Sunday night, after a long day of silence on the trade front, I checked with one NHL GM who has a player he's shopping to see how much interest he was drawing.
"Not enough," he answered. "It's dead." Other general managers echoed that frustration Monday morning.
So that means one of two things. One, the extreme parity we're seeing this season means that there just aren't too many sellers on the market. Or two, general managers are waiting until the last minute to get deals done.
It sets up one of the more uncertain trade deadlines in recent years as general managers scramble to improve their teams. It means we could see more traditional hockey trades, like Los Angeles Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets pulled off on Thursday with the Jeff Carter deal, or it could mean that Monday turns out to be one of the quieter deadlines in recent years. Get ready for anything. To prep you, here's a look at where the trade market stands Monday morning.
To get a last look at the deadline landscape and see which deals could actually get done today, plus get access to Rumor Central and all of Insider's NHL coverage, sign up today.
- 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.
Follow Craig on Twitter: @CraigCustance
And fire off a few probing questions for his weekly mailbag while you're at it.
