NHL commerce grades: Duclair provides Lightning a middle-six enhance

Tampa Bay Lightning get: Ahead Anthony Duclair, seventh-round choose within the 2025 NHL Draft

San Jose Sharks get: Defenseman Jack Thompson, third-round choose within the 2024 NHL Draft

Corey Pronman: Anthony Duclair is a superb skater with excellent offensive abilities. He makes lots of performs and might achieve this at a fast tempo. He’s very gifted, but additionally not that huge and might be inconsistent, which has led to him bouncing round between numerous NHL organizations. He’s a legit middle-six wing within the NHL, although. This isn’t the first problem that ails Tampa, however it’s a begin, and the value was bearable.

Jack Thompson is a brilliant puck-mover with an excellent level shot who has scored on the OHL and AHL ranges. His skating is simply OK, although, and on condition that he’s average-sized, whether or not he can defend on the NHL stage is a query mark. He has an opportunity to play within the NHL however is not any certain factor. The third-round choose might be the principle asset San Jose acquired again for a participant in Duclair who didn’t have a ton of worth given his participant kind and place.

Tampa Bay: B
San Jose: B-

Sean Gentille: Checking in on Anthony Duclair all through this season had been a bummer. That, largely, was as a result of high quality of his staff — as a result of this version of the San Jose Sharks is constructed to be dangerous and, hoo buddy, they’ve achieved their goal. Given they’ve received fewer video games than the Blackhawks, we could have veered into “overkill” territory.

And on a staff that putrid, it’s laborious to not really feel dangerous for the gamers concerned, as a result of their goals actually prolonged past the underside of the standings. In Duclair’s case, he was making an attempt to rehab his worth in his first full season after tearing his Achilles tendon. Unrestricted free company loomed, and the 31-goal season he had with Florida in 2021-22 was getting additional away. The logic was easy sufficient: He’d get loads of alternative to attain a bunch of objectives, and the Sharks would get a participant who’d have worth on the commerce deadline. Then, within the first 52 video games of the season, Duclair put up 11 objectives and eight assists. Whoops.

He pulled it collectively simply in time, although, scoring 5 objectives occasions in his closing 4 video games with the Sharks and displaying the pace and ending skill that had periodically popped in his first eight NHL seasons. Now, he will get to chase a Cup as an alternative of taking part in out the string. For the Lightning, he’ll add talent and scoring to a center six that would use it. There’s additionally one thing to be stated for mixing in contemporary faces to a roster that’s received as a lot as Tampa Bay’s over the past a number of years. He’s not Noah Hanifin, however that’s OK.

As for San Jose, the return is stable sufficient. Thompson is a scratch-off ticket, and third-round picks have worth. There are many rental wingers in the marketplace, too. Loads appear destined to carry again much less.

Lightning grade: B-
Sharks grade: B-

(Picture: Bruce Bennett / Getty Pictures)