ESPN: Trade block(ed)

[Jim Bob]

It will be interesting to see how long we have to wait...

Overheard at the NHL board of governors meetings: Trade chatter, rule changes, playoff expansion?

There was news on the salary cap and the Senators sale. But GMs and other execs had quite a lot else on their mind this year.

www.espn.com

Trade block(ed)​

There were a handful of general managers at the board of governors meetings (or "with governor access" as some put it). In conversions with a handful of them, one large theme emerged.

Summed up by one general manager: "It's impossible to get a trade done right now. Nobody can get anything done."

There are a few reasons in-season transactions have been hard to come by. The rash of injuries have put a few teams' plans on hold. The parity in the league is more pronounced than ever before, meaning several teams are nearing Christmas and still don't know what direction they'll go in (for example, the St. Louis Blues). Others are wondering if this is a year to go chasing when so many teams have a chance.

But after conversations with several general managers, the biggest cited reason for the hold-up: the number of teams pressed against the salary cap, which has remained mostly stagnant following the pandemic.

That means teams are waiting as long as possible to get their business done, allowing their cap space to accrue for maximum flexibility. Once we get closer to the March 3 trade deadline, general managers predict things will heat up.

"Might not be busy for you now, but I think you'll be very busy on March 3 this year," one GM said. "There's going to be a lot of players, a lot of teams in the mix."

One trend to watch out for is the reemergence of "third-party brokers," as teams with the luxury of cap space will step up to retain salary on a deal to pick up extra assets. As a reminder, an NHL contract is allowed to have a maximum of two teams retaining salary on it, and that retention is maxed out at 50% per team. Per the CBA, teams can have only three contracts with salary retention at a time.

Teams expected to engage as third-party brokers this season include the Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks -- all teams building for the future.

Click to read more...

 

[CBJx614]

With the injuries that have piled up, I wouldn't be surprised to see Columbus at a 3rd party to help facilitate a trade. If Voracek, Werenski and Bean are all done for the season that opens up quite a bit of cap space.

 

[Raym11]

"Might not be busy for you now, but I think you'll be very busy on March 3 this year," one GM said. "There's going to be a lot of players, a lot of teams in the mix."






Why do nothingburgers like this get put into topics of discussion by media


that's the GM equivalent of getting pucks in deep

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Montréal as a 3rd party broker? Are they not tight to the cap as is?

I know LTIR can and other trades can change that.

 

[BowieSabresFan]

Sort of takes the sails away from those disgruntled fans angry that their team hasn't "made a move" yet.

 

[Warden of the North]

Remember, these are the guys who spend like three months doing a 4th liner for 6th round pick trade.

 

[Hobnobs]

Montréal as a 3rd party broker? Are they not tight to the cap as is?

I know LTIR can and other trades can change that.

They can still be brokers at deadline for expiring contracts. But I agree they werent the top candidate I was thinking of either. I guess they expect them to shed some salary as they have at least some pieces thats moveable (Edmundson and maybe Dadonov).

 

[abo9]

"The parity in the league is more pronounced than ever before, meaning several teams are nearing Christmas and still don't know what direction they'll go in"

Thats kind of BS. Even if you believe that "parity" is at an all time high, wouldn't that be an excuse enough to make trades? Like, GM's need to grow some balls and pick a direction, or just admit that there's no suitable trade opportunity to improve the team.

 

[Jim Bob]

Sort of takes the sails away from those disgruntled fans angry that their team hasn't "made a move" yet.

And the fact that the news coming out of the meetings that the cap is likely only going to go up $1M next season does not help the log jam.

 

[joestevens29]

Sort of takes the sails away from those disgruntled fans angry that their team hasn't "made a move" yet.

How often does anything actually happen this early in the season? Teams generally are still trying internal options out this early in the season.

 

[Jim Bob]

How often does anything actually happen this early in the season? Teams generally are still trying internal options out this early in the season.

The last two seasons, there have been 2 trades each year in December.

Plenty of people do not want to hear it, but moves this time of the year are rare. You could see a team meet the Yotes price for a guy like Chychrun. Or, it could be another quiet December...

But, you are highly unlikely to see a handful of moves this time of year.

