As the calendar flips to November, teams are starting to get a sense of their needs which should provide some hope for the trade market to slowly pick up over the next little while. In the meantime, the bulk of the top stories over the past seven days have been on the injury front.
Drysdale Out Long Term: As this was the final season of Jamie Drysdale’s entry-level contract, this was his opportunity to have a big year that set him up for a long-term, big-money agreement. Unfortunately for both him and the Ducks, that won’t be happening as he suffered a torn labrum that requires surgery which will keep him out for four to six months. The 20-year-old could return before the end of the year if his recovery is on the shorter end of that timeline but it will still wind up being two entry-level seasons with limited action. That will make a long-term deal considerably tougher to work out this summer and increases the chances that at least one of the two sides will prefer a bridge agreement.
On The Market: Forget about players possibly being on the market for a moment but there is about to be a team on the market as the Senators have started the process of selling the franchise. Long-time owner Eugene Melnyk passed away back in March with control of the team shifting to his daughters who are still in their early twenties. The most recent Sportico valuation of the team was $650MM but with the team on the rise and the prospect of a downtown arena looking quite strong, it’s possible that they’ll be able to land more than that, especially since that was the price tag for Seattle to join the league in expansion and franchise values have only gone up since then.
Done For The Year: Connor Brown had been a key two-way winger for Ottawa for years before he was moved to Washington where the hope was that he could become a bit more productive in a more offensive role as he heads toward unrestricted free agency next summer. Unfortunately, that won’t be happening now as the 28-year-old will miss the next six to eight months after undergoing ACL surgery that almost certainly will end his season. Brown will now hit the open market next summer having played just four games in 2022-23 with questions almost certain to follow about his skating after a significant knee injury. That’s about as disastrous a contract year as it could have been while the Capitals have lost someone that was supposed to be a key part of their forward group.
More Injuries:…
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