Ducks trade Daniel Sprong to the Capitals for Christian Djoos

About an hour after the deadline had officially passed, TSN’s Frank Seravalli announced that the Anaheim Ducks and Washington Capitals had come to agreement on a trade featuring two players who have spent the majority of the season in the AHL. The Ducks sent right wing Daniel Sprong to the nation’s capital in exchange for defenseman Christian Djoos. In doing so, the Ducks were able to replace some of the depth the team had lost over the last few years.

After showing off the offensive upside that Bob Murray traded for by scoring 14 goals in 47 games last season, Sprong failed to force his way into the conversation this year under new coach Dallas Eakins. Appearing in only eight games and registering a single goal and a single assist, it seemed all but certain that the Danish winger was running out of time in Southern California, if he hadn’t already. Despite posting 11 goals and 16 assists for the San Diego Gulls, players like Troy Terry and the now gone Ondrej Kase seemed to have cemented their place in front of him within the organization.

Coming the other way is Swedish defenseman Christian Djoos. Ducks fans are well aware of the organization’s affinity for Swedish rearguards, and Djoos is another player who will join that lineage. Only appearing in two games for Washington this year, Djoos would seem to be a good skater who will slot into the bottom pair of Anaheim’s defense. The irony in this trade is that Sprong was acquired from Pittsburgh last year in return for Marcus Pettersson, a left handed Swedish defenseman, who had played well in the bottom half of the Ducks’ defense. Marcus Pettersson, much to the chagrin of those in Anaheim, just signed a multi-year extension with the Penguins and has become a significant contributor on one of the league’s best teams. Daniel Sprong on the other hand, is now on to his third team in two years and will be hoping to stick around this time. Djoos will more than likely be given every opportunity to excel in Anaheim in a depth role.

Given the way events have played out over the last year and a half, Bob Murray’s temper is probably hot enough to cook the egg on his face right now.