Off the Post: NHL Trade Takes, Top 3 Draft Day Trades – This year’s NHL Entry Draft paled in comparison to recent years in terms of depth of talent. However, it did feature some of the most dramatic draft day trade activity that NHL fans have ever seen. It also means player collectors will be chasing cards of their players in new uniforms in 2021-22 NHL hockey products from Upper Deck. Here’s a look at my NHL Trade Takes, Top 3 Draft Day Trades.
1. Columbus Blue Jackets traded defenseman Seth Jones, 1st round pick (32nd overall), and a 2022 6th round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for defenseman Adam Boqvist, 1st round pick (12th overall), 2nd round pick (44th overall), and a conditional 2022 1st round pick.
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The Blackhawks got Seth Jones, and now he can play with his brother Caleb Jones, who Chicago previously acquired to help lure Seth to ChiTown. Jones was promptly signed to an eight-year deal, but that’s ok. He’s one of the best defensemen in the NHL. He can do a lot of what Boqvist can do on the power play, and Jones gives them a physical presence on the blueline. The former Blue Jackets star does a lot of little things that don’t show up on a stat sheet or in analytics reports. One thing he does is making the other team change their route in the offensive zone. Who wants to challenge Jones when they can go to his partner’s side?
The Blackhawks made the best trade and getting that 32nd overall pick back was a gift. Stan Bowman has done a lot to re-make the makeup of the Blackhawks, and later trading for Marc-Andre Fleury makes the Blackhawks a team to beat this upcoming season.
Boqvist will get secondary power-play time in Columbus and could still be an offensive juggernaut from the blueline with the boatload of minutes he’ll play.
2. New York Rangers trade winger Pavel Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues for winger Sammy Blais plus a 2022 2nd round pick.
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This trade was a big win for the St. Louis Blues. They acquired Buchnevich, coming off his best NHL season with 20 goals and 48 points in 54 games. It’s hard to replace 25 goal players in the NHL, and this 26-year-old may score 30 someday. The Rangers said they couldn’t afford him, and the Blues welcomed him with open arms solving some of their recent scoring woes.
Blais is a tough guy, who is a 4th liner with a Stanley Cup ring. He will get around 20 points or a bit more a season. He will fight and hit a lot of players. Hardly worth the price the Blueshirts paid.
3. The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for the Flyers’ first-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, their second-round pick in the 2023 draft, and defenseman Robert Hagg.
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The Flyers get the win early here, but this could backfire down the road. On the surface, they got an offensive-minded, right-shot defenseman who is physical and gives them a top-four player that they sorely lacked last season. Ristolainen can get 30-35 points, and he’s 6-4, and he can be nasty at times.
Hagg is a solid defenseman who will be missed on some level in Philadelphia. He can provide more offense than he was able based on no power play time and low minutes before. That could change in Buffalo, plus the picks, and Ristolainen is a free agent after this season, as is Hagg.
The Flyers get the win here, and the hope is it gets them back in the playoffs, along with their acquisitions of Ryan Ellis and Cam Atkinson, and then the Finnish defenseman wants to sign a long-term deal. A lot is riding on this season for the Flyers.
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