Poll: Who Is The Most Valuable Trade Chip Available?
The NHL trade deadline is now just over a month away. On February 26th, teams from around the league will definitively lay forth their plan for the rest of the season. Sellers, will send expiring or aging assets off to contenders while trying to build for the future while buyers will happily snatch up players and give them a taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
So, who is the most valuable asset out there?
There is obviously a lot of debate over who really is on the market, so if we’re to answer the question above we’ll have to choose from some sort of list. Luckily Frank Seravalli of TSN maintains such a list on his Trade Bait board, a ranking of the top assets based on skill and availability. Right now that list is headed by Evander Kane, as it seems nearly guaranteed that he’ll be moved to a contender before next month’s deadline. After all, the Sabres haven’t even approached him about a potential contract extension.
It also includes some players who haven’t heard there names in the news much, but seem like logical assets that might be available for the right price. Below we’ve listed the top-10 options from TSN’s board, but feel free to add an option in the comments. If you feel as though Erik Karlsson or John Tavares are truly on the market, vote for the “other” option and make sure you explain why. You can also leave a comment if you don’t think one of the players listed is actually available.
Who is the most valuable asset on the trade market?
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Max Pacioretty (MTL) 30% (338)
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Evander Kane (BUF) 23% (265)
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James Neal (VGK) 13% (142)
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Mike Hoffman (OTT) 12% (138)
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Mike Green (DET) 7% (83)
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Other (leave in comments) 5% (58)
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Alex Galchenyuk (MTL) 5% (57)
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Patrick Maroon (EDM) 2% (20)
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Thomas Vanek (VAN) 2% (19)
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Erik Gudbranson (VAN) 1% (9)
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Zack Smith (OTT) 0% (2)
Total votes: 1,131
[Mobile users click here to vote!]
Canucks Activate Bo Horvat; Place Erik Gudbranson On IR
It’s been a rough stretch for the Vancouver Canucks since early December as the team has lost 14 games in that span. Injuries have been one of the key factors that have dropped a once promising team earlier this season near the bottom of the Pacific Division. However, the Canucks got some good news today, as TSN’s Jeff Patterson reports that center Bo Horvat will be activated off of injured reserve today and is expected to play in tonight’s game against the Winnipeg Jets.
To make room for him on the roster, Vancouver placed defenseman Erik Gudbranson on injured reserve with back spasms. He missed Saturday’s game with the injury. The 26-year-old blueliner has played in just 32 games this season with injuries and is rumored to be one of the Canucks top trade chips as the trade deadline nears.
Horvat was shut down for six weeks after suffering a broken foot/ankle injury on Dec. 5. He was medically cleared to travel with the team on Thursday, so the activation is not a surprise. Horvat was on pace for another solid season when he went down. In 28 games with Vancouver, the 22-year-old 2013 first-round pick had 10 goals and 10 assists. His return couldn’t have come at a better time as Vancouver is struggling on offense. They currently rank 26th in the league in scoring, averaging 2.63 goals per game.
2018 Midseason UFA Power Rankings: Best Of The Rest
With the halfway point of the season now behind us and the trade deadline fast approaching, it’s time to take a preliminary look at the UFA Class of 2018. We ranked the top 20 pending unrestricted free agents based on votes from writers Gavin Lee, Brian La Rose, Nate Brown, Zach Leach and Holger Stolzenberg. You can find numbers 1-10 right here, and 11-20 here.
Today, we’ll look at those names that just missed the cut but will still be interesting options this summer. All of these players were included on at least one ballot, but did not accumulate enough points to crack the top 20.
Michael Grabner, F, New York Rangers — Included on three of five ballots, Grabner is a useful player that nevertheless doesn’t grab many headlines. Despite scoring 20 goals already this season and having a career-high of 34, there aren’t many teams who would slot Grabner into their top-six without hesitation. That’s because he’s best used as a straight speed threat and penalty killer, who counter-punches extremely well but has trouble creating opportunities for his linemates. In fact, Grabner has just 86 assists in 519 career games and has only once registered more helpers than goals in a full season. There’s no doubt he’ll be gobbled up quickly in free agency, but it’s hard to claim he’s one of the absolute top options.
