Wild go all-in with Hanzal deal
Martin Hanzal, a 6-6, 225pound two-way center acquired Sunday, should make the Minnesota Wild more playoff-ready.
The Wild gave up a firstround pick in 2017 and a second-round pick in 2018 to the Arizona Coyotes to land pending free agent Hanzal, plus Ryan White.
Though that price might seem high for a third-line rental player, the Western Conferenceleading Wild have a center trio of Eric Staal, Mikko Koivu and Hanzal. Those players stack up well against any center trio in the conference.
Hanzal is a load to handle, and his presence makes the Wild more challenging to play against. He is comfortable matching up defensively against any center.
He has scored 16 goals this season, and his down-low, grinding style in the offensive zone fits with how coach Bruce Boudreau has the Wild playing. Hanzal also has won more than 56% of his faceoffs.
Bishop trade:
The Los Angeles Kings’ acquisition of goalie Ben Bishop from the Tampa Bay Lightning appears designed to give them insurance against Jonathan Quick suffering a recurrence of an injury that cost him nearly 60 games.
Sunday night’s trade comes a day after the Kings’ No. 1 goalie returned from a groin injury that had kept him sidelined since after the first game of the regular season.
The Lightning received goalie Peter Budaj, a seventh-round pick in 2017, a conditional pick in 2017 and prospect Erik Cernak, a defenseman who was the Kings’ second-round pick in 2015. The Kings also get a fifth-rounder from the Lightning.
Bishop, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, has played well of late, but the Lightning were not going to resign him. Andrei Vasilevskiy is their anointed goalie, although Budaj has looked sharp this season as Quick’s replacement.
The Lightning look to be a seller after also trading Brian Boyle to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The trade deadline was 3 p.m. ET Wednesday.