TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired defenseman J.J. Moser, forward Conor Geekie, a seventh-round pick (199th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Utah Hockey Club in exchange for two-time Stanley Cup champion defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
Sergachev was traded to the Lightning from the Montreal Canadiens on June 15, 2017 and spent seven seasons in Tampa Bay, recording 48 goals, 257 points and a plus-47 rating in 475 regular season games. Sergachev skated in 100 playoff games with the Lightning and played a key role on the back end of Tampa Bay’s back-to-back Stanley Cup championship teams in 2020 and 2021. Sergachev ranks second all-time among Lightning defensemen for assists (209), points and blocked shots (670), while his 471 games played rank fourth.
Sergachev signed an eight-year, $68 million deal in 2022. After earning that contract he had a career-year in 2023 logging 64 points with 27 of them coming on the power play. In 2024, Sergachev took a step back, though. Not only was his production down (19 points in 34 games with a -16 plus/minus rating), but he suffered a pair of injuries including a fractured tibia and fibula in his lower left leg.
With the Tampa Bay Lightning desperate for cap space, especially if they want to re-sign Steven Stamkos, a big move needed to be made.
This was that big move.
The team retains zero percent of this contract as Sergachev's $8.5 AAV is now heading to Utah until 2031.
As for what the Bolts received in return, Moser, 24, played in 80 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season, recording five goals and 26 points to rank second among Coyotes defensemen for points and assists (21), and tied for second for goals. He averaged 20:34 time on ice per game, blocked 112 shots and logged 21 takeaways, all of which were the second-most among Arizona defensemen. He has skated in 205 career NHL games, all with Arizona, posting 16 goals and 72 points.
Geekie, 20, skated in 55 games between the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos and Wenatchee Wild last season, logging 43 goals and 99 points to rank 10th among WHL skaters for goals and 11th for points. His plus-51 rating was the second-highest rating among WHL skaters, while his 16 power-play goals were tied for third. Geekie has played in 215 career WHL games and averaged over a point per contest with 111 goals and 269 points.
The 6-foot-4, 194-pound forward represented Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he recorded two goals and three points in five games before making his professional debut with the American Hockey League’s Tucson Roadrunners and skating in two Calder Cup Playoff contests.
Tanner Jeannot traded to LA Kings
The Tampa Bay Lightning also acquired a fourth-round pick (118th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for forward Tanner Jeannot.
NHL circles were left in awe when Julien BriseBois traded five picks and Cal Foote for Jeannot in 2023. Jeannot never lived up to the hype of that deal playing a total of 75 games with Tampa Bay recording eight goals and 10 assists. Jeannot was a pivotal enforcer on the team tallying 288 hits, but this will probably go down as one of the worst trades in the Julien BriseBois era.