A few days before the National Hockey League (NHL) amateur draft, we should expect to see the general managers get active and move their pawns.
The TVASports.ca team wanted to know how long the latter left to the dust to settle following winning the Stanley Cup before proceeding to the first major transaction. This year, it was the Kings who started the ball rolling by getting their hands on Kevin Fiala on Wednesday.
For the purposes of the exercise, it sufficed to find the date on which the cup was won, then to evaluate what was the first major transaction that year.
An important factor to consider, however, was the date on which the repechage takes place, as many teams prefer to trade on the floor of the amateur auction.
This year, the Avalanche won top honors on June 26, and since the amateur draft will take place on July 7, that leaves a void of 12 days to fill in hiring coaches, contract extensions but above all transactions. important.
On average in the last five years, the draft takes place 12 days following winning the Stanley Cup. Then, according to the intervals which will be mentioned below, a major exchange occurs 6 days following the consecration. So, stay tuned this Saturday, July 2, because if the trend continues, some dominoes should fall at this time.
What has caught the eye in recent years
Last year, the Lightning won in five games once morest the Canadiens on July 7, 2021. Then, Ken Holland of the Oilers wasted no time and tried to solve the defensive shortcomings of his club which had been swept in the first round by acquiring Duncan Keith. It happened on July 12, five days following the conquest.
However, we must put an asterisk on last year, because July 21 was to take place the expansion draft of the Kraken Seattle. By the same token, the teams had to provide their protection list before July 17. Thus, for the sake of complying with this said list, the period from July 12 to 17 is full of transactions, in particular those of Ryan Graves from the Avalanche to the New Jersey Devils, or Ryan Ellis who goes from the Predators to the Flyers. The amateur draft took place on July 23, 2021.
In 2020, the Lightning win in the Edmonton bubble in six games once morest the Stars as of September 28. Hoping to make up for lost time, the NHL is virtually hosting the draft no more than 8 days later, on October 6. This time, no notable transaction occurs between the two dates. In fact, it was Marc Bergevin who knocked down the first domino on auction day by picking up Josh Anderson of the Blue Jackets in return for services from Max Domi and a third-round pick.
On June 12, 2019, the Blues beat the Bruins at home at TD Garden. It will only take two days before Matt Niskanen takes the road to Philadelphia, while Radko Gudas goes the opposite way to Washington. However, it is really on June 17 that a big coup occurs. Jeff Gorton gets his hands on coveted right-handed defenseman Jacob Trouba, for whom he lets go Neal Pionk and his first-round pick. Thus, on June 21, the Jets set their sights on Ville Heinola in the 20th echelon.
2018 will be the year Alex Ovechkin, on June 7, finally won his first (and only to date) Stanley Cup. In Montreal, however, it’s the trade of former third overall pick Alex Galchenyuk to the Arizona Coyotes for the fiery Max Domi that fans remember. Some will remember that it all happened on a Friday evening, June 15, precisely one week before the amateur auction of that year.
On June 11, 2017, the Pittsburgh Penguins defended their championship title by defeating the Nashville Predators in six. Their parade will take place on the 14th, and while everyone is preparing for the Golden Knights expansion draft, Marc Bergevin (him once more) has a little surprise in store for the hockey world. Indeed, it was on June 15, 2017 that the Habs acquired Jonathan Drouin in return for Mikhail Sergachev, a transaction that still marks the minds of Montreal fans five years later. The deadline to submit his protection roster was June 17 in preparation for the June 21 expansion draft, where all trades made with Vegas will be announced. The amateur draft will be two days later.
The only downside with this analysis is that Marc Bergevin took part in 60% of these transactions. And the latter being in Los Angeles, it was obviously the Kings who made the first big move this year…
Summary table
Coupe : July 7, Transaction : July 12, Draft : July 23*
Coupe : September 28, Transaction : October 6, Draft : October 6
Coupe : June 12, Transaction : June 17, Draft : 21st of June
Coupe : June 7, Transaction : June 15, Draft : June 22
Coupe : June 11, Transaction : June 15, Draft : June 23*
