Lightning add grit in acquiring Jeannot from Predators Rangers acquire star winger Patrick Kane from Blackhawks Rangers’ K’Andre Miller suspended 3 games for spitting Barry Trotz returns to Nashville, will replace Poile as GM Maple Leafs answer Lightning by making trade with Blackhawks

The fallen Tampa Bay Lightning added an element of guts to its roster to bolster its late-season playoff rush by acquiring forwards. Tanner Jeannot in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Sunday night.

And the Lightning paid a heavy price for it by trading the third-year quarterback. Cal Foot, as well as five draft picks, including a 2025 protected top 10 first-round pick. Tampa Bay also traded their 2024 second-round pick, as well as third-, fourth- and fifth-round picks this year.

The trade was completed shortly after the Lightning fell to 2-2-2 in their last six games after a 7-3 loss in Pittsburgh, less than a week before the NHL trade deadline on Friday.

At 6ft 2in and 208lbs, Jeannot is completing the third and final year of his rookie contract and is eligible to become a restricted free agent this summer. Jeannot scored 24 goals and 41 points in 81 games last season, but this season his performance has declined. He was limited to five goals and 14 points in 56 games.

Signed by Nashville as an undrafted free agent, the 25-year-old is better known for his tough playing style and defensive play. This season, he leads the Predators with 213 hits and among the team’s forwards with 51 blocks.

In total, he has 34 goals and 62 points with 217 penalty minutes in 152 career games.

The Lightning are firmly in third place in the Atlantic Division and are likely to open the playoffs against Toronto in a rematch of last year’s first-round playoff series, which Tampa Bay won in seven games. The Lightning, who have made the Stanley Cup Finals in each of the past three seasons and won in 2020 and 21, are four points behind Toronto in the race to determine which team will have home-ice advantage early in the postseason.

The Predators continue their talent sale with the deal taking place the day after the forward deal. Nino Niederreiter to Winnipeg in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2024 draft.

Nashville is retooling for the future while still on the fringes of the Western Conference race – 10th and six points away from a playoff spot. The Predators traded Jeannot after they improved to 4-1 in their last five games after a 6-2 win over Arizona.

The deal also comes with an impending leadership change set for June, with Barry Trotz rejoining the franchise to replace general manager David Poyle, who has held the position since the team’s 1998 inception.

In a separate move, Nashville abandoned future considerations of acquiring minor league forward Isaac Ratcliffe in exchange for the Philadelphia Flyers. Ratcliffe, a 2017 second-round pick, scored a goal and had three assists in 10 career games with the Flyers.

New York Rangers acquired Patrick Kane in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, reuniting the star forward with a former teammate Artemy Panarin and establish themselves as a Stanley Cup contender in a busy Eastern Conference.

It was believed that New York would not be able to claim Kane after it acquired Vladimir Tarasenko from St. Louis on February 9th. Kane, 34, was also noncommittal when asked about leaving his only home in the NHL.

But Kane enjoyed playing Panarin for two seasons at the start of the Russian winger’s NHL career, and the three-time Stanley Cup winner was in control with a no-move clause in his contract.

“This has been an emotional time for me and my family, but I feel this decision puts me in the best position to win another Stanley Cup immediately,” Kane said in a press release. “This is not about my leaving the Blackhawks, but this is an opportunity for me – the Blackhawks have done everything possible to put me in a great position and I will always be grateful.”

After days of rumors and salary cap maneuvering, the Rangers sent a conditional 2023 second-round pick, 2025 fourth-round defenseman and minor league defenseman Andy Welinski to the rebuilding Blackhawks in place of Kane and minor league defenseman Cooper Zeck. Chicago also acquired Finnish defenseman Vili Saarijärvi from Arizona as part of the deal.

The Coyotes received a 2025 third round player from the Rangers to keep 25% of Kane’s salary, while the Blackhawks paid 50%.

The conditional second round player that Chicago got from New York will become the 2024 first round player if the Rangers make it to this year’s Eastern Finals. If he remains a second-round pick, the Blackhawks will have eight picks in the first three rounds of the upcoming draft.

“A lot of emotions, to be honest. Now it seems unrealistic that we traded Patrick Kane,” said Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson. “But we are very happy that he got the chance to play for the Rangers, to play at Madison Square Garden with a really good team, and we look forward to seeing him compete against New York.

