Bill Guerin And The Wild Buying In
Joe Smith of The Athletic: The Minnesota Wild have about $11 million in cap space until Friday afternoon. Now, why not use err weaponize that space, right? With the Wild going 5-2-2 in their previous nine contests, the message was sent.
So, what does Bill Guerin ultimately do? Can he find deals to be made? Will they be huge or not quite so big? There lie plenty of questions here and not too many certain answers. It appears unlikely he will be a broker again for a three-team deal. With less than week until the trade deadline, chaos is rising.
If that was not enough, teams are going in and out of trade sweepstakes like the Publishers Clearing House. What kind of package can Guerin offer a team. While the cap space is there, the prospect or player pool is not so plentiful.
Honestly, Guerin knows he is out when it comes to players like Patrick Kane. On the other hand, options are dwindling. Either players like Anthony Duclair are not getting moved or someone like Adam Henrique gets hurt. With Matt Dumba staying, Guerin has few options and will need to dig a little deeper.
The Oilers And Their Handcuffs
Bruce McCurdy of Edmonton Journal: Ken Holland and the Edmonton Oilers want to make a significant trade before the trade deadline. Unfortunately, like with Bill Guerin and the Wild, serious obstacles exist in the execution of a transaction.
More and more trade prospect targets as the deadline draws closer
Edmonton and Holland prefer making moves closer to the actual deadline. He hopes the prices will come down to something affordable. Sometimes that works and sometimes it does not. Over the last three deadlines, Holland has made six moves and all on the day of the trade deadline.
Realistically, Edmonton has little to move from their upper brackets. Jesse Puljujarvi remains as a possible move. Any cheaper players like Derek Ryan and Mathias Janmark will not save the money needed to go fishing. Then, defensemen like Philip Broberg and Evan Bouchard are not being moved either.
Ken Holland is stuck and the way out is being patient. No one likes that in Edmonton with so many needs.