Rickard Rakell Traded To Pittsburgh

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

Rickard Rakell was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Frank Seravalli announced the trade shortly after the trade deadline ended, but the full details were not known. Finally about two hours later, the Pittsburgh Penguins confirmed the full deal. Rakell was traded to the Penguins for Zach Aston-Reese, Dominik Simon, Calle Clang, and a 2022 2nd round pick. The Ducks also retained 35% of Rakell’s salary.

The Ducks ended up getting several pieces in return for Rakell. Zach Aston-Reese is a 27-year-old 6’4″, 204 pound forward who has played with the Penguins since 2017-18. He has 62 total points (29 G + 33 A) in 213 games with Pittsburgh. He is a solid skater and skilled player. He has a good hockey IQ and is consistent defensively. He is a bottom six forward with a limited offensive upside. He will be an unrestricted free agent(UFA) this summer and his contact is worth $1.725 million.

Forward Dominik Simon is a 27-year-old 5’11”, 190 pound forward, who has spent most of his career with the Penguins going back to the 2015-16 season. He has 73 total points (22 G + 51 A) in 239 games with Pittsburgh and Calgary. He is a solid bottom six defensive player and doesn’t score a ton of goals. He is able to create plays, but finishing them can be an issue. He will be an unrestricted free agent(UFA) this summer and his contact is worth $700,000.

Calle Clang is a 19-year-old 6’2″, 176 pound Swedish goalie. He appeared in 17 SHL games this season and had a 2.28 GAA and .915 SV%. He made the Swedish WJC team the past two seasons. He likes to play the angles in net and challenge the shooters. He tracks the puck well and is very athletic. One downside is he can over commit at the times and be out of position.

Overall this is another win for the Anaheim Ducks. Pat Verbeek was again able to move a rental player and get several pieces in return. Anaheim also had to retain salary, but just for the next 6 weeks or so  which isn’t a big deal. Even if Aston-Reese and Simon don’t work out, the Ducks added a potential future goalie to the organization and another draft pick.

Related Articles:

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March 21st, 2022