Grading a fake Bruins trade proposal for Flames center Elias Lindholm originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The NHL trade deadline isn’t until March 8, but we usually have several interesting rumors to analyze and debate by this point in the calendar.
But unlike last season, there isn’t a flood of rumors hitting the airwaves, at least not yet. What can we attribute to that?
“Well, it was a big week for pro scouting meetings, which is an important part of the process for most teams, as they prepare for March 8,” TSN’s Chris Johnston said last Thursday during an Insider Trading segment. “It’s when they identify targets, they go team by team around the league, looking for fits potentially for trades and it usually preempts those kinds of conversations and you know, it’s not a mystery at this point in time that there’s a lot of teams already looking to upgrade their teams.
“We’ve seen seven players now claimed on waivers in January alone after a couple of waiver claims were made Thursday from the Calgary Flames. But the word that I’m getting is that it’s jammed up because there’s just not a lot of clarity in the standings. There’s not a lot of true sellers. And so while there are lots of teams out there looking to add to their group it seems like it’s going to be a late developing trade market.”
Johnston’s point about the standings makes a lot of sense. For example, in the Eastern Conference all but two teams are either in a playoff spot or less than 10 points away from one. In the Western Conference, all but three teams are in a playoff spot or within six points of one. It’s still too early for many of these teams chasing a wild card berth to throw in the towel. So it’s not a shock that few trade deadline sellers have truly formed yet.
One player who might be moved is Calgary Flames center Elias Lindholm. The Flames are four points out of a playoff spot, but if they aren’t able to sign Lindholm to an extension, they could lose him for nothing in free agency this summer.
The Boston Bruins are often speculated as a potential destination for Lindholm. The B’s are again one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference and could use some more depth at center, although that need is no longer an urgent one given how well Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha have replaced Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci as the team’s top-six centers.
The Athletic’s Corey Pronman and Julian McKenzie recently wrote an article highlighting six teams that could make a deal for Lindholm….