Phil Kessel, T.J. Oshie Among Many NHL Players Changing Teams

There’s been a flurry of activity in the NHL, with the playoffs over and the free agent and trading season beginning. The Chicago Blackhawks shipped one Brandon Saad, one of the heroes of the Stanley Cup Finals to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a big seven player deal. This may be ‘a trade him rather than lose him next year to free agency and get nothing’ type of deal. The Hawks also lost Antoine Vermette to free agency as he returned to Arizona, his old team.

The Toronto Maple Leafs made a multi-player deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, sending Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh. There are some rumblings that Toronto did an addition by subtraction type of thing, but Toronto definitely needed to shake things up and make some bold moves. Kessel says he happy to join Pittsburgh and work with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (and why wouldn’t he be?). Kessel had 25 goals and 36 assists for Toronto, and the Penguins offense will pack quite a punch with his addition to the team.

The St. Louis Blues also felt the need to make changes after another early exit from the playoffs. The Blues traded T.J. Oshie to Washington for two players and a draft choice. One Blues fan in particular didn’t take the trade very well:

Speaking of St. Louis, veteran winger Martin St. Louis announced his retirement. We always hoped he’d end up playing for the Blues at some point, just because he would be “St. Louis of St. Louis”. Didn’t happen.