NHL Trade Talk: January 16, 2014
Miller to St. Louis for a Cup Run?
– St. Louis has two good goalies in Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott. Both of their play has been slightly up and down this year for the Blues, and that has left many people wondering if its time to call in a solid starter. The Blues have had amazing season thus far, and with the fact that the salary cap will be jumping up to possibly 100 million in the next few years the Blues may be running out of time. They will not be able to spend up to the cap whan that happens. So is it time to shore up the goaltending, and make a strong run at the Stanley Cup. YES! Well it is time to call on Ryan Miller? This would be good for both team. Miller would flourish in St. Louis with their tight defense. It would also probably be his best chance for him to win a cup. As for the Sabers, this would be good for them also. It is almost a certainty that they could have their pick of Jake Allen, Jaroslav Halak or Brian Elliott. Any one of these may be very enticing as a goalie for the future. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Winnipeg’s Solution in Net may Lie in Anaheim
– It is not a secret that the Jets organization is not happy with the play of Ondrej Pavelec. The Jets are under pressure to make playoffs in the very near future. Last week they fired coach Claude Noel and hired Paul Maurice. Now it is time to address the goaltender situation. Talk around the league is that the Jets are interested in acquiring Anaheim netminder Viktor Fasth. They probably would want Jonas Hiller, but Anaheim has made it very clear that he will not be moved. In return the Ducks could add even more depth. Scary to think of that. If they added in a few draft picks, or another player the possibility could be that Evander Kane, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien or Andrew Ladd may be available.
Briere Wants Out!
– Daniel Briere has made it very clear that he wants out of Montreal. Briere has always been very vocal about staying close to his sons. There are rumblings that he will be traded to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Anton Volchenkov.
Caps Eyeing Byfuglien
– Would Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien be an asset in Washington. CBC hockey insider Elliotte Friedman reported that Byfuglien would be a guy that Caps coach Adam Oates would be interested in. I have heard numerous talk that Winnipeg is open to moving him for the right price. This is actually a deal that I could see happening before the Olympic break.
Evander Kane on the Move?
– I hear talk everyday that Winnipeg is shopping Kane heavily. There has been numerous stories in which Kane has come under heat in Winnipeg. Although he is a great player, he just does not seem to be a solid team player fit in Winnipeg. So who are the interested teams? The front-runners look to be Montreal and Buffalo.
Goalie Available?
– The Carolina Hurricanes may be interested in moving long time goaltender Cam Ward. He has two years remaining on a 6.3 million dollar a year contract. So who would be interested? The list would actually be pretty long. Washington, Ottawa, Florida, New York Islanders, Calgary, and Edmonton (even though they just picked up Ben Scrivens from Los Angeles). This one will be interesting.
The Guarantees!
– Looks like the most likely guys to be on the move before trade deadline is Mike Cammalleri of Calgary, Ales Hemsky of Edmonton, and Ryan Miller of Buffalo.
– Talks are that there will kind of be two trade deadlines this season. One right before the Olympic break and one on the actual deadline day. Many teams will not want to pay the contracts of players during the Olympics if they know they will be moving them on deadline day. Just a thought.
* Until next week, enjoy the games and remember its always fun to think what if?
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