The Panthers acquired forward Mike Hoffman as part of a pair of trades involving the Senators and Sharks on Tuesday morning. The separate deals were announced in a matter of hours with Hoffman moving from Ottawa to San Jose to Florida, where it appears he’ll stay for now.
In the first trade, the Sharks acquired Hoffman, defenseman prospect Cody Donaghey and a 2020 fifth-round pick from the Senators in exchange for forward Mikkel Boedker, defenseman prospect Julius Bergman and a 2020 sixth-round pick.
In the second trade, the Sharks sent Hoffman and a 2018 seventh-round pick to the Panthers for a 2019 second-round pick, a 2018 fourth-round pick and a 2018 fifth-round pick.
Let’s parse all that out:
Senators receive: Mikkel Boedker, Julius Bergman, 2020 sixth-round pick
Panthers receive: Mike Hoffman, 2018 seventh-round pick (No. 207)
Sharks receive: Cody Donaghey, 2019 second-round pick, 2018 fourth- and fifth-round picks (No. 123; 139), 2020 fifth-round pick
Hoffman became the source of controversy in recent weeks after the wife of teammate Erik Karlsson filed an order of protection against Hoffman’s fiancee, Monika Caryk. The court filing alleged that Caryk harassed the Karlssons online for months earlier this year.
The news coming out in the media appeared to ensure a split between the Senators and Hoffman despite his productivity. However, it’s unclear how many teams were willing to bring him in given the locker room issues he could pose.
Hoffman has been productive on the ice with four straight seasons recording at least 22 goals. He’s also signed to a reasonable contract with a $5.1875 million cap hit through the 2019-20 season.
Boedker, the main piece acquired by Ottawa, is signed for two more seasons at a $4 million cap hit. The speedy winger recorded 15 goals and 22 assists in 74 games with the Sharks last season.
The Senators only shed a bit over $1 million in cap space over the next two seasons, but Hoffman is owed $11.3 million in real money while Boedker is owed just $6 million on a front-loaded deal, according to Cap Friendly, so there are significant financial savings for ownership.
For the Sharks, the move is effectively trading Boedker, Bergman and a future sixth for the cache of draft picks. They only had two picks from Rounds 2-5 before the trade, so this allowed them to add a couple more picks in the middle rounds this year while adding a second next year, when they won’t have a first as a result of the Evander Kane deal.
