On March 7, the San Jose Sharks traded winger Anthony Duclair and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defensive prospect Jack Thompson and a 2024 third-round pick. The forward is in the last season of a $3 million contract that will make him an unrestricted free agent (UFA) this summer unless Tampa Bay chooses to give him an extension.
A goal scorer, Duclair can provide both speed and a scoring presence for the Lightning’s middle-six. He hasn’t quite seen the same success this season as he has in seasons prior, but a competitive roster like Tampa Bay’s could change that. What makes him a good addition, and what are the Sharks getting back?
Lightning Getting High-Upside, Speedy Scorer
This trade will make Duclair a part of eight different clubs since starting his NHL career with the New York Rangers back in 2014-15, so he’s been a journeyman, to say the least. Still just 28, he has some good years ahead of him — it just hasn’t gone that well with a Sharks team sitting in the basement despite having the second-highest average ice time of his 10-year career this season. In 56 games, he has 16 goals and 11 assists for 27 points and a minus-12 rating. In his last four contests, however, he has five goals and three assists for eight points. He chose the right time to heat up.
Previously with the Florida Panthers, Duclair played some of his best hockey. He battled injuries from time to time, but when he was healthy, he was an immensely valuable scorer. With a career-high 31 goals and 27 assists for 58 points in 74 contests in 2021-22, he isn’t that far removed from his best hockey. The Lightning will be hoping to unlock that ability, and their high-powered offense could help do that.
Looking at some playoff stats for the veteran, Duclair was at his best in 2022-23 when he went to the Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers. In 20 matches, he had four goals and seven assists for 11 points. At 5-on-5, he had 2.07 points per 60 minutes he was on the ice, putting him in the 76th percentile of all forwards in the statistic. For someone with Duclair’s upside, what the Lightning paid seems fair.
Related: 2024 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker
Going back to this season, according to NHL Edge, he is one of the better skaters in the league with him being in the 95th percentile among skaters in top speed at 23.32 miles per hour and the 88th percentile in speed bursts over 20 miles per hour with 123. In addition, his shooting percentage, at 16.3 percent, is in the 91st percentile.
Duclair should be able to be involved in Tampa Bay’s offense, and that could take them far. He wasn’t one of the most coveted players on the trade board, but he has the upside to be. He’s still a solid goal scorer at this point in his career, so that should be promising for the Lightning.
Sharks Land Solid Defensive Prospect, Draft Pick
As for Thompson, he is a good addition to the Sharks. The 21-year-old was a third-round pick by the Lightning in the 2020 NHL Draft, and he has made some decent strides. After completing his junior career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with both the Sudbury Wolves and the Soo Greyhounds later, he went to the American Hockey League (AHL) to play for the Syracuse Crunch.
Thompson had 23 points and a plus-1 rating in 71 games last season, and he has upgraded his point totals this season with five goals and 27 assists for 32 points with a lesser minus-5 rating in 46 games. The 6-foot right-handed defender has a good chance to be a regular in the NHL, and he might play some games as soon as this season.
If Thompson has a good training camp next season, he could appear in a lot of games for San Jose in 2024-25. He will be a restricted free agent (RFA) after that season is over, so it could make him quite a bit of money if he impresses.
The third-round pick the Sharks got isn’t all that much, but it is progress for their rebuild. Double-digit points behind the Anaheim Ducks for the third-worst position in the NHL, it’s looking like San Jose will either finish last or second-last in the standings. It’s important to find those mid-round steals in drafts, and this pick can serve as that. Considering they only gave up a fifth-round pick and Steven Lorentz to get Duclair last offseason, just getting the draft pick would’ve been a favorable return for them.
Overall, this deal seems pretty fair as most of these smaller trades tend to be. Duclair wasn’t one of the big prizes of the deadline, but he can be just as impactful as those who are. For the Sharks, getting a prospect who can play in the NHL and a draft pick with that is a solid return. The logic applies for both, so we’ll have to monitor how this plays out in both the short- and long-term future.
