The Seattle Kraken have acquired defenseman Jaycob Megna from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2023 fourth-round pick.
Megna, 30, played 48 games this season for the Sharks. He scored one goal and 12 points with a +6 rating. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound blueliner was ranked 27th on Frank Seravalli’s most recent trade targets board.
Megna played most of the season on the top pairing with Erik Karlsson. He averaged over 19 minutes of ice time per night in San Jose and made up one half of the pairing that had an xGoals of 54.3%.
This was the first full NHL season of Megna’s career, he played 87 games over four seasons with the Anaheim Ducks and Sharks, respectively.
The 30-year-old is a decent low-event defender who doesn’t fold when faced with opposing NHL talent. He likely won’t be playing many minutes, if any, down the stretch in Seattle.
As a left-shot, Megna sits behind Vince Dunn, Jamie Oleksiak, and Carson Soucy on the left side of the Kraken D-core. He is an insurance option for Seattle if one of their more established defenseman goes down with an injury between now and the playoffs.
The Sharks currently own two 2023 fourth-round picks, one their own and one of the Colorado Avalanche. As per the terms of the trade, the Sharks will get to choose which of the two fourth-round picks they want by June 15.
The Sharks are a rebuilding team that had no further use for Megna on their roster. The wheeling and dealing has started early for them with nearly a month to go until the March 3 trade deadline. They currently sit second-last in the Pacific Division with a record of 15-25-11.
The Kraken are looking to bolster every part of their roster for the first potential playoff run in franchise history. They have a record of 29-15-15 and sit in first place in their division.
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