Instead, it was more like a garage sale and he was able to get a very impressive return for what he sold.
Hughes traded defenceman Brett Kulak to the Edmonton Oilers, forward Artturi Lehkonen to the Colorado Avalanche and goalie Andrew Hammond to the New Jersey Devils. Kulak can become an unrestricted free agent this summer, Lehkonen can become a restricted free agent, and Hammond wasn’t going to play much after the return of Jake Allen from injury.
In return for those three players, Hughes got a conditional second-round pick at this year’s NHL Draft, a second-round pick in 2024, a seventh-round pick in 2024, defencemen Justin Barron and William Lagesson, and forward Nate Schnarr.
Like I said, impressive.
It’s even more impressive when you factor in what Hughes was able to get from two earlier trades. The GM sent Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames last month in exchange for Tyler Pitlick, 20-year-old forward prospect Emil Heineman, a conditional first-round pick at this year’s draft and a fifth-round pick in 2023, and then dealt Ben Chiarot to the Florida Panthers last week in exchange for 20-year-old forward prospect Ty Smilanic, a first-round pick in 2023 and a fourth-round pick this year.
