On Sunday, the Detroit Red Wings acquired the rights to Andrew Murray and a conditional seventh-round pick from the San Jose Sharks. The Red Wings gave up the rights to Brad Stuart, who is going to become a free agent on July 1, in the trade.
In reality, all San Jose gave up was a conditional seventh-round pick, because Murray is not in the Red Wings' plans moving forward. Ansar Khan reports that the only reason the Sharks traded the rights to Murray, who will also be a free agent on July 1, was to free up room for Stuart.
Wings have no plans for Murray. Sharks needed to unload a player to stay at the 50-man roster limit.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) June 10, 2012
Helene St. James also reports that the Red Wings aren't going to sign Murray, so assuming Stuart does sign with the Sharks, this trade was only made to acquire a future seventh-round pick. That may not seem like much, but considering it has been common knowledge for a while that Stuart has no plans to re-sign with the Red Wings, it's a wonder Ken Holland managed to get anything for his rights.
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