On the New York Islanders and Colorado Avalanche …
Larry Brooks of the NY Post: The Islanders have the assets to change this current make up if they choose to. Would GM Garth Snoth be able to pull it off?
Snow should make a bold move and get in the bidding for Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskog would fit nicely on the left side of John Tavares. Duchene could be an option on Tavares’s wing, or as their second line center.
The Avalanche are looking for a top-four defenseman. The Islanders should try to keep Travis Hamonic, and include Nick Leddy in a deal for one of the Avs forwards. Leddy carries a $5.5 million cap hit through 2021-22, so he’s in the same salary ballpark as Duchene ($6 million) and Landeskog ($5.57 million).
On the Winnipeg Jets …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliott Friedman on Friday on Sportsnet 960 radio talking about the Winnipeg Jets. Even with Jacob Trouba signing the two-year, $6 million contract, there has been the sense that he could still be traded. The Jets have struggled this season, and Trouba could be in play.
“I think Trouba is almost always in play. I really do.” said Friedman. “I still think there are teams – nobody looks at this two-year deal as a long term solution. I just think that Winnipeg’s thought process hasn’t changed. ‘You’re going to have to make it worth it to us to do it.’ I think at some point in time somebody is going to. I do.
“They’ve made their peace, their short term bridge peace, as you say. And I think eventually, this will become something that everybody has to deal with again. Winnipeg set a price. As far as they’re concerned, this is what the price is. And I think teams know that. This is what the price for defensemen is now, and at some point in time I think somebody will pay it.”
Friedman adds that he thinks the two-year deal put the ‘trade request’ on the back burner and off the front pages.