Lightning trade Nate Thompson to Ducks for 4th and 7th-round picks in 2015
Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman is a busy man as he prepares for free agency on July 1. He pulled off another trade Sunday night, the Lightning's third of the day:
BREAKING: #NHLDucks acquire C Nate Thompson from TB in exchange for 4th and 7th round draft picks in 2015. pic.twitter.com/zgG3jjY7Dz
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) June 30, 2014
Thompson, a 29-year-old center who will turn 30 on Oct. 5, scored nine goals and added seven assists in 81 games this past season. He's under contract through 2016-17 at a cap hit of $1.6 million.
So, Malone, Purcell, Thompson, Crombeen and Gagner (if you want to include him?) are gone in Tampa. What is Yzerman doing on Tuesday?
— Frank Seravalli (@DNFlyers) June 30, 2014
He's doing something, that's for sure.
"We are in a position right now, whether it's first in free agency, to improve our team," Yzerman said. "In order to do that, I had to move cash, and you have no idea how hard it is to move a contract right now."
Yzerman's actually making it look rather easy.
The Lightning earlier Sunday night acquired Sam Gagner from the Oilers for Teddy Purcell, only to trade Gagner to the Arizona Coyotes, along with B.J. Crombeen, for a sixth-round draft pick in 2015.
Here's a succinct rundown of what Yzerman accomplished Sunday:
Their trades tonight cleared four players (including Gagner), added three picks and opened up $5.6M in cap space.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 30, 2014
This much we know: July 1 is going to be ridiculous.