The Tampa Bay Lightning aren’t going to let something as trivial as a trade deadline stop them from improving their franchise. While they were taking on the Detroit Red Wings on the ice last night, they were also making a deal with their opponents. Tampa Bay acquired defenseman Ian Mitchell from the Red Wings in exchange for forwards Michael Milne and Wojciech Stachowiak.
Yes, the NHL trade deadline has passed, but the AHL trade deadline rolls on until 3:00 PM today. With all three players already playing for the respective AHL teams, they will be eligible for the postseason at that level. There will probably be a few more deals like this around the league as franchises load up their affiliates for a playoff run. Ottawa and Los Angeles swapped Jan Jenik and Samuel Bolduc last night while Nashville acquired Dalton Bancroft and Massimo Rizzo from Boston for Navrin Mutter.
For the Crunch, they part with a couple of forwards in order to strengthen a defense that has three of their best players currently in Tampa. Declan Carlile, Max Crozier, and Steven Santini are all with the Lightning and rather than rely on constantly signing players to PTOs, the Crunch bring in the 27-year-old Mitchell who has 201 games in the AHL with Grand Rapids, Providence, and Rockford. The right-shot defender has 27 goals and 86 assists during that time.
Milne was brough into the Lightning organization earlier this year in a trade with Minnesota that sent Boris Katchouk to the Wild. The 23-year-old forward never really clicked, picking up just one assist in 19 games. Stachowiak was signed as a free agent this past summer and is putting together a solid rookie season with 9 goals and 8 assists in 38 games while also appearing in the Olympics for Germany.
The addition of Michael Peca earlier in the week did make the Crunch’s forward room a little crowded and Stachowiak has a lot of traits that are already duplicated in the Lightning’s prospect pool so, while moving him before getting a chance to see him in a Lightning uniform is disappointing, it is also understandable.
Mitchell is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer (Milne and Stachowiak are RFAs) but could be auditioning for a spot with either the Crunch or Lightning next season. Clubs are always in the market for right-shot defenders and Mitchell does have 110 games of NHL experience, mostly with the Blackhawks.
The Crunch currently sit three points behind the Laval Rocket in second place in the North Division with 15 games left to be played. A two-game homestand kicks off with Lehigh Valley tonight and Laval on Saturday as Syracuse looks to trim their magic number of 8 down a few more points.
