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The Griffins signed Gabriel Seger to a one year deal. With 44 points. In 35 games (14G, 30 A) standing 6’4”, this seems to be a potentially nice grab that will fill a vacated position as players move up or move on. In particular Mazur and Berggren seem to be forwards that will be potentially making room on the roster one way or another at the forward position while Edvinsson seems to be a lock on defense (though things can change)
It’s a bit unfair to cite the source directly because it sounds a little obvious. You’ll be certain to stumble on it, but a paywall article was released on three strategies Detroit could employ in the first round. Move up, Move down, or stand pat. That feels a bit on the nose as that’s pretty much the options that don’t include trading away or adding another pick. There seems to be consensus that a great deal of parity lies in the top 10 in what’s considered a defensive draft. We’ve talked about the mock drafts and just have to wait and see. Since 2019, none of the mock drafts I can remember seem to accurately predict Yzerman’s strategy.
Add Patrik Laine to what’s becoming an extensive list of players available. Last summer, it may have been H2 who wanted to take a look at adding the once highly touted forward. The addition of Debrincat would clearly have taken that opportunity as Laine’s 8.7m hit would have to be offset with money out and there are in game and off ice issues that have made this a tough deal to work out. Currently listed as in “player assistance” with just 18 games played last year, this is more just a note that the market is getting additions from every direction (seemingly). The suggestion of Ehlers out of Winnipeg still has me a bit intrigued. I cannot remember who made the suggestion, so please take a bow in the comments. That could serve to help Copp but some salary would likely need to be moved.
It’s interesting as Tavares enters his final year of the current deal in Toronto, that whole situation seems to have provoked teams to try and make sure to get some return on players who won’t commit to extension. The desire for teams to adjust the core, find success as well as make room for upcoming renewals has made for a wide open trade market. Frankly, this has the potential to be quite a bit more exciting than free agency and it’s likely that GMs and staff are speaking with as many teams as possible.
Finally, there is still talk about “draft floor transactions”
as Bill Guerin has talked about looking for opportunities. The decentralized draft is still something we haven’t seen in practice yet, so it’s difficult to say how easy those conversations will be to have. “We have a trade to announce” from the podium is always at least interesting to hear. It’s likely that if any deal is secured, the framework is well in the works with just some final details falling into place.
There is an almost eerie silence as teams have been quick to let it be known that they are open for business. St. Louis, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Vancouver all have moving parts and Utah is the wild card of the bunch. It may just be individual perception, but it seems that a rumor will hit and then everything goes quiet. It would be fantastic to have a stock market ticker on negotiations and behind the scenes player ratings etc. Fairly significant changes have hit the landscape in general with a very short window for Arizona to become Utah and teams to decide between development or taking a new path.
Let me know thoughts on what a potential Laine scenario could look like (retention, salary swaps, picks attached) and if this is something Detroit should at least explore. The quiet flurry of activity is enticing, and the trade market could drastically alter the season for teams around the league. I hope to see Danielson and Kasper have a good showing at camp, and also hope that the office can move on from a bad deal or two. The summer is wide open.
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