
The Tampa Bay Lightning traded Pat Maroon and Maxim Cajkovic to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL draft.

Three-time Stanley Cup champion Pat Maroon is headed to the Minnesota Wild.
The Tampa Bay Lightning traded Maroon and Maxim Cajkovic to the Wild in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round draft pick. The Lightning are retaining 20 percent of Maroon's $1-million cap hit for the final year of his contract.
Tampa Bay is currently over the salary cap by $3,912,500 after the trade, but the team can move defenseman Brent Seabrook to the long-term injury reserve at the beginning of the season and free up $6,875,000.
The Bolts already signed forwards Conor Sheary, Josh Archibald, Luke Glendening and Logan Brown over the weekend, as well as defenseman Calvin de Haan and goaltender Jonas Johansson.
Despite the lower cap hits for each new signing – Sheary has the highest at $2 million – they still have RFA forward Tanner Jeannot to deal with. Jeannot, 26, is eligible for arbitration and is looking for a raise after finishing his entry-level deal. The Lightning traded Cal Foote and a first-rounder, second-rounder, third-rounder, fourth-rounder, and fifth-round pick for Jeannot on Feb. 26.
As for Maroon, the 35-year-old heads to his sixth NHL team after amassing 117 goals, 288 points and 930 penalty minutes over 729 career regular-season games, as well as 51 points and 197 penalty minutes in 150 playoff games. This past season, Maroon had five goals, 14 points and 150 penalty minutes in 80 games for the Lightning.
He'll be heading to Minnesota to be the tough guy after the team lost Ryan Reaves to the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency.
The Wild also get 22-year-old Cajkovic, who was drafted 89th overall in 2019. This past season, he recorded 27 points in 41 games for the ECHL's Orlando Solar Bears. He also played twice for the AHL's Syracuse Crunch.