Only about 15 games left in the regular season and the April
3rd trade deadline is rapidly approaching. This is the time of year
when GM’s evaluate their team and determine what additional pieces their team
needs to make that extra push of contending for the cup or making the playoffs.
We’ve already seen Pittsburgh active trading for Brendan
Morrow from Dallas and Douglas Murray from San Jose, expect many other teams to
follow suit… teams like the Boston Bruins who just traded for longtime Calgary
Flames captain Jarome Iginla. Iginla had over 500 goals and 100 points for the
Calgary Flames, the only team he ever played for. It will be very weird not
seeing him in the Flames lineup and instead playing for Pittsburgh, but that’s
the world of professional sports.
Many teams will be buying, looking for players to add in
hopes to make that deep playoff run. And others, like Calgary will be selling,
trading away seasoned veterans and proven players for prospects and draft
picks.
This is year is definitely a sellers market as more teams
are interested in acquiring players than trading away their players. (The
Sharks just received two 2nd round picks for Douglas Murray, a huge
steal on San Jose’s part)
A big reason for this being a seller’s market is that it is a
shortened season; so more teams are currently in the playoff picture. At this point in the season most other years
a larger group of teams would have already decided to cut their losses and
they’ve accepted the fact that they won’t be a playoff contender. At this point
they realize the most beneficial thing they could do is trade away veterans and
players with expiring contracts for players for draft picks and prospects.
There are much fewer of those types of teams this season
because so many teams are still in the playoff race. Teams like Columbus still
actually somehow have a chance at making the playoffs. If this were an 82 game
season, Columbus would likely already be out of the picture and they’d consider
trading a player like Adrian Acoin for draft picks or prospects. Defensemen are
in high demand and are very low in supply. Therefore the asking price is
especially high for them. (see Douglas Murray example above) As a result of
this market discrepancy, teams will likely overpay for players that they hope
will bring them playoff glory, but likely won’t because they won’t have enough
time to adjust to the new team’s system.
The playoff run of the 2012 Los Angeles Kings will also play
a role in this year being a high demand/low supply year. After becoming the
first 8th seed to win the cup, many teams now believe that anyone of
the 16 teams has a shot at bringing home the Cup. This isn’t exactly false but
it also isn’t exactly as true as many would like to believe it to be.
Trade deadline is Wednesday at noon and this could be a busy
one.
Expect Boston, New York, Vancouver, Toronto and Pittsburgh
to be the biggest buyers. These teams have been linked to many trades and have
shown the most interest in acquiring extra talent.
What’s ever going to happen to Roberto Luongo??
(My money is on him not leaving Vancouver)
Don’t be surprised to see Nashville, St. Louis, San Jose,
Detroit, or Carolina make a big trade. All these teams entered the season
expecting big seasons and some GMs might feel the need for a little extra push.
Who’s having a yard sale??
Buffalo, Calgary, Florida, Dallas.
These teams know they aren’t going to make the playoffs.
With the exception of Dallas who had ad chance before trading Brendan Morrow,
but realistically are rebuilding for the future. Anyone player older than 30 is
fair game from any of these teams. Calgary might sell Jay Bouwmester, they
already dropped Iginala, and Camalleri, or Kriprusoff are also possibilities.
Although Kriprusoff said he’d retire if traded. Calgary is rebuilding an needs
all the draft picks and young talent it can.
Buffalo’s main assets on the trade market are Pommeville and
Ryan Miller. I doubt Miller will be traded but its been talked about. I could
see Boston or Vancouver going after Pommeville. Florida doesn’t have much to
sell and is aiming for that #1 overall pick.
Well anything is possible at this point of the season, no
one is safe from the trade deadline and everyone is a buyer and everyone is a seller. Lets hope to see some interesting
trades.
May the best GM win.
No comments:
Post a Comment