NHL Trade Rumors; St. Louis Blues, Arizona Coyotes, Colarado Avalanche
By Santagata JJ
NHL Trade Rumors are heating up ahead of the Mar.1 deadline. The Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, and St. Louis Blues could be among the more active clubs with two out of the playoff picture and the other struggling to hold on.
First off let’s acknowledge the midway point for the NHL season. Nearly 35 or more games until the regular season ends, didn’t hockey just start like a month ago? Anyways the season is flying by and a lot of teams have exceeded expectations, while many have underachieved drastically.
With February coming up and a March 1st deadline to follow, NHL clubs need to figure out whether they’re contenders or not (buyers/sellers). Up until this point, there’s been incredible parity in the NHL standings, which might help explain why things have been so quiet thus far. But with only a little over a month to make deals, NHL trade rumors should begin to ramp up over the coming weeks.
NHL Trade Rumors: Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche have expressed interest in moving their “stars”. Now Colorado is in dead last in the Western Conference with no hopes at the playoffs.
The two high-end forwards who have spent their whole careers in Colorado, Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene are names being thrown around in trade talks.
Colorado believes they can receive future draft picks and young prospects in return for either Landeskog or Duchene. Now both may not be moved at the deadline but the chances of one of two being moved is likely right now due to Colorado’s recent unsuccessful seasons.
NHL Trade Rumors: St. Louis Blues
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Another team currently in the midst of making a trade or talking trades is the St. Louis Blues. The Blues play as of late has not been the greatest which has resulted in them falling into the first wild card spot. Between Jake Allen having some difficulties in net, St. Louis having difficulty scoring up front.
General Manager Doug Armstrong has been open to moving defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, now the asking price is not exactly clear but many teams have shown interest in Shattenkirk. Whilst St. Louis is not out of a playoff race GM Doug Armstrong is not moving too quickly on Shattenkirk, he is keeping his options open due to St. Louis still within playoff reach.
Sportsnet’s Elliott Friedman wondered if the Blues would swap goalie Ben Bishop for Kevin Shattenkirk, if that is true I believe the deal would have been done by now. If Shattenkirk does not get moved at the deadline, it’s safe to assume he walks into free agency on July 1.
NHL Trade Rumors: Arizona Coyotes
Arizona Coyotes are another team who have no shot at the playoffs and have recently expressed interest in moving veteran forward Martin Hanzal at the deadline.
Montreal received an offer for Hanzal, the original asking price was center Michael McCarron plus two draft picks, one of them a first rounder and the other conditional.
Montreal respectfully declined as they thought it was too much. Also, the Chicago Blackhawks have reached out to Arizona regarding Hanzal but no deal has been made and the details have yet to be discussed. I would expect Hanzal to be moved to a team that is looking for veteran forward depth.
Two teams looking for a bit more depth on the forward end are the New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild. Since the Islanders have lost forwards, Matt Martin, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen they have lacked solid forward depth.
Next: Lightning Face Tough Decisions Ahead of Deadline
Although not many reports have been made about this the Islanders could be a buyer at the trade deadline. Along with the Minnesota Wild, due to the Wild’s success this season and great chances at the playoffs, it seems as if the Wild are looking to solidify all four lines. Per sports journalist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Michael Russo, reported the Wild are looking for a fourth line center.