TSN: Chris Johnston on what the next two weeks, and the two weeks after the Four Nations Face-off will bring.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Host: “And CJ, this new trade bait board looks a lot different than the last edition a couple weeks ago. With a month still to go until the deadline. How much more change is ahead in the coming weeks?
Johnston: “Well, I think there’s a lot still to come. And yes, trade bait has been left in shambles because of all the action in late January and early February. Here kind of a weird season, obviously, with the Four Nations Face-off break coming up. That’s a period of time where a lot of GMs don’t expect there to be much trade action.
So we’ve sort of had, I think, an initial kind of unofficial deadline, whatever you want to call it, that’s prompted some of the action we’ve had so far. And it’s only going to be two weeks after that Four Nations break before the deadline.
And I think that’s when some of the teams, especially Eastern Conference, are going to have to declare themselves as either sellers or not. There’s still a lot of teams in that kind of, are they or aren’t they sort of situation, and I think that that’s kept the trade market from fully taking shape just yet.
So we’ve already had a busy run here, and I think the two weeks right before the March 7 deadline are going to be something else.
Top 30 NHL Trade Bait board
TSN: Chris Johnston on the trade bait board and what
** NHLRumors.com transcription
1. Brock Nelson – C – Islanders – pending UFA at $6 million
2. Rickard Rakell – RW – Penguins – three years at $5 million
3. Carson Soucy – LD – Canucks – one year at $3.3 million
4. David Savard – RD – Canadiens – pending UFA at $3.5 million
5. Trent Frederic – C – Bruins – pending UFA at $2.3 million
6. Rasmus Ristolainen – RD – Flyers – two years at $5.1 million
7. Seth Jones – RD – Blackhawks – five years at $9.5 million
8. Nick Bjugstad – C – Utah – pending UFA at $2.1 million
9. John Gibson – G – Ducks – two years at $6.4 million
10. Brayden Schenn – C – Blues – three years at $6.5 million
11. Ryan Donato – C – Blackhawks – pending UFA at $2 million
12. Jake Evans – C – Canadiens – pending UFA at $1.7 million
13. Ivan Provorov – LD – Blue Jackets – pending UFA at $6.75 million
14. Ryan Strome – C – Ducks – two years at $5 million
15. Ryan O’Reilly – C – Predators – two years at $4.5 million
16. Nick Robertson – LW – Maple Leafs – pending RFA at $875,000
17. Mathieu Olivier – RW – Blue Jackets – pending UFA at $1.1 million
18. Brandon Tanev – LW – Kraken – pending UFA at $3.5 million
19. Scott Laughton – C – Flyers – one year at $3 million
20. Yanni Gourde – C – Kraken – pending UFA at $5.2 million
21. Gustav Nyquist – C – Predators – pending UFA at $3.19 million
22. Justin Brazeau – RW – Bruins – pending UFA at $775,000
23. Mario Ferraro – LD – Sharks – one year at $3.25 million
24. Jordan Greenway – LW – Sabres – pending UFA at $3 million
25. Kyle Palmieri – RW – Islanders – pending UFA at $5 million
26. Michael McCarron – C – Predators – one year at $900,000
27. Connor Murphy – RD – Blackhawks – one year at $4.4 million
28. Dylan Cozens – C – Sabres – five years at $7.1 million
29. Bowen Byram – LD – Sabres – pending RFA at $3.85 million
30. Joel Armia – RW – Canadiens – pending UFA at $3.4 million.
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