Several teams with mid-range first-round picks are willing to move their draft capital to upgrade with ready-made, top-half-of-the-roster players, so we might get those trades by Friday night. But it\u2019s the second part of the trade market that intrigues me even more \u2014 the one we might have to wait to see how it plays out over the entire summer.<\/p>\n
In talking to a dozen teams over the past four or five days, one thing I\u2019ve heard a lot is that if they can\u2019t get done what they hope to in the next eight or nine days, they may reset and circle back on trade conversations, which may take more finessing over the course of several weeks.<\/p>\n
So we may wake up to some August trades \u2014 significant moves at a time that is normally the offseason\u2019s dead period.<\/p>\n
That goes back to a point I made a few weeks ago: this offseason is shaping up to be unique because there are so many buyers looking to add a piece and so few sellers. The Chicago Blackhawks just added a piece over the weekend, for example, in Andre Burakovsky. The Philadelphia Flyers added Monday in Zegras. These are teams that have a longer view in mind, but in the interim, they want to get better now, too.<\/p>\n
The Buffalo Sabres may be busy over the next week or two \u2014 not because they are selling, per se, but because they\u2019re looking at hockey deals to improve their roster. So if Bowen Byram gets dealt, it won\u2019t be for futures, I don\u2019t think.<\/p>\n
Point being: Aside from the Pittsburgh Penguins, will there be another outright seller? Name them.<\/p>\n
Some teams may need the entire summer to find that right deal. And as one general manager noted to me Monday, it could mean more in-season trades next season, too, especially if some teams come out of the gates slowly and start to think ahead to the franchise player going with the No. 1 pick in a year.<\/p>\n
What else am I hearing from around the NHL right now? Rumblings:<\/p>\n
Flyers win Zegras trade, but did Ducks lose?<\/p>\n
The Anaheim Ducks didn\u2019t get a sexy return on Zegras, and looking back now, they probably should have moved the 24-year-old a year or two ago for whatever was on the table then. Not being healthy two years in a row really hurt Zegras\u2019 trade stock.<\/p>\n
In talking to other teams who looked into a trade for Zegras, another concern was his $5.75 million qualifying offer a year from now when he\u2019s a restricted free agent \u2014 in the event he doesn\u2019t bounce back and find his offense, that is. Long way of saying, the Ducks didn\u2019t have as big a market as you might have thought for a player with that brand name. And the Flyers took full advantage of it.<\/p>\n
Whether Zegras can rebuild his game in Philly or not, there\u2019s little downside to this trade for the Flyers. They were desperately looking for a young center and potentially found one. Zegras still has to learn to play a two-way game, but I love the swing here by Flyers GM Daniel Briere. If the ceiling hits, it\u2019s a home run.<\/p>\n
As for the Ducks, I don\u2019t think you can look at this trade in a vacuum. They\u2019ve added Chris Kreider and Ryan Poehling in separate moves and lost Zegras. Ducks GM Pat Verbeek likes the fit of Poehling in his bottom six. But Monday\u2019s trade will probably make more sense over the next 10 days or so once we see the other shoe drop. They created cap space Monday. There\u2019s more in the works if the Ducks have their way. That second-round pick they got Monday could be used as part of a package to add another piece.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think Verbeek is done yet. I would prefer judging the Zegras deal once Anaheim\u2019s offseason work is done and I see how the entire puzzle comes together.<\/p>\n
Everybody loves Allen<\/p>\n
It\u2019s good to be Jake Allen. It\u2019s not a deep year at all on the unrestricted-free-agent goalie market. There are more jobs to be had than there are quality goalies available. Allen is the top UFA goalie<\/a> on a market that also includes Alexandar Georgiev, David Rittich, Anton Forsberg, Alex Lyon, Dan Vladar, Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek.<\/p>\n Allen led all those goalies with a .906 save percentage in 31 games this past season for the New Jersey Devils. He hasn\u2019t closed the door on returning, and I know the sides are still talking, but New Jersey may not have the cap space to re-sign him, depending on other moves it wants to make up front.<\/p>\n Allen, 34, coming off a two-year deal paying him $3.85 million average annual value, is probably looking to sign for around a $4 million AAV on a two-year deal or $3.5 million AAV on a three-year deal. There are seven or eight teams that have different levels of interest. The Kings, for one, are looking for a second goalie to partner up with Darcy Kuemper.<\/p>\n Sabres could keep Peterka<\/p>\n There\u2019s been all kinds of noise around JJ Peterka dating back to the trade deadline. The Sabres are definitely getting calls on him. I believe they\u2019ve gotten trade offers, too. And the player would prefer a change of scenery at this point. But Sabres GM Kevyn Adams views Peterka as a fantastic asset that they\u2019ve drafted and developed and are heavily invested in. The Sabres want to keep him in a Sabres uniform if possible.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what some teams are hearing when they call Buffalo. But that won\u2019t stop the calls from coming, because teams know the player isn\u2019t overly happy. So this one\u2019s hard to read, honestly.<\/p>\n Peterka\u2019s an RFA this summer, but he\u2019s not eligible for salary arbitration so the Sabres can\u2019t force him into a new contract.<\/p>\n This reminds me a bit of the Martin Necas situation from a year ago, when it seemed like Necas would get dealt but instead he signed a two-year deal and started the season with the Carolina Hurricanes, only to be traded a few months later. I\u2019m not saying that\u2019s how this is going to play out, because I believe that the Sabres are being genuine in saying they\u2019d rather keep Peterka. It also might be hard to ignore those trade offers if they get more appealing and include a top-four right-shot defenseman.<\/p>\n Canadiens leaving no stone unturned<\/p>\n I loved Arpon Basu\u2019s smart piece<\/a> over the weekend on the Montreal Canadiens\u2019 quest to escape the mushy middle.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what I would say based on what I\u2019m hearing across the league: Habs GM Kent Hughes is leaving no stone unturned in surveying the forward market and trying to line up potential trade scenarios for this week and perhaps into the summer. The search for a No. 2 center might be too hard this offseason, so a compromise might be a top-six winger with pop. Some of those calls Hughes is making are in that direction.<\/p>\n Montreal, armed with the No. 16 and No. 17 picks Friday night, is trying to find a partner who would be interested in a picks\/prospects package. But the Canadiens aren\u2019t going to force it. If the price to attain a top-six difference maker is out of their comfort zone and hurts their long-term planning, they\u2019re willing to stay patient, whether that means an in-season trade or even next summer.<\/p>\n The No. 1 priority, as Basu wrote, is to become a long-term contender that takes multiple swings at a title over time. The priority is absolutely not about making sure they make a short-term swing just to make the playoffs again next year. The longer-term view wins out.<\/p>\n Devils looking, too<\/p>\n The Devils were among the 15 teams that tried on Jonathan Toews. GM Tom Fitzgerald continues to scour the market looking for top-six or top-nine forward help. I think he will keep an eye on where the Jason Robertson situation goes with the Dallas Stars, for example. But he also ended up making a more modest top-nine-type move by the end of the summer last year. All I know is that Fitzgerald has been active fleshing out the forward market.<\/p>\n
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