Tampa Bay trades forward to Montreal for defenseman, 18
The Tampa Bay Lightning got the young defenseman they have been seeking in Mikhail Sergachev, but he cost them highly skilled forward Jonathan Drouin.
Tampa Bay acquired the soon-to-be 19-year-old Sergachev from the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday in a trade that checks off one box on general manager Steve Yzerman’s offseason checklist and could provide short- and longterm benefits. Dealing Drouin helps the Lightning ahead of the Vegas expansion draft and in their tight salary-cap situation, and adding Sergachev potentially strengthens their blue line for the next decade.
“Our biggest need and our biggest goal was to acquire a puck-moving young defenseman, and we were able to do that,” Yzerman said on a conference call. “We wanted this type of game that Sergachev plays: an offensive defenseman, big, strong, good skater, moves the puck well. We were looking for that type of player and we were able to find a fit.”
Along with Sergachev, Tampa Bay got a conditional 2018 second-round pick that previously belonged to Washington and Montreal received a 2018 conditional sixth-rounder. Yzerman said the condition is that if Sergachev plays 40 NHL games between the regular season and playoffs next season, no picks are exchanged.
In parts of three seasons with the Lightning, Drouin showed he could adapt to the pro game. The 22-year-old set career highs last season with 21 goals, 32 assists and 53 points and has 95 points in 164 career games.
Hours after the trade, the Canadiens signed Drouin to a $33 million, six-year contract, which means he will count $5.5 million a year against the salary cap through 2022-23.
Sabres hire Housley: Phil Housley began his Hall of Fame playing career in Buffalo. It is also where he will open his NHL head-coaching career after being hired by the Sabres.
Housley’s hiring completes an offseason overhaul for the Sabres in replacing head coach Dan Bylsma, who was fired along with general manager Tim Murray in April. It represents the first significant move made by first-time general manager Jason Botterill, who took the job last month.
Housley takes over a team that stagnated under Murray in extending its franchiseworst playoff drought to six seasons. With a 33-37-12 record, Buffalo finished last in the Atlantic Division, 26th overall and with two fewer wins than last season.
Housley has spent the past four years as an assistant coach with the Predators. He is credited for overseeing a highly skilled and speedy group of defensemen that helped Nashville make its first Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
New deal for Carolina forward: The Hurricanes and forward Teuvo Teravainen agreed on a two-year deal worth more than $5.7 million. Carolina acquired Teravainen, 22, in a trade with Chicago last offseason, and he had 15 goals and 27 assists in 81 games last season, all career highs. He will earn $2.86 million in each the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. Avs buy out Beauchemin: Colorado bought out the final year of defenseman Francois Beauchemin’s contract. Beauchemin, 37, had one season left on his three-year deal at a salary-cap hit of $4.5 million, making it more of a move with the Vegas expansion draft in mind. Beauchemin had a nomovement clause in his deal, and buying him out allows Colorado to protect an extra player in the expansion draft. Chicago hires assistants: Former NHL defenseman Ulf Samuelsson and former University of Wisconsin associate head coach Don Granato are joining coach Joel Quenneville’s staff as assistants with the Blackhawks.