The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers continue to be active in the lead up to the NHL trade deadline.
The Panthers acquired goaltender Vitek Vanecek on Wednesday from the San Jose Sharks for 25-year-old forward Patrick Giles, the teams announced.
The NHL deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
Vanecek gives Florida depth in net, along with Chris Driedger, behind two-time Vezina Trophy-winning starter Sergei Bobrovsky. The trade comes after the team sent Spencer Knight to Chicago as part of a blockbuster deal for top-pairing defenceman Seth Jones.
Florida will be the fourth NHL organization for Vanecek, who was 3-10-3 in 18 appearances with San Jose this season. The Sharks held him out of their game Tuesday night at Buffalo in preparation of trading the 29-year-old from the Czech Republic.
“It’s part of the business,” said Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, who was traded there from Colorado for Mackenzie Blackwood earlier this season. “Unfortunately sometimes players get moved. … Hopefully it’s a good opportunity for him.”
The Sharks in Giles get a young player to add to their core built around No. 1 pick and rookie-of-the-year candidate Macklin Celebrini. Giles appeared in nine NHL games for the Panthers earlier this season without a point. He has mostly been with the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Charlotte, N.C.
San Jose in a corresponding roster move recalled Georgi Romanov from the Barracuda of the AHL.
The goalie market ahead of the deadline remains thin outside of perhaps Anaheim’s John Gibson, but other talks continue to pick up around the league. After signing pending free agent tough guy Mathieu Olivier to a six-year, $18 million US extension, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell signalled he’s open for business, to a certain extent.
“We’re certainly making calls and taking calls,” Waddell said. “I’ve said all along: We’re not in the position to trade first-round picks for rental players or anything like that. If we can add around the edges, certainly we’re going to try that. I’m more interested in hockey deals with maybe players that have term left on their contract. We’re exploring obviously as many of those as we can.”
The Blue Jackets have a handful of other pending UFAs, who Waddell does not expect to re-sign before the deadline but might keep just to help his team fight for a playoff spot.
“If I rip a guy out of this locker room right now [who is] playing a role for us on this hockey club right now, I think that’s pretty devastating to our team,” Waddell said. “I think it’s the wrong message from my end. I think it’s the wrong message to our fans, the coaches and the players.”
Devils’ Keefe fined for arguing with officials
The NHL fined New Jersey Devils coach Sheldon Keefe $25,000 US for unprofessional conduct toward officials that led to his ejection from his team’s game at Vegas on Sunday after star centre Jack Hughes was injured.
The league announced the punishment Wednesday. The money goes to the NHL Foundation.
Keefe was incensed no penalty was called when Hughes crashed into the boards and left with what looked like a significant injury. Hughes and Jack Eichel of the Golden Knights got tangled up on the play late in the third period of New Jersey’s 2-0 loss.
“I get kicked off the bench for telling the referee I felt that it was 10 times worse than the [interference penalty] that was previously called on Jack,” Keefe said in Las Vegas.
Hughes left holding his right arm. Keefe said at the time, “Obviously, it didn’t look good.” The Devils have not issued an injury update since on Hughes, their leading scorer with 70 points on 27 goals and 43 assists.
The Devils also lost defenceman Dougie Hamilton to injury in their most recent game Tuesday at Dallas. They just got starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom back from an extended injury absence.