How Much Player Movement Will There Actually Be?
Jim Biringer joined TSN Radio in Montreal earlier in the week and was asked whether we could see less player movement than many expected, given how tight the standings are.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
NHL Rumors: Which Pending Free Agents Could Be Traded from the Seattle Kraken?
Host: “Jim, you’re looking around the National Hockey League, and it’s ridiculously tight, and just sticking to the Eastern Conference, here for a second—the Devils at (42) points and the Maple Leafs at (39). So, from the bottom to (tied for the) second spot of the wild card is a good week. That is the difference. Many teams between them, but still a good week. Does this mean that between now and trade deadline, I expect this pattern to continue, should we, as fans here, expect less player movement than what we were expecting maybe a couple of weeks ago or a month ago?”
Jim Biringer: “Yeah. I mean, I would expect some less player movement than we thought originally. I still think activity is going to pick up because we still have that second quasi-deadline in the Olympic Break. And again, I believe that there still debating on whether or not you could move players during the break, and unlike the roster freeze that we have now, where nothing can happen. Can they still make trades and movement during that time period?
But I expect some things to pick up. Do I expect a lot of moves? No, but I do expect trades, especially if teams, especially out West, start to continue to plummet. The East is just so tight, right? One week you could be sitting on top of one division. The next week, you’re looking on the outside, looking in. Look at the Panthers. They’ve been near the bottom of the standings pretty much the whole season, outside of the early stretch. Here they come, and they’re getting reinforcements back.
NHL Rumors: Los Angeles Kings Still Need Goal Scoring
And maybe that’s the deadline movement that we see. That’s the acquisitions that we see, own rentals, the players coming back from injuries, and figuring out ways to clear cap space. New Jersey has to do that to get Johnathan Kovacevic back in the lineup. They tried to get Quinn Hughes, but they just don’t have the cap space. They have to clear cap space to bring their own players back, and you just look at it again.
Brayden Schenn‘s name is out there. Jordan Kyrou‘s name is out there. Ryan O’Reilly, but again, he’s going to want to leave, has to leave. Similar with Nazem Kadri in Calgary. Obviously, you circle, Seattle. What other movement are they going to have? Jamie Oleksiak, is he moved? Is a Jordan Eberle moved? Guys that are UFA?
NHL Rumors: Do The St. Louis Blues Have Untouchable Players
I think certain players are definitely gone. But again, now if you’re Buffalo, we’ll bring it back to them. Make these negotiations with Alex Tuch a little bit easier. Or he’s saying, ‘Hey, you know what, maybe I’m still going to go to free agency, even though we’re on this run.’
The parity in the East, because of all the overtime games, makes me wonder if the movement we all thought was going to happen may have to wait until the offseason.”
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumor roundups and hot topics from around the league. We’re also posting some stuff on Instagram.
