All quiet on the trade front for now.
We’re still waiting for that flurry of trade activity. It was hard to know what to expect with a 48-game season and a new collective bargaining agreement, but it’s been awfully quiet in terms of significant moves.
“Nobody wants to take any significant money back,” said one Eastern Conference GM on Monday.
“The question I’m asking myself is why would I take on a player with three more years on his deal at $3 million or $4 million a year and then have that contract limit what I can do this summer?” a Western Conference GM told ESPN.com.
Don’t forget that the NHL salary cap is going to $64.3 million per team next season, down from $70.2 million this season.
I still think it’s going to be a busy April 3 trade deadline, but there could be even more activity in the offseason. Some clubs will wait until then to make their biggest moves.
Still, one team executive said Monday there’s too much pressure on some teams not to finally ante up soon.
“Doing nothing is not an option for some people if they want to keep their job,” he said.
One Western Conference team executive predicted two more weeks before it heats up.
“By mid-March I bet you we’ll be humming,” he said.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/22337/rumblings-ducks-canucks-and-bad-ref-luck