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Already boasting one of the NHL’s most prolific offenses, the Sharks on Sunday night added another skilled forward to their roster as they acquired Gustav Nyquist from the Detroit Red Wings for two draft picks.
In the deal, coming on the eve of Monday’s NHL’s Trade Deadline, the Red Wings will receive the lower of San Jose or Florida’s 2019 second round selections, along with San Jose’s third round selection in 2020. Should the Sharks reach the 2019 Stanley Cup Final or re-sign Nyquist, the third round selection in 2020 becomes San Jose’s second round selection.
The trade has the potential to be a pure rental by the Sharks as Nyquist, 29, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Still, Nyquist adds another degree of skill and experience to a Sharks team that is averaging 3.62 goals per game, third-most in the NHL.
Listed at 5-foot-11 and 184 pounds, Nyquist was second on the Red Wings this season with 49 points, including 33 assists, in 62 games. In 481 career NHL games, all with Detroit, he has 295 points.
“Gustav is a talented, versatile forward who plays with speed and excellent hockey sense,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement. “His track record of strong play and character speak for themselves and we’re very excited to add him to our dressing room.”
According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, Nyquist had to agree to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate the deal. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic also reported that the Red Wings will be retaining 30 percent of Nyquist’s salary. Nyquist is in the final year of a four-year, $19 million contract that carries an annual average value of $4.75 milion.
The Sharks were thought to be in the market for more NHL experience, particularly playoff experience, on the wings.
In Sunday’s Sharks game in Detroit, for instance, Joe Thornton centered San Jose’s third line with Lukas Radil and Kevin Labanc on his wings. Radil, 28, is in his first season of North American hockey and Labanc, 23, has played in 10 NHL postseason games.
The Sharks picked up depth forward Micheal Haley off waivers from the Florida Panthers last week, but he’s only played in two NHL postseason games.
Nyquist scored his 16th goal of the season earlier Sunday when the Sharks posted a 5-3 win over the Red Wings at Little Caesers Arena. The Sharks, second in the Pacific Division with 82 points — three points back of Calgary — finish their four-game road trip Tuesday in Boston against the Bruins.
Although the Sharks can still make another trade Monday, Sunday’s acquisition of Nyquist was another example of how Wilson prefers not to take anyone off his NHL roster in making deals around the trade deadline.
Wilson has now made six trades in the last four years around the deadline, and most have involved sending draft picks, prospects or players with the Barracuda to the other team.
Nyquist was originally selected by Detroit in the fourth round of the 2008 draft. He also represented Sweden at the 2014 Olympics, where he was teammates with Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, and had 19 points in 27 games in three IIHF World Championship appearances (2014, 2016 and 2018).
According to the Detroit Free Press, it became clear this season that the Red Wings were going to have a hard time re-signing Nyquist, who was seeking more team and AAV in a new deal than Detroit was willing to offer.