One three-team trade in the NHL is a rarity. Two is exceptionally rare, especially considering the talent that was moved around. Three? That’s insane.
We’ve seen three, three-team trades this season in the National Hockey League. What are the odds we’ll see another before July 1st– let alone before Monday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline?
At least this three-team deal wasn’t complicated.
Sunday afternoon, the Edmonton Oilers sent F Mark Letestu to the Nashville Predators in exchange for F Pontus Aberg. Nashville then flipped Letestu to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 4th round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft to complete the three-team trade.
So to recap:
To CBJ: F Mark Letestu
To EDM: F Pontus Aberg
To NSH: 2018 4th round pick (CBJ)
Aberg, 24, has three goals and seven assists (ten points) in 52 career NHL games. A native of Stockholm, Sweden, the 5’11”, 196-pound forward had two goals and three assists in 16 postseason games with Nashville in 2017.
He was originally drafted by the Predators in the 2nd round (37th overall) of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
Letestu, 33, has eight goals and 11 assists (19 points) in 60 games for Edmonton this season. He has 92-114–206 totals in 538 career NHL games for the Oilers, Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 5’10”, 195-pound forward is entering his second stint with Columbus after having previously been traded to the Blue Jackets by Pittsburgh on November 8, 2011. Letestu went on to play for Columbus from 2011-15, amassing 43 goals and 55 assists (98 points) in 233 games.
An Elk Point, Alberta native, Letestu has 6-9–15 totals in 30 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. He was originally signed by the Penguins as a free agent in March 2007 after playing one season of college hockey with Western Michigan University.
Though they traded Aberg, acquired Letestu, then flipped Letestu to Columbus, the Nashville Predators did walk away from this three-team trade with a 2018 4th round pick.
The Predators now have a draft pick in every round (including two picks in the fourth) except for the second in this June’s NHL Draft, which will be held in Dallas.
