Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas Trade Freeze?




1) Well the once heralded start of the Christmas trade freeze came and went with a mere whimper. ( THE NHL XMAS TRADE FREEZE PERIOD IS DECEMBER 19-27.) What was once one of the more active times of year (behind only the spring trade deadline, and entry draft) the holiday trade freeze has become just another arbitrary deadline that comes and goes with little notice by anyone but team' GM's and some hard core fans/bloggers. The inevitable question would be why? Why is it/has it been so quiet the last few years. The answer(s) are simple:








  • The salary cap: This is the obvious reason for ALL trade inhibition. Teams can no longer simply make a trade without first thinking of the short AND long term salary cap implications. Although the cap has increased substantially(39 to 64 mil) the past 5 seasons, teams are still learning the system and reluctant to get too close to the max, if possible, to retain flexibility for a deal later in the season. As we have seen, even then the cap (as well as the earlier trade deadline) helps to retard the number and scope of a trade.




  • League-wide parity: With so many (almost all right now) teams still technically in it for longer periods, almost all GM's are still thinking of this year and not ready to throw in the towel, per se, after 30 or so games and think re-build. So there are very few 'sellers' of quality.


2) There are some deals that were rumoured to be left on the table that may be revisited again in the New Year. The previously rumoured Nash deal, as we wrote back then blue-jackets-looking-to-make-big-move. the deal would either happen then or after the holidays, probably closer to the AllStar game in late January. Additionally we're told that GM of the Washington Capitals is actively shopping under performing/uber-talented winger Alex Semin. With his 6.7 mil salary almost 40% off the books it could become more palatable as the new year begins for a team to take on the enigmatic Russian as a rental. The Doughty trade rumours also refuse to go away despite his new long term deal. hard feeling remain. These were a few of the stories we were following the last week or so. If any seem to be getting close to fruition we of course will let all our loyal readers in on the rumor as we hear them. As always, keep it here for all the latest!

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