Tampa Bay Lightning Still Winning 2017 Trade With Canadiens – The Hockey Writers – Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning won 3-2 in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens to take Game 2 on a goal by JJ Moser. His first career playoff goal tied the first-round series up 1-1, giving the Lightning some payback for the overtime loss that came back on Sunday in Game 1.

What stood out shortly after was that this goal goes deeper than you may realize. This moment, and other moments between the Lightning and the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, stem from a trade nearly a decade ago.

It’s time for a rewind. We’ll look at how one move between these two teams sparks both moments with playoff and championship implications, including the recent game-winning goal.

Lightning and Canadiens Swap First Rounders

It’s June 15, 2017. The Lightning are coming off missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four seasons. They started their retool at the deadline when they traded away Ben Bishop and Brian Boyle. Their attention turned to moving one young piece to land another.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens were coming off an Atlantic Division title and were looking to find a way to boost their scoring depth. Despite being good enough to win the Atlantic, they were 15th in goals per game. Their power play was also 19.7% in the NHL and they allowed the fourth-fewest goals in the NHL.

Meanwhile, the Lightning dropped off from being in the top five in goals against to 16th. They found trade partners for their needs. They dealt forward Jonathan Drouin and a conditional 2018 sixth-round pick to the Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and a conditional 2018 second-round pick.

At the time, Drouin was an established member of the Lightning offense and was coming off career highs for goals (21), assists (32) and points (53).

This trade would be among the last for either team for the 2016-17 calendar. As the calendar changed to 2017-18, both teams would find themselves on different paths.

Lightning Path to Stanley Cups, Canadiens Path to Rebuild

Sergachev finished 11th in the Calder Trophy voting following his first season with the Lightning. On the offensive side, he averaged 36 points per season in a Lightning sweater and had a career high of 64 points during the 2022-23 season.

Meanwhile, Drouin never reached those same heights. He dealt with injuries for much of his time in Montreal. However, in the one season he saw playoff action with the Canadiens, he put up seven points in 10 games.

The Lightning immediately found themselves back on track and in contention, reaching the Eastern Conference Final during the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Meanwhile, the Canadiens found themselves on the outside looking in as they went from winning the division with 103 points to missing the playoffs with 71 points.

Both teams go back in contention during the 2018-19 season. However, while the Lightning had a historic regular season and took home the Presidents’ Trophy, the Canadiens missed the playoffs by two points.

The Lightning won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021, the latter of which saw them take down the Canadiens in an unconventional Stanley Cup Final. Sergachev had his name on the Cup twice and was part of a third-consecutive trip to the Final in 2022.

Following the trip to the Final, the Canadiens, who were already the last team in that season, collapsed to finish with the worst record in hockey.

The Canadiens finished last in the league for the first time since the 1939–40 season and the first time in the NHL’s expansion era (1967-68 onward). Suddenly, they were faced with needing a change in management and a rebuild that would transform them into the team they are now.

Drouin would not stick around to see the end of the rebuild as his last season with the team was 2022-23. He has since played for the Colorado Avalanche, the New York Islanders, and the St. Louis Blues, the latter two this season. During his time with the Avalanche, he set a new career high of 56 points, his most since 2018-19.

Trade Tree Leads to Another Lightning Win Over Montreal

Following the 2023-24 season, the Lightning underwent a retool. Part of that was trading Sergachev to the newly established Utah Hockey Club (now Mammoth), where he still plays to the current day.

Part of that trade saw the Lightning acquire the aforementioned Moser. By now, you probably see where this is going.

Since he was acquired by the Lightning, the Canadiens completed their rebuild. Some key core members who were around for that 2021 run to the Final, including Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, were part of the new success. Everything lined up for a rematch in this year’s playoffs.

The Canadiens won Game 1 in overtime, but the Lightning got payback in Game 2 to tie the series. This is where the domino effect concludes for now.

When the Canadiens shipped off Sergachev to Tampa Bay, they didn’t just send off a player who would beat them in the Stanley Cup Final. They sent off a player who would be traded for another player who scored on them in overtime this season.

Sports are funny like that sometimes. I’m not sure if I would call it a full-circle moment, but it’s interesting how a move can prove advantageous twice against the same opponent with different players.

The series isn’t over. The Canadiens can still get the last laugh. However, for a night, the Lightning can say they won that trade from 2017 yet again.