Comparing the Lightning Core to Ottawa’s Prospects

Mikhail Sergachev

Acquired: Trade from Montreal in 2017

Appearing in four games for the Canadiens in 2016-17, Sergachev was one of the team’s top defence prospects and looked like a major part of Montreal’s future.

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Instead, Montreal traded him to Tampa for disgruntled youngster Jonathan Drouin, a move that has not aged particularly well for Montreal. Sergachev is still just 22 but has firmly established himself in the Lightning top 4, providing an elite one-two punch with Victor Hedman on the blueline.

Comparable: Erik Brannstrom, Acquired from Vegas in 2019

Like Sergachev, Brannstrom was a top prospect in another system before he was acquired by his current team, as he was the primary piece Ottawa acquired in the Mark Stone trade at last year’s deadline. Brannstrom played 31 games for Ottawa last season, but with no goals and four assists, he’s struggled to establish himself at the highest level. If he does develop into the player he looked like he would at the time of the trade, that would give Ottawa two of the top left-handed defencemen in the league, creating a potentially lethal blueline.