On Friday, two Western Conference contenders made minor deals in advance of the Christmas trade freeze. Colorado sent veteran forward Tomas Tatar to Seattle for a 2024 fifth-round pick and Vancouver moved center Jack Studnicka to San Jose for a 2024 sixth-round pick and minor leaguer Nick Cicek.
Tatar had 20 goals with New Jersey last season but has only one in 27 games for the Avs and might be effective with a change of scenery. Studnicka was in AHL Abbotsford and might get a chance at regular NHL time with the bottom-feeding Sharks.
The motivations here for Colorado and Vancouver are simple……money.
Trading Tatar clears his $1.5 million cap hit, something that Joe Sakic and Chris MacFarland will put to use in acquiring rentals at the trade deadline. Studnicka was a one-way deal making $775,000 this season, while Cicek is on a two-way deal making $80,000. While it does not affect their cap space at the NHL level, it does clear some salary on the books and could make it viable financially to bury another one way deal in the minors.
More to come