Since the NHL Entry Draft last week, the NHL has two seismic trades including PK Subban moving from the Nashville Predators to the New Jersey Devils and Patrick Marleau heading to the Carolina Hurricanes from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Both moves were borne of cap issues with the Predators in need of cap space to make any kind of deal over the free agency signing period. But the Devils were also in need of a top line d-man and Subban has enough tread on the tires to make a difference for New Jersey short term.
The Maple Leafs made their trade to the surprise of no one. They have Mitch Marner coming up for a raise as a restricted free agent and Toronto simply did not have enough cash on hand to cover training camp.
The Tampa Bay Lightning also made a deal, sending J.T. Miller to the Vancouver Canucks for goalie Marek Mazanec. This was also a money-driven deal with Miller coming up on restricted free agency status.
With enough defensemen in the system as assets, the Arizona Coyotes traded for Carl Soderberg from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Kevin Connauton. The Coyotes need offensive skills and Soderberg can make an impact in the desert.
The Hurricanes made a trade on Wednesday, acquiring Erik Haula from the Vegas Golden Knights, sending forward Nicolas Roy to Vegas. Haula was injured on November 6 and underwent knee surgery ending his season. He is expected to be available for training camp in Raleigh.
In non trade news,the Florida Panthers’ Roberto Luongo announced his retirement on Wednesday; he completed his 19 season in 2018-19.
“This is one of the toughest decisions I’ve faced in my life and it took me a long time to make it,” Luongo wrote in a letter posted on the Florida Panthers website. “After thinking about it a lot over the past two months and listening to my body, I made up my mind. It just feels like the right time for me to step away from the game.”
Luongo, 40, posted a career record of 489-392-91 with 33 ties, a 2.52 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and 77 shutouts in 1,044 NHL games.
He iced for the New York Islanders, Panthers and Vancouver Canucks.
His Twitter feed showed a pair of goalie pads tossed over the electrical line with a pair of sneakers.
“After this season ended and I had an opportunity to step away, I started thinking about things,” he wrote. “Looking back at last season, I just wasn’t happy with my performance. I played better in the second half, but it wasn’t up to the standards I expect of myself on a nightly basis. I wanted to be the backstop, to give my team a chance to win every night. I wanted to be on top of my game, stealing wins. It just wasn’t there, at least not as much as I wanted it to be.
“As May rolled around, I was looking at the calendar and I found myself dreading getting back into my routine. My offseason workouts always start in the third week of May and I wasn’t looking forward to getting back in the gym. There’s a lot of work and effort required, and I found my body telling me that it didn’t want to go through it.”
The Panthers have been perennial losers in the NHL and one more season of toiling and losing must have weighed on Luongo.
The Panthers drafted goalie Spencer Knight in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft, most likely in anticipation of this announcement.
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