Yesterday, in the span of 23 minutes or – if you want – 1,380 seconds four NHL superstars where either traded or signed a major multi-million dollar contract extension.
It all started at around 2 PM Eastern time when SportsNet Nick Kyperios Tweeted that the Montreal Canadiens traded P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators for their captain Shea Weber.
#Blockbuster @CanadiensMTL trade PK Subban to @PredsNHL for Shea Weber #wow @Sportsnet @NHL.
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) June 29, 2016
Then the captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning Steven Stamkos broke the news himself by tweeting he was staying put in Tampa to the tune of eight years and $68 million over the term of the contract. Stamkos was just a mere 48 hours away from becoming an unrestricted free agent and going to the highest bidder. In fact, Stamkos met with the brass of the Toronto Maple Leafs the night before along with the Mayor of Toronto John Tory to explore his options of playing with his home town team.
Excited to be back for 8 more years @TBLightning ! Here we go …..
— Steven Stamkos (@RealStamkos91) June 29, 2016
As Maple Leafs fans started to deal with the disappointment and Canadians fans became bewildered as to why their team would trade a Norris winning defenseman for a player who is four year’s older and has a contract that will expire in 2026, the Taylor Hall trade was announced, again on social media.
Back in 2010 sister publication CDN interviewed the Oilers on their draft strategy. You can watch that video here.
Noted hockey reporter Bob McKenzie of TSN broke the news that the Edmonton Oilers were trading Hall, who they selected No. 1 overall in the 2010 NHL Draft. Now we did not know who the player in return was. But Hall’s new team was going to be the New Jersey Devils.
EDM and NJD appear to be edging closer to completion of a trade involving Taylor Hall. Could be imminent. Not official yet.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 29, 2016
Moments later McKenzie Tweeted out it was Adam Larsson, a 23-year old defenseman from the Devils. Larsson was going to be the player going to the Oilers in exchange for Hall. Then the Oilers’ Tweet site made it official.
The #Oilers have acquired defenceman Adam Larsson from the @NJDevils in exchange for forward Taylor Hall. pic.twitter.com/cmJqz7Do73
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) June 29, 2016
Three blockbuster deals. All the in the span of 23 minutes and all announced on Twitter.
Subban, Hall and Stamkos also cracked the top 10 in Twitter Trending Topics. Hall managed to reach No. 6. The three players were challenging other trending topics such as MasterChef, Demi Lovato, Andrew Luck and Heterosexual Pride Day.
And the last word on all this chaos came from none other than Subban himself. Subban was in France enjoying some of the Euro Cup action when he heard about the trade and sent out this video.
BREAKING NEWS: @PKSubban1 responds after being traded from the Canadiens to the Predators.https://t.co/nQjW6gnpiO
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) June 29, 2016
