Golden Knights acquire Hertl as trade deadline arrives
Leave it to the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights to pull off what could be the biggest deal at the NHL’s trade deadline Friday.
After the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers slugged it out adding talent, the Golden Knights sneaked in under the deadline to land Tomas Hertl from San Jose.
In doing so, general manager Kelly McCrimmon capped a string of moves to shore up his slumping team’s roster — Vegas has lost four straight and is 2-8-1 in its past 11 — after acquiring defenseman Noah Hanifin from Calgary and forward Anthony Mantha from Washington earlier in the week.
Now it’s a matter of waiting for Hertl, a five-time 20-goal-scorer, to complete his recovery after undergoing left knee surgery last month.
Hertl’s acquisition overshadowed a busy close to the trading period in which 23 trades were completed Friday involving 33 players and 22 draft picks. That compares with 21 trades involving 34 players and 14 draft picks moving on deadline day last year.
Kuznetsov gets a chance for a fresh start after enduring off and on-ice struggles the past five years in Washington. The 31-year-old most recently spent a month receiving care from the player assistance program. He has since cleared waivers and demoted to the minors, with Capitals GM Brian MacLellan saying he would attempt to trade the player who led Washington in scoring during its run to win the 2018 Stanley Cup.
The Panthers followed suit. Two days after landing scoring winger Vladimir Tarasenko from Ottawa, Florida added depth and leadership in landing Buffalo’s Kyle Okposo. Buffalo acquired minor-league defenseman Calle Sjalin in a deal that provides the 35-year-old Sabres captain a chance to compete in the playoffs in what could be his final NHL season.
“I think they know it at this point that we are going to do everything we can to help them do their thing,” Panthers GM Bill Zito said of helping a team that entered Friday leading the NHL with 43 wins and 90 points, and last year lost the Cup Final to Vegas in five games.
“It’s their team. It’s their success,” he added. “But to the extent that we can help, I think the guys appreciate it. And they know that we’re all in it with them.”
The Boston Bruins became the last of the top contenders in the East to add, getting three-time Cup champion Patrick Maroon from Minnesota for young forward Luke Toporowski and a conditional 2026 sixth-round pick.
The Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers added blue-line depth by acquiring Chad Ruhwedel from a Penguins team that is suddenly entering a rebuilding mode. They also got center Jack Roslovic from Columbus.
— Winnipeg completed separate trades with New Jersey, acquiring forward Tyler Toffoli and defenseman Colin Miller.
The Devils swapped goalies, acquiring Kaapo Kahkonen from San Jose for Vitek Vanecek. New Jersey also acquired goalie Jake Allen from Montreal for a conditional third-round pick.
“You know what the team’s done in the past and how close they’ve been,” Guentzel said. “This is a special team. They’ve got a lot of high-end players, and they’re really well-coached.”
The Los Angeles Kings were the only team among the top 12 Stanley Cup favorites not to make a significant addition over the past several weeks.
Meantime, its the Capitals and Penguins who find themselves in the unusual position of being sellers at the trade deadline after nearly two decades of dominance that began with the arrivals of Alex Ovechkin in Washington in 2004 and Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh a year later.
