Trades Starting to Trickle In
As you’ve likely already seen, the trickle of trades is starting to thicken. Richard Zednik, Craig Rivet, Bryan Smolinski have all moved within the past day, while HockeyLeaks.com is reporting that Brent Sopel has been traded to the Vancouver Canucks while the Red Wings, Blackhawks and Flyers have cemented a three-way deal that sees Kyle Calder headed to Detroit, Jason Williams to Chicago and Lasse Kukkonen and a draft pick to Philly.
As well, nine players are currently sitting on waivers and at least a few of them will likely be picked up.
The asking price for the top tier available players seems a bit extreme (three draft picks plus a roster player for Keith Tkachuk?), which helps to explain the prevalence of second tier moves today. I expect that will continue right up to the deadline tomorrow, though you’ve got to think that there are a few GM’s who will bite the bullet and make a serious pitch for a Bill Guerin, Todd Bertuzzi or even a Joe Sakic.