Less than 24 hours removed from the end of trade deadline day, scribes and analysts are picking their winners and losers. Perhaps it’s not fair to do so without a better understanding of what was really out there for some of the GMs who were active on Monday. For example, could the Buffalo Sabres gotten more for Taylor Hall? Why didn’t the Edmonton Oilers trade for more than just Dmitry Kulikov? Why didn’t players like Ryan Getzlaf or Tony DeAngelo go anywhere?
Rangers Tried to Terminate DeAngelo’s Contract
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the New York Rangers were willing to mutually terminate Tony DeAngelo’s contract to allow him to pass through waivers and sign as a free agent. This would have made him available to go anywhere and there was speculation the Montreal Canadiens were interested.
Dreger notes that DeAngelo opted not to accept the deal and chose instead to be bought out of his contract this summer. If DeAngelo has agreed to terminate his deal, he would have lost out on $1 million this year and $5.3 million next year. If he is bought out, he’ll lose $3.53 million (2/3 of next year’s $5.3M Salary).
He saved himself close to $3 million by staying put and it’s not clear what the Canadiens would have been offering on a short-term deal.
Red Wings Knew They Were Moving Mantha
One of the surprise trades of the day was the Anthony Mantha deal to the Washington Capitals. While Mantha’s name was out there a little, it still came as a shock to some to see Detroit elect to move a player with so much offensive upside. But, as per Dreger, “Sources say Detroit started to consider moving Mantha within the past few weeks and did an excellent job of keeping it under the radar.”
Hall Put a Stop to All Deals But Boston
The Buffalo Sabres are taking some heat over the return that came back in the deal to send Hall to the Boston Bruins. May think they should have been able to get more for him. Unfortunately, this is only deal they could make. Pierre LeBrun notes, “I believe the Sabres had a better offer for Hall from a Western team but as Hall said, he really wanted to play in Boston. And that’s absolutely his right with the full NMC.”
John Vogl of The Athletic writes that Hall left the team little choice. “He decided to go. Not only that, but he decided to go to Boston, limiting the Sabres to just one trade partner,” Vogl writes. He adds that GM Kevyn Adams confirmed this and said:
“The reality of the situation is back in the offseason when we signed Taylor, we felt strongly that we needed to have a one-year deal to make sure that we were being disciplined and remain flexible moving forward. Part of the agreement was to be able to offer him a no-move clause.”
“Taylor felt that Boston was the team that he wanted to go to. That was where he felt was the best fit, and contractually he had earned that right to make that call. So, we focused our attention there and obviously were able to get a deal done.”
source ‘ Sabres satisfied to acquire draft ‘currency’ as key questions loom over where to go from here’ – John Vogl – The Athletic – 04/12/2021
Penguins Tried to Acquire Getzlaf
Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dan Kingerski cites a well-placed Penguins source saying Brian Burke, the club’s president of hockey operations, contacted the Anaheim Ducks about Ryan Getzlaf before the team ended up landing Jeff Carter from the Los Angeles Kings.
It’s not surprising that amounted to nothing. Getzlaf had made it fairly clear he wasn’t interested in leaving Anaheim and the Ducks were more than happy to keep him as part of the team.
Oilers Don’t Believe They Are Quite There Yet
Some fans were disappointed that all the Edmonton Oilers did yesterday was add a second-pair left-shot defensive defenceman in Kulikov. But, according to a report by Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic, Holland didn’t do more because he’s not sure the team is a Stanley Cup contender.
The scribe writes:
As a team source told me at the beginning of the month, the Oilers don’t see themselves as a true, top-five Stanley Cup contender. It’s hard to argue with that assessment.
That’s why management wasn’t interested in giving up a first-round pick or top prospects like Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg, and Dylan Holloway.
source – ‘Ken Holland’s quiet NHL trade deadline sets up Oilers for big moves later’ – Daniel Nugetn-Bowman – The Athletic – 04/13/2021
When asked in the media avail after the deadline if he was ever really considering using a third team to broker a deal for cap space, Holland quickly shut it down and said no.
The plan seems to be that Holland will really put his fingerprints on this team in the offseason when he’s got all sorts of cap space to play with.
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