How active will the Dallas Stars and other teams be this deadline season?
The 4th’s Dave Pagnotta joined Sirius XM NHL Network Radio with Steve Kouleas and Nate Thompson on Wednesday and was asked if the Dallas Stars are actively looking to replace Tyler Seguin, who could miss the remainder of the season.
Transcribed by NHLRumors.com
NHL Rumors: Don’t expect a trade freeze before the holidays
Nate Thompson: “Talk about the trade deadline and what’s going on after the Olympics break. You saw last night (Tuesday night), with Tyler Seguin going down and the Dallas Stars obviously being a contending team now, do you see that parity across the league in terms of, like, are there going to be trades coming sooner rather than later? Like, are general managers going to make moves and move faster on trades and the trade market than they have in years past?”
Dave Paniotta: “I think so. I mean, I think some teams are more so because a lot of teams have salary cap flexibility, so there’s a little more wiggle room. Now, some teams are pushing against it. Obviously, it’s going to make things difficult for them, but there’s a lot of teams that have some extra wiggle room early in the season.
Now they’ll continue to accumulate space, but that gives them room to make moves early in the season rather than waiting until the trade deadline. As you said, after the Olympic break, the trade deadline is 13 days away, I suspect you’ll see some teams right now first, some general managers will tell you that if you could make a trade today to improve their team, of course they would, of course, obviously, but as you get closer to the Olympic break, players who aren’t going to play in the Olympics anyway can acclimate to their circumstances quicker, depending on who you talk to on each team.
Some teams view this as a potential trade deadline scenario where you can act early to accommodate your players if they have to bring their families over because of the disruption to the schedule, making things easier and smoother. But most importantly, these teams must make these types of moves to maintain salary cap flexibility.
NHL Rumors: Will there be another Alexander-Kerr type trade this season?
The Stars are the team that signed Kiefer Sherwood in Vancouver. Reaching the $1.5 million cap. Many teams are interested in that size, coupled with the physicality and goal-scoring ability he brings. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see a team like the Dallas Stars trying to make a run at the Stanley Cup here.
Now, obviously, Tyler Seguin’s injury is serious and they’re going to get a second opinion here and re-evaluate him to see what exactly the timeline is going to be. If he actually misses the entire playoffs, if they do make it to the Stanley Cup Finals in mid-to-late June, they could put him on late-season LTIR and use his cap hit to their advantage if he can’t play.
Obviously, they want Seguin back in the lineup. But unfortunately, these are the cards that everyone has been dealt. But Dallas will be active. I think some other teams will do the same. And since some teams have salary cap flexibility, I think some teams are willing to be more aggressive heading into the trade deadline. “
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