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Brenden Dillon

East Notes: Capitals Defense, Montreal Offer Sheet, Debrusk

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The Washington Capitals may be considered one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, but they have their work cut out for them. The team struggled in the last two months before play was suspended with a mediocre 8-9-3 over their past 20 games. Much of their struggle is due to the team’s poor defense where head coach Todd Reirden was seen experimenting with different defensive combinations over that stretch, which included removing veteran Radko Gudas from the rotation altogether.

In a panel of writers, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir (subscription required) writes that a new training camp couldn’t come at the right time for the Capitals who now have a second chance to find the right pairings and fix their leaky blueline. Much will depend on the players and how they perform at training camp, but there is hope that defenseman Michal Kempny might have more confidence now in his surgically repaired hamstring. The team will also hope Gudas can bounce back and push his way back into the lineup. The team might also get a boost from trade deadline acquisition Brenden Dillon, who will get a training camp to adjust to his new team. El-Bashir also notes the team could look to prospect Martin Fehervary, who will also be on the Capitals’ roster.

  • In a recent mailbag column, The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription requires) responds to a question about offer sheets and St. Louis Blues defenseman Vince Dunn. Basu wonders whether the Montreal Canadiens might be an interesting destination for the 23-year-old blue liner since St. Louis is currently cap-strapped and have to deal with the contract of Alex Pietrangelo as well as the future contracts of Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Binnington. A significant offer sheet at around $4.2MM AAV would be very challenging for the Blues to match and would bring quite a few questions on whether Dunn is worth that much since. especially since he’s not even eligible for arbitration. That offer would only cost the Canadiens a second-round pick in compensation as well. Montreal is also the most recent team to use an offer sheet, having tried to pry away Carolina’s Sebastian Aho last offseason to no avail.
  • The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont writes that head coach Bruce Cassidy is stuck once again with answering the question, ’Who will play alongside David Krejci?’ on the team’s second line. The scribe writes that while Jake Debrusk would seem to be a solid candidate to take that role, training camp could open up the possibilities of moving Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase into those roles where chemistry might not be that big of an issue with time to acclimate with Krejci. That would not be good for Debrusk’s stock as he will be a restricted free agent at the end of the year and finding himself on the third line wouldn’t help is value.

Snapshots: Sharks, Marchenko, Hronek

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Call it the thinnest of silver linings, but the numerous injuries of the San Jose Sharks may actually help the team to make something of their season. In a year in which everything has gone wrong in San Jose, including the season-ending injuries of Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl, the team is now in a position to take on considerable salary due to those absences and reap the rewards of doing so, writes NBC Sports’ Marcus White. The once cap-strapped Sharks now have more than $6MM in salary cap space following the trade of defenseman Brenden Dillon and that number could increase if more deals are made. This could allow for San Jose to land a pick or prospect from a contender lacking in cap flexibility who has been weighed down by a bad contract. Of course, the team would likely be looking for expiring contracts so as not to carry the added cap weight into next season, when they hope to be healthy and competitive once again. Still, there are a number of bad contracts out there that the Sharks could take on, making the most of a deadline in which they otherwise don’t have many valuable pieces to trade away.

  • Former NHL defenseman Alexey Marchenko is eyeing a return to North America and KHL insider Igor Eronko thinks that he has identified the most likely landing spot. Eronko notes that Marchenko’s teammate with CSKA Moscow is Montreal Canadiens’ top defensive prospect Alexander Romanov and the highest likelihood that Romanov could make the jump next year would be if he is joined by a familiar face. Marchenko, who struggled to carve out an NHL role for himself previously, has improved in the KHL and could be a suitable replacement on the Montreal blue line for impending free agents such as Christian Folin or Xavier Ouellet.
  • One of the few bright spots of the Detroit Red Wings’ dismal season has been the continued growth of defenseman Filip Hronek, who has become a dependable all-around defender for the franchise. However, fans can’t even cling to that as a reason to tune in to games for the next few weeks, as the Red Wings have placed Hronek on injured reserve. His injury is not expected to be serious, but the team also lacks any reason to rush him back to action. Long-time depth asset Brian Lashoff has been recalled to take Hronek’s roster spot for the time being.

