Snapshots: Big Read, Miller, Suspensions

If you’ve ever wondered how deadline deals come together now that front offices have to go through so many obstacles to make a trade, you’re in luck. Salary caps, international scouting and forced parity are all discussed in Sportsnet’s latest “Big Read” by Gare Joyce. In a piece that goes in detail with two GMs, a scout, an agent and NHL lawyer, fans are brought into a world that is usually closed off to the general public.

I’ve never made or even tried to make a deal face-to-face with another GM. The idea that it’s something that we’ve kicked around at GMs’ meetings or talked about at games—it just doesn’t happen…when you’re making the call, just by making it, you’re telling another GM, ‘I don’t think your team is going to make the playoffs.’

The story reveals some interesting tidbits, like how many deadline deals are actually agreed to in principal weeks prior, only to not be put through to give the buyer some time to make sure his team is still in the hunt come March 1st. All these people will be extremely busy over the next few days, as teams finalize their rosters for the stretch run.

• Larry Brooks of the New York Post reveals that almost every discussion the New York Rangers are in start with some mention of J.T. Miller—which is a non-starter unless a superstar is involved. At just 23-years old, Miller is already the leading scorer on a very deep New York Rangers team and is on the cusp of becoming a household name in the NHL. Playing on both special teams and dominating at even strength, the Rangers would be crazy to deal him.
• The AHL has handed down a pair of suspensions, to Greger Hanson and Kurtis Gabriel. Binghamton Senators forward Hanson sent Toronto Marlies player Brett Findlay head first into the boards on Friday, resulting in a boarding penalty and a two-game suspension. Hanson has spent most of the season in the ECHL, and is actually on his fourth minor league team of the year. Gabriel has been suspended indefinitely pending a review of the brawl that continued off the ice on Saturday between the Iowa Wild and Chicago Wolves. Gabriel—who ended up knocked out from a devastating punch—was the one who incited the fight as both players were heading to their respective dressing rooms.