TAMPA – Facing a roster crunch with the pending return to full health, the Tampa Bay Lightning moved former first-round draft pick defenseman Slater Koekkoek to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
Tampa Bay shipped Koekkoek along with a fifth-round pick in the 2019 draft to the Blackhawks in exchange for 27-year-old defenseman Jan Rutta and a seventh-round pick in the 2018 draft.
Koekkoek is in the final year of a one-year deal that pays and will make him a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Rutta is in the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $2.25 million. Ru...