Brenden Dillon Traded To Washington Capitals

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2:46pm: Ten minutes later, Dillon has been traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick and a conditional 2021 third-round pick. San Jose has retained 50% of Dillon’s cap hit. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that in the event the Capitals win the Stanley Cup, the 2021 third-round pick will become Arizona’s 2020 third, which the Capitals previously acquired.

2:36pm: Another defenseman on an expiring contract was dealt today in Dylan DeMelo, and his former partner may be next. Brenden Dillon is on the trade market in San Jose, and according to Frank Seravalli of TSN the Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues have shown interest.

David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review Journal tweets that the Sharks are looking for a second-round pick and a prospect for Dillon, though it’s unclear how the return of DeMelo may affect that ask. The Ottawa Senators received just a third-round selection for their own rental, while the New Jersey Devils received a second for Andy Greene.

Dillon, 29, became emotional when he was recently asked about the possibility of a trade and is almost undoubtedly moved by the deadline. He is a physical defenseman that can move the puck well enough to be a contributor on any contender, and has 60 games of playoff experience with the Sharks over the last four seasons. All four of those teams referenced have their eyes not only on the playoffs but a long run once they get there, something that always requires more defensemen than you expect.

Unlike DeMelo however, Dillon comes with a cap hit of $3.27MM which makes him a more complicated move. For many of the contenders pushed right up against the cap they’ll need San Jose to retain some of the salary, only increasing the return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Trade Candidate: Brenden Dillon

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With the trade deadline quickly approaching, we continue to profile players that have a good chance to be dealt by February 24th.

Brenden Dillon isn’t the flashiest of players offensively.  In fact, he has only surpassed five goals in a season once in his career.  However, he’s more of a throwback defenseman, one that protects his own end and plays with a physical edge.  While players like that have been phased out to an extent in recent years, there is still a demand for them when it comes to the playoffs which are often played at a slower pace where the physicality picks up.  Accordingly, the veteran should have no shortage of suitors between now and the trade deadline.

Contract

Dillon is in the final season of a five-year, $16.35MM contract signed back in 2015.  The deal was backloaded as his $3.9MM salary is higher than his $3.27MM AAV.  The contract does not contain any trade protection and he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in July.

2019-20

Overall, it hasn’t been a great year in San Jose and that’s probably putting it lightly.  However, Dillon is one player that has lived up to his expectations.  He has provided the Sharks with his usual style of play.  The 29-year-old leads the team in hits by a considerable margin with 173 while he is actually logging his largest workload in terms of ice time since the 2014-15 season, the one he split between Dallas and San Jose.  With Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson both being erratic at times, Dillon has stepped in as somewhat of a steadying presence while holding down a spot in their top four for most of the year.  While contending teams may not want him to have quite that big of a role, it would certainly be encouraging for them to know that he can step up if injuries were to arise.

Season Stats

57 GP, 1 goal, 13 assists, 14 points, even rating, 83 PIMS, 47 shots, 19:20 TOI, 52.0 CF%

Potential Suitors

It’s not a great market for teams looking for defensemen and Dillon figures to be one of the top ones that ultimately gets moved by the deadline.  Accordingly, there should be several suitors for his services.

In the East, Carolina has been known to be shopping for help on the back end due to Dougie Hamilton’s injury and they have had talks with the Sharks about Dillon already.  However, their preference at this point seems to be someone that is signed beyond this season.  Toronto is also in need of defensive help and with Andreas Johnsson and his $3.4MM headed for LTIR for the rest of the regular season, they now have the cap room available to bring Dillon in for the stretch run.  Florida would like to upgrade their back end but with minimal cap space available, they would need to make a trade to free up some cap room first.  With Columbus playing their way into the playoff picture, they will likely want to shore up their back end (especially with Seth Jones and Ryan Murray on the shelf) and after spending big a year ago, looking at this end of the market would be a safer approach this time around.

