With the Toronto Maple Leafs’ move to acquire defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin on Thursday night, names are rapidly beginning to fall of the trade deadline big board.
Of course, Calgary moved Chris Tanev earlier in the week to the Dallas Stars. That means — if it wasn’t already the case — everybody is wondering when a Calgary team that has already moved Tanev, defenceman Nikita Zadorov and centre Elias Lindholm this season will pull the trigger and send its final big pending-UFA out the door.
We’ve known for some time the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lighting and Boston Bruins — among others — have interest in Noah Hanifin’s services. After all, the 27-year-old American is far and away the top D-man known to be available ahead of the deadline. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman even wondered if the Washington Capitals are a stealth team in the Hanifin sweepstakes. The Caps will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs this year, but they — as is likely the case with many teams in pursuit of the blue-liner — could very much see it as a long-term play in the event Hanifin is willing to ink a contract extension to stay in his new location.
And, right now, that’s really the crux of the issue, as Friedman sees it. Calgary could opt to just make the best deal it can taking into account Hanifin’s limited trade protection or it could allow Hanifin and his representation more time to huddle up with pursuers and hammer out an extension that would surely increase the return on Calgary’s end.
“The Flames are going to have to make a decision: ‘Do we allow Hanifin to talk and basically pick where he wants to go or do we just make the best trade we can make?’” Friedman said on the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast.
Once Calgary does deal Hanifin, GM Craig Conroy can finally let his phone cool a bit because — with the Flames playing great hockey through all this trade uncertainty — the expectation is goalie Jacob Markstrom won’t be moved until the summer, if at all.
That may also now be the case with another top netminder whose name has come up in rumours, Juuse Saros. Nashville is on a tear, having ripped off seven straight wins and the Preds now sit somewhat securely in a Western Conference wild-card slot. With the playoffs very much in reach, Friedman believes whatever small chance existed previously that Nashville would move Saros now may have shrunk to zero per cent.
That’s not to say, though, that GM Barry Trotz will be sitting this one out completely. Pending-UFA Tommy Novak has shown some goal-scoring ability and Friedman thinks if there’s no deal to be done with Nashville, then the 26-year-old could be on the move.
“I think there’s quite a bit of interest in Novak,” he said. “He’s a really talented guy and he doesn’t make a ton of money ($800,000 against the cap).”
One player who can most definitely score you some goals is Pavel Buchnevich of the St. Louis Blues. The 28-year-old, along with Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel, is the best option potentially available if you’re looking for offence. Unlike Guentzel, Buchnevich’s contract extends through next season, which is just one reason Blues GM Doug Armstrong is still believed to be asking for the moon in any deal.
“Do teams believe Armstrong’s price is going to come down or do teams just realize, ‘If we’re going to acquire this player, we’re just going to have to pay Doug Armstrong’s price because he’s not budging?’” asked Friedman.
As Friedman noted, teams that believe the latter to be the case may close the book on Buchnevich and begin shopping in a different kind of store. That might lead them to Ottawa, where pending-UFA Vladimir Tarasenko could well move for the second straight deadline. Friedman believes it’s a no-brainer Ottawa will deal Tarasenko and fellow pending-UFA Dominik Kubalik. In fact, there’s some notion out there the Sens are thinking even bigger than that, but the time just might not be right to consider a serious change of the mix.
“I just don’t think it’s going to be now,” Friedman said of the notion that Ottawa could make a big splash. “Teams that talk to them, they really do sense that Ottawa is willing to do something bigger, but they’re not convinced it’s going to be now.”
