Peter Chiarelli has stated he wants to be proactive in addressing the pending cap crunch. For the purposes of this article trades have to make sense to all parties concerned. This means that if a player has a no trade clause, the place they might be shipped to has to be a strong playoff team, the cap numbers have to make sense and worse from the armchair GM’s position, the bodies have to line up right.
First trade, and probably the least likely situation.*
To Boston:
Conditional 3rd Round pick, 2011.
To Los Angeles:
Marco Sturm
If Marco Sturm scores more than 20 goals, or is resigned by the Kings or they win the Stanley Cup with him having played 3 or more playoff games the pick would become a 2nd round pick.
Why:
Boston, moves a loyal soldier who will probably not be resigned to a good situation.
Los Angeles, depth at left wing, secondary leadership, and someone who can step in to the penalty kill as needed.
Sturm, gets his feet wet with another organization and moves to a very good young team with stars on the rise.
To Boston:
Jeff Petry, 2nd round pick in 2012, 3rd round pick in 2011
To Edmonton:
Blake Wheeler, Daniel Paille, Matt Dalton
Why:
Boston: $3.2 Million in salary moved, and allows more grooming of late cuts like Arniel, Sauve (when he is healthy again), Colborne and others. Moves Paille before he becomes a distraction sitting on the bench as he has thus far. Two easiest guys to move on the roster that you have a shot at getting back something of similar value.
Edmonton: Size, speed, playoff experience and above all two high end penalty killers that might drag their pretty pathetic penalty kill into the realm of respectable. Both guys work hard, Wheeler has 30 goals written all over him, and might be the center that Hall needs. Dalton is also as strong or stronger a prospect as any goaltender the Oilers have currently.
To Boston:
Ryan Suter, 1st round pick, 2nd round pick
To Nashville:
Matt Hunwick, Andrew Ference, Joe Colborne, Blake Wheeler
Why:
Boston gets an elite defenseman coming back and drops a net $2.4million
Nashville gets two first round pick forwards who are versatile enough to play all forward positions, and gives them the potential to move into the top half of the NHL’s goal for column for the first time in years.
To Boston:
Chris Stewart, 2 2nd round picks, 1 3rd
To Colorado:
Blake Wheeler, Daniel Paille, Michael Ryder, Matt Dalton
Why:
Boston: About six million dollars off the books, and a solid young winger.
Colorado: They’re depth at goaltending almost doesn’t exist, their penalty kill could hardly be made worse by losing an extra man each penalty.
To Boston:
Keith Yandle, Brandon Gormley, 2nd round pick
To Pheonix
David Krejci, Blake Wheeler, Adam Courchaine, Andrew Ference, Jamie Arniel
Why:
Boston get’s two top four quality defensemen, loses some salary, clears up some of the log jam at center.
Phoenix gets a player who would easily be their number one center, a forward the organization was keen on enough to use a first round pick on, and gets to shore up their goaltending.
Capgeek, Hockey’s Future, and NHLNumbers used for basic background info.
*Ok so nearly all trades are unlikely in the current NHL. At least there is something in it for each team.
