Business
Utah Hockey Club found:Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev
lightening: Defenseman JJ Moser, forward Connor Geikie, 2025 second-round pick, 2024 seventh-round pick (No. 199)
Utah Hockey Club found: Defenseman John Marino, 2024 fifth-round pick (No. 153)
devils get: 2024 second-round pick (No. 49, used on goaltender Mikhail Yegorov), 2025 second-round pick
Eric Duhatschek: No matter how closely you scour the trade boards, you probably won’t find any mention of Sergachev potentially moving – to anyone, let alone Utah HC. Sergachev looked like a key member of a Lightning team that is not giving up on its goal of competing annually for the Stanley Cup. He’s not at Nikita Kucherov-Brayden Point-Andrei Vasilevskiy level, but he’s close.
So that’s the starting point – how quickly things can change in the NHL and how differently things will be done with new ownership in Utah. Suddenly, they’re not salespeople. They are buying. And on Saturday, they went on the big hunt.
In Sergachev, Utah gets a player who checks every box, except one for durability. He was a true No. 2 in Tampa Bay and that was only because the Lightning had a true No. 1 in perennial Norris Trophy candidate Victor Hedman. This happened several times two years ago, when the Lightning deployed Sergachev on the top power-play unit, thus leading the team’s defensemen in scoring with 64 points (Hedman was next with 49). Last year didn’t go nearly as well. He played only 34 games and scored only 19 points – a difficult year in which he broke his foot in February and was taken off the ice on a stretcher in his first game after missing 17 games with a lower body injury. On some levels, Tampa Bay never really recovered from Sergachev’s extended absence.
Now, of course, they will have to suffer without him. But he carries a cap charge of $8.5 million for the next seven years, which is not unreasonable for a player of his pedigree and age (26). But that’s something Tampa Bay couldn’t afford. So his availability contributed to a massive upgrade for Utah’s defense, which previously had only the useful Shawn Durzi as the nominal No. 1. By adding Sergachev and then John Marino in a separate deal with the New Jersey Devils, Utah’s defense becomes deeper, more experienced and just plain better. If Utah’s goal is to finally compete for a playoff spot after wandering in the NHL wilderness for years, these two moves will give them a chance to do so.
But Tampa Bay also got what it needed, clearing the cap space today as if they were using a snow plow. Tanner Jeannott, an addition who was very aggressive (they gave Nashville a total of five picks to get him), arguably made the biggest mistake they ever made in staying in win-now mode. He’s the LA King now.
Moser, meanwhile, is just two years younger than Sergachev and is a restricted free agent coming off his entry-level contract. He won’t do what Sergachev does, but he was second in time on ice last year in Utah, right behind Derzi, and still seems to have upside. Plus, most importantly, it will come cheap, at least in the near term. Tampa Bay’s prospect pipeline, highlighted by their win-all trades in recent years, has been replenished a bit with the addition of Morgan’s younger brother Connor Geikie, who was the No. 11 draft choice in 2022, as well. Also a second-rounder in 2025 (originally from Toronto) and a seventh-rounder in 2024.
Overall, two teams each made a couple of moves on the second day of the draft, the first one being so bold that hockey fans will be talking about it all summer and throughout the season. This is the type of trade we’d like to see more of, a trade that would theoretically help both teams better accommodate their developmental trajectories.
Moving Sergachev is a price Tampa Bay has to pay for being aggressive in keeping its core together until then. Eventually, you run out of options. There will certainly be a bit of schadenfreude around the NHL when this sinks in – the fact that the Lightning had to give up such a key piece is a shock. But it also gives them breathing room – potentially helping them get back into negotiations to sign pending UFA Steven Stamkos. And if Tampa Bay’s cap savings aren’t enough to retain Stamkos, they could use the extra cash to potentially make a bid for Jake Guentzel or any of the other A-list free agents who will be on the market in July. Can come. 1.
In short, this is one of those rare times when we can grudgingly appreciate what both teams did to help themselves.
As far as the Devils are concerned, getting any kind of value back for a player they were willing to move on is a neat, if unglamorous, piece of business.
utah grade: more than one
electrical grade: A
Devil’s Grade: b
shayna goldman: After a quiet first day of drafts, Tampa Bay and Utah shocked the second day.
Before getting into the specifics of the deal, there’s an overarching theme for Utah so far – the new ownership is bringing about a total change of pace from the Arizona era. The Coyotes had cap space but were unwilling to use it on active players. Utah is already investing extensively in its on-ice product, which makes this relocation and ownership change all the more exciting.
And speaking of investments, Utah is bringing in Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino.
Utah had zero signed NHL defensemen for next season, so there was plenty of room to make a splash with big free-agent signings or trades.
Sergachev comes to Utah in the second year of an eight-year extension with an $8.5 million cap hit. The big question is how he can handle the difficult moments. That was the job for him in 2022-23, when the Lightning moved Ryan McDonagh, and eventually Victor Herman had to absorb some of that workload when Sergachev looked to struggle. But that midseason usage adjustment allowed Sergachev to flourish offensively and play to his strengths. The problem is that the Lightning (and the rest of the league, really) haven’t had a chance to take a look at how Sergachev can get those minutes this year since injuries kept him out for almost the entire season.
But Utah probably won’t need to fill that role, since it’s not like they have Hedman ahead of them on the depth chart. As it stands, between their restricted free agents, trade acquisitions and even the potential pipeline, Sergachev is now Utah’s No. 1 pick. So they may be able to maximize his usage in a way that Tampa Bay couldn’t.
The addition of Sergachev is even more interesting considering Utah’s next step – bringing in the right Marino.
Marino is an interesting bounce-back candidate. After a promising start to his NHL career he stuck with Pittsburgh and then had a successful first season in New Jersey. But last season he took a big step back. It may be that losing key man Ryan Graves had a greater impact on his play than the Devils expected, or that cracks in coaching strategies had an impact on him. Whatever the case, another fresh start might be good for him. Utah can either throw him straight onto the second pairing in matchup minutes, or pair him with Sergachev for a balanced top pairing. There’s a lot of potential here, and Utah doesn’t push itself too hard to make these deals, given its pool of assets.
As far as Marino and the Devils are concerned, from a New Jersey perspective, this deal makes some sense – especially if they want to pursue a free agent like Brett Pace. From a cap perspective, this deal had to happen. The return of two second-rounders isn’t bad, but other than draining salary it’s not doing much for the team right now. But with Marino’s no-trade clause coming into effect on Monday, management won’t have time to find a more perfect return.
The Lightning faced a similar situation, with Sergachev’s no-trade clause activated on Monday. The goal of the Sergachev and Jeannot trades seems clear: free up some cap space. With McDonagh returning, the Lightning have a lefty for the second pair, and $8.5 million is a steep price for a third-pair defenseman if the idea was to keep Sergachev on his natural side. Still, it seems as if management should have focused on moving on from Eric Cernak’s salary, considering the age of his ceiling and his playing style.
Moser should be a welcome addition to the Lightning’s depth, which was their biggest weakness last year. He played some tough minutes in Arizona but didn’t have the best results, but his performance at the Lightning may not be as highlighting.
We can’t give Tampa Bay a thumbs-down – that’s how these grades work now – but it’s hard to make an overall assessment until we see what the Lightning do with this cap space. Is that enough to extend Stamkos? If not, could it help the team land another top scorer in the free-agent market? If management fails to do something meaningful with pay flexibility, Sergachev business won’t do very well.
utah grade:A-minus
electrical grade:C-Plus
Devil’s Grade: b
(Photo of Mikhail Sergachev: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
