The Golden Knights needed to clear some salary space ahead of Wednesday's free agency, so they gave up the reigning Vezina Trophy Winner for nothing but $7.0M in cap space. The last goalie to be traded the year after winning the Vezina Trophy was Dominik Hasek, who was traded to Detroit 20 years ago. Fleury will reportedly discuss his future with his family and could retire, one season after going 26-10-0 with a 1.98 GAA, .928 SV% and six shutouts.
Dillon, who is 30-years-old, has three years left on a contract that carries a $3.9M AAV cap-hit. Dillon is a huge (6-foot-4, 225 lbs.) defenseman who brings a rugged style to the Jets' blueline that they were missing in 2020-21. Dillon ranked eighth among defensemen in hits (143) but is also capable of chipping in offensively, averaging three goals and 19 assists (22 points) per 82 games over the last four seasons. He'll likely eat up the minutes left by Derek Forbort (17:57 TOI/gm).
Kolyachonok was a second-round pick (No.52 overall) in 2019and split his 2021 campaign between the KHL and AHL. He started the year with Minsk (KHL) and collected six points (1G / 5A) in 46 games before returning to Syracuse (AHL). He had two assists in 10 AHL games and will likely report to the Coyotes AHL affiliate to start the 2021-22 season.
Stralman has one-year left at $5.5M AAV and moving him frees up space that the Panthers will use to re-sign Sam Reinhart. Stralman will join Jakob Chychrun, Ilya Lyubushkin and Shayne Gostisbehere as the only NHL regulars on the Coyotes' blueline right now.
Merkley was originally a first-round pick of the Coyotes but was traded to the Devils as a part of the Taylor Hall trade in 2019. The 24-year-old winger had 10 points (2G / 8A) in 27 games with New Jersey and added three points (1G / 2A) in five AHL games a year ago. In San Jose, he should be a candidate to play in their bottom-6 to begin 2021-22.
This is the second time in seventh months that Jaros has been traded. After moving from Ottawa to San Jose, Jatos had one assist in seven games with the Sharks and three assists in 11 AHL games. In New Jersey, he will likely report to the AHL to start 2021-22.
Imama was originally a sixth-round pick of the Lightning in 2015 but was traded to the Kings before he turned pro. The 24-year-old winger spent all of 2021 in the AHL, where he had nine goals and five assists (14 points) in 31 games for Ontario (AHL). He'll likely report to Tucson (AHL) to start 2021.
Hults was a fifth-round pick in 2017 and turned pro in 2021 after three years at Penn State University. Hults had five points (1G / 4A) in 19 games with Ontario (AHL) last year and will likely report to Tucson (AHL) to start 2021-22.
Steenbergen was a fifth-round pick of the Coyotes in 2017. The 23-year-old centre has spent the last three seasons in Tucson (AHL), where he had 13 points (10G / 3A) in 36 games a year ago. Steenbergen will likely report to Ontario (AHL) to start 2021-22.
Burke was an undrafted free agent out of the WHL, who has spent the last three years in the AHL. The 24-year-old winger had one goal and 13 assists (14 points) in 28 games with the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) last season. Burke will likely report to Ontario (AHL) to start 2021-22.
Reinhart is an RFA, so he'll need a new deal with the Panthers but is a huge addition to their top-6 for 2021-22. Reinhart has scored 20-plus goals in four straight seasons, averaging 27 goals and 32 assists (59 points) per 82 games over that span. Whether it's with Aleksander Barkov or Sam Bennett, Reinhart should receive a big fantasy boost by moving from Buffalo to Florida.
Voracek has three years left on an eight-year contract that carries an $8.25M AAV cap-hit, so the Blue Jackets will have to pay $2.375M more for Voracek but he comes off of the books one year earlier than Atkinson. Voracek was originally drafted by the Blue Jackets and played in Columbus from 2009-to-2011. In 2021, he had nine goals and 34 assists (43 points) in 53 games.
After ranking tied for sixth in the NHL in goals (41) in 2019, Atkinson is tied for 133rd with 27 goals over the last two seasons combined. Atkinson has four years left on a seven-year contract that carries a $5.875M AAV cap-hit. The deal will save the Flyers $2.375M against the cap in 2021 but Atkinson has an extra year left on his deal compared to Voracek.
The Blue Jackets shipped out Seth Jones but brought in two young defensemen in Adam Boqvist (from Chicago) and Bean to bolster their blueline. Bean was the No.13 overall pick in 2016 and had 12 points (1G / 11A) in 42 games in his first full NHL season in 2020-21. Bean will battle with Vladislav Gavrikov for playing time on the left-side behind Zach Werenski.
Boqvist was the No.8 overall pick in 2018 and enjoyed some success in his first full NHL season in 2021. The 20-year-old had two goals with 14 assists (16 points) in 35 games with the Blackhawks last year and will likely see a massive workload increase in 2021-22. Boqvist could replace Jones on the Blue Jackets' top-pairing with Zach Werenski.
Jones has one year left on his deal that carries a $5.4M cap-hit but was due for a raise and made it clear he wasn't interested in returning to Columbus. Jones had a modified no-trade clause so he was interested in joining the Blackhawks and received a massive eight-year extension immediately following the trade. Jones' offensive numbers have been trending towards in the last two seasons and he has many detractors, especially in the analytics community, so this will definitely be a deal worth monitoring for the future.
Roussel has one year left at $3.0M AAV and was one of three bad contracts moved to Arizona in this deal, however, they all only have one year left. Roussel had just four points (1G / 3A) in 35 games last year and will almost certainly play a minimal role for the Coyotes in 2021-22.
Eriksson had one assist while skating in just seven games with the Canucks in 2020-21. That's not the type of output you want from a player who is making $6.0M AAV for one more season. The Canucks dumped some bad contracts in this trade but it should also provide Eriksson to get on the ice more frequently in 2021-22. Since signing that six-year, $36.0M contract, Eriksson has scored just 38 goals with 52 assists (90 points) in 252 games.
This trade was all about dumping bad contracts for the Canucks, Beagle has one year left at $3.0M. Beagle was held to just five points (1G / 4A) in 30 games last season but led Canucks forwards in SH TOI/Gm (3:14) and ranked 17th in the NHL in Faceoff% (56.2). Beagle will likely centre the Coyotes' fourth-line and contribute on their penalty-kill.
Ekman-Larsson was one of the best goal-scoring defensemen in the NHL from 2014-to-2019 but his game has slipped a bit in recent years. Ekman-Larsson has a tough time in his own end but brings an offensive punch to the Canucks' blueline that already features Quinn Hughes. In a full 82-game season, you can almost certainly plug O.E.L in for double-digit goals and 30-plus assists.