The NHL Trade Deadline surprised some when Gustav Nyquist was traded early Monday morning to the San Jose Sharks. Just when one thought it was safe to go to bed, the Detroit Red Wings swung a deal that Nyquist approved. Here are the details.
- Detroit agrees to retain 30% of Gustav Nyquist’s salary
- Red Wings receive second round 2019 draft pick
- Detroit receives third round 2020 draft pick (conditional)
- San Jose acquires Gustav Nyquist
Alas, let’s dive further into the details and impacts for each team.
What does this mean for the Detroit Red Wings
One of the first things about this trade is that Detroit retained a little bit of salary. Nyquist earned $4.75 million so Detroit must eat $1.425 million or 30%. Pro-rated this was just enough to get a deal done. Also, the condition to the deal involves the third round 2020 draft pick. This pick becomes a second rounder if San Jose either re-signs Nyquist or San Jose makes the Stanley Cup Final.
Simply, Detroit receives two picks and retains 30% salary to allow Nyquist to go to the San Jose Sharks. Nyquist held some leverage with his no-trade clause meaning Detroit had to come to him. This gives the Red Wings a total of three second-round picks in this year’s draft (ten picks overall). Also, they carry nine picks for 2020 with the chance of having three seconds again.
Consequently, Detroit gains options to use the picks in packages for players or moving up and down in the next couple of drafts. That flexibility helps the Red Wings immensely.
What Gustav Nyquist means for the San Jose Sharks
San Jose gains significantly in this deal and it did not cost Doug Wilson a first-round pick. Many expected that to be the case. He even saved a little money as well. It keeps San Jose under the cap by $447,500 and gives them deadline cap space around $2 million. However, the Sharks carry just four draft picks in each of the next two drafts. That’s not horrible for a team that is going for the Stanley Cup now. This is their window, basically.
What San Jose acquires in Gustav Nyquist is a playmaking forward with a little scoring punch as well. He scored 16 goals in 62 games with Detroit and chipped in 33 assists. Nyquist accumulated 11 power-play points on a bottom third-ranked unit. On the other hand, San Jose ranks seventh in the league at 25%. This only improves the Sharks already potent man advantage.
Nyquist held a pace of around 60-65 points (a 20-40 player). With San Jose, he can settle anywhere into the top-nine and then the second power-play unit. Early projections suggest playing with Joe Thornton and Kevin Labanc on the third line. Also, Nyquist paired with Thornton on the second unit would give some nice correlation. Timo Meier and Evander Kane are also on that unit and are certainly no slouches. That second five could be a top five on most teams.
Supposedly, Nyquist turned down a deal to Boston and one other team. Nobody knows how true that was. The bottom line is he is now a member of the San Jose Sharks.
Some projections and final thoughts…
Gustav Nyquist expects to play around 15-16 minutes a night with San Jose. It could be more or less depending on the night. Expected points are anywhere from 14-18 with 4-6 goals scored. An already deep San Jose Sharks squad just became even deeper. They can outscore most teams on any given night now. Nyquist carries enough shiftiness to more than keep up with Kevin Labanc on his other wing. This looks like a match that could benefit the winger greatly. Would Nyquist re-sign in San Jose? That’s a question for another time.