Acciari signed a one-year deal ($1.25M) with the Blues in the offseason and has 10 goals and eight assists (18 points) in 54 games this season. Acciari is physical two-way, bottom-6 forward that will help on the penalty kill.
O'Reilly is in the final year of a seven-year deal that carries a $7.5 million cap hit. In the trade, the Blues retained 50 percent of O'Reilly's contract and the Wild retained 25 percent, so the Maple Leafs get him at a $1.875M cap hit. O'Reilly's offensive game has struggled this season, scoring just 12 goals with seven assists (19 points) in 40 games. He brings an excellent two-way game and the ability to play centre in a shutdown role or the wing in an offensive role. His fantasy stock could rise if he ends up on the wing with John Tavares and Mitch Marner.
Skinner has three goals, five assists, 12 PIMs and a +9 plus/minus with the Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL) and has been dealt alongside Sammy Blais, a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick from the Rangers to St. Louis for Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola.
Blais has five assists, 31 SOG, eight PIMs and a +1 plus/minus through 40 games with the Rangers this season but will return to St. Louis where he played his first four NHL seasons. He was traded alongside Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick from the Rangers for Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola.
Mikkola has three assists, 31 SOG, 35 PIMs and a +2 plus/minus through 50 games with St. Louis and has been traded alongside Vladimir Tarasenko from the Blues for Sammy Blais, Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick.
Tarasenko had 10 goals, 19 assists, 103 SOG, and a -18 plus/minus through 38 games with St. Louis but has been traded along with Niko Mikkola from the Blues to the New York Rangers for Sammy Blais, Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick.
Megna was originally a seventh-round pick of the Ducks in 2012 but has been with the Sharks organization since 2021. This season, Megna has scored one goal with 11 assists (12 points) in 48 games. The Kraken have two 2023 fourth-round picks, their own and Colorado's. They must declare which one goes to San Jose by June 15.
Kaut was dealt alongside Jacob MacDonald in a deal with the San Jose Sharks that saw Ryan Merkley and Matthew Nieto go the other way.
MacDonald was dealt alongside Martin Kaut in a deal with the San Jose Sharks that saw Ryan Merkley and Matthew Nieto go the other way.
Merkley was dealt alongside Matthew Nieto in a deal with the Colorado Avalanche that saw Jacob MacDonald and Martin Kaut go the other way.
Nieto was dealt alongside Ryan Merkley in a deal with the Colorado Avalanche that saw Jacob MacDonald and Martin Kaut go the other way.
Weatherby had three goals, three assists, 39 PIMs and a -7 plus/minus through 39 games this season with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL) and has been traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Kyle Criscuolo.
Criscuolo had five goals, five assists, 17 PIMs, and a -13 plus/minus through 28 games with Grand Rapids (AHL) but has been traded to the San Jose Sharks for Jasper Weatherby.
Del Zotto has been playing with the Charlotte Checkers (AHL) where he had two goals and 10 points with 14 PIMs through 25 games prior to being dealt to the Anaheim Ducks Monday. He was part of a three-way trade which saw Danny O'Regan go to Detroit, and Givani Smith head to Florida.
Smith had been playing in Grand Rapids (AHL) prior to being dealt Monday, where he had two goals, three assists, 45 PIMs and a -21 plus/minus through 19 games. He was part of a trade which saw Detroit acquire Danny O'Regan, and Anaheim, Michael Del Zotto.
O'Regan had been playing in San Diego (AHL) prior to being dealt Monday to the Detroit Red Wings and had three goals, 15 assists and a -11 plus/minus through 27 games with the Gulls. He was a part of a three-way deal which saw Michael Del Zotto head to Anaheim and Givani Smith go to Florida.
NHL trades are decided between two or more team general managers. The front office’s job is building a winning team. Building a winning team means discussing trades with other general managers across the league.
During the NHL regular season, players can be traded up until the trade deadline. The deadline is the official cutoff point for when teams can no longer make moves between each other. Players can also be traded throughout the offseason.
Teams trade players in hockey for a variety of reasons, but generally, it is done to find success, whether that is in the short term or long term. Teams may trade their top players in search of draft picks if they are undergoing a rebuild, whereas contending teams may look to acquire talent to boost their playoff chances.
Trades are a common occurrence throughout the NHL and happen often. Some years feature less trades than others, it all depends on each teams needs and the availability of attractive talent.
