Where National Hockey League GMs gather, trade talk follows.
Their meetings in Toronto next week is in range of U.S. Thanksgiving -- the quarter-mark of the schedule, when many teams have seen enough to make a change. Although the salary cap restricts trades as a whole, it does mean desperate GMs can make more deals within the conference or division, something that used to be taboo.
Witness the Boston Bruins, who have already made two trades in six weeks with Northeast Division rivals in Toronto and Buffalo. Phil Kessