As the NHL Trade Deadline Approaches, Remember This
The NHL trade deadline will bring out the varied passions from fans of all teams. Let’s try to avoid crossing this particular line.
Much has been written about the NHL trade deadline and the respective fortunes of teams and players. You’ll find plenty of rumor and opinion here and throughout the Internet about which teams are buyers or sellers, what players are most likely to be traded and to whom and what their value is in return.
Laying out scenario after scenario is fun for fans and gives people like me the chance to be creative when looking at teams relative to their place in the standings when considering what actions to take. That’s part of what we do. But speaking with fans occasionally brings out a side of the NHL trade deadline that is far less enjoyable.
Fans will talk about players from other teams they would be happy to see traded to their favorite team. At the same time you have to give up assets to gain. Sometimes that is a draft pick or two. Other times teams like my favorite and hometown team, the Buffalo Sabres, are giving up players for future assets. The problem becomes how we treat the players we no longer wish to see wear the sweater we root for or the colors we bleed.
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Players that we wish to give up at the deadline are often referred to as “trash”, that they “suck” and the team would be lucky to get such items as “a bag of pucks” for them. Fans, and sometimes writers, can suggest that because a player hasn’t performed to the level we would expect they no longer have value to us and we are willing to accept whatever we can get in return to move them along.
I don’t remember exactly the moment that Sabres fans turned on Derek Roy but that turn happened and there was no going back. This was a player that performed at nearly a point-per-game pace for several seasons, suffered a torn quad tendon and battled back to play a Game Seven. Upon his return his production dwindled and he was eventually traded to the Dallas Stars in the Steve Ott deal.
Derek Roy is not known to me personally. I have no idea or opinion on his character. His name is stitched on my Sabres jersey commemorating the first Winter Classic. He was a hell of a player here and wound up being the focus for fans wrath towards failures of the core the Buffalo Sabres had kept together for several seasons. And the attacks were as numerous as they were personal.
I have no doubt fans of every team can go back throughout their memory and come up with at least one player that for some reason the base turned on in a similar way. And I have the same confidence that a percentage of fans would trade that player for a minimal return because they would describe the talents and production of that player in a similar way to Roy at the end of his Sabres tenure.
Remember these are the best players in the world playing in the most competitive league in the world. Trades are not made in a vacuum or on your favorite game console. They are fair for both teams involved and complicated when it comes to the salary cap. Most importantly these trades involved players whose lives are about to be uprooted at a moments notice. Yes, that is an occupational hazard and an acceptable part of the job of an NHL player. But many players are more than just in it for themselves. Players have roles as husbands and fathers and in some cases these families are moved to new cities at the drop of a hat. Often families of unrestricted free agents will stay behind in hopes to avoid moving for a second time in a year to a yet to be determined destination that is more permanent.
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I understand athletes don’t have traditional jobs like many people so I won’t suggest that we wouldn’t want someone who doesn’t understand what we do to make decision on my future because they think I “suck”. Professional sports are a different animal and always will be. But players are still human. They hear what we say and read what we write, the good and the bad. To expect players to be able to brush that off without any impact is unrealistic. I don’t care how thick your skin is. Everyone wants to be told they are doing a good job, that they have value. Even if it isn’t on the team they now play for. And Buffalo is not alone in this. Can you imagine the Edmonton Oilers locker room? Can’t say I blame Ben Scrivens for being upset about tanking questions and he hasn’t been in Edmonton for all that long.
So as the NHL trade deadline approaches if you remember one thing let it be this: it’s acceptable to consider what your favorite team will do and the players it will trade in the process, but know the impact to what will happen over the next few weeks are much more than mere business decisions. There is a human impact that is almost impossible for fans to identify with because of the appearance that the good which comes with being a professional athlete far outweighs the bad.
Fans and writers like me will hopefully spend more time discussing the impact on the ice and less personal assaults on the players that give their all for our amusement. It’s the greatest game in the world played by some of the best athletes in the world. Let’s keep it about the game.