Ian Cole, D, Pittsburgh Penguins — Included on two ballots, Cole is an interesting free agent case that may be clouded by his relationship with his coach this season. Despite being one of Pittsburgh’s more reliable defenders over the past few years, he’s clashed with head coach Mike Sullivan and spent time in the press box as a healthy scratch this season. Whether that plays a role in determining how much he can get on the open market is still to be seen, but there is certainly value in a two-time Stanley Cup defenseman that will be just 29 when he hits free agency.
Henrik Sedin, C, Vancouver Canucks — Amazingly, Sedin was included on just one ballot and was left out of the top 20 despite his twin brother Daniel making it in. He’ll be going wherever Daniel ends up, and you have to wonder whether it will be Vancouver or nothing. Today, agent J.P. Barry told Rick Dhaliwal of NEWS 1130 that he’ll have discussions with the Canucks on the future of the twins before the trade deadline, but there’s a real chance the club will decide to go in a different direction.
Lars Eller, C, Washington Capitals — Included on just one ballot, Eller is an example of how valuable centers are in the NHL. Though he’s never scored more than 30 points in a single season, his consistent effort at both ends of the rink will surely land him a multi-year contract around the league. Whether the Capitals are able to keep him around might be dependent on what happens with John Carlson, as the team doesn’t have a lot of money to give out on July 1st. If he’s able to convince people that he’s closer to Nick Bonino than Jay Beagle and not the other way around, he might be able to land himself a nice chunk of money for the next few years.
Erik Gudbranson, D, Vancouver Canucks — The fact that Gudbranson, the third-overall pick form 2010 was included on just one ballot shows how far he’s fallen. The rough defenseman doesn’t give you any offensive upside, but still could be sought after for his youth and physical play. He’s still logging lots of time in Vancouver, and has a really impressive pedigree to ride into at least one contract. What he does with it will determine his future in the league.
Luca Sbisa, D, Vegas Golden Knights — If Sbisa had been healthy all year and part of the Golden Knights run he may have been ranked higher, but his time on injured reserve has hurt his upside going into the summer. If he comes back and proves that he can still use his skating ability to help the team in the playoffs, teams will certainly add him as a depth defender with upside.
Leo Komarov, F, Toronto Maple Leafs — Komarov is still one of Mike Babcock’s favorites in Toronto, but the media and fans alike have started wondering why exactly that is. Though he’s physical, works hard and is one of the best penalty killers in the league, Komarov’s offensive game has fallen off a cliff with just 11 point on the season despite playing regularly with Patrick Marleau and Nazem Kadri. If those numbers don’t improve, he may find it hard to secure anything but fourth-line minutes (and money) on his next team, especially as he heads into free agency at 31.
Western Notes: Tanev, Anisimov, Boedker
The Vancouver Canucks may be ready to ship off several players such as Thomas Vanek and Erik Gudbranson, but one player whose name doesn’t come up as often is defenseman Chris Tanev. Of course, in the past Vancouver has been reluctant to trade their top defenseman, who is a club leader and one of the longest-tenured players in Vancouver.
However, The Athletic’s Mike Halford (subscription required) writes that this is the perfect time for the team to move the 28-year-old Tanev. While there are some solid defensemen likely to be available at the deadline, most are pending unrestricted free agents like Detroit’s Mike Green or Pittsburgh’s Ian Cole or are locked into long-term deals such as Ottawa’s Dion Phaneuf ($7MM AAV through 2021). The Canucks might get quite a return for someone like Tanev, who is locked up at a reasonable price at 4.45MM for another two years after this one. Tanev, who is known for making everyone better around him, could likely slide into more than half of any playoff team’s top four, making him quite valuable.
“He would get great value. There would be large demand for Chris Tanev and his services around the NHL, that’s for sure,” TSN’s Mike Johnson said in the article. “He’s a first-rounder [in return]. From a good team that’s going to pick 28th or 29th, at the bottom of the first round? I think so. Or maybe not the best prospect, but the third or fourth best prospect in an organization.”
- Tracey Myers of NHL.com tweets that Chicago Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov, who has missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury attempted to practice today, but coach Joel Quenneville said he was “just OK” and might miss even more time. The 29-year-old Anisimov has 13 goals for Chicago this year.
