Anaheim Ducks trade Rickard Rakell to the Pittsburgh Penguins
The Anaheim Ducks entered this trade deadline window with three major pending UFA’s that GM Pat Verbeek had publicly declared would either be signed to extensions or moved. Josh Manson was the first domino to fall when he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche last week and Hampus Lindholm was traded to the Boston Bruins for a hefty return on Saturday afternoon. Now the final big name has moved, as Frank Seravalli announced on Monday shortly after the 12:00pm deadline that Rickard Rakell had been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Zach Aston-Reese, Dominik Simon, goalie prospect Calle Clang, and a 2nd round pick in 2022.
The full trade details are below, per the Ducks.
Rakell was drafted by the Ducks in the 1st round of the 2011 NHL Draft and has spent his entire career thus far as a member of the Anaheim Ducks. He hit his breakout season during the 2015-16 campaign when he scored 20 goals and 43 points total in 72 GP, followed up by consecutive 30 goal seasons. His production has since fallen slightly as the Ducks have struggled overall to generate offense during their tear down and rebuild.
The player cards below is provided courtesy of Jfresh
Rakell will provide a great depth scoring option for the Penguins and will likely end up on Evgeni Malkin’s wing. There are certainly worse places to end up for a player with Rakell’s skill set.
Make sure to tune in to the Crash the Pond podcast tonight after the game against the Nashville Predators to hear our own Jake and Felix breaking down the moves at the deadline and how the Ducks are looking moving forward.