Day 2 of the NHL Draft has gotten off to a bang, with multiple trades shaking up the landscape. The most notable was the Tampa Bay Lightning’s shocking deal that sent Mikhail Sergachev to the Utah Hockey Club for J.J. Moser, prospect Conor Geekie, and draft picks:
Sergachev is just one year removed from signing an eight-year extension with the Lightning that came with a cap hit of $8.5 million. The Lightning retained no money, so Utah is taking on his entire contract. Let’s grade each side of the trade.
Lightning Clear Needed Cap Space
To say that Sergachev getting traded was a shocker would be an understatement. He was one of the Lightning’s core players for the last few years, but general manager Julien BriseBois has shown that he’s not afraid to make difficult decisions to improve his team. And with him still probably wanting to sign Steven Stamkos, this opens up the necessary cap space.
Sergachev is a good defenseman, but I see why the Lightning were OK with moving on from him. One) They acquired Ryan McDonagh in a trade earlier this offseason, so they have some top-four insurance. Two) Even though Sergachev is a good defenseman, his results have been inconsistent at best.
Related: Lightning Trade Mikhail Sergachev to Utah
He finished with 64 points a season ago but had just 19 in 34 games in 2023-24. That was injury-related, but even then, his results over the last three seasons are just so-so. He’s had OK offensive impacts and been anywhere from average to slightly below average defensively at even strength:
I would expect Sergachev to bounce back next season, but he’s probably not worth his $8.5 million cap hit, so I get why the Lightning decided to move on from him. In getting Moser from Utah, they get a bottom-pair defender who should come on a relatively affordable contract this offseason; he’s a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
Also coming to Tampa is Morgan Geekie’s younger brother Conor, the 11th overall pick in the 2022 draft. His stock seems to have fallen a bit since he got drafted, as he’s been under a point-per-game player in the WHL. Still, for an organization with a bare prospect pool, getting a former top pick can’t hurt the Lightning.
There’s not much to dislike about this trade from the Lightning’s perspective. They cleared a massive amount of cap space and got someone to fill the void left by Sergachev in Moser. BriseBois doesn’t miss much, and he certainly didn’t miss with this trade.
Lightning grade: A
Utah Shows It Will Be Different
It’s clearly the dawn of a new day for the Utah Hockey Club, who relocated from Arizona to Salt Lake City this offseason. In years past, the Coyotes would be a dumping ground for bad contracts, but they made clear today that will not be how they operate under new owner Ryan Smith.
Utah entered Day 2 of the NHL Draft with nearly $46 million in cap space and needing to assemble a blue line, and they did so by acquiring Sergachev (and John Marino from the New Jersey Devils, too). I mentioned Sergachev and some of his inconsistent play in the last few years, but he is a good bounce-back candidate.
Sergachev will likely get big minutes with Utah, and if he’s with a steady defensive partner like Marino, that could allow him to play to his strengths offensively. There’s potential for it to work, and he should make Utah a more competitive team, especially since it seems like they have more moves to come.
Moser is a solid bottom-four defenseman, but Utah didn’t give up much to acquire Sergachev, even when including Geekie. It’s their first season in a new market, and they want to put out a competitive team and give their new fans an exciting on-ice product. It’s a fine enough trade that should improve their roster and at least make them fun to watch.
Utah grade: B
