The 2022 NHL Trade Deadline has finally settled. The Tampa Bay Lightning were huge players this year. Selling plenty of future assets in their run at a three-peat. Tampa made a statement that they’re in win now and worry about consequences later mode.
The first major domino of the deadline was from the Lightning, making a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. The Lightning acquired Brandon Hagel in exchange for 2023 1st rounder, a 2024 1st rounder, and forwards Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh. Both picks are top ten protected.
The move looks similar to the Blake Coleman trade a few years back. With Tampa Bay paying a steep price in exchange for a solid depth piece. Hagel is going to look great on Tampa’s third line. In 55 games with Chicago, Hagel notched 21 goals and 16 assists for 37 points.
The price was extremely high for Hagel, with two firsts plus two serviceable players leaving. But the cost is going to be high for an effective player on such a team friendly deal. His contract runs until 2023-24 with only a 1.5 million dollar cap hit.
The next move was Tampa moving Mathieu Joseph and a 2024 4th round pick to Ottawa. In return Tampa acquired forward Nick Paul with 44.5% salary retained. With the retention the cap implications were minimal. With the move Tampa’s depth gets quite a bit more grit, great pickup for the team.
The team also made two other moves with minor league players. Therefore not making a huge impact on the big picture. Riley Nash from Arizona for “future considerations”, hockey slang for “you can just have him”. They also had a swap with San Jose, giving up young goaltender Alexei Melnichuk for forward Antione Morand, who doesn’t have a game played in the NHL.
Tampa made a huge statement this deadline. What matters isn’t the future, what matters is winning right now. In the next three drafts they only have two picks in rounds 1 and 2. A 1st rounder this year and their 2024 2nd. A three-peat is very much possible for the team.