Out West, Winnipeg now has some clarity regarding Dustin Byfuglien (who at the very least isn’t expected to play this year) and while Dillon is a left-shot defender (Byfuglien is a righty), they’re at a point where they just need defensive upgrades but after going the rental route the last couple of years, they may be aiming for someone with term now.  Vegas is in a similar situation – they could use some help on the back end but they have shied away from rentals over their first two seasons.  Mark Giordano’s injury in Calgary could have them looking for defensive help, especially if they strike out on adding the top-six forward they’ve been coveting for quite a while now.  The Blues may also be on the market for a short-term Jay Bouwmeester replacement; if he lands on LTIR, the cap space they’d free up is almost identical to Dillon’s cap hit.

Likelihood Of A Trade

The Sharks are well out of playoff contention.  They also have over $27MM tied up in four defenders for next season thanks to the big deals for Karlsson, Burns, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.  Even if they want to keep Dillon around, they can’t really afford to.  Accordingly, unless he’s injured over the next week or so, it almost certain that he will be dealt by the deadline.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trade Rumors: Hall, Wild, Rangers, Hurricanes

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After spending the first few months of the season obsessing over him, few want to see Taylor Hall’s name back in the rumor mill. Fortunately, that doesn’t appear to be likely. Even though the Arizona Coyotes have failed to improve since acquiring the star forward from the New Jersey Devils in December and are far from a lock for the playoffs this season, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun confirmed on tonight’s segment of “Insider Trading” that the Coyotes have no intention of flipping Hall before the deadline. Although holding on to the high-profile impending free agent is a risk, the team remains intent on re-signing Hall, with the full backing of new owner Alex Meruello. In fact, LeBrun reports that Meruello, GM John Chayka, and Hall’s agent, Darren Ferris, all recently met and are on the same page that Hall will not be dealt this season and that extension talks will begin once the Coyotes’ season has come to an end, whenever that is. LeBrun believes that Arizona’s ability and willingness to offer Hall and eight-year term on his next contract could tip the scales toward the former Hart Trophy winner staying in the desert.

  • TSN colleague Darren Dreger reports that even after trading away long-time forward Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins yesterday, new Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin may not be done dealing. Dreger states that the team is still listening to offers for young defenseman Matt Dumba, who has popped up in rumors over the last few weeks, as well as fellow rearguard Jonas Brodin. With that said, a trade of either skilled defender seems more likely to occur in the off-season, as Dreger believes the asking price for both would be a top-line center or a second-line center plus a pick or prospect. No contender will be in position to make a deal of that magnitude ahead of the trade deadline, but suitors could circle back this summer, perhaps even before free agency opens and the Wild have to make a decision on captain Mikko Koivu.
  • Another deal that could take place this summer is a resolution in the crowded net of the New York Rangers. Alexandar Georgiev was the name suggested by many as being available for trade, but TSN’s Bob McKenzie does not see a deal happening this season. He reports that the Rangers continue to listen on Georgiev but are not actively shopping him and head coach David Quinn is content to carry three goalies and ride the hot hand. However, the best keeper of late has been Igor Shesterkin, not future Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist. McKenzie wonders if Lundqvist will be content in New York moving forward if he is playing more of a backup role to Shesterkin or if he could ask for a trade this summer or perhaps even at the deadline.
  • The insiders wrapped up with LeBrun relaying word from sources around the league that the Carolina Hurricanes are openly offering a first-round pick in exchange for a top-four defenseman with term. The Hurricanes are owners of two top picks, their own and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ from the Patrick Marleau trade, and GM Don Waddell clearly feels that he could part with one of the two if it means landing long-term help. Even after trading Justin Faulk before the season, the Hurricanes are still considered one of the deeper blue line units in the NHL. Yet, they have been on the hunt for a Faulk replacement much of the year and that search was amplified by the injury to Dougie Hamilton. In that vein, LeBrun adds that the team has had talks on rentals Sami Vatanen of the Devils and Brenden Dillon of the Sharks as a short-term fix with Hamilton out, but owner Tom Dundon has encouraged Waddell to avoid rentals and target term if he is going to trade a first-rounder.

