is a very expensive player, who will be on Pittsburgh\’s books for next year, with a flat salary cap. He is well past his prime, last scoring at least 20 goals in 2016-17. At this point, Carter is a bottom six winger who can play center, and is good at faceoffs when necessary. He has played a lot of wing this year, although Carter could move to center behind Evgeni Malkin this year. For 2020-21 alone, this is a fine move. But it is questionable considering he will still be on the team next year. This move also puts the team over the salary cap, and they will need to depend on LTIR usage to get cap compliant. The cost may seem high, but Carter is a proven two-time Stanley Cup champion who Pittsburgh believes can still make an impact on their bottom six.

Carter, 36, has scored eight goals with 11 assists for 19 points in 40 games for the Kings this year. In his NHL career for the Kings, Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets, Carter has scored 390 goals with 361 assists for 751 points in 1080 games. 

This is a good trade for the Kings, as they can still get value for Carter before his long 11 year deal with the Flyers expires. His base salary is only $2 million for this year and the next, so retaining 50% is little in real money. Additionally, the rebuilding Kings can afford to take on half of Carter\’s salary on the cap, which comes out to about $2.63 million.

 

       The New York Islanders have acquired defenseman Braydon Coburn from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2022 7th round draft pick. 

This would be terrible value for the Islanders if it was anything more than a 7th round pick. Coburn is a below replacement level defenseman at this point in his career, but he can be physical, and won a Stanley Cup last year with the Lightning. Unfortunately his beard will be a victim to Lou Lamoriello\’s weird rule. Coburn\’s place on the Islanders depth chart will be unclear. He will likely sit on the taxi squad for the majority of the time, and will either be the 7th or 8th defenseman, fighting with Thomas Hickey for the former. He can kill penalties, but takes way too many of them himself, and his $1.7 million cap hit is a lot, but the Islanders were unlikely to use it anyways, unless it was on another depth defenseman.

Coburn, 36, has two assists with 25 hits in 16 games for the Senators this year. In his NHL career with Ottawa, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and Atlanta Thrashers, Coburn has scored 49 goals with 185 assists for 234 points with 925 hits in 980 games. 

Coburn was not remotely high on Ottawa\’s depth chart, and was sitting on their taxi squad. He would likely clear waivers, so good on GM Pierre Dorion for getting some value for him. 

 

       The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired goaltender David Rittich from the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 2022 3rd round draft pick. 

The Maple Leafs have been without goalie Frederik Andersen due to injury, but replacement Jack Campbell has been amazing, with a .934 save percentage and an 11-0-0 record. This trade is merely insurance in case Andersen misses even more time, as Rittich is a backup goaltender at best. He also does not have to quarantine entering Canada, as he already plays for a Canadian team. Trading a third round pick is a big price for a guy who will hopefully be a third goalie in the playoffs, unless Toronto plans on moving away from Andersen, which would be weird to see. The Flames retained half of Rittich\’s salary, so Toronto only takes on $1.375 million. 

Rittich, 28, has a .904 save percentage with a 2.90 GAA and a -1.6 GSAA in 15 games for the Flames this year. In his NHL career, all in Calgary, Rittich has a .908 save percentage with a 2.83 GAA and a -12.4 GSAA. 

The 17-21-3 Flames are six points out of the playoffs, and sellers at this year\’s trade deadline. The team should be getting as many assets as they can for their pending free agents, and Rittich was one of them. A third round pick is good value for a backup goaltender. They get a bit more thanks to their ability to retain half of Rittich\’s salary. 

 

       The Boston Bruins have acquired defenseman Mike Reilly from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2022 3rd round draft pick. 

This trade comes immediately after an embarrassing 8-1 loss to the Capitals, where Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk were absent. Jeremy Lauzon and Jack Ahcan made up the top pairing, which is pretty bad, considering Ahcan is an undrafted 23 year old playing in his second NHL game. This trade definitely bolsters their defensive core, both before and after McAvoy, Carlo and Grzelyck return. Reilly played second pairing minutes in Ottawa, where he excelled offensively alongside rookie Artem Zub. The interesting part here is that Boston decided to give up next year\’s third round pick, considering they still had the one from this year. Reilly has a $1.5 million cap hit, and will become a free agent after the 2020-21 season. 

Reilly, 27, has no goals but 19 assists in 40 games for the Senators this year. In his NHL career for Ottawa, the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets, Reilly has scored eight goals with 64 assists for 72 points in 244 games. 

As the fire sale continues for another year, Reilly is the next Senator to leave. The value is good, and it is much better than the fifth round pick and Andrew Sturtz that the Senators traded 16 months ago to Montreal to acquire Reilly. Trading Reilly and potentially Erik Gudbranson opens up space for younger players, most notably Erik Brannstrom, to get more playing time.