Scott Darling was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, with the Blackhawks taking a 3rd round pick that originally belonged to the Ottawa Senators in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Ron Francis took a chance on trading for a pending unrestricted free agent that he could have acquired in free agency, a little more than two months after the trade on April 28th, 2017.
Darling is large and at first sight, he can be seen as a great signing when Francis signed him to a four-year contract that averaged annually at $4,150,000.