Golden Knights acquire Hertl, ’Canes, Panthers dominate deals in the East
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 on Friday.
After the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers slugged it out in adding talent to shore up their respective rosters with offense and experience, the Golden Knights sneaked in under the deadline to land Tomas Hertl in a trade with San Jose.
Hertl, who has enjoyed nine 15-goal seasons in his 11-year career, provides the Golden Knights offensive depth down the middle, and joins a retooled team that added defenseman Noah Hanifin in a trade with Calgary on Wednesday and acquired forward Anthony Mantha in a trade with Washington on Tuesday.
The only downside for the slumping Golden Knights, who have dropped four straight and are 2-8-1 in their past 11, is waiting a few more weeks while Hertl continues recovering form having left knee surgery last month.
In the meantime, the Panthers and Hurricanes — the teams who met in the Eastern Conference finals in a series Florida won in a four-game sweep — were major players on the trade front.
After acquiring scoring winger Jake Guentzel from Pittsburgh in a blockbuster deal late Thursday, Carolina kicked off the action Friday by adding center Evgeny Kuznetsov in a trade with Washington.
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 minorleague 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.”
Unofficially, because the NHL hasn’t released its totals yet, 23 trades were completed on Friday involving 32 players and 22 draft selections. That compares with 21 trades involving 34 players and 14 draft picks moving on deadline day last year.
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.