The Tampa Lighting have acquired Matt Dumba and a 2025 seventh-round pick from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick. No salary retention on Dumba
The Lighting fill in their defense with Sergachev out, and the Coyotes move a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) for more excess draft capital.
Tampa Bay Round Out Their Defence
It’s been a rather interesting year for the Tampa Bay Lighting. Nikita Kucherov is playing at a Hart/Art Ross Trophy level, but they currently sit out of the wildcard spot for the playoffs. After the unfortunate stretch of Mikhail Sergachev getting healthy from his ankle injury, only to go down with another one and out for the season, the Lighting knew they had to make moves. Dumba from the Coyotes is six feet tall, 181 lbs, and a perfect fit for the Lighting defense scheme: moving the puck, hitting bodies, and blocking shots. With four goals and six assists for 10 points on the season, production isn’t the primary factor in Dumba’s game. With 150 hits and 84 blocks, he is willing to put his body on the line anytime he sees fit.
Add him to the penalty kill and pair him potentially with Calvin De Haan; it could be an excellent move to strengthen the blue line and make a playoff push. The Coyotes took no cap retention in his contract last year before entering free agency as a UFA, so it’s a total of $3.9 million going into Tampas’s cap hit. Add in a seventh-round pick next season for any potential trades this offseason or going into the next deadline, and it’s a smart move this late into the deadline to make the team better with this quality of defencemen.
Coyotes Add More to the Draft Bank
The plan for the Coyotes entering the trade deadline was simple: retain cap space with trades and sell any player going into free agency as a UFA. They stuck to it, first with the Troy Stecher trade yesterday, the Jason Zucker trade today, and what seems like their final trade with Dumba. They move off him and trade seventh-round picks with the Lighting; now, they could. Could you say the price was a bit low? If Tampa asked them to retain some salary, you could assume the cost would have gone up.
As of writing, the Coyotes have no defencemen on their current roster signed for next season; all currently rostered players are either pending UFAs or restricted free agents (RFA) and arbitration eligible. Though with little over $40 million in cap space entering free agency and thirteen draft picks this upcoming draft (all unprotected and without conditions), I doubt there is much worry going into the offseason about who they have in mind about resigning and other free agents planning to sign if given the opportunity. Add in their current pool of prospects and who they think is ready for a call-up; it’s a trade the Coyotes make every day.
