Anaheim Ducks grab McGinn and Pirri, deal Maroon at deadline
The Anaheim Ducks added two goal-scoring forwards while subtracting nothing major at the trade deadline.
The Ducks acquired Jamie McGinn and Brandon Pirri and shipped out Patrick Maroon in a flurry of deals Monday.
General manager Bob Murray also declined to give up goalie Frederik Andersen or defenseman Sami Vatanen, retaining his soon-to-be restricted free agents to keep his roster core in position to challenge for the Stanley Cup this spring.
The Ducks acquired McGinn from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in the upcoming draft. Moments later, they picked up Pirri from the Florida Panthers in a deal for a sixth-round pick.
Anaheim traded Maroon to Edmonton for a fourth-round pick and Slovak defenseman Martin Gernat. The Ducks also swapped Tim Jackman for right wing Corey Tropp in a minor-league deal with Chicago.
With eight consecutive wins, 15 victories in their last 17 games and a 22-4-2 streak since Christmas, the Ducks are just two points behind Los Angeles in their quest for a fourth consecutive Pacific Division title. Murray apparently saw little incentive to mess with the chemistry on a team with ample reason to think it can win it all.
He still found two intriguing additions to the Ducks' offense.
McGinn has 14 goals and 13 assists in 63 games this season with the Sabres, who acquired him along with Ryan O'Reilly in a trade with Colorado last summer. The two-way wing has 83 goals and 72 assists in 429 career NHL games over eight seasons with San Jose, Colorado and Buffalo.
He will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, but McGinn becomes the third-leading goal-scorer on a roster that was the NHL's lowest-scoring group for most of this season. Only Corey Perry and Rickard Rakell have more goals this season among McGinn's new teammates.
If the Ducks advance at least to the Western Conference finals with McGinn playing in half of their playoff games, the third-round pick in 2016 acquired by the Sabres becomes a second-round pick in 2017.
The Ducks' new fifth-leading goal-scorer is Pirri, who has 11 goals and 13 assists in 54 games this season. Although streaky, the 24-year-old has scored 33 goals in his last 101 games with the Panthers.
Maroon will get a fresh start in Edmonton after struggling mightily this season for the Ducks. The power forward has just four goals and nine assists while putting up a team-worst minus-13 rating.
The 22-year-old Gernat has three assists for the Oilers' AHL affiliate in Bakersfield this season.
