Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist waives his no-trade clause to join the offensive arsenal of the San Jose Sharks. We grade both GMs.
Sharks get: F Gustav Nyquist
Red Wings get: Conditional second-round pick in 2019 (the lower of Florida's or San Jose's selections), conditional 2020 third-round pick (becomes San Jose's 2020 second-round pick if the Sharks reach 2019 Stanley Cup Final or re-sign Nyquist)
Sharks: A-
There are a couple of obvious wins for Sharks GM Doug Wilson in this deal.
First is the very point that it happened: Gustav Nyquist has a no-trade clause, and hence controlled his future. The Sharks have successfully positioned themselves as a Stanley Cup contender, going all-in this season. After Nyquist proved too rich for the Red Wings in their talks on a new contract for the pending unrestricted free agent -- five years at $5.5 million annually, according to the Detroit Free Press -- he was willing to waive his no-trade clause for the right team. San Jose provided that opportunity.
Second, they didn't match the price paid for a similar player the Red Wings moved last season in Tomas Tatar, who fetched a first, a second and a third from the Vegas Golden Knights in an epic overpayment. In fact, the speculation was that Nyquist could at least fetch a first and a second at the deadline; instead, the Sharks are paying a second-rounder in 2019 and a third-rounder that could become a second in 2020.
What does Nyquist do for the Wings on the ice? His ability to play either wing means he could move around the Sharks' lineup. But slotting him with ace setup man Joe Thornton could establish a third scoring line behind the ones anchored by Joe Pavelski (32 goals) and Evander Kane (27 goals).
For all the Sharks' incredible talent -- from the forwards down to Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson on the blue line -- there were two concerns about their lineup heading into the deadline: That goaltending, which has produced a .892 team save percentage, second worst in the NHL; and their depth at forward. Nyquist more than addresses the latter.
One caveat: For a team with designs on the Stanley Cup, they just traded for a player with eight points in 35 playoff games. Woof.
Red Wings: B
The goal here was to get a first-round draft pick for Nyquist, and that didn't happen.
Perhaps that's just the market: The New York Rangers traded their talented UFA forward Mats Zuccarello to the Dallas Stars on Saturday, getting a conditional second and a third for him. (The conditions being the Stars making the conference final or re-signing him, so probably a second and a third.) A source told ESPN that most offers didn't rise above "a C-level prospect and a second-rounder" for Zuccarello.
Maybe the Red Wings did the best they could here despite retaining salary, considering Nyquist had some of that Ken Holland trade protection.
Detroit will receive the lower of Florida's or San Jose's 2019 second-round selections, along with San Jose's third-round selection in 2020. Should San Jose reach the 2019 Stanley Cup Final or re-sign Nyquist, the third-round selection in 2020 becomes San Jose's second-round selection. So there's a chance this could end up being two second-rounders if San Jose wins the West, which isn't out of the question.
Again, it would be better to have snagged two seconds, but perhaps Zuccarello set the market. If there's one bummer, it's that the Wings couldn't swing the same "conditional first" deal as the Rangers did. But then again, the Sharks didn't have one to offer until 2021.