I agree that it is so hard to find a suitable value for the pick and cannot imagine it being traded. And yet for some reason, the NJ Devils have somehow publicly disclosed to Friedman that they would consider moving the pick and will be coming up with a list for who they would move the pick for in two weeks. Friedman does not have a track record of making stories up. When was the last time a team picking in the top 5 was rumored to be willing to accept offers for the pick?
That's not exactly true. The basis was how Fitzgerald answered a question his press conference right after the season about whether he'd deal the pick. In his podcast this week, Friedman even went out of his way to credit/attribute Neil McHale on InsideHockey who originally posed the question to Fitzgerald before the lottery.
Paraphrasing from the 32 thoughts podcast this week:
I finally started asking around about whether their stance had changed [after winning the lottery] and I don't think it's changed. I do think makes it a little bit harder with the #2 pick.
For example, Ottawa's picking 7th and (Sens GM) Pierre Dorion is on record as saying they will look into moving that pick for an impact [NHL] player. And they don't want anybody who only has a year or two left, they want somebody with term. But I think there's a wider latitude with what you could do at #7 as opposed to what you can do at #2.
From what I've heard, the Devils have told people that they're not saying no. Now, what I think they're going to do is make a list of players they would accept for the #2 pick.
The standard GM is answer is "we'll do anything to help the team." If you come up to them with a good package, and it better be a good package, they're not going to say no.
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I remember a meaningless sound bite from before the 2017 Draft when Ron Hextall said he'd listen to offers for the #2 pick since that was his job, but that he didn't anticipate moving it. Canadian media twisted his words around and suddenly you saw podcast headlines about the Flyers dealing the pick.
Ray Shero inherited the 2nd pick in the 2006 Draft when he became Penguins GM. He was offered Jack Johnson (3rd overall from the previous draft) for it. It made perfect sense on paper to get a D to grow with Crosby/Malkin but Shero opted to keep the pick.
From the book "Future Greats and Heartbreaks" Columbus GM Doug MacLean mentioned that (presumably Shero) floated an offer of #2 for #6, next year's first, and possibly more. Columbus' group mulled it over but thought it was too much (they had Jordan Staal #2); Columbus also was hosting the next draft so not having a first round pick was a bit of a non-starter.
It wasn't publicly known but right before the Kings picked Drew Doughty, Bob McKenzie mentioned on the broadcast that LA got a legitimate offer. It was serious enough for Dean Lombardi to present it to ownership and ask them whether they wanted to make the playoffs that season or if they were still okay with taking Doughty and probably stinking for a couple more years.
Apparently Vancouver offered Kevin Bieksa, Alex Burrows, and the 22nd pick to Tampa for #2 (Hedman) in 2009. Tampa declined but at least mulled it over.
Columbus apparently offered #4 in 2010 to Edmonton for Jordan Eberle+ but the Oilers declined.
There's video of Toronto offering #4 in 2015 to Columbus contingent on whether or not their guy (Marner) was still available. Columbus had a slight preference for Noah Hanifin over Zach Werenski, but thought Toronto's asking price was too much. Ended up being moot with Arizona passing on Marner.
Edmonton was juggling multiple offers for the #4 pick in 2016. Apparently there was one offer the Rangers centered around Ryan McDonagh; The Rangers wanted to draft Clayton Keller. Then there was a rumored three way pick swap which would have seen Calgary go from #6 to #3, Columbus from #3 to #4, and Edmonton from #4 to #6. Edmonton would then have selected Mikhail Sergachev, but at the last minute they got cold feet (possibly due to the optics of enabling their rivals to move up).
Vancouver had #5 in 2016. Apparently there was a deal with Montreal for P.K. Subban but it was contingent on Pierre-Luc Dubois being there. That got dashed when Columbus surprisingly took him #3.
We had the top pick in 2017 and the broadcast noted twice that Shero was willing to trade down to #3. Vegas apparently was trying to pull off a complicated indirect three way trade with Dallas. Vegas wanted Nolan Patrick, so we could have traded down to #3 and still been assured one of Hischier or Makar.
TL;DR, I think it happens more often than you'd think. There's just more coverage about it now. Part of it is semantics. When Friedman says "they're not saying no" he means that they're willing to talk. Some years teams would stonewall you if you asked about the pick. I think Jarmo Kekalainen mentioned that he asked Winnipeg about possibly flipping #2 for #3+ in 2016, but they had no intention of moving down. Similarly I doubt Buffalo fielded offers for the Jack Eichel pick in 2015.
But I think some people see "they're not saying no" to somehow mean "they really want to trade the pick."