Trade market could be better than free agency
The Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta joined TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked about the arrival of free agency this summer. He stated that all eyes will be on the trade market because that is how teams will improve.
NHLRumors.com Transcripts
Host: “I’m just looking at the free agent class for this summer, with everyone signing the free agent class. Now it’s starting to suck, Dave.”
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Dave Pagnotta: “Yes, it will be interesting to see how this unfolds. What it tells me is that this is evolving or shifting a little bit. If you want to make your team better, you’re going to have to be more aggressive in the trade market. And you’re going to see teams realize that they’re not going to be able to close certain holes in the summer through free agency like they used to be able to do.”
So you’ll have to explore the trading market, and that will probably see some more activity in June, around the draft and into July. But you’re probably looking at that kind of scenario where we’re going to see a higher trading market than what we’ve seen in the past in the summer.
Host: “So, elevated trading market, can you tell us which teams you would be paying the most attention to right now, both on the buyer and seller side?
Pagnotta: “Well, the seller side is still pretty clear. And Nashville, Vancouver, St. Louis, Calgary, Buffalo are still holding out some hope. So is Calgary to some extent, but they’re still waiting to see how they’re going to get things going here. And it’s going to be a determining factor for some of the teams that really want to buy or sell, that will be determined later. Those are the sellers right now.”
But then you want to see some teams that have hope, they want to know how much of that hope to hold on to. Is it another month? Can we see where we are in a month? Is that going to give us a better indication of what kind of team we’re going to be, or are we just going to suck it up now and say, ‘Okay, let’s at least make some calls.’
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Buyers. I mean, you look at all the top teams now. We would like to further increase their chances. And then you look at some teams trying to fill specific holes. We know the Canadiens obviously want someone in the top six, preferably at the center position in the 2c, that’s no secret.
But then you look at other teams that want to do more of a talent-for-talent swap, then go out and potentially look for a rental. That’s the Oilers. Those are the Leafs on our side of the border. I feel like Ottawa is in that mix too. And then you look at Utah and Seattle, looking for impactful moves that will impact not only this season, but the future.
So the buyer’s market isn’t fully defined yet in terms of who’s just trying to focus this season, outside of maybe the top two teams right now in Colorado and Dallas, but anyone else looking to add. Or at least a good portion of them want to do something that doesn’t necessarily just impact this season, but also has some future seasons in mind.”
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