15 Thoughts – Draft/UFA/Blockbuster?
- Updated: February 24, 2016
The earth may be shattering again in Leafs Nation. Rumour has it that the 1st overall pick in the yr 21 draft may be traded. News of his availability is sending shock waves through the DHL. Whether or not he’s actually traded is a completely other story. When asked if you have to at least kick the tires on Eichel he responded “There’s no question, you find out if there’s something that might work. Even if you know it’s most likely not going to happen. He’s a franchise altering player.” Another GM responded sternly “Go for it, and hope it works out…you’re getting the best player in the deal.” Only time will tell, but one of the biggest trades in DHL history might be happening sooner than later.
1). The DHL draft has come and gone and it was a fairly entertaining one. A lot of franchises made significant moves to slide up the draft and land what they consider key assets. Toronto moved up to land Marner, San Jose moved up to land Barzal and a few others. Overall we may look back at this draft in 2-4 years and see from franchise defining moves.
2). Heard from a few gm’s that Blues GM’s John is actively shopping Couture. Close on a deal with two separate teams it seems things have quieted down but I expect St. Louis to make some trades. Sooner than later.
3). Dallas, the other “re-tooling” team is on the cusp of rising from the bottom. It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out. The Wild could fight for a playoff spot. One thing you can be assured of is if Minny is close to a playoff spot odds are he’ll make small tweak to get them there. He’ll most likely also be a seller if it looks bleak.
4). Speaking of trades, the DHL saw its first influx of three-team trades during the UFA period. Is this something to expect in the future? I don’t know, but the architech seems to be STL John and as long as he’s in the league there will be deals.
5). Favourite picks: 1RD – Matt Barzal, aside from the top 3 picks I think he has a shot of being most franchise impacting picks. 2RD – Ziyat Paigin, kid is a player. 3RD – Dmitri Zhukenov, first year in the Q scoring at a PPG pace.
6). Fantastic write up on the YR21 UFA season. It was an interesting one, we finally saw prices come back down to reality, New GM Rod learned a valuable lesson, maybe you should talk with your mentor before offering a ridiculous amount on a lower tier player…………….:) http://dynastyhockey.com/best-and-worst-of-ufa/
7). The DHL isn’t always perfect, the league faced a serious attempt to circumvent a core rule recently that resulted in a new rule having to be instituted to help stop this from happening in the future. The rule reads as follows:
7.1.1. (e) – Where the Trade Committee deems it appropriate in circumstances involving a trade involving money as a future consideration, where there is a concern that the payment is simply being deferred, they may require the money be paid immediately into a “trust” account, and be paid out to a team following the occurrence of the future consideration.
Basically don’t try to trade an asset that you don’t currently have.
8). Early favorites for the DHL cup would have to be San Jose, even with a 78OV Lundqvist That just good enough to steal some games and is there really a more dangerous offensive top six? Aside from San Jose I have to say this might be St. Louis’ year. That team is ridiculous overall.
9). Pasi still can’t figure out if he’s rebuilding or competing. The Soderberg deal was questionable, given up cash and futures for him was essentially working backwards. Unless he thinks he can flip him for better profit later in the year I’m not sure what his plan was.
10). I think Philly is a team that’s on the verge of being great for many years to come. Nick has done a lot with his team but what separates the top GM’s from the bottom is being to keep your team in contention. Time will tell.
Only ten for this article boys, things will go back to normal once the season starts.
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