The trade deadline is now just over five weeks away and the stove is heating up. TSN’s Chris Johnston has released his first Trade Bait board, with Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun firmly planted at the top of the list. An interesting mix of youth, upside, and contract status that rarely appears as an in-season trade candidate, Chychrun’s market likely encompasses most of the league.
The rest of the board includes the usual names, Ben Chiarot from Montreal, John Klingberg from Dallas, but also some that perhaps aren’t talked about as much, like Mark Pysyk of the Buffalo Sabres and Chris Tierney of the Ottawa Senators. In all, there are 24 names among the targets listed by Johnston, plus the extra cap space that the Coyotes have learned to weaponize in order to make asset additions.
- One of the other names on the list is Mark Giordano, appearing near the top as he did on The Athletic’s version last month. Giordano spoke with Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic for a piece released today and indicated that he still hasn’t spoken to Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis about the impending deadline decision. Giordano doesn’t actually have full control of that process as his no-trade clause only lists 19 teams he can be traded to, but as a respected veteran and the first captain in team history, he’ll be consulted along the way. Giordano admits to Clark that he doesn’t exactly want to be traded, but understands that there is “a business side to this sport.”
- There was a misunderstanding in the performance bonus clause for Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jaroslav Halak, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. It was widely reported that Halak had reached the 10-game threshold to earn a $1.25MM bonus the other night but that clause is actually for 10 starts not appearances. Halak has started just nine games so far this season.