It's a fine deal.
Former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Trevor Van Riemsdyk is heading from Las Vegas Knights to the Carolina Hurricanes.
This deal had been widely speculated for the past week.
Vegas took ownership of TVR at Wednesday night's Vegas expansion draft.
Van Riemsdyk will be 26 on July 24. He will earn $850K AAV this season.
TVR will no doubt be penciled into the top four.
Canes GM Ron Francis now has a logjam of NHL defenseman on his roster. Francis now has trade currency to offer to teams like Buffalo and Montreal who are aggressively searching for NHL ready, plug and play D-men.
Francis has assets on his D corps that he can convert to an premium draft pick and a difference making forward.
Justin Falk is the numero uno rear guard and is earning $4.83M this season. Falk isn't going anywhere. He's the engine that drives the top pair and the PP.
2015 first rounder Noah Hanifin earns $925K. Hanifin added 4 goals and 25 assists in 2016-17 after scoring 22 points his rookie season. I see Hanifin as an odd man out in Carolina. The 6'3" 215 lb. lefty will have a tough time cracking the top four now that Van Reimsdyk is in the fold. Why would Francis trade for TVR if he was enamored in his blue line?
At 17, Hanifin became the youngest player to suit up for Boston College, and a year later he became the only defenseman from the 2015 NHL Draft to start the season in the NHL that fall when he made his Carolina Hurricanes debut against Nashville on October 8.
Hanifin, drafted in the first round (#5) by Carolina.
A product of the Saint Sebastian's School in Needham, Massachussetts, Hanifan passed on an opportunity to play junior hockey for Quebec of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and instead honored a commitment he made in 2011 to play for Boston College.
During his only season with the Eagles, Hanifin played in 37 of 38 games and had five goals, 18 assists and a plus-12 rating that helped BC finish tied for second with eventual national champion Providence in Hockey East.
Hanifin allowed himself to be bumped down the depth chart last season when Jaccob Slavin ($743K AAV) and Brett Pesce ($809K) moved past him on the Canes' depth chart. Klas Dahlbeck ($850K AAV) and Ryan Murphy ($788K AAV) round out the packed D corps. Matt Tennyson is UFA on July 1.
Hanifin was fifth on the Canes in TOI last season. How can that be?
Slavin played 23:26 TOI, Falk 23:08, Ron Hainsey 22:19 (56 games before trade to Penguins), Pesce 21:12, Hanifin 17:56, Dahlbeck 13:53, Tennyson 13:10, and Murphy 13:10.
Francis also has former first round draft choices Jake Bean and Haydn Fleury developing nicely. Bean played last season with the WHL Calgary Hitmen while Fleury played for the AHL Charlotte Checkers.
Francis may be persuaded to trade Hanifan for a package of assets that includes a 2017 first round pick and a forward asset.
Hanifin's best friend Jack Eichel would love to have his buddy play with him in Buffalo.
Montreal are desperate for D having lost Alexei Emelin (Vegas), Mikhael Sergachev (Tampa) and Nathan Beaulieu (Buffalo) in the past week.
Would Sabres GM Jason Botterill trade his 8th overall pick in Friday's draft to Carolina for Hanifin?
The Canes also need a scoring forward. Noah Hanifin for Evander Kane makes sense for both teams.
Francis will likely deny and shoot down trade speculation.
Come on, Ron. You can't keep all of your D-men under lock and key.
Francis will trade a Hanifin or Murray when the price is right.
If Botterill offers Evander Kane and a prospect, Francis will have to seriously consider it. If Joe Sakic offers Matt Duchene and a forward or D prospect, goodbye Hanifin. Ditto if Marc Bergevin offers Alex Galchenyuk and a prospect for Hanifin.
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According to Darren Dreger, the New York Islanders are close to acquiring Jordan Eberle from the Edmonton Oilers. Ryan Strome is moving to Edmonton in this good ole fashioned hockey deal. Connor McDavid knows Ryan Strome having played with his brother, Dylan, when the dynamic duo terrorized the OHL with the Erie Otters.
The Islanders, moving heaven and earth to convince their captain John Tavares to stay and play in Brooklyn for many more years, have also been connected via trade chatter to Matt Duchene and Evander Kane. If Kane were to go to Brooklyn then Duchene could take his place in Buffalo, where he would reunite with friend Ryan O'Reilly. Duchene has also been connected to the Nashville Predators, who lost 28 goal scoring winger James Neal to Vegas in Wednesday night.
Garth Snow dumps another one of his first round draft choices. Stroke (1st round 2011) joins Nino Niederreiter (2010) Griffin Reinhart (2012) as former Islanders blue chip prospects.
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