General Managers to watch come the trade deadline…
Rory Boylen of Sportsnet: Peter Chiarelli tops the list for many of the wrong reasons. No one is sure what will happen in Edmonton or who will be traded for what package. Edmonton makes the playoffs or Peter Chiarelli loses his job. That’s a scary thought for a team with a general manager with his track record. Too many mistakes including the infamous Taylor Hall trade haunt him to this day.
Jim Nill sits on the hot seat more for the horse bleep than anything else. Dallas looks mediocre still and has for some time. If he cannot fix that middle six forward core, he may be out. Dallas has scored 54 goals in their last 25 games. Jim Nill and Dallas need scoring now.
Doug Armstrong still adds some intrigue from St. Louis. The Blues selling is still a possibility even though they are close to a wild card spot. St. Louis buying is now plausible.
Paul Fenton must make the playoffs with a Minnesota roster that is highly disappointing. Trading for Victor Rask indicated desperation and trading him for Nino Niederreiter was a head-scratching move. The likelihood of moving another roster player or two will keep other general managers on call.
On Toronto and Carolina…
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The Toronto Maple Leafs cooling off may not necessarily be a bad thing. Seeing what they need and maybe what they have is welcome for this team. Travis Dermott intrigues many scouts and quite a few feel he could be that future number one defenseman Toronto needs.
“They’ve got a guy who’s a third pairing guy who might just be the guy to put them over the top in a couple of years,’’ the scout said in referring to Travis Dermott. “He’s got the hockey sense, if he keeps developing, he’s that quarterback you’re looking for down the road.’’
Again, that affords Kyle Dubas and company time if they so choose. They must arrange the pieces to get going again.
As for Carolina, it is about Micheal Ferland and the quest for top-six scoring. If that means moving a top-four defenseman like Dougie Hamilton or Brett Pesce then so be it. Pittsburgh looking at Ferland adds some intrigue.
