Market loses oomph
Parity is making for few deadline sellers
Fans who get a kick out of seeing a flurry of blockbuster trades unfold before the NHL’s trade deadline are advised not to look at the league standings. They’ll find them depressing.
Because parity is the enemy of trade activity — and the parity in the NHL right now is ridiculous, meaning most of the trade talk in advance of the 3 p.m. March 1 deadline may be just that: Talk.
Teams tend to make trades when they know their chances of making the playoffs are realistically dead. They become the sellers of the market. The buyers, of course, are the teams that either have a playoff slot locked up or have a legitimate expectation of getting one — a goal that might be attained with the acquisition of the right player or players.
But take a glance at those pesky standings and you’ll see the NHL has precisely two likely sellers . . . and 28 buyers.
Every team in the Eastern Conference is potentially just a four-game winning streak away from moving up into a playoff position. The Bruins will no doubt be looking at the market for help, but it’s tough to see what they have to deal — assuming they don’t make the mistake of dealing away top prospects.
It’s the same deal for 12of-14 teams in the Western Conference, with only Arizona and Colorado hopelessly out of the running. So when you compile a list of big-name players who could be dealt, you pretty much look at the rosters of the Avalanche and Coyotes.
So, yes, those two teams will make good players available, but at a crazy price. There has been speculation in Colorado, for instance, that if the Avalanche trade young, gifted center Matt Duchene, they’ll be looking for an Eric Lindros sort of deal.
A reminder on that situation: Lindros, the No. 1 pick by Quebec in 1991, refused to play for the Nordiques. So in 1992 they dealt his rights to Philadelphia for five valuable players, including No. 1 goalie Ron Hextall and superstar-to-be Peter Forsberg, along with a first-round pick and $15 million cash.
The added element that could spur trade action over the next three weeks is this summer’s expansion draft to stock the new Las Vegas Golden Knights. The 30 current teams can protect either seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie, or any eight skaters and one goalie. So teams that have an excess number of strong blueliners, or a 1A/1B goaltending tandem may try to trade certain assets rather than simply losing them to the Knights for nothing.
And there’s another side of the expansion situation that could come into play. If the legal process of adding the expansion team to the league is completed prior to March 1, Las Vegas would be allowed to make certain sorts of trades. It cannot acquire active NHL players, but can make deals for amateur prospects and draft picks.
That could include arrangements associated with the expansion draft. If an existing club wished to leave a key player unprotected for that draft, they could make a deal with the Knights, who would then agree not to select that player.
Anyway, looking at some of the guys who could be in play, there has been loads of speculation the Avs could deal Duchene or young stars Nathan MacKinnon or Gabriel Landeskog — all of whom would demand extensive packages of players and picks in return.
Also, Jarome Iginla, who is 39 and a UFA-to-be has said he’d like to move to a contender. But considering that Iginla entered the weekend with 6-6-12 totals and a minus-17 rating in 48 games, it’s doubtful teams would part with much to get him.
Looking at Arizona, the Coyotes could be looking for a big haul in return for strong two-way center Martin Hanzal, a UFA in July. Forty-year-old winger Shane Doan, also a UFA, may be ready to leave the organization after 21 years and go somewhere where he’ll have a chance at the first Stanley Cup of his august career. Just how much he’s got left (four goals in 50 games going into the weekend) is the question.
In Detroit, 33-year-old left winger Thomas Vanek, set to be a UFA, has been hot recently and boasts 1219-31 (plus-4) and would be just the sort of rental player who could give a team a big boost in the playoffs.
There are teams that don’t want to get stuck with two strong goaltenders — such as Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, who might look to deal Marc-Andre Fleury and Ben Bishop, two guys who’d probably look mighty good to Vegas general manager George McPhee.
Other interesting names have surfaced, including Buffalo’s Evander Kane — a worry for prospective trade partners because of his office behavior; the speedy and productive Michael Grabner of the New York Rangers and ex-BU defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, a UFA-to-be who’s been the subject of trade rumors for years.