Kane could make his Rangers debut Wednesday night in Philadelphia or Thursday at home against Ottawa. He scored the biggest goal of his NHL career in Philadelphia with an overtime win in Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, ending a 49-year league drought in Chicago.

He was in the middle of his best stretch of the season when he left the Blackhawks during their trip in the midst of trade negotiations. He has seven goals and three assists in a four-game streak.

“I think Patrick has recognized that this is a good fit for him and for us,” said New York general manager Chris Drury. “We are certainly delighted that he wanted to be traded and that it was to the New York Rangers.

New York got Tarasenko and a deep defender Niko Mikkola in trade with St. Louis. At the time, the Rangers made the deal thinking that the cost of acquiring Tarasenko would be less than what it would take to get Timo Meyerand they were wary of waiting for Kane to make a decision about his future.

But Drury had to trade only one first-round pick, one fourth-round player, and two players to St. Louis. After acquiring one first-rounder from Dallas last summer for the young quarterback Nils Lundqvistthe Rangers had enough draft capital to get Kane out of Chicago.

Kane was selected by the Blackhawks with the first overall pick in the 2007 draft. He is in the final season of an eight-year, $84 million contract extension that was completed in July 2014.

Kane helped Chicago achieve the best record in franchise history by winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. The Blackhawks also reached the Western Conference Finals in 2014, losing to the Los Angeles Kings in an epic seven-game streak.

But the franchise has been going through hard times lately. They are one of the worst teams in the NHL this year and they have a chance to get the first pick in the draft and get a chance to take Connor Bedard.

“Patrick Kane’s contribution to the Blackhawks organization and the City of Chicago will never be forgotten,” said Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz. “While today marks the end of an era for the team, he will forever be part of the Blackhawks family.

Kane has long been one of the league’s most gifted wingers. He has 16 goals and 29 assists in 54 games and his numbers have suffered due to the lack of talent around him.

Kane also has a long history of playoff success. In addition to a series-clinching goal in 2010 against the Flyers, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2013.

He has 14 seasons with at least 21 goals and 13 years with at least 40 assists. He won the 2016 Hart Trophy as NHL MVP after scoring 46 goals and 60 assists in 82 games.

Just last season when Chicago Alex DeBrinkat And Dylan StromKane scored 26 times and had a career best with 66 assists in 78 games.

NEW YORK — The New York Rangers’ K’Andre Miller has been suspended three games for unsportsmanlike conduct for spitting at a Los Angeles Kings defenseman. Drew Doughty.

The NHL Player Safety Department announced the suspension Tuesday after hearings with Miller, who will miss upcoming games Wednesday in Philadelphia, Thursday against Ottawa and Saturday in Boston. He will also lose $15,000 of his salary.

Miller, 23, received a match penalty and was sent off late in the first period of the Rangers’ game against the Kings on Sunday. In a message posted to social media on Monday, Miller called his actions “completely random.”

“I would never intentionally do something like this,” Miller wrote. “It goes against everything that I am as a person and as a player. I felt terrible about it.”

This is the same pendant length as Pomegranate Hathaway received in 2019 for spitting in Anaheim Eric Goodbranson when with Washington.

Miller’s suspension complicates an already unclear New York roster situation ahead of Friday’s trade deadline. The Rangers have made roster changes to maximize space above the salary cap ahead of an expected trade for the three-time Stanley Cup-winning Chicago forward. Patrick Kane.

Barry Trotz became the first coach of the Nashville Predators back in 1997.

He will now become the team’s second general manager effective July 1.

On Sunday, David Poyle announced his plans to step down as CEO on June 30 after 26 years with the Predators.

Trotz and Poyle reunited at the Bridgestone Arena on Monday when Trotz was introduced as his replacement. Poile, 73, will remain an adviser.

The two men have known each other for 41 years, going back to when Poyle was general manager of the Washington Capitals.

“It was my first training camp with the Capitals[in1982]and Barry was not drafted,” Poyle said of their first meeting.

Trotz was fired, but Washington hired him as a scout before he became a coach.

He is the third NHL coach with 914 wins, including with Washington, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2018, and with the New York Islanders from 2018-22.

Poyle said Trotz, 60, turned down several coaching positions during the off-season, and Poyle told Trotz that this would be his last season because…