The trade freeze was lifted Monday and teams can once again make NHL trades, with just under two weeks until the trade deadline.
TSN insider Darren Dreger said Monday on TSN1050 that he expected a few trades to be made this week since negotiations continued during the Olympic break.
Dreger warned, however, that some sellers will try to hold back a few players for now, in the hope that the prices to acquire them will increase by March 6. He notably said that the Calgary Flames could wait before trading Nazem Kadri until some teams miss the boat to obtain center Vincent Trocheck from the New York Rangers.
Dreger said the Flames have already received good offers for Kadri, who has 10 goals and 39 points in 56 games this season.
The 35-year-old center is in the fourth season of a seven-year, $49 million contract, at an annual average of $7 million.
Trocheck, 32, has 12 goals and 36 points in 43 games with the Rangers this season. He has just won the gold medal with the United States at the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games.
He is in the fourth year of a seven-year, $39.365 million contract, which counts $5.625 million under the salary cap.
The last transaction completed before the transaction freeze was that of Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round pick. Panarin then accepted a two-year, $22 million contract extension.
This acquisition became even more important for the Kings, who saw their forward Kevin Fiala fall in action during the Olympics. Fiala, who had 18 goals and 40 points in 55 games, will miss the rest of the season.
Panarin is expected to make his Kings debut on Wednesday against the Vegas Golden Knights, having collected 19 goals and 57 points in 52 games with the Rangers so far this season.
The status quo for Columbus?
The Columbus Blue Jackets looked clearly in the seller’s category in January, before Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason behind the bench and led the team on a hot streak.
The Blue Jackets have won 10 of 11 games since Bowness was hired and are just four points behind the Boston Bruins for the last team drafted spot with a game in hand.
General manager Don Waddell spoke with Jeff Svoboda during the Olympic break to discuss updates as the trade deadline approaches.
“Three weeks ago before I hired Bowness, I thought we were going to get a lot of assets at the trade deadline. But now the team has returned [dans la course aux séries]. We still have five games, big games before the trade deadline. We will continue to analyze and we hope to return to the game on a good note. Obviously, we’re not going to be 11-1, but I want us to stay in the race. »
Waddell didn’t reveal his full plans for the trade deadline, but he did reveal that the Blue Jackets have no plans to pursue players who will be free agents this summer in order to improve their chances of making the playoffs.
“We plan everything. We are talking to some of our players who will be unrestricted free agents about their future. If we’re in the playoff race, I don’t know if it’s going to change my way of thinking. »
“One thing we probably won’t do is acquire a future free agent without compensation. It probably doesn’t make sense to add another future unrestricted free agent and give away assets in return. »
