Behind the scenes trade talk
TSN: Darren Dreger on TSN 1050 Overdrive on if things have heated up behind the scenes with regards to trade talks as teams need to take into consideration quarantines, especially if a Canadian team is involved.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“I think it has been and your point is well made given we got the April 12th trade deadline, you’re probably wanting to get ahead of that, right? So I’m looking at the middle of March as being a bit of a Jimmy Rutherford spot. Jimmy always wanted to get his trades out of the way early, creeping towards the trade deadline. And you’re right, you don’t have to be Kevin Cheveldayoff, the other six general managers in the Canadian division watched him go through pain and suffering while Pierre-Luc Dubois was in exile in 14 day quarantine. And then he comes back and pulls a muscle or whatever he did. That took him out of play for a couple days. I mean, all that stuff matters. Particularly as we close in on the second half of the season.
So, I’m just a little worried as I am every year coming up to the deadline, how active it’s going to be. I think that given the salary cap at $81.5, the fact that it has to be dollar in, dollar out combined with restrictions around COVID-19, it could be a real dud. I mean, we could be talking about Sam Bennett on April 12th. We could be talking about Jake Virtanen in Vancouver around April 12th. Although, I like there might be something going on with the Vancouver Canucks. So, we’ll keep an eye on that.
I honestly, I don’t know if we’re going to see any of the big names unless David Poile surprises us and actually moves some of those players.”
Blackhawks and Kings likely have the longer-term in sight
Host brings up that teams like the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings have been a surprise, in a playoff hunt, and may not be dumping veterans like you may have thought. Dreger responds:
“Yeah, that gets dicey for sure, although, that’s what both those teams need. No question about that.
LA is interesting to me. There was a Jonathan Quick rumor that surfaced a couple of weeks ago that was quickly shot down by the Los Angeles Kings. You know what, it kind of went hand-in-hand with the Pittsburgh Penguins hiring Ron Hextall as right. And we know that in the bigger picture the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking for a goaltender.
So again, we’re going to have to watch closely to see what Los Angeles or the Chicago Blackhawks do. Right now both those clubs, no different than the Ottawa Senators, are happy to just keeping it competitive. Keeping it interesting. On the short-term that matters, but I don’t think the general managers, Stan Bowman and Rob Blake, are worrying short-term. I still think they have the bigger picture and longer-term in sight.”