Remember on Friday when we lamented the lack of action on the trade front after the first round of the NHL draft? Clearly, many of the general managers around the league heard our cries and decided to step up in a big way on Day 2.
A day after there were no player-for-player trades made, there were nine trades that involved current NHL players and/or the rights to them. Utah Hockey Club made a pair of them, and big ones at that, as did the hometown Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning.
The pick-for-pick trades were common, but nothing thrills a live audience like the announcement of a trade involving current players. Utah acquiring Mikhail Sergachev from Tampa Bay elicited gasps from the fans inside Sphere as did Washington acquiring Logan Thompson from the hometown Golden Knights.
The draft in itself is exciting, no doubt, but nothing gets the crowd buzzing like a juicy trade and after a sleepy first day on that front, the second day really brought the thunder.
