The Lightning trade Sergachev and Jeannot, Utah stocks up on defensemen

(Las Vegas) There’s never a dull moment with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Florida organization traded defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to the new Utah team.

In return, Tampa gets defenseman JJ Moser, center Conor Geekie as well as second-round picks in 2025 and seventh-round picks in 2024.

The Lightning then traded forward Tanner Jeannot to the Los Angeles Kings for a 2025 second-round pick and a fourth-round pick ($118.95).^e) in 2024.

Caught in a financial bind, the Lightning is freeing up more than $11 million in salaries for the 2024-25 season. Sergachev alone was due to receive an average salary of $8.5 million over the next seven years. The Russian, one of his club’s best defensemen, was acquired from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Jonathan Drouin in 2016 and was a key part of the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup victories. His current contract has a no-trade clause that was set to take effect Monday, March 1^is July.

As for Jeannot, for whom the Lightning paid a fortune at the 2023 trade deadline, he never found his feet in Tampa. His departure is therefore not a surprise in itself. The sums saved by the club could ensure the return of Steven Stamkos, who is about to become an unrestricted free agent.

The draft picks will also allow the Lightning to replenish its prospect bank, as the team did not have any picks in the first three rounds in 2024. In Geekie, the club gets its hands on a high-ranking offensive prospect, who was chosen in the first round (11^e in total) in 2022 by the Arizona Coyotes, who have just moved to Utah.

Speaking of this new franchise, it has thus achieved the first coup in its young history. Adding such a player, and such a contract, to its squad is in itself a complete break with the austerity regime in force in Arizona for years.

Not satisfied, the Utah team immediately added John Marino to its defense from the New Jersey Devils, in return for two second-round picks in 2024 and 2025.

Elsewhere in the league, the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Kevin Hayes and a second-round pick from the St. Louis Blues for later compensation.

The Vegas Golden Knights, also in a bad position salary-wise, sacrificed goalie Logan Thompson by shipping him to Washington. The Capitals, in return, get third-round picks in 2024 and 2025. In the American capital, Thompson will share the net with Charlie Lindgren.

The Knights had not finished their shopping. They got goaltender Akira Schmid and forward Alexander Holtz from the New Jersey Devils, for backup forward Paul Cotter and a 2025 third-round pick.

The implication is that the Devils have given up on their hopes of Holtz becoming a dominant player in the NHL. This former first-round pick (7^e in total in 2020) was limited to 28 points in 82 games last season, his first full on the circuit. As for Schmid, he lost ranks in the goaltending hierarchy in New Jersey after the acquisitions of veterans Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen. He could become Adin Hill’s assistant from the start of next season.