- Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald: Canucks GM Jim Benning on the trade market.
“It’s so close right now, with so many teams still in the playoff race,” said old friend Jim Benning, the general manager of one such club, the Vancouver Canucks. “I can see in that week before the deadline teams will have a better idea where they’re going to be, whether it makes sense to try and add a piece to make the playoffs, or add a piece to try and win. They’ll be some action. Teams will go to the middle of the month and see where they’re at. A lot of teams will try to add to help themselves in the playoffs.”
Rentals that could be available at the deadline.
DEFENSEMEN: Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg; Keith Yandle, NY Rangers; Luke Schenn, LA; Brian Campbell, Florida; Christian Ehrhoff, LA; Alex Goligoski, Dallas; Dan Hamhuis, Vancouver; Nikita Nikitin, Edmonton; Braydon Coburn, Tampa Bay; Kris Russel, Calgary.
FORWARDS: C Andrew Ladd, Winnipeg; RW Kyle Okposo, NY Islanders; C David Backes, St. Louis; RW Shane Doan, Arizona; RW Radim Vrbata, Vancouver; C Paul Gaustad, Nashville.
There are some UFAs that are too valuable to be classified as rentals: Steven Stamkos, Milan Lucic, Loui Eriksson, David Backes and Eric Staal. These players are still in the playoff race, and their GMs may not be willing to weaken their team.
“When that Seth Jones trade for Johansen happened, the phones started ringing more,” Benning said. “There’s been more conversation around the league. I think it will be an active trade deadline, because there will be some teams that think they have a chance to win and they’ll want to add that missing piece to make it happen.
“Teams that maybe haven’t had much cap room will have enough at the end when there’s only a quarter-season to go. I think there’ll be movement at the deadline.”