Three Big Things We’ve Learned From Multiple NHL Trades This Week

The NHL’s trade deadline is approximately five weeks away, but some teams are getting a head start on making big moves, with the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks, the Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks, and the Canucks and New York Rangers all pulling off major trades this week.

To be sure, there are lessons to be learned from the trades we’re seeing. Here are three big things we’ve learned from the recent deals:

1. Many teams don’t want to wait until deadline day and get into a crazy bidding war that could push up the asking price for players

Hockey fans and the media love trade deadline day, but many NHL GMs don’t like waiting until the deadline and being caught up in a mania that ratchets up the price for players they’re interested in. Instead, they get in on the action early and pay a price that’s better than if they’d waited a few more weeks to make their moves.

Canucks GM Jim Rutherford, for example, has almost always liked to strike ahead of the deadline, and with the Marcus Pettersson and J.T. Miller trades, Rutherford has made big moves early again. This isn’t to say teams like the Stars, Canucks, Flyers, Flames, Rangers, Penguins and Sharks still won’t make more deals, but by getting ahead of the pack, they’re getting players and draft picks at a more reasonable price.

To wit: Stars GM Jim Nill has always been sneaky-good by making his moves before deadline day. With Saturday’s trade with the Sharks, Nill landed an asset in Mikael Granlund who was coveted by many teams – and while he paid a high price for him, that price would’ve been higher had he waited until deadline day. That’s why Nill is the back-to-back GM of the year. Being proactive is better than being reactive, and that’s reflected in the pre-deadline maneuvers of many teams.

2. First-round picks are more valuable than ever

We’re seeing this same trend in the NBA, as NHL teams are now asking a lot for their first-round draft picks. The Stars just spent theirs on Granlund, the Canucks spent their first-rounder on Marcus Pettersson, and the Rangers spent theirs on Miller. Granlund and Pettersson are rentals at the moment, but Vancouver likely wants to keep Pettersson, and Granlund gets the rest of the season to prove that Dallas should keep him long-term.

The first-rounders were crucial for these deals to happen, and Dallas, Vancouver and the Rangers are win-now teams that didn’t need another first-rounder this summer. But teams aren’t going to throw away their first-rounders on just anyone. There has to be serious value coming the other way in return for a first-rounder, and if one team isn’t willing to pay that price, you’d best believe there will be other teams who will pay it.

3. The opportunity to add depth players – even if they’re flawed assets – leads to teams increasing the size and scope of trades

Thus far, we haven’t seen any one-for-one notable trades taking place. Whether it’s the Flames/Flyers deal, the Miller deal, the Granlund deal or the Pettersson deal, all the trades were for multiple assets. And that trend speaks directly to teams seeking experienced help for depth in one area or another.

Indeed, defenseman Cody Ceci wasn’t necessary to the Granlund deal, but now Dallas gets Ceci as a rental and a depth option on the back end. In addition, Marcus Pettersson was the key component to the Canucks/Penguins trade, but winger Drew O’Connor gets added to the trade and gives Vancouver depth for their fourth line. Ceci and O’Connor are UFAs this summer, so there’s no long-term commitment to either player. They’re pure rentals, and they’re now on teams that don’t need them to be superstars.

Clearly, teams are always looking for depth, and that’s what we’ve seen with many of these trades this week. The secondary assets that have been part of these deals are all about stocking teams’ shelves in advance of what they hope is a long Stanley Cup playoff run. And we expect that trend to continue with the deals we see from this point on.

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