Situational Trading Won’t Lead to an Uptick in Trading Stocks
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period was on TSN Radio in Montreal and he was asked, given the recent flurry of deals, are there more to come? Pagnotta doesn’t think so because both trades were situational.
Transcripts from NHLRumors.com
NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens have no plans to trade Arber Xhekaj
Host: “A few trades that took place last week, does that open the door to other trades at this time of the season? »
Dave Pagnotta: “Well, they were situations; on the contrary, it may have degenerated into preliminary discussions. But Utah, depleted on the blue line due to injuries, wanted to give itself a week or two to determine whether, internally, it had options to fill at least one void left by Marino and Durzi.
Obviously, they felt they needed outside help. Detroit had a surplus of defenders. They move a contract into Olli Maatta and a body frees up space for the cap. Utah can afford him, and it’s an expiring deal, so it doesn’t hamper their plan on the blue line beyond this season. Olli Maatta will be UFA next July. So this was a situational decision out of necessity for Utah, given the circumstances in which they were faced with these injuries.
NHL Rumors: Salary cap plays a role in why trades are difficult early in the season
Toronto moving on from Liljegren is also situational, both in terms of cap space and surplus on their side. They had been trying to move Liljegren since the summer before he even signed his two-year extension or contract at the time with the Leafs. And he and his agent, Peter Whelan, applied a little more pressure once the season started, when they realized, okay, we’re not going to be in the top six, like we thought. Either play with me or trade me, not a formal request or demand, but I’m warning you.
And the Leafs, because of their cap situation and the number of guys they have on the back end, they obliged. They made that decision, and San Jose benefits from it, because I think he’ll be a pretty solid defender on a regular basis. But San Jose benefits because (A) they have the cap space. (B) they have the added assets to move him and see that they have the opportunity to insert this guy into the lineup on a regular basis and see what he does.
NHL Rumors: Salary cap hinders what Edmonton Oilers can do trade-wise
If anything, both of these moves, situational moves, have improved, or at least allowed conversations to resume for teams like the Canadiens, like the Ducks, like the Islanders, who are also now dealing with injuries at the back end, to see what’s there.
And maybe that inspires a team to act, which it usually doesn’t, because, again, salary caps are a bit of a pain. But I don’t expect a flurry of moves early in the season just because of these two situations that happened.
