In previous seasons, Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman would have loved to make a splash at the trade deadline but couldn't. The Blackhawks just didn't have the salary cap space. This year is different. They have loads of cap space and assets, but Bowman has run into another problem. Teams aren't ready to deal.
"There's a lot of guys looking for players and not a lot willing to part with players," he said during a Tuesday phone conversation. "I don't know if it's going to change a ton the next couple weeks."
Unlike previous seasons, there aren't many defined sellers on the market. And even those that appear to be out of the playoff race aren't eager to dismantle their team. The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed defenseman Tim Gleason, who would have been a nice fit in Chicago. Carolina GM Jim Rutherford plans on meeting with Tuomo Ruutu this week to talk about a contract extension. Ruutu's not a necessity in Chicago, but he'd also be a nice fit.
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- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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