Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

Usually a hotbed for trade activity, the NHL draft floor didn't deliver the action many expected but it certainly opened up the communication lines between the league's general managers.

And after the Coyotes exercised a buyout on center Mike Ribeiro Friday, their newfound financial flexibility made GM Don Maloney's phone number a popular one.

Less than 72 hours after parting ways with Ribeiro because of behavioral issues, Maloney solidified Ribeiro's replacement by acquiring center Sam Gagner and winger B.J. Crombeen from the Tampa Bay Lightning Sunday evening in exchange for a 2015 sixth-round pick.

Here's how the deal went down:

- Edmonton Oilers GM Craig MacTavish called Maloney Sunday morning to gauge Maloney's interest on Gagner. The Oilers were contemplating moving him.

Gagner had been with the Oilers since they drafted him sixth overall in 2007, racking up 101 goals and 295 points in 481 games. He was the longest-serving member of the team but ever since inking a three-year contract worth $14.4 million last summer, his name had surfaced in trade rumors.

Throw in the fact that the Oilers had never once made the playoffs during Gagner's tenure there and it wasn't difficult to picture MacTavish making a change.

"I feel like my name has been in trade rumors for a long time now, and you have to expect things to happen when the team doesn't do well," Gagner said. "I think it's obviously been a tough last few years, for sure, there, but I think it's just something that happens. There's going to be change when things don't go well. I expected that at some point that I might be part of it, but it's a great opportunity for me in Arizona and I'm excited about that. I wish Edmonton all the best. I think they're a great team that's going to do a lot of great things and like I said, I wish them all the best."

- With the lack of depth and talent at center for the past number of years, Maloney has always had an interest in Gagner but his price tag was too rich for the Coyotes. Once MacTavish told Maloney the Oilers would be willing to retain some of Gagner's salary, Maloney was interested.

- Maloney called MacTavish back later that afternoon, but MacTavish had already verbally agreed to trade Gagner elsewhere.

"To his credit, he gave his word," Maloney said. "I said, 'Well, Craig, that's good. Good for you. If you get a chance to give me a call back and let me know what the deal is, then that's be great.' I was thinking, 'Well, maybe we lost another one.'"

- MacTavish called Maloney back, telling him Gagner was going to the Lightning in exchange for winger Teddy Purcell. Maloney immediately reached out to Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, expressing interest in Gagner.

The Lightning were open-minded, and that made sense. Actually, their acquisition of Gagner was somewhat puzzling to begin with considering they already were stacked up the middle.

"I was talking to my agent, and he had said when Tampa traded for me that there might be something else going on," Gagner said. "It was something I was prepared for. I wasn't really expecting to be traded today, but it's one of those things that happens in sports and I guess you have to be ready for it at all times."

The Lightning's deal with the Oilers alleviated some cap space with them taking Purcell, but adding more space seemed to be a priority for the Lightning. Buying out Gagner was an option.

"Basically, we hung up the phone and I said, 'I'm going to have a beer. You go have a glass of wine and if you can come up with an idea, call me back,'" Maloney said.

- Maloney was hopeful something could be worked out. Not only was he interested in Gagner, but he'd been inquiring about Crombeen for the past few months.

Crombeen is a rugged winger who the Coyotes felt would suit their bottom-six forward group. He's familiar with coach Dave Tippett, having played for the Stars in 2007-08 and 2008-09 while Tippett was coach there, and Crombeen has the grit the Coyotes think they need to stay competitive in the Pacific Division.

"I obviously think it's a good fit for me," Crombeen said.

- What ended up sealing the deal was the Lightning retaining a third of Gagner's salary. Although he carries a cap hit of $4.8 million for the last two years of his contract, Gagner is owned $5 million each season.

With the Lightning paying a third of that cost, the Coyotes are dishing out only $3.33 million. They saved $3.55 million next season by buying out Ribeiro, so that more than covers Gagner's addition. Crombeen is owed $1.15 million on the final year of his deal.

Salary, rather than cap hit, is of more concern to the Coyotes, who now have approximately $52.4 million tied up in player payroll. Their overall spending is expected to land between $55-57 million.

And because the salary cap ceiling for next season is growing only to $69 million, many teams – like the Lightning – don't currently have a lot of wiggle room. That made the Coyotes an advantageous trading partner because they could absorb the cap hits without returning any. Instead, the Lightning were fine taking a draft pick.

"Tampa received what they need to free up a lot of cap space," Maloney said. "They get a draft asset, and we got what we wanted and we're searching for – a young, skilled centerman in Sam Gagner and a guy we coveted for a while in B.J. Crombeen. Just a character winger that coach Dave Tippett knows quite well from his time in Dallas, and we think he'll just be a good fit for us out here in Arizona. All in all, it came together in a hurry."