SALT LAKE CITY — When Mikhail Sergachev left his apartment Saturday morning to take out the trash, he was a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Upon his return, he played for the Utah Hockey Club, and it was one prank he'll never forget.
“It was a shock,” the Russian defenseman said. “I didn't expect to be traded.”
To be fair, it was a shock to everyone in the hockey world, and there was visibly stunned reaction from the crowd when the trade was announced early on Day 2 of the NHL Draft.
But for Utah general manager Bill Armstrong, it was a long-awaited move.
Armstrong watched how championship-winning teams built their defenses and noticed a trend: They mostly traded their top lines, so he began the preliminary work of making such a move.
“We're constantly reaching out to every team in the National Hockey League that has the No. 1 defenseman and planting the seed,” Armstrong said, “saying, 'Hey, listen, I know you're not going to do this right now, but if you want to go down that path, we have the assets to make this trade happen.'
The seeds sprouted last week, and Utah now has a top-tier defenseman around which to build the team.
“You don't get many opportunities to add a 26-year-old, two-time champion, No. 1 defenseman to your team, so we jumped on it,” Armstrong said.
Thankfully, Utah's front office didn't drag its feet. A no-trade clause in Sergachev's contract went into effect Monday. Had it been two more days, Sergachev would have had to approve the deal.
Would he have done such a thing?
“Given what I know now, I would waive (the no-trade clause),” he said.
He didn't know much about Utah when he got the trade call. He'd heard of the state because Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Olympics, and he'd seen how loud Utah fans were while watching “The Last Dance,” a documentary about the Chicago Bulls' 1997-98 season. That was the extent of his knowledge of the state.
“My wife started researching it and we saw how beautiful it was,” he said.
He called Utah forward Clayton Keller, a player he'd played against since childhood, and heard only positive things about the newly formed team. His agent had good things to say, and he liked what he'd heard from Armstrong and coach Andre Turini. Soon, he found himself excited about the opportunity.
A brief visit to Utah this week confirmed what he had been told.
“I want to thank the residents because it's so beautiful here,” he said. “It shows how beautiful it is here and how the residents care for it. It just goes to show that they care for you as much as they care for their city. It's just a perfect match.”
Games on and off the ice.
Having played alongside perennial Norris Trophy candidate Victor Hedman in Tampa Bay, Sergachev will get a chance to lead the blue line. He is a budding star and now he will get a chance to show how far he can grow.
“I've thought about it, but obviously nothing's been decided,” he said. “I have to prove I'm the No. 1 player. They have some good defensemen right now in John Marino and Sean Darge. It's going to be a battle within the team. If I get the opportunity to play against good defensemen, it makes me better, it makes them better. I think that makes everyone better.”
Oh, and he's looking forward to telling his fellow countryman, former Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko, about the trade.
“I'm playing a charity game in Russia and he bought a suite to watch it,” he said, “so he's coming to the game and we're going to meet and I'm going to tell him I got traded to Utah.”
