That didn’t take long. Mere days after being traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the San Jose Sharks, Vladislav Namestnikov is on the move again.
Friday afternoon, he was traded from the Sharks to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2025 fourth-round pick. San Jose retains no salary, as the Lightning retained 50 percent earlier this week.
Drafted in the first round (27th overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft, the forward has bounced around for much of his career. He spent four seasons with the Bolts before being traded to the New York Rangers at the 2018 trade deadline.
Unfortunately, he never could find his footing on Broadway. The result was being moved to the Ottawa Senators early in the 2019-20 season. Later that same season, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for a potential playoff run.
The shortened 2021 season saw him move back east, as the Detroit Red Wings signed him as a free agent. He began to carve out a role for himself as a bottom-six forward, but it wasn’t enough, as he was traded from the Red Wings to the Dallas Stars at last year’s trade deadline.
As a free agent this past offseason, the Lightning decided to bring Namestnikov back on a one-year, $2.5 million contract.
He struggled to play the defense-first style the Lightning have adopted in recent years, notching six goals and 15 points in 57 games. He also had a minus-2 rating.
With the Lightning up against the cap and the need to free up space for potential acquisitions, they made a trade with the Sharks for physical forward Michael Eyssimont.
Sitting well outside of a Western Conference playoff spot at 48 points, the Sharks traded the forward to a Jets team that is battling the Colorado Avalanche for third place in the Central Division.
