Katrina’s Daily Rant: NHL Trade Rumors

November 18, 2013; Raleigh, NC, USA; Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand (63) skates with the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Center. The Boston Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Here are my thoughts on the latest NHL trade rumors which you can find here. Starting with the Los Angeles Kings rumor from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun. I find myself frequently disagreeing with what Simmons says and this time is no exception. If you haven’t read the trade rumors post yet Simmons said that the Kings would be trading Ben Scrivens once Jonathan Quick is healthy. This to me sounds like a huge mistake. If they get rid of Scrivens their back up would be rookie Martin Jones and as stellar as Jones was in the 5 games he played for the Kings he has only played 5 games for the Kings. With a muscle injury like Quick’s it is entirely possible for it to get aggravated keeping him out of the line up again with this rookie as a starter. It would be a lot smarter to keep Scrivens for the year, waiting out his contract, and give the rookie a shot next year when he has played more games.

The next rumor is about the New York Rangers. Larry Brooks talked about the Rangers needing to trade Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi if they don’t re-sign by the trade deadline. This is true. It would be better for the Rangers if they can make a trade and get something back however more time to try to re-sign them might be better. They will both be UFAs at the end of the season but so will most of the team, trading them to be able to focus on more important members that they don’t want to lose.

Now we get to the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Jonathan Willis believes that the Oilers could be interested in David Clarkson since they were interested in the off-season and he hasn’t been performing well enough for the Leafs. I think that the Leafs and Oilers would be good trade partners but Clarkson doesn’t fit into the needs of either team. Though Clarkson hasn’t contributed a lot of offence, with the plague of injuries the Leafs have had to deal with they cannot afford to give up a forward. On the other side the Oilers have plenty of offence they just need help keeping the puck out of their net. My solution to both of these problems the Leafs send over James Reimer and Dion Phaneuf  for Jordan Eberle. James Reimer is a good goalie but the Leafs need to decide  on who will be there number 1. Jonathan Bernier is a lot better than Reimer and the Leafs have Drew MacIntyre in the AHL that would be an awesome back up for him. Dion Phaneuf needs a change of scenery the Leafs had the best game of the season with out him against the Kings even though they lost and in the game they won against the number one team in the league, the Chicago Blackhawks, he deflected the puck into his own net twice. The Leafs need to get rid of him before he decreases his value. As far as the Oilers and Jordan Eberle go he is probably the player that makes the most sense to trade. They have a surplus of young offence and he is one of their higher paid young phenoms. With Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov the Oilers can afford to lose Eberle.

The last rumor I want to address is not really a rumor but thoughts expressed by Jimmy Murphy on twitter. Murphy said that Claude Julien would trade Brad Marchand for the right return. Now I would take this a lot more seriously if he hadn’t gone on his own rant about how Marchand “kissed his ring” during the Boston Bruins game against the Vancouver Canucks (for those who didn’t see it Marchand mimicked kissing his Stanley Cup ring to taunt the Canucks team they beat to get it), He said Marchand showed a lack of class by doing this and taunting puts him and his team at risk and blah, blah, blah. Everyone knows Marchand is a pest. Personally I love him, he does what he does to help his team and you all have to admit if he was on your team you would love him too. When I saw him do the ring kiss I actually laughed, I thought it was really funny. Chirping and taunting is part of the game, its part of sports in general and what Marchand did was just more visual so everyone saw it. Guys are constantly chirping each other on the ice but the audience usually can’t hear it so we don’t think anything of it.  Marchand was being Marchand everyone understands that including the Canucks, it is part of his job on the team, get the team angry so he can draw penalties, class has nothing to do with it. You just keep being you Brad I got your back.

What do you think? What are your thoughts on these rumors? Share your thoughts in the comment box below, on facebook, or on twitter!