The Tampa Bay Lightning have dealt centers Tyler Johnson and Anthony Cirelli to the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenseman Ryan Ellis and center Mike Ribeiro.
"It was not an easy move to make. We were rather hesitant to move Tyler because he is a terrific young player, but looking forward to the offseason - we knew it would be tough to re-sign Johnson, with Palat, Drouin, and others also on expiring contracts, and Hedman's extension coming into effect. That being said, we are absolutely thrilled to add a top four right handed puck moving d-man as talented as Ryan. While Ellis not the biggest guy in the world, he more than makes up for it with his offensive abilities, smarts, and positioning. We believe that given opportunity to quarterback our number 1 power play unit, he could see a significant jump in his point totals, not being stuck behind a Weber or Subban. Ryan's defensive abilities are underrated as well, and with 2 years left after this at $2.5m annually, we feel this is a coup for us. Mike is going to help to replace some of the scoring lost by trading Johnson. He isn't as fast as Johnson, but he is a terrific playmaker, and will not be relied upon as heavily to produce in a prime offensive role with our plan to convert Drouin to center."