NHL GMs say looming 4 Nations break not behind flurry of trades
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The NHL trade market has gone into an unusually early frenzy this season, with several big-name players having already been dealt.
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun surveyed several general managers who have been involved in trades, with none of them pointing to the 4 Nations Face-Off as a catalyst for the deals.
The Pittsburgh Penguins parted with two pending unrestricted free agents last week in sending Drew O'Connor and Marcus Pettersson to the Vancouver Canucks, who have been among the most active teams. Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas acquired a first-round pick back in the deal, along with forward Danton Heinen, defenceman Vincent Desharnais and prospect Melvin Fernström.
“I don’t think it’s that big of a change from normal practice,” Dubas told LeBrun in The Athletic. “Certainly, most trades get done closer to the deadline, but it seems that each year there are deals done late January. For us, the 4 Nations break had no bearing on our strategy. Circumstances around the league — between the Colorado-Carolina deal and the situation between Vancouver and New York — just prompted action, and our strategy was not going to change between now and the deadline.’’
The Calgary Flames made a massive hockey deal with the Philadelphia Flyers last week, sending Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier and two draft picks to the Flyers for Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost. Flames general manager Craig Conroy said the sooner the better for the deal in his eyes.
“Once we figured out it made sense for us, and it made sense for Philly, let’s get ahead of it now and get it done,” Conroy said. “The timing just happened to work out. But if we could have done it a month ago, we would have done it, and if it didn’t work out last week, then maybe it gets done closer to the deadline. But it definitely gives our players a boost and our team a boost and lets them have a little extra time as we’re trying to make this push."
In what may stand as the biggest deal ahead of the deadline, the Carolina Hurricanes pulled off a blockbuster three-team trade last month to acquire two pending UFAs in Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche and Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Carolina sent Martin Necas, Jack Drury and two draft picks to the Avalanche in the deal and a third-round pick to the Blackhawks in exchange for Hall and Chicago retaining 50 per cent of Rantanen's $9.25 million cap hit.
“It wasn’t really about the break for us,” Tulsky told LeBrun via text message. “We just had a lot of moving parts in our discussions and that was when the timing came together for us.”
Rantanen, who has one goal and one assist in five games since joining the Hurricanes, is set to be a top-line player for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
There will be no roster freeze in effect for the tournament, but TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston argued in The Athletic that deals will likely take a pause during the tournament.