As the NHL trade deadline gets closer, the pot boils with chatter of high-impact players who could be on the move. Two big names have already changed addresses in Bo Horvat and Vladimir Tarasenko.
As many GMs have said in the past, sometimes the best deadline deals are the ones you don’t make. A good player can be moved for future assets, yes, but sometimes that player can be part of the long-term solution if he stays put.
So, Daily Faceoff Roundtable: Which player in the rumor mill do you believe his team would be wrong to trade?
MATT LARKIN: I want the Detroit Red Wings to keep Dylan Larkin regardless of his asking price on an extension. This rebuild is turning into an eternal one — this season will mark Detroit’s seventh straight playoff miss following 25 appearances in a row between 1990-91 and 2015-16. No matter how much you buy into the Yzerplan, this team isn’t as far along in the rebuild as it should be by now. While the Wings have some tremendous players to build around on defense in Moritz Seider and on the wing in Lucas Raymond, center depth is not a strength — no matter how excited you are about Marco Kasper. If you remove Larkin, you lose a captain, a center who can handle two-way matchups and a star who said he wants to remain a Red Wing. It’s time to look forward and not move backward with a sell-off trade in Hockeytown.
NICK ALBERGA: It’s Jakob Chychrun for me. But seriously, what’s Arizona doing? Unless someone blows the Coyotes out of the water with an offer, the smart play here is to keep him long-term and build around him. Simply put, defenders like Chychrun don’t grow on trees, so I don’t fully understand the desire to move on from him. I mean, I do, but it’s quite clear no one’s going to give them what they want. Furthermore, it’s time for the Coyotes to start building. Personally, if and when the deal goes down, I think the Coyotes will regret it for many years to come.
MIKE MCKENNA: Like Nick, I’m looking towards the desert. I think Arizona would be crazy to trade goaltender Karel Vejmelka. At 26 years old and playing in just his second full season of North American hockey, Vejmelka still has room to grow. His cap hit is a value at $2.725 million and there are two years remaining on the deal after this season. I understand why other teams would be interested at that price, as the goaltender’s upside is palpable. But if the Yotes are ever going to kick it into gear — which needs to happen in the next two to three seasons — they need a goalie to shepherd the team. Vejmelka is that guy. And the timeline matches up down the road. As long as Vejmelka doesn’t get sick of constantly fighting an uphill battle in Arizona — i.e. losing — he will be in the prime of his career when the Coyotes are challenging for a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The overwhelming evidence is that homegrown goalies win championships. Who knows if the Coyotes could ever replace Vejmelka? If they trade him, it better be for a ridiculous haul.
STEVEN ELLIS: Some excellent options taken already. So I’m going to go a bit off the board here: Jonathan Toews. The Chicago Blackhawks are downright awful and are destined for a significant draft pick, whether that ends up being Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, Leo Carlsson or someone else. The team has shed some big pieces over the past year, and Patrick Kane could very well be next. But if I’m the Hawks, I want a key veteran to act as a mentor for whomever they pick. Bedard and Fantilli, in particular, are ready to go to the NHL next year, and they’ll need someone to be the big brother. I’d love to see Kane remain, especially since he’d be an excellent wing for either of those two to pass to, but he’ll still bring in more value in a deal than Toews, so I get it. Toews has been one of the faces of the franchise ever since he was drafted, and it would be a shame to see him leave. He’s a UFA this summer and will be worth significantly less than he is now — Chicago will have the capital to keep him around. I say let him retire a Hawk, and let him pass the torch to the team’s next young superstar.
FRANK SERAVALLI: I’m going to go in a totally different direction. Here’s a hot take for you: I think every single player on our Trade Targets board should be moved before the deadline. For one reason or another, there is a case to be made that a team should either move on, capitalize on value at its highest or use that return to boost their team for the future. That’s one of the issues with hockey as we compare it to other sports, particularly the NBA which had such a monster trade deadline: It feels like most GMs are so risk-averse because they’re so concentrated on what they’re losing that they forget to focus on what they’re getting in return. We just hear about the salary cap and how little space there is because it is cover for not making things happen.
