Jonathan Drouin didn’t get traded.
Loui Eriksson didn’t get traded either.
Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata didn’t get traded.
Even P.A. Parenteau didn’t get traded.
Oh sure, there were a few deals today. Mikkel Boedker, Kris Russell, Brandon Pirri, and John-Michael Liles all moved.
But nothing of the blockbuster variety. Nothing that shook the hockey world to its core. Nothing...truly exciting.
So, what happened?
Well, first remember that Eric Staal and Andrew Ladd were traded over the weekend. Those are big names.
But today seemed to mirror July 1, when caution ruled the day for general managers in free agency. It’s no secret that next season’s salary cap is not expected to go up by much, if it goes up at all. And not only does that make it difficult to add players with term, it makes teams even more loath to surrender draft picks and/or prospects.
“The market correction started last summer in free agency with a lot of players getting squeezed by the flat cap and now you’re going to see teams protect their high picks and top prospects more than ever because that’s gold now, that’s the most important currency there is because of the new economic realities,” one Western Conference hockey executive told ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun earlier this month.
On to the playoffs.