Trade Deadline Primer: San Jose Sharks

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With the trade deadline now less than a month away, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks.  Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?  Next up is a look at the San Jose Sharks.

It couldn’t have been a worse season for the Sharks, who were expecting to be near the top of the Pacific Division, only to find themselves looking old and depthless and sitting near the bottom. The team tried to fix things by firing coach Peter DeBoer, who one month later took a job with the rival Vegas Golden Knights. To make matters worse, the team has lost two of its best forwards to injury, including captain Logan Couture and all-star Tomas Hertl. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Sharks also don’t have their first-round pick, which they sent to Ottawa to acquire Erik Karlsson. Tough year.

Record

22-26-4, sixth in the Pacific Division.

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$2.97MM in a full-season cap hit (using LTIR), 0/3 used salary cap retention slots, 49/50 contracts per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2020: SJ 2nd, PHI 3rd, OTT 5th, SJ 5th, PIT 7th, WAS 7th
2021: SJ 1st, SJ 3rd, SJ 4th, SJ 5th, SJ 6th, SJ 7th

Trade Chips

Perhaps the biggest trade chip for San Jose will be defenseman Brenden Dillon. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound blueliner is in the final year of his contract and is expected to hit unrestricted free agency and could demand a significant raise to his $3.27MM cap hit he currently has and is in high demand of teams needing defensive help. Dillon may not provide significant offense, but his physical nature is a plus for teams looking for a top-four d-man. While he has 13 points this season, Dillon also has 58 blocks and more importantly, has 159 hits, which could develop into a career high. Quite a few teams are likely to express interest from them including rival Vegas, where DeBoer might want Dillon to come back and play for him.

The team also has a couple of veteran leaders who could possibly be dealt. Both Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau could be the perfect trade candidates for playoff teams, looking to bring in bottom-six talent at a low price. The 40-year-old Thornton ($2MM AAV) has just two goals this season and is showing his age, but his leadership could be invaluable for the right team. While he does have a no-movement clause, he didn’t reject the idea when asked if he’d be willing to waive that, suggesting he might if the right team comes calling. Marleau might even be the better bargain at the league minimum ($700K) without a no-trade clause. He has 10 goals in 48 games so far.

Five Players To Watch For: G Aaron Dell, D Brenden Dillon, F Melker Karlsson, F Patrick Marleau, F Joe Thornton

Team Needs

1) A First-Round Pick: It’s bad enough that the Sharks could end up giving a top lottery pick (in a good draft) to the Ottawa Senators. However, the team has moved quite a few of their draft picks and are rumored to be on the lookout for a first-round pick to replace the one they traded away. Whether that type of return is possible for what the team is looking to move seems unlikely, however.

2) Young talent: The Sharks hope is to retool quickly with a potential return to the playoffs as quickly as next year, considering the team has six players locked up to expensive long-term contracts for the next four years after this year and that doesn’t include Timo Meier or a new contract for Kevin Labanc. The team seems to lack young players in their prospect pool and even fewer who are ready to step into the lineup, so bringing in some talent that might be able to contribute immediately might be exactly what the team is looking for.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trade Rumors: Jets, Dillon, Pageau

