NHL Trade Grade: Winnipeg Jets acquire Paul Stastny from Golden Knights
The Winnipeg Jets have traded for an old friend in Vegas Golden Knights center Paul Stastny.
Back in 2018, the Winnipeg Jets traded for Paul Stastny at the trade deadline. He was a good fit with the team. But despite clearing cap space in the offseason, they were not able to re-sign him, as he went to the Vegas Golden Knights, the same team who beat the Jets in the Western Conference Final.
Two years later, Stastny is heading back to Winnipeg. According to Darren Dreger, the Jets have acquired him from the Golden Knights in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick and prospect Carl Dahlstrom. Winnipeg is taking on Stastny’s entire contract.
Who won the trade? Let’s take a look at this move from both sides and hand out some grades.
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WINNIPEG JETS
The Jets get a coveted second-line center. They needed one with Bryan Little out with a significant head injury, which includes a perforated eardrum, which sounds as painful as it is. Stastny has one year left on his contract, so there’s not much risk involved with this trade. He carries a $6.5 million cap hit and a $5.5 million base salary.
Winnipeg didn’t give up much for Stastny, but one has to wonder how they didn’t get anything else back from the Golden Knights. Frankly, the Jets did Vegas a favor.
The Golden Knights needed to clear cap space. Just last night, the New Jersey Devils only gave up a fifth-round pick for Ryan Murray. So I don’t like that Winnipeg gave up more than that.
Grade: B-
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
This trade is all about cap space for the Golden Knights. They had to get rid of Stastny so they could get back under the salary cap and re-sign their own RFAs, as well as try to upgrade their team externally. The Golden Knights got Stastny’s entire contract off the books, so that’s huge.
However, this trade leaves Vegas a bit shorthanded down the middle. If William Karlsson gets injured, Chander Stephenson would have to fill in as the first-line center. That’s certainly not ideal. Vegas should aggressively try to get another legitimate top-six center to replace Stastny, though that could be difficult.
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Dahlstrom is a depth defenseman. He played 15 games with the Jets last season and had one point. In 64 total NHL games split between the Chicago Blackhawks and Jets, he has 10 points, all of them assists.
Grade: B. All things considered, Vegas did fine here.