FHN Today: NHL Trade Deadline 2022 is officially in the books

With a lot of the big deals done before the NHL Trade Deadline done before Monday afternoon, there was not a whole lot of intrigue when the hammer went down at 3 p.m. although, as usual, there were quite a few trades still in the queue that did not get announced until later on in the day.

Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito, for instance, spoke to the South Florida media to wrap up his team’s dealings before a trade involving Florida was made public.

The Panthers were part of a complicated three-way deal with Carolina and Columbus in which the Panthers ate up some cap space for the Hurricanes while receiving a draft pick and prospect for their troubles.

More on that below.

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Regardless of how that deal works out, the big moves Zito and the Panthers made were done last week.

Claude Giroux also met the media on Monday and will practice with his new team this morning; Ben Chiarot is still in Montreal working out at the Canadiens’ complex awaiting the Panthers to arrive Wednesday.

Zito could barely hide his excitement in getting those two players to help his team in the coming months.

The deal with Columbus and Carolina was the only trade Florida was involved in Monday.

Like many other teams, the big work was already done.

PANTHERLAND

One of the last deals to become public did involve the Panthers.

Carolina got Max Domi from Columbus with the Blue Jackets retaining half of his salary; Florida will retain a quarter of Domi’s salary hit.

The Panthers get a sixth-round pick from Columbus and KHL forward Egor Korshkov from Carolina for doing so.

— Did Grioux burn the Philadelphia Flyers by saying he would only play for the Panthers? The Flyers say no. And, the Panthers were the only team Grioux would leave for.

— Evgenii Dadonov, who scored twice for the Vegas Golden Knights in their win against his former Panthers’ teammates on Thursday night, was sent to the Ducks just before the NHL Trade Deadline as Vegas cleared his $5 million cap hit.

Or was he? Dadonov’s camp has challenged the trade as it appears Anaheim was on his 10-team no trade list. We’ll see.

— Former Florida defenseman Josh Brown is on his way to the Boston Bruins.

AROUND THE NHL

The New York Rangers made a bundle of moves before the NHL Trade Deadline came to a close, unloading a bunch of draft picks in the process.

The Rangers, who acquired Frank Vatrano from the Panthers for a fourth-round pick last week, got Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte and Justin Braun.

— The Minnesota Wild brought in reigning Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury from the Blackhawks for a conditional first-round draft pick.

Fleury backed up Cam Talbot Monday night when the Golden Knights — who traded him to the Blackhawks last summer — came to St. Paul. Minnesota shut out the Knights 3-0.

— The Detroit Red Wings traded defensemen Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski to St. Louis for Jake Walman, Oskar Sundqvist and St. Louis’ second-round pick in 2023.

— Speaking of the Bruins, they signed Jake DeBrusk to a two-year deal with speculation he would be traded. He was not.

— The Washington Capitals bring in Marcus Johansson and Johan Larsson while shipping out Daniel Sprong and draft picks in return.

— The Pittsburgh Penguins get in a late deal.

— The Montreal Canadiens traded Artturi Lehkonen to the Colorado Avalanche for 20-year old defenceman Justin Barron and a 2024 2nd round pick.

UP NEXT FOR THE FLORIDA PANTHERS

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT MONTREAL CANADIENS

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Bell Center, Montreal  
• Tickets: CLICK HERE
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida
• Radio: WQAM 560, SiriusXM
• Last season: Did not play
• All-time regular season series: Florida leads 49-48, 6 ties
• Season series — Florida leads 1-0: @Florida 5, Montreal 2 (Jan. 1)