- The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz writes (subscription required) that the San Jose Sharks are hoping to get more production from winger Mikkel Boedker after he was a healthy scratch in the team’s last game before their bye-week started. The veteran who signed with the team two offseasons ago, is struggling even more in his second year with the team. He had 10 goals and 26 points last year and so far has only three goals and six assists. “We need some production out of him,” head coach Peter DeBoer said. “That’s the bottom line. If he’s not producing points, he’s got to at least be producing chances to score. When he’s not, he can’t help us.”
Vancouver Canucks Will Look To The Future As Deadline Nears
A month ago, one might have been able to understand a Vancouver Canucks team that wasn’t planning on selling at the deadline. After all, the club was 14-10-4 and playing like a potential playoff contender. It was unexpected, but with new head coach Travis Green bringing the best out of a rag-tag lineup and young players like Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser leading the way offensively it didn’t seem so far out of the question.
Then disaster struck. The team would announce that Horvat would be out long-term with a broken foot, and a few days later Sven Baertschi would break his jaw when a puck struck his face. Since Horvat’s injury the team is 2-9-1, and quickly dropping out of any playoff talk. They now sit second-last in the Western Conference, only ahead of the lowly Arizona Coyotes, seven points out of a wildcard spot. Even with a healthy lineup that would be tough to overcome, and the Canucks are far from healthy.
Today, at a press conference to discuss the state of the franchise (audio from Sportsnet 650), team president Trevor Linden spoke about the upcoming trade deadline and how his team would approach it:
I think when you talk deadline, plans going forward a lot can happen. There’s a lot of hockey left between now and then. As always, we constantly talk as a group about where we’re at and where we need to be. We understand that our eye is focused on the future, and we’re excited about some of the young players who’ve taken steps here…
…if there’s an opportunity to make this team better we’re going to do that, but it will be with our eyes focused firmly on the future.
When pressed on the idea of moving a defenseman in particular, Linden said that they aren’t in a rush to trade away anyone, but that it could change at any moment. The Canucks don’t have a single defenseman signed past the 2019-20 season, and could use several of them as potential trade bait at the deadline. Erik Gudbranson, a pending unrestricted free agent, isn’t the biggest name on the market but is likely to either re-sign with the team or be dealt at some point.
It seemed as though this was the plan all along when the Canucks signed the trio of Thomas Vanek, Michael Del Zotto and Sam Gagner in the offseason. All three were low-risk, high-reward players who could turn into excellent assets for the organization if they returned to their top form. Vanek currently sits second on the team in scoring, while Del Zotto has logged more than 21 minutes a night all season.
Like last season, when the team traded away Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows for a pair of interesting prospects, the Canucks are one of the most likely teams to sell over the next few months. With interesting assets on the blueline, and a prospect cupboard that’s starting to fill up, a rebuild seems well on its way in Vancouver.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Snapshots: Extensions, Senators, Coyotes
As CapFriendly points out on Twitter, as of January 1st teams can sign extensions with players on one-year deals. While this immediately brings to mind some of the unrestricted free agents signed in the offseason that are having a strong impact on their team, it could have more of an impact with restricted free agents that settled on a short bridge deal.
One player in such a situation is Erik Gudbranson, who signed just a one-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks in the summer. That deal would bring him to unrestricted free agency this summer, and Rick Dhaliwal of NEWS 1130 caught up with Gudbranson’s agent Mark Guy. No discussions have been had between the two sides yet, but Guy expects they will come together soon to discuss a possible extension. That comes in the midst of trade rumors surrounding Gudbranson as a possible rental option for clubs looking to add some toughness to their defensive unit. The 25-year old brings just a $3.5MM cap hit on the season and has just two points this year.
- The Ottawa Senators continue to struggle, and will try a surprising coaching change to try and right the ship. Head coach Guy Boucher told TSN 1200 radio that assistant coaches Marc Crawford and Martin Raymond have swapped duties and now coach the powerplay and penalty kill respectively, a change that is almost never done in-season. Ottawa ranks near the bottom of the league in both categories, and improvement is necessary if they have any chance of climbing out of the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. They currently sit ahead of just Buffalo in the East, and have a -30 goal differential.
- The Arizona Coyotes will remain at Gila River Arena for another year according to Craig Morgan of AZSports. The team had a chance to opt out of their lease before the end of 2017, but as expected did not exercise the clause. Their lease will renew for another season, though their long-term arena plans are still unclear.