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As Tessa Bonhomme pointed out on Tuesday night’s “Insider Trading” segment on TSN, the Winnipeg Jets are in the unenviable position of needing help at center and on defense, often hard positions to replace in-season. Injuries down the middle have caused center to become an issue for the Jets, but few will be surprised to hear that Darren Dreger says that addressing the blue line remains Winnipeg’s priority ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline. Defense was an obvious weak point for Winnipeg from day one of the 2019-20 season, following the departures of Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, and Ben Chiarot this off-season and the unexpected absence of Dustin Byfuglien as well. While Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk have played well this season, the rest of the D corps remains underwhelming and ill-equipped to handle the pressures of the postseason. Dreger confirms that the Jets are specifically looking for a top-four defenseman, as they need more than just depth additions to fix the blue line. He says that the team will consider both rentals and term players when evaluating trade options but will have to keep in mind the team’s salary cap situation, both this year and moving forward.

  • One player being targeted by the Jets as a possible stopgap to their defensive woes is San Jose Sharks rearguard Brenden Dillon, according to Pierre LeBrun. Dillon has been one of the most talked about trade candidates in recent weeks, as the Sharks are eager to sell, but short on impending free agents, making the big defenseman a near certainty to move. LeBrun believes that at least six NHL teams are firmly in on Dillon, which is a number likely to increase as the trade deadline grows closer. LeBrun speculates that the asking price for Dillon, who is strictly a stay-at-home, shutdown defender, could rise to a second-round pick and prospect. Other than Winnipeg, two other teams that LeBrun named as suitors are the Boston Bruins, who are looking to add physicality and grit to their lineup, and the Carolina Hurricanes, who lost Dougie Hamilton to injury but have the cap space to replace him regardless of their blue line depth.
  • Another player sure to have a number of suitors is Ottawa Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau. The Senators will try to re-sign him, but Pageau is enjoying a breakout year and the market for centremen is very thin. LeBrun states that Pageau is the top pivot available and Ottawa could command a first-round pick. Whether they opt to re-sign him or not could depend on how far the bidding war reaches for his services. LeBrun does note that a number of teams with obvious needs down the middle are also not locks for the postseason, which could influence Pageau’s price and possibly convince the Senators to pull him off the market. The teams specifically named by LeBrun include the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, and Philadelphia Flyers. Of course, the Jets could also be contenders if they decide to load up.

Trade Rumors: Ducks, Senators, DeMelo, Duclair

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When action resumes following the All-Star break, it is the unofficial start of NHL Trade Deadline season. In fact, with a relatively early deadline day of February 24th this year, things should pick up sooner rather than later. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch came prepared to handle the transition from All-Star exit to trade mania, reporting on a number of situations in his latest “Insider Trading” column. Garrioch begins with the further shift in the status quo of the Anaheim Ducks. Anaheim began the season hoping to return to being contenders with a talented mix of veterans and youngsters. However, it has not played out that way on the ice, as the Ducks hold the second-worst record in the Western Conference. Recently, a report came out that the team was willing to use their cap space to take on bad contracts if it meant that they could add prospects and picks in return. Garrioch now reports that the team is taking it one step further, perhaps in response to winning just three of their past 15 games. He hears from multiple league sources that the Ducks are preparing for a full rebuild and are at least willing to listen on just about every player. For a team with so few valuable impending free agents – Michael Del Zotto and Derek Grant lead the way – this shift in the status quo could make for a much bigger deadline in Anaheim. Ondrej Kase, who has previously been rumored to have fallen out of favor with the team, could be one possible casualty, as could defenseman Josh Manson, who has recently been linked to a few other teams. What about Rickard Rakell, one of the best value contracts in the league and a player that any contender would like to get their hands on? Or long-term players like Cam Fowler, Adam Henrique, and Jakob Silfverberg? Franchise faces Ryan Getzlaf and John Gibson and top defender Hampus Lindholm are likely off the table, but nearly anyone else in Anaheim over the age of 24 appears to be a candidate to move at the right price.

  • Garrioch mentions a number of available players, many of whom won’t comes as much of a surprise, including L.A.’s Tyler Toffoli and Alec Martinez, San Jose’s Brenden Dillon, and the Rangers’ Chris Kreider (if the team can’t re-sign him). However, he states definitively that the New Jersey Devils’ impending UFA’s are also up for grabs. This means Andy Greene, Sami Vatanen, and Wayne Simmonds, three players who many were unsure the Devils would part with, could very well be on new teams in a month’s time. As for teams in the mix, Garrioch claims that the Islanders and Jets are leading the search for defense, while the Bruins, Blues, Flames, and Coyotes are the most eager to add forwards.
  • The Ottawa Senators have ten impending UFA’s on the roster, but not all of them will survive the trade deadline. Garrioch reports that GM Pierre Dorion plans to sit down with each one before the deadline and discuss the possibility of an extension before putting them on the block. At this point in their rebuild, the Senators cannot afford to let valuable players walk away as free agents, meaning the likes of Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Vladislav Namestnikov, Ron Hainsey, Mark Borowiecki, and Dylan DeMelo and more need to have made a decision on their commitment to Ottawa soon or they could be sent packing.
  • On the DeMelo front in particular, Garrioch reports that the Florid Panthers are the leading suitor for the 26-year-old defenseman, should Ottawa opt to move him. He mentions that that the Carolina Hurricanes are another team with definite interest. Garrioch adds that Florida is also looking for a backup goalie, which could potentially put former Panther Craig Anderson on their radar.
  • As for one player who has made up his mind on his future with Ottawa, All-Star Anthony Duclair tells Sportsnet’s Luke Fox that he hopes to re-sign long-term with the Senators. The 24-year-old has excelled since arriving in Ottawa late last season and wants to continue to play a central role for the team through their rebuild:

I just want to focus and really end the season on a positive note like I did last year, and really make a statement to the management and the coaching staff that I want to be a big part of this rebuild. I’m still a young guy. When the change is gonna happen, when Ottawa’s gonna become a contender, I want to be part of that. So I’m working as hard as I can.

Trade Rumors: Georgiev, Sharks, Canadiens

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On Sportsnet’s “Saturday Headlines” segment last night, Elliotte Friedman made it very clear that trade talks are heating up and teams have begun issuing league-wide statements on where they stand ahead of next month’s trade deadline. The top story belongs to the New York Rangers, who have informed their competitors that they are willing to listen to offers for young goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. The team’s stance has changed in just a matter of days since recalling top goalie prospect Igor Shesterkin from the AHL, who proceeded to win his first two starts, including a 46-save performance on Thursday. Shesterkin, though an older prospect at 24, was actually an established superstar in the KHL before coming over this season and looks like the heir apparent to Henrik Lundqvist. Georgiev, still only 23, has performed well in three seasons with the Rangers, but doesn’t project to be the type of player that Shesterkin is, making him expendable. Both Lundqvist and Shesterkin are under contract through next season and the team cannot continuing carrying three goalies that whole time. Additionally, the Rangers have Adam Huska playing well in the AHL in his first pro season, Tyler Wall dominating the NCAA in his senior year at UMass Lowell, and 2018 second-round pick Olof Lindbom waiting in the wings in Sweden. It’s an embarrassment of riches in net for the Rangers’ organization and Georgiev looks like the odd man out.

With that said, New York will not give him away. Friedman reports that the asking price for Georgiev is a young roster forward or a pro-ready forward prospect. The Rangers are looking to add young building blocks up front and feel they can land one young asset by trading away another. Friedman stressed that the Rangers are just listening right now and will wait for a deal to their liking before moving Georgiev. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, and San Jose Sharks are the teams rumored to be most interested in Georgiev, but are they willing to pay the asking price?

