Rejoint: juill. 2021
Messages: 1,052
Mentions "j'aime": 549
I think this trade is good for all three teams considering what their goals were and where they are in their life cycles.
Pittsburgh
Positive: They got the guy they wanted, and cleared the cap space for him – actually coming out with less cap hit now than they went in with – all in one deal without having to give up any prospects (I’m ignoring Légaré and Hamaliuk because I don’t think they have much chance to make the NHL) or players that they considered essential to their present or future success. The only positive assets it cost them were a protected 1st, a 2nd and $1.5M of retained salary on Petry. You could argue that the cap dumps alone were worth at least that much, so they effectively got the most recent Norris Trophy winner for free.
Negative: If Karlsson was a UFA, would you sign him for 4x$10M? I wouldn’t, but I can see why it makes sense for Pittsburgh. They missed the playoffs last year, so they needed to do something to get back in, but they’re committed to being all in on their aging core. Acquiring Karlsson effectively doubles down on that strategy by bringing in another aging star.
Rating: A-
San Jose
Positive: It’s no secret they’ve been wanting to get rid of Karlsson’s contract, and even with him coming off a career year, it still looks like a bad contract at 4x$11M. They got rid of 87% of it, which is quite an accomplishment considering how difficult it is to move a contract of that size, and they picked up a 1st-round draft pick from what could be a non-playoff team in the process. They had to take on some overpaid players, but those players should all be of some use to them, and none of them are signed for more than two years versus Karlsson’s four.
Negative: They gave up their best player and have to wait two years before they’ll see significant savings from this move. The big benefits are in years 3 and 4. Sharks fans who thought he would fetch a huge package of futures that would kick-start their rebuild need to realize that Pittsburgh was probably the only team he was willing to go to that could take him, and it was only because of his great season last year that they were able to move him at all, so although they picked the right time to sell they were probably lucky to get what they got. However, they likely could have got more if they retained more of his salary. I think that might have been better for their rebuild, because I’ll be surprised if by years 3 and 4 they’ll be in a position where they really need all of that 2x$10M cap space they just freed up.
Rating: B
Montreal
A much less impactful trade for Montreal. I suspect Petry’s no-trade clause prevented Pittsburgh from sending him to San Jose, otherwise it would have been a two-team trade with San Jose getting the package they sent to Montreal.
Positive: Turning Hoffman and Pitlick into Petry and DeSmith for only a small increase in cap hit should make them a better team this season. I’m not sure DeSmith is much of an upgrade over Montembault, but he’ll create some competition for that spot or maybe allow them to trade Allen. Petry gives them another veteran defenseman who might be able to help their young core develop without the pressure of more responsibility than they’re ready for.
Negative: They’ve turned one year of Hoffman’s bad contract into two years of Petry’s. The retention on Petry should make that more palatable, and they get a 2nd-round draft pick to offset the pain, but I’m not sure they aren’t already past the point in their rebuild where selling cap space for draft picks is a good move.
Rating: B