The Hurricanes made a huge splash at the end of this year's deadline by adding two defensemen in Sami Vatanen and Skjei. Since Carolina had two first-round draft picks (their own and Toronto's) in the upcoming draft, GM Don Waddell and co. felt comfortable trading one of them away for a blueline update. Skjei, who turns 26 next month, is signed through 2023-24 at a cap hit of $5.25 million. So, this was a significant move (and commitment) made by 'Canes management.

The Rangers decided to keep left-winger Chris Kreider in the fold earlier in the day, re-signing him to a seven-year contract extension. However, that decision may have ultimately led to Skjei's departure (at least from a salary cap perspective). New York does have young left defensemen such as Ryan Lindgren, Libor Hajek and Yegor Rykov in the fold, so GM Jeff Gorton felt comfortable shipping out Skjei to a division rival at this time. At the end of the day, Kreider was deemed more valuable.

Skjei is a defenseman of modest fantasy appeal, whether he plays with the Rangers or Hurricanes. He will continue to be a 50/50 proposition in terms of picking him up in fantasy hockey.