It could be a quiet trade deadline for the Penguins and many others
Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The quarantine guidelines for Canada is stricter than it is for U.S. teams – 14 days for Canada and pretty much right away for the U.S. Teams have taken a financial hit and cap space is limited for many teams.
CapFriendly shows that as of the weekend, 21 teams had less than $4 million in projected cap space. The expansion draft this offseason is also throwing a wrench into things according to former executive Brian Lawton.
Lawton expects a quiet deadline for the Pittsburgh Penguins and many other teams. Waiting until the offseason for Penguins GM Ron Hextall and President of Hockey Ops Brian Burke to put their touches on the roster.
The Penguins could bring a bottom-six forward to two, and Lawton believes they could use a defenseman like Dallas Stars Jamie Oleksiak.
“Do I think they’re going to get a huge impact player? I’d say that’s unlikely,” he said. “So they need a little luck in getting somebody in the mid-range that can have a bigger impact by making the whole greater than the sum of the parts.”
Ducks looking to move veterans but their phones aren’t blowing up
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The Anaheim Ducks will look at moving out a few more veterans between now and the start of next season. It may be easier to move some pieces this offseason as Ducks GM Bob Murray’s phone isn’t blowing up despite being a team looking to sell.
“It’s quiet,’’ Murray said. “That’s the pandemic, the (flat) cap, expansion draft, would be the reasons for that in any order you want to put them in.’’
The Ducks don’t have a lot of rental players, something teams are looking for. Defenseman Ben Hutton and goaltender Ryan Miller may add depth somewhere. Carter Rowney might have drawn some interest but he’s on the LTIR now.
Murray added that they will listen, and is open to anything, but they aren’t focusing on just draft picks.
“It can’t just be all for draft picks, I’ve got to start getting some younger prospects,’’ Murray said.
Trading Rickard Rakell would make some sense and the value would be good. He’s got another year left on his deal a $3.78 million cap hit.
Ryan Getzlaf will only be traded if he comes to Murray saying he’d like to go somewhere.