  • When it comes to the Sharks, the answer may be no. Friedman reports that the Sharks have let it be known that they are not willing to move any core pieces this season. Friedman cites the 2014-15 campaign, when San Jose last missed the playoffs, as management resisted a tear-down in that year as well and ended up going to the Stanley Cup Final the next season. The Sharks have many good pieces in place and believe they can be contenders again in 2020-21, so they will only entertain trade offers for impending free agents this season. Defenseman Brenden Dillon is a name that is very much in the rumor mill, while fellow blue liners Tim Heed and Radim Simek and forward Melker Karlsson will also be for sale. It remains to be seen whether the Sharks would be willing to move future Hall of Famers Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau or backup goalie Aaron Dell. Moving forward, the Sharks will have to address their issues in net, so perhaps the one exception to their rule about only moving rentals this season could be a deal a top prospect for a new goalie, but they could wait until the off-season to make a move.
  • Fans of the Montreal Canadiens don’t want their team to wait any longer to make a trade. The Habs are 2-7-1 in their past ten games and currently in 13th in the Eastern Conference, seven points back of a playoff spot with more games played than all but one of the teams ahead of them in the wild card chase. It seems like all hope is lost for this season, but Friedman reports that the team won’t be making a move any time soon. GM Marc Bergevin is being careful with his next steps, especially when his job could be on the line. He has told potential trade partners that he will wait until after the team’s pre-All-Star break meetings to make a move. Meanwhile, the Canadiens are about to play four games in six nights, during which suitors can see more from potential trade chips, but with those players exposed to the risk of potential injury as well. Montreal will have their “bye week” leading up All-Star weekend, giving Bergevin and company plenty of time to discuss their options, but there is no telling how the trade market could change in the meantime. Eventually, the team will make a decision on their direction in the coming weeks, but there is no expectation as to what that might be. Some have speculated that they could play it safe, opting to deal expiring contracts like grinders Nate Thompson, Dale Weise, and Matthew Peca and recent additions Ilya Kovalchuk and Marco Scandella. Others believe that the team is eyeing a complete rebuild and could move Tomas Tatar, Jonathan Drouin, or Jeff Petry or even ask Carey Price and Shea Weber if they would like to move on. Only time will tell, but that time will come a little bit later than some have hoped.

Pacific Notes: Dillon, Schmidt, Subban, Gudbranson

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Many in Toronto, after watching a San Jose Sharks’ hit against Auston Matthews Friday night, felt that the Sharks’ Brenden Dillon deserved to have the hit looked at by the Department of Player Safety. However, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that Dillon won’t face any supplemental discipline for the hit as the belief is that the head was not the main point of contact.

Dillon hit Matthews at 11:30 in the second period of Friday’s game just as Matthews was entering the Sharks’ offensive zone as Dillon’s hands appeared to go high on the Maple Leafs’ forward. There was no penalty on the play. Matthews left the game and underwent concussion protocol. However, he did return in the third period.

  • After a embarrassing performance against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, the Vegas Golden Knights got a hint at the potential return of one of their top players as Vegas’ head coach Gerard Gallant said that defenseman Nate Schmidt could be close to a return. “I’d love to have him in my lineup, trust me, and he’s going to be there soon,” said Gallant, via Ken Boehlke of Sinbin.vegas. Schmidt suffered a lower-body injury on the first game of the season and has been out ever since. However, he has resumed skating. Considered to be the team’s top defenseman, the team is eager to get him back into their lineup.
  • David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes that the Vegas Golden Knights could be getting back goaltender Malcolm Subban soon. The backup goaltender suffered a lower-body injury and has missed eight straight games. However, the scribe reports that his equipment was seen in front of his locker, which would suggest he’s ready to skate and could return to the lineup soon. Garrett Sparks is currently the backup for Vegas.
  • After attempting to add both Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Faulk earlier this year, the Anaheim Ducks finally were able to trade for a veteran defenseman Friday when they acquired blueliner Erik Gudbranson. In fact, the Ducks had been interested in acquiring him for quite a while, according to Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required). “This is something we have been looking at for some time. We haven’t been tough enough to play against and hopefully Erik can help us address part of that need,” general manager Bob Murray said.

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