Sean Bergenheim traded to Minnesota, as Florida fulfills demand

Sean Bergenheim requested a trade from the Florida Panthers. It was granted on Tuesday night.

Bergenheim was traded to the Minnesota Wild, along with a 2016 seventh-round draft pick from the Florida Panthers, in exchange for the Wild’s 2016 third-round selection.

From the Wild:

The 31-year-old has collected 18 points (8-10=18), 34 penalty minutes and a plus-2 rating while averaging 14:09 in ice time in 39 games this season with the Panthers. The 6-foot, 193-pound native of Helsinki, Finland, has tallied 179 points (95-84=179) and 373 PIM in 489 career NHL games with the New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida. He has recorded 17 points (12-5=17) in 23 career NHL playoff matches.

Bergenheim has represented Finland at the 2002 World Junior and Under-18 Championships, the 2003 World Junior Championship and the 2007 and 2008 World Championships. He was originally selected by the Islanders in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

Bergenheim’s agent requested a trade after his client was scratched for three straight games. Coach Gerard Gallant defended the decision: "I haven't picked on [Bergenheim]. If he gave me 100 percent [against the Wild], he'd be playing tonight. That's fair.”

Bergenheim makes $2.75 million against the cap and goes unrestricted after this season. He famously turned a dynamic playoff run with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011 (11 points in 16 games) into a 4-year, $11-million deal with the Florida Panthers during an off-season spending spree. He never played a full season with the Panthers, and in fact won an injury grievance against the team in 2013 over an injury they claimed he suffered playing in Finland during the lockout.

Said Panthers GM Dale Tallon, via Michael Russo: "He was injured a lot, injured his whole career. When he was healthy, he played hard, he played well."

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