NHL Trade Rumors: 5 Hypothetical Deals Ahead of the Trade Deadline That Could Actually Happen, That Makes Sense for Both Sides
NHL trade rumors continue to ramp up as we near closer to the March 1st deadline. Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch has suggested that trade talk has increased overall in the last 48 hours and at least three more teams might be willing to trade guys for future assets. According to Garrioch, the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, and Detroit Red Wings have joined the list of sellers that currently includes teams like Arizona, Buffalo, Tampa Bay, and a few others.
Now that we’ve got a clearer picture of what the market looks like, it’s a good time for another edition of our hypothetical deals. You may not necessarily agree with the proposed offers I put forth. I tend to put bias aside and try to look at things as a neutral arbitrator. You’ve gotta consider things like annual cap hit, contract length, age, how a particular player fits into another lineup, and numerous other factors to find something that works for both sides. There’s a reason it’s become increasingly difficult to make trades in today’s NHL.
That being said, many teams are still facing complications ahead of June’s expansion draft. It could give this year’s trade deadline a bit of a boost in comparison to past season’s. Now, I’m not suggesting we’re in for a dramatic flurry of trades, but we may definitely see an increase in those minor-league type deals.
NHL Trade Rumors: 5 Hypothetical Deals That Could Actually Happen/Make Sense for Both Sides
St. Louis Blues trade D Kevin Shattenkirk and D Petteri Lindbohm to Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for F Valtteri Filppula and D Slater Koekkoek (sign-and-trade)
This would have to be a sign-and-trade for Shattenkirk. The rumors suggest he could be seeking upwards of $7 million/year, but in all honesty, that sounds more like a number you start with that inevitably comes down. Once the dust settles, I’d expect Kevin to sign somewhere in the range of $6-6.5 million dollars/year.
TB has a ton of key RFAs to re-sign, including Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Jonathan Drouin (among others), so it may seem farfetched to imagine the Lightning absorbing another massive contract. While that’s true, don’t be surprised if Steve Yzerman is overly active shedding contracts such as Braydon Coburn or Jason Garrison for example.
In this deal, TB addresses a major need on the blue line, while adding another quality defensive prospect in Lindbohm. For the Blues, they get a 2nd/3rd line center that could help push someone like Patrik Berglund or Jori Lehtera to the wing, or play it himself due to his versatility. Due to the five-year age difference that St. Louis is taking on, the Blues get the upgrade on the defensive prospect side with a promising blueliner in Slater Koekkoek.