The upcoming NHL trade deadline has a unique twist this year.
As the league prepares for Friday’s upset, many of the players expected to be on the move are not the usual suspects. Instead of a long list of skaters waiting to be unrestricted free agents who are expected to suit up for a new location, many of them have at least one more year left on their contracts after this season.
Two of them moved on sharply on Wednesday, with Tyler Myers being traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the Dallas Stars and MacKenzie Weegar being traded from the Calgary Flames to the Utah Mammoth. Also, Robert Thomas is a member of St. Petersburg. A trade has been reported from the St. Louis Blues to the Buffalo Sabres.
That trio likely won’t be the last players to move despite having time left on their contracts and trade protections.
The Blues have a number of players who are rumored to be around, despite having the likes of Justin Faulk, Brayden Schenn, Jordan Kyrou and Jordan Binnington under contract beyond this season. Likewise, the Flames, who have finally committed to rebuilding, are in the same boat with veteran forwards Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman.
Many other candidates remain, including Vincent Trocheck (New York Rangers), Dougie Hamilton (New Jersey Devils), Ryan O’Reilly and Steven Stamkos (Nashville Predators), Jake DeBrusk (Vancouver Canucks), Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Nicolas Roy of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Interestingly, most of the players in this category aren’t salary dumps in the truest sense, coming at a time when the salary cap is pegged to jump from $95.5 million to $8.5 million this season.
This is a case of the club acknowledging that it needs a rebuild/retool/retool (whatever you want to call it) and that trading a proven veteran would provide draft and/or prospect capital to aid the process.
Of course, there are plenty of pending unrestricted free agents on the market for teams that could potentially miss the playoffs. There are numerous names floating around, including John Carlsson (Washington Capitals), Evander Kane (Vancouver), Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton (Toronto), and Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida Panthers).
But with a not-so-inspiring crop of free agents expected to hit the market this summer, plus salary caps affecting league and playoff rosters that prohibit the dual retention strategy of years past where teams flip players through two clubs to reduce the cap space they earn, teams are looking for deals with more long-term impact.
This is a good thing when the clocks go down to 3 PM EST on Friday. We know the league’s heavy hitters and Stanley Cup frontrunners like the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights will look to boost their odds.
Additionally, teams looking to jumpstart their playoff chances or hopes, such as the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders, will not be able to sit still.
They just have to be more creative and it really pays off.
Buckle up and enjoy the show.
