The commerce deadline is fraught with potential errors, however the payoff may end up in flags flying ceaselessly — simply ask Tampa and Colorado.
Groups should purchase too excessively. The New York Rangers come to thoughts. In 2016, they overspent for a reputation that did not match — Carolina heart Eric Staal. Groups can even turn into too satisfied they do not want reinforcements. The Philadelphia Flyers nibbled across the edges in 2020 — buying and selling for 2 depth items on the commerce deadline (Derek Grant, Nate Thompson) as an alternative of parlaying their appreciable belongings on the time for one thing bigger.
Listed below are 5 doubtlessly good marriages we might see at this season’s deadline.
1. Tage Thompson, Heart — Buffalo to Winnipeg
Swing large — actually. Thompson is 6-foot-6, 220 kilos, one of many league’s elite skaters, an elite scorer and signed long-term. Thompson’s dimension, skating and shot mixture make him extraordinarily tough to defend. It could give head coach Scott Arniel the pliability to deal with his prime two traces equally — deploying them primarily based on the hot-hand whereas shifting defense-first heart Vlad Namestnikov into the underside six.
For a franchise that struggles to usher in elite expertise, that is exactly the kind of deal that might get Winnipeg to half with considered one of their premium prospects in Colby Barlow, Brayden Yager or Brad Lambert.