Snapshots: Tavares, Vegas, Gudbranson
The New York Islanders announced their plan for a brand new arena at the Belmont Park location today, and front and center at the ceremony was none other than John Tavares. The team captain spoke very highly of the decision, something he’s supported since the beginning.
For us as players and our fan base to have somewhere you know it’s written in stone that we’re going to have a home built for the Islanders on Long Island is pretty special.
The Islanders are called the Islanders for a reason. This is really where the team belongs.
Still, Tavares isn’t willing to announce that he’s re-signing with the team now that it has a long-term future ahead of it. In speaking with Arthur Staple of Newsday at the event, he calmly said that while a positive outcome, it’s not “going to change or ultimately make my decision.”
- The Vegas Golden Knights are in an extremely interesting position as they continue their inaugural season, and one that GM George McPhee likely didn’t expect when he selected a team heavy on pending free agents. Though they’re one of the top teams in the league, they might still have to decide whether the long-term future of the club is more important as they head towards the trade deadline, something Gary Lawless of NHL.com discussed in an informal Q&A on Twitter. Lawless explained that though they obviously have assets that could be valuable at the deadline, he doesn’t expect management to break up the core while they’re experiencing so much success, instead pointing at the cap space that Vegas possesses as potential bait. That’s something we’ve discussed about at length in the past, and an obvious avenue for the Golden Knights to add to the future while maintaining the present.
- In Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, he speaks about several players who might need a fresh start as we head toward the trade deadline. One of those, Erik Gudbranson, has been rumored available in the past and Friedman believes that he’ll price himself out of the Vancouver Canucks market when he hits free agency after this season. Though Gudbranson certainly doesn’t make the impact that some hoped he would when he went third-overall to the Florida Panthers, he can still be a helpful player for a team with defensive depth issues. The fact that he only makes $3.5MM will make him an affordable piece at the deadline, if a team believes they can get good shutdown minutes from him down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Injury Updates: Canucks, Zibanejad, Capitals
Vancouver hasn’t had much luck with the injury bug as of late with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi, two-thirds of their top line, going down recently. The bad news continued Friday as the Canucks announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Chris Tanev will be out two-to-three weeks as a result of a groin strain. That is undoubtedly a big blow to their back end as he logs nearly 21 minutes per game of ice time while playing a shutdown role. Alex Biega will likely draw into the lineup as his replacement but he hasn’t seen any action in more than three weeks.
Canucks head coach Travis Green also provided further updates on a couple of players. Center Brandon Sutter is still seven-to-ten days away from returning from his upper-body injury while blueliner Erik Gudbranson is the closest to returning; he has been out with an upper-body issue of his own since November 22nd.
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
- Mika Zibanejad’s return to the lineup will have to wait a little while longer. The Rangers have ruled him out of their next two games, reports NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman via Twitter. The plan is for the center to practice on Monday and then the team will re-evaluate his status from there. Zibanejad last played on November 26th and has been dealing with concussion-like symptoms since then but he still sits third in team scoring with 22 points in 24 games.
- Capitals winger T.J. Oshie took part in a partial practice today but will not suit up tomorrow night against Anaheim, reports Callie Caplan of the Washington Post. As a result, he’ll miss his sixth straight game. From the same report, defenseman Brooks Orpik is dealing with an upper-body issue. He’s set to be re-evaluated tomorrow but it seems likely that he will also miss Saturday’s contest. Washington doesn’t have enough salary cap space to call anyone up but they have one extra defender on their roster so they still should be able to ice a full lineup.
Scott Wilson, Erik Gudbranson & The Pointless Players
Last year we saw something incredible in the NHL. Riley Sheahan of the Detroit Red Wings played 79 games and took 106 shots on net without scoring a goal. Stories were written, fans were left in disbelief and Sheahan just had to go out every night and try to get one across the line. Finally, on April 9th in his 80th and final game of the season Sheahan scored—twice.
It’s not like Sheahan had done anything like it before. He’d had seasons of 9, 13 and 14 goals the first three seasons of his career. He actually carried an above-average shooting percentage of 11.9% through that time. He was no sniper, but he could be a solid secondary scoring threat. This year there are several players that can relate with Sheahan, including one that has a solid link to him.
