The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers continue to be active in the leadup 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.
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 defenseman 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 for trading the 29-year-old from Czechia.
"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.
San Jose, in a corresponding roster move, recalled Georgi Romanov from the Barracuda of the AHL.
The goalie market ahead of the 3 p.m. EST deadline Friday 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 extension, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell signaled 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."
