Hindsight: Revisiting the Alexander Volkov trade

A year ago today, the Tampa Bay Lightning sent forward Alexander Volkov to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward prospect Antoine Morand and Anaheim’s 2023 7th round draft pick. Now, a year later, we can look back and say that the trade has been largely inconsequential for both organizations, with neither losing any significant assets.

Volkov was a unique player within the Lightning’s prospect system as he was overage prospect drafted in the second round of the 2017 draft directly from the Russian second and third tier leagues. However, he quickly ascended the Lightning’s organizational depth charts after becoming one of the top scorers for the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, in his first and second seasons in North America.

A strong start to his third season with the Crunch was all the Lightning needed to see to give him the call-up to the NHL. Nine regular season games and one historic playoff debut in Game 6 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final later, that saw Volkov draw the penalty that led to the game-winning goal, and Volkov was already part of Tampa Bay Lightning franchise lore.

Being trusted to step into the lineup with the Stanley Cup on the line would prove not to be a guaranteed starting role in Tampa Bay’s lineup the following season as Volkov found himself contesting Mitchell Stephens and Mathieu Joseph for playing time. Even after seeing extended playing time due to an early season injury to Stephens, it was rookie Ross Colton that was bumping Volkov out of the starting lineup.

With playing time scarce to come by, a trade was eventually requested, and GM Julien BriseBois found a suitor for Volkov in Anaheim. The return for the Lightning could be considered underwhelming for a player that they thought very high not even a year earlier, but the reality of the situation limited what they could reasonably ask for in return.

Antoine Morand, a former 2nd round draftee, proved to be a valuable depth forward for the Syracuse Crunch. He provided consistent defensive effort and 22 points in 63 games. However, Morand was traded prior to this season’s trade deadline for goaltender Alexi Melnichuk.

Melnichuk is a 23-year-old undrafted Russian goaltender that the San Jose Sharks signed to a two-year entry-level contract prior to the 2020-21 season after he posted strong numbers his rookie KHL season with SKA St. Petersburg. In 16 games with SKA during the 2020 season he had a 1.68 GAA and 0.930 Sv%.

Since then, Melnichuk has struggled in North America with both the Sharks and their AHL affiliate. He will be a restricted free agent after the season, so the Lightning will have the chance to re-sign him and potentially unlock his potential.

The last asset the Lightning received; Anaheim’s 2023 7th round pick is what it is – a 7th round draft pick. They are fun to take longshots on, but usually do not pan out. However, the Lightning have an exception on their roster with Ondrej Palat (2011 7th) and do have Otto Somppi (2016 7th) signed to an entry-level contract. Additionally, there are intriguing unsigned prospects: Sammy Walker (2017 7th), Declan McDonnell (2020 7th), and Niko Huuhtanen (2021 7th).

So, if Tampa Bay’s director of amateur scouting, Al Murray, finds a 7th round gem in 2023, assuming GM Julien BriseBois holds onto the pick, then we may have to revisit this trade again.

As for Volkov’s value to Anaheim, it was limited at best. He did put up 8 points in 18 games in a depth role last season but failed to make the Duck’s opening night roster at the start of this season and was assigned to the Duck’s AHL affiliate.

The Ducks would soon experience a similar situation to what the Lightning faced with Volkov the previous season.

For Volkov, a return to the KHL club that he played for in the Russian junior leagues was his best option going forward. In 19 games for SKA St. Petersburg this season he recorded 4 points playing predominantly within SKA’s bottom-six.

Now, neither Anaheim nor Tampa Bay hold Volkov’s NHL signing rights. He is still only 24 years old and could receive the chance to play in the NHL again, but for now it looks like neither Anaheim nor Tampa Bay drew the short end of the straw in their trade as all assets exchanged look inconsequential to both teams for the time being.