NHL Notebook: Kings acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois, Hart ballot with McDavid in fifth revealed, and more

Things are getting rolling with everybody in Nashville for the 2023 NHL Draft this week.

A handful of teams pulled the trigger on trades on Tuesday, including a couple of rivals from the Pacific Division. The Los Angeles Kings acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets while the Calgary Flames dealt Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils.

 

It was no surprise that Dubois was traded out of Winnipeg but him winding up in Los Angeles with a long-term contract wasn’t expected. The speculation for years had been that Dubois would avoid a long-term contract so that he could ink a deal with the Montreal Canadiens in free agency, as he never showed an interest in signing with the Jets or Columbus Blue Jackets.

Instead, Dubois becomes the second major addition the Kings have made to their core in as many off-seasons. Last summer, they traded for Kevin Fiala, a restricted free agent who became a salary cap casualty for the Minnesota Wild, and immediately signed him to a seven-year, $55.125 million deal.

This is a significant investment for the Kings to make, both in terms of the $8.5 million annual salary and the return they sent to Winnipeg. Gabe Vilardi and Alex Iafallo combined for 37 goals for the Kings during the regular season and they were both prominent scoring threats during L.A.’s first-round series with the Oilers.

The Calgary Flames have a handful of players who are set to hit the free-agent market next summer and Tyler Toffoli became the first of the bunch to get traded this off-season. He was moved to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick.

Sharangovich was selected by the Devils in the fifth round of the 2018 draft. He broke into the NHL during the shortened 2021 season and scored 16 goals and 30 points. He scored 24 goals and 46 points for New Jersey in 2021-22 but saw his production decline to 13 goals and 30 points in 2022-23. He’s 25 years old and is a restricted free agent this summer.

Connor McDavid was awarded the Hart Trophy for the NHL’s most valuable player on Monday following his incredible 153-point performance during the regular season. It was the third time he won the award and it was nearly the second time he was voted as the winner unanimously.

Only one of the ballots didn’t have McDavid in first place. It came from Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports in Pittsburgh. His ballot, as revealed by the PHWA, had David Pastrnak in first place, followed by Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars, Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders, Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers, and then McDavid in fifth.

This isn’t the first time that Rorabaugh has submitted a controversial ballot. Last year, his ballot didn’t feature either Auston Matthews or McDavid, who finished first and second in voting, but featured Kirill Kaprizov, Roman Josi, Igor Shesterkin, Jonathan Huberdeau, and J.T. Miller.