Jets acquire Stastny; Caps agree to sign Lundqvist
Center Paul Stastny is returning to the Winnipeg Jets after a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, a move completed just before the NHL’s free-agency signing period opened Friday.
And the expected shuffle of goalies didn’t take long to materialize once free agency opened.
Henrik Lundqvist signed a one-year contract with Washington, two weeks after having his contract bought out by the New York Rangers. The Minnesota Wild quickly addressed their goaltending needs after trading Devan Dubnyk to San Jose, signing Cam Talbot to a three-year, $11 million deal.
Braden Holtby, the 2016 Vezina Trophy and 2018 Stanley Cup winner, left Washington after 10 season to sign a two-year, $8.6 million contract with Vancouver, where he’ll replace Jacob Markstrom. And Anton Khudobin, who backstopped the Dallas Stars’ run to the Stanley Cup Final, is staying put in Dallas after signing a three-year, $10 million contract.
Among skaters, defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk agreed to a three-year deal worth $11.7 million, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal has not been announced.
Shattenkirk signed what stood as the most lucrative deal four hours into free agency after he played a key role in helping the Tampa Bay Lightning win a Stanley Cup, defeating Dallas in six games last month. The 31year-old defenseman had 13 points in 25 playoff games, and scored the overtime goal in the Lightning’s 5-4 win in Game 4.
In the meantime, the higher profile free agents such as defensemen Alex
Pietrangelo and Torey Krug and winger Taylor Hall, remained on the market.
The Golden Knights acquired defenseman Carl Dahlstrom and a conditional 2022 fourth-round draft pick in dealing the 14th-year forward in a trade kicked off what is expected to be a busy day of signings and moves made by NHL teams challenged by a flat salary cap of $81.5 million. The cap remains unchanged from last year as a result of revenues lost because of the coronavirus pandemic, adding a layer of uncertainty as to how much money teams will be able to spend to improve their rosters this offseason.
In a reversal from two years ago, the Jets had little room to maneuver under the salary cap, and were unable to re-sign Stastny after being outbid by the Golden Knights. This time, the Golden Knights made the trade in part to free space under their cap.
“It’s 2020. that’s how you sum it up, right?” Stastny said of his unexpected return to Winnipeg. “You always have to expected the unexpected. And when stuff like this happens, you always have to be ready to move on and brace for the next challenge that comes
ahead.”
He’s not complaining, after enjoying his brief stint with the Jets in 2018, when he helped the team reach the Western Conference finals.
Stastny had 30 goals and 80 points in 121 games for Vegas, and has one year left on his three-year, $19.5 million contract.
“Everything’s different this year,” said Holtby, who is making a cross-continent move after he priced himself out of re-resigning with Washington. “It’s not an experience that I think is fun, not knowing and all that. I’m excited to have it over now.”
In Washington, Lundqvist is changing uniforms after 15 seasons in New York, where he won the Vezina Trophy in 2011.
After years of tormenting Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals in the playoffs, he will try to help them win it again at the tail end of his illustrious time in the NHL. Lundqvist will share the duties with Ilya Samsonov.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Lundqvist said of now being teammates with Ovechkin
The Rangers agreed to sign defenseman Jack Johnson, who had the final three years of his contract bought out by the Pittsburgh Penguins.