More Erik Karlsson Fallout
David Satriano of NHL.com: The fallout from the Erik Karlsson trade may take days or even weeks to fully unwind. One of the good parts of the trade for Pittsburgh was they freed up about $2.9 million in cap space. This allows them to go after other pieces to sure up their roster for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
For the San Jose Sharks, this opens up a lot of options for their rebuild. While Mike Grier and David Quinn want to win as soon as possible, the Sharks are gaining pieces and now will be tasked with trying to put them together.
“While it is always difficult to trade a player of the caliber of Erik Karlsson, this trade accomplishes several goals for our franchise,” Grier said. “It adds two forwards to our roster who have proven ability to produce offensively at the NHL level, and solidifies our NHL defense corps. Additionally, acquiring another first round pick gives us the opportunity to continue fortifying our development system with high-end prospects and provides us some financial flexibility to add players as we see fit in the future.”
Montreal can look into some more potential moves as well. There are some who believe Jeff Petry will be flipped before the season starts. If not, Petry can step right in as he played from 2014-2021 in Montreal. Casey DeSmith can provide goaltending depth for the Canadiens as well.
In the end, everyone gets something from this deal.
Pens Report via Twitter: Again, Pittsburgh now has enough cap flexibility to sign one more forward. Do not be surprised if they take another run at Tomas Tatar. Elliotte Friedman had mentioned something about this earlier in the offseason before free agency.
Quinton Byfield Looks For Good Start
NHL.com: The Los Angeles Kings’ Quinton Byfield hopes for a healthy start to the 2023-24 season. It has been hard for Byfield to show what he can really do because of health issues.
“It’s just nice to feel good to do things like this and be feeling good heading into a new season for a change,” he said after the event, part of the National Bank Open. “That hasn’t been the case in previous years.”
Now, the lanky 20-year old forward plays on the wing instead of center where he was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings(second overall in 2020). The expectation is that Byfield will open on the second line to start the season. This will give him opportunities to produce.
No broken ankles, illness, or other maladies would be a most welcome sight for Byfield and the Kings to start the 2023-24 campaign.