 

[Djp]

It will be interesting to see how long we have to wait...

Overheard at the NHL board of governors meetings: Trade chatter, rule changes, playoff expansion?

There was news on the salary cap and the Senators sale. But GMs and other execs had quite a lot else on their mind this year.

www.espn.com

Nothing new here….

as for brokers…..Detroit, buffalo, and Ottawa can be brokers for rentals because thry have cap space

after free agency/trades/draft ended you had

Ottawa and Detroit making big moves
New Jersey and buffalo had a young group of players coming into their own.
both buffalo and Ottawa had strong finishes
buffalo and montreal had the highest games lost due to injury which affects performsnce.
thr islanders had injury issues as well along with a slow start
i think Columbus was the 9th place team in the east so thry invested to get over the hump


in the west you had a more wide open playoff race ending the season where 6 teams post deadline were in the hunt Fir WC spots.
in the west chicsgo, arizona, Anaheim, and San Jose we’re viewed as rebuilders and not likely to be in a playoff fight. The rest of the teams had a shot. The one team not in the WC chase last year but in it this year is Seattle. Thry made some off-season moves and they had their top prospect sign late last year.

thr cap issues were already known in the summer when teams against the cap couldn’t unload contracts. this will happen again this summer.

teams have to trade in a cap neutral situation. That makes deals harder.

i wonder in the meetings if they proposed a new CBO program fir teams.

 

[Djp]

The last two seasons, there have been 2 trades each year in December.

Plenty of people do not want to hear it, but moves this time of the year are rare. You could see a team meet the Yotes price for a guy like Chychrun. Or, it could be another quiet December...

But, you are highly unlikely to see a handful of moves this time of year.

go back even longer….

you won’t see trades about 10 days before Xmas. majority Nov/ Dec trades are low level nhl or AHL players or some players for low pics/ FC. A few years ago you had an early deadline deal with Taylor Hall going to New Jersey.

 

[MXD]

Montréal as a 3rd party broker? Are they not tight to the cap as is?

I know LTIR can and other trades can change that.

For deals expiring this season? They could, in a limited capacity for now, and for bigger capacity should a few players get traded.

The Habs have more problems with off-season cap though, so retaining for NEXT season is probably not happening.

 

[Hoglander]

When teams spend to the cap, they leave themselves no wiggle room to make additions. It's their own damn fault.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

And the fact that the news coming out of the meetings that the cap is likely only going to go up $1M next season does not help the log jam.

I think it will go up more than that, it was also said there was room for negotiation, which tells me there will be negotiation and it will probably go up more

When teams spend to the cap, they leave themselves no wiggle room to make additions. It's their own damn fault.

love your profile pic, most under rated game last generation

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

NHL GMs right now...

 

[hangman005]

I saw the thread title and thought we tried to trade Dadanov again and it being blocked due him technically not being ours to trade,

 

[SEALBound]

Dear GMs: Stop giving out ridiculously lucrative contracts to mid-level players. This is your own doing.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

GMs hang on to mid level prospects and picks like they will always turn into the next Tage Thompson.

We can't trade this guy because we drafted him 6 years ago and he might turn into a middling bottom 6 player for someone else!

 

[Mrfenn92]

No surprises here

 

[pth2]

I saw the thread title and thought we tried to trade Dadanov again and it being blocked due him technically not being ours to trade

If you can find a taker for him, and his full contract, he's yours to trade. You can even keep the future considerations you might get.

 

[hangman005]

If you can find a taker for him, and his full contract, he's yours to trade. You can even keep the future considerations you might get.

Hey Carolina... I've got a deal for you.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

"Might not be busy for you now, but I think you'll be very busy on March 3 this year," one GM said. "There's going to be a lot of players, a lot of teams in the mix."






Why do nothingburgers like this get put into topics of discussion by media


that's the GM equivalent of getting pucks in deep

"we can't do our jobs without access!"

*gets access back after covid and chuns out this tripe*

 

[Sasha Orlov]

"Might not be busy for you now, but I think you'll be very busy on March 3 this year," one GM said. "There's going to be a lot of players, a lot of teams in the mix."






Why do nothingburgers like this get put into topics of discussion by media


that's the GM equivalent of getting pucks in deep

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