Every year, a subplot of the NHL Draft is the frenzy of activity that occurs at the NHL level. Gathering all 32 teams into one central location and the immediate utility of draft picks that can turn into prospects is a recipe for player movement. This year, the hot stove operated more like a slow boil.
The mundanity of the first round, which saw 0 NHL player transactions, led to a second day of the draft in which NHL teams collaborated on a flurry of action. Some of them change the makeup of the offseason for certain teams. Some of the trades were unexpected.
A few were even bizarre. Here are trade grades for the seven notable player trades that occurred around the NHL Draft on Saturday. We have acquired defenseman J.
J. Moser, forward Conor Geekie, a 7th Round pick (199th overall) in the 2024 #NHLDraft and a 2nd Round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Utah Hockey Club in exchange for defenseman Mikhail Sergachev. pic.
twitter.com/SmFajlze9u Utah was primed to make a massive move this week. Ownership is ready to spend and the organization has a lot of marketing incentive to make headlines and put forth a good product while introducing hockey to a new fanbase.
On a more analytical level, Utah badly needed upgrades on defense and has more prospects and draft picks than they can realistically use. Mikhail Sergachev is a 200-foot defenseman with a lean towards the offensive side of the game. At 6'3", the Russian is a good skater for his size and a high-end passer in all three zon.