Sheahan didn’t score his first goal this year until a trade brought him to Pittsburgh. He has two now on the year, and eight points in 21 games for the Penguins. The player he was traded for though hasn’t been quite as lucky.
Scott Wilson, traded first for Sheahan and then again to the Buffalo Sabres later in the season, has now played 21 games this season. In those games he’s registered 172 minutes of ice time, including over 14 in his first game with Buffalo. Amazingly, he’s been held completely scoreless. Not a single goal, not a single assist. Wilson leads all scoreless forwards in games played, but there are some other interesting members along for the ride.
Matt Stajan, a two-time 50-point man has played 19 games without a point. He’s played even more minutes, 210, without hitting the scoresheet—well, at least not for scoring. Stajan has taken 10 penalty minutes, something that you can’t say for Wilson. Incredibly, the Buffalo Sabres forward hasn’t even taken a single minor penalty. Other than the 14 shots he’s recorded, he’s basically been a boxscore ghost.
There are other forwards who are on the list, like Zac Dalpe, Torrey Mitchell and Matt Beleskey but none of them hold a candle to the leader when expanded to include defensemen. Erik Gudbranson, the Vancouver Canucks’ rough and tumble defenseman has logged 372 minutes of ice time this season and still has a big fat zero in the points category.
Gudbranson isn’t an offensive player. That much has been obvious his whole career, and it wasn’t why the Canucks went out and acquired him from the Florida Panthers. But this is impressive even for him. He’s always been a lightning rod for the argument between traditional and new analytics, but he’s actually reached a new low in his possession rates. As an unrestricted free agent this summer, some believe he’ll be a sought-after trade deadline commodity.
It doesn’t matter if he has zero points or a handful when the trade deadline comes around, it really doesn’t change the player he is. But for the third-overall pick in 2010 it’s an impressive accomplishment, even if he wouldn’t agree.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Vancouver Canucks Earning Trade Deadline Capital
The Vancouver Canucks began their rebuild last season, when at the trade deadline they moved Alexandre Burrows and Jannik Hansen for a pair of interesting prospects. Jonathan Dahlen and Nikolay Goldobin were brought into the organization, to try and go along with other young players like Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser and Olli Juolevi as the next wave of NHL talent. At the draft, they passed on WHL star Cody Glass and British Columbia-native Michael Rasmussen to select Swedish forward Elias Pettersson, who is tearing up the SHL with a league-leading 28 points through 21 games.
In free agency, they added a trio of players in Thomas Vanek, Michael Del Zotto and Sam Gagner that could bridge the gap to that next wave. Now, even as the team finds more immediate success than expected they could find themselves in an enviable position at this year’s deadline. While Gagner hasn’t been as effective as last season, Del Zotto and Vanek are showing their worth. Vanek has 16 points through 24 games, and has shown once again he can help a powerplay anywhere in the league. His eight points with the man advantage trail only Boeser for the Canucks. Del Zotto on the other hand has logged the most ice time on the entire team, averaging more than 22 minutes a night. The smooth-skating defenseman has nine points on the season, and plays in all situations.
Vanek is on just a one-year $2MM deal, while Del Zotto carries just a $3MM cap hit for this year and next. If their play continues at this pace, they’ll both interest several buyers at the deadline if Vancouver chooses to start selling. They’re not the only two. Erik Gudbranson is dealing with an injury but has already been rumored to have several teams interested in him as he heads towards unrestricted free agency. The 25-year old comes with a $3.5MM cap hit, and can add physicality to any lineup. The Sedin twins are also pending UFAs, but seem unlikely to be traded because of their hefty cap hits.
The rest of the blueline could also draw interest from around the league. Both Alex Edler and Chris Tanev have faced injury this year and hold some form of no-trade protection, but would be valuable additions if a team could afford their contracts. Unfortunately the Canucks have already used two of their three retained salary transactions, eating some of Hansen and Roberto Luongo‘s contracts. As the deadline approaches and teams have less space to maneuver, that could prove costly.
Still, Vancouver has positioned themselves in a strong position this season. While Boeser leads the Calder Trophy race so far, and Pettersson lights up the European ranks they could add even more assets this spring. At 11-9-4 this season, it could be a quicker-than-expected rebuild.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images