As far as 3 day stretches go, this might be one of the more important spans for NHL teams and their fans. With the Olympics trade freeze going into effect at noon today (that’s 3:00pm for those of you on the East Side), these last 3 days will play a huge role for teams DURING the Olympic break.
Take a look at the standings and the schedules; there are a few teams that are in serious danger of becoming sellers in the next couple of days. The Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues both have been playing average hockey (at best) and need to either turn it on or start looking forward to next season. Sure, going into last night’s games the Wild were only 5 points out of a playoff spot. But that only tells half the story. In addition to gaining ground on that elusive 8th place team, they’d need to jump over 3 ADDITIONAL teams—and that’s just to MAKE the playoffs.
The Blues are in a similar situation—only they need to earn an additional point in the standings and need to pass ANOTHER team (total of 4) just to sneak into the playoffs. They pulled the trigger on a coaching change at the beginning of January in hopes to kick start their team, but they have yet to see the type of spark they’d hope to see. Davis Payne looks like he’s having the same problems that Andy Murray had in earning wins on a consistent basis. At some point you have to wonder, if they’re not in the position to be a buyer at the deadline, then they are a seller. Obviously standing pat wouldn’t help them in the present, nor the future. These next few days will go a long way towards telling us which role they’ll be playing after the break.
Oh, and if any of these teams were lucky/good/hot enough to make the playoffs—their reward would be the Blackhawks or the Sharks in the first round. Congratulations on that.
Will the Blues be willing to trade Kariya to a contender?
Another team that has made people do a double-take lately is the Columbus Blue Jackets. The sinking ship that was led by Ken Hitchcock has been replaced by a more relaxed team that is playing with new found life. Steve Mason is reminding everyone why he won the Calder Trophy last season. The rest of the team is showing signs of the young Jacket team that made the playoffs last season. If they can continue their hot play into the Olympic break, it’s going to make it very hard for Scott Howson to make moves for NEXT season.
Out East, it’s even murkier when trying to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Only two teams are at least double digits out of the final playoff spot—with 3 teams only 2 victories away from a spot in the Top 8. The last place Maple Leafs have already shown that they’re going to make moves; and all signs point towards MORE moves before the March 3rd deadline. The Hurricanes put up a big fat “For Sale” sign on just about everyone not named Cam Ward or Eric Staal in Carolina. But outside of those two cellar-dwellers, there’s a ton of grey area.
The four most interesting teams to look at are the Thrashers, Rangers, Panthers and Islanders. Each organization is in a different situation—both on and off the ice. It’s amazing how perception can be so different in various markets.
The Thrashers have made no secret of the fact that they need to make the playoffs THIS season. Even during the Kovalchuk negotiations (and subsequent sweepstakes), they insisted on receiving assets that could help their NHL team THIS season. They are currently only 4 points away from the 8th seed in the playoffs with only the slumping Bruins to jump over in the standings. A few points before the Olympic break would make it a lot easier for Don Waddell to play the role of buyer. If they enter the break slumping, does he really want to admit that they’ll be a seller after the #17 trade? It’s not something the GM, nor the franchise could handle right now.
Obviously the Canes are looking to sell players... but who else will be selling?
Staying in the Southeast, the Florida Panthers are another one of the fringe teams that would greatly benefit from a few wins in a row. Instead, they entered Thursday night riding a 4-game LOSING streak. If they continue down this road and stay in the “L” column until Sunday, they could be on the fast track towards another fire sale. Look at it this way—would any of the available players have the ability to turn this team around from a prolonged losing streak to a notable winning streak? These next 2 games should show us.
Lastly, the two New York teams will be fun to watch going into the break. The Rangers have been underwhelming in just about every sense of the word. The 11th spot is bad—but again they are only 2 victories away from 8th. Here’s the deal though: would Rangers fans be content with trading assets for the chance to get destroyed by the Capitals? I’ve never seen Glen Sather take a step back and look towards next season, but this might be the time to do so.
Their neighbors to the East on Long Island are in a different position. They have been slumping since their decent run in November/December which has them on the outside looking in. They are in the precarious position of being 7 points away from the 8th spot with 4 teams in their way. They NEED to get hot in the next few days or there’s no reason to keep those unrestricted assets around. On the other hand, a couple of wins might be just what the doctor order for Garth Snow to keep the season on life support. A few losses—and it might be time to pull the plug.
The next 3 days will provide NHL fans with plenty of fuel for speculation over the next 2 weeks. If a team gets hot, reporters and rumor mongers alike will try to connect them to rental players for the entire fortnight. But if a team limps into the break, watch as outsiders create scenarios where the struggling teams will trade any asset possible in preparation for next season.
It’s going to be a fun two weeks.
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