Canada’s NHL teams continued to unload ahead of the Monday’s trade deadline.
The Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs all made moves on Saturday, sending veteran players to playoff contenders for prospects and draft picks.
Goaltender James Reimer was one of the biggest pieces that was moved, with the Maple Leafs dealing him and minor-league forward Jeremy Morin to the San Jose Sharks. Toronto got a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2018 in return as well as expiring contracts in forward Ben Smith and goaltender Alex Stalock.
READ MORE: Maple Leafs send goalie Reimer to Sharks in four-player trade
The trade ends a lengthy tenure for Reimer in Toronto which featured various highs and lows. A fourth-round pick in 2006, Reimer played as both the starter and backup roles during a career which began in the winter of 2011 when Reimer bursted onto the scene as a relative unknown, almost taking the Leafs to a playoff berth.
The high point of his career in Toronto arguably came during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. Reimer went 19-8-5 that year with a .924 save percentage in the regular season before posting a .923 save percentage in a seven-game first-round series loss to Boston.
He offers the Sharks insurance at the goaltending position beyond Martin Jones, the 26-year-old who is starting regularly for the first time this season. Jones has a .916 save percentage in 51 games this season but has yet to start a playoff game in his NHL career.
Reimer has an 85-76-23 record in 207 career games with a .914 save percentage and 3.16 goals-against average.
READ MORE: Canada’s NHL teams in danger of missing playoffs for the first time since 1969
Calgary sent veteran forward Jiri Hudler to the Florida Panthers, who are loading up for a post-season run. The Flames got a second-round draft pick this year and a fourth-rounder in 2018 for Hudler.
Hudler has 10 goals and 25 assists this season, with a total of 155 goals and 251 assists in 657 career games with the Detroit Red Wings and the Flames.
Edmonton was the busiest Canadian team on Saturday. The Oilers traded defenceman Justin Schultz, forward Teddy Purcell and goaltender Anders Nilsson in separate deals.
Nilsson was the first to go, traded to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for goalie Niklas Lundstrom and a fifth-round pick in this summer’s NHL draft.
The 25-year-old Nilsson has a 10-12-2 record this season with a 3.14 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. Lundstrom, 23, has split this season between the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals and the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves.
READ MORE: Edmonton Oilers send goaltender Anders Nilsson to St. Louis Blues for Niklas Lundstrom, pick
Next was Schultz, who was sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a third-round pick in the upcoming draft. Media reports say the Oilers would retain half of Schultz’s $3.9 million salary.
Schultz played 248 NHL games for Edmonton, with 28 goals and 73 assists, while also posting a career minus-78 rating.
He was signed by the Oilers in June 2012 as an unrestricted free agent out of university. Although Schultz had been drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 2008, he had never come to terms with them on a contract, making him available to Edmonton to sign in 2012.
Watch below: Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins weigh in on Schultz trade
Finally, Purcell was traded to the Florida Panthers for a third-round pick in the 2016 draft.
Purcell has 11 goals and 21 assists in 61 games this season. He has 98 goals and 196 assists over nine season with Edmonton, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Los Angeles Kings.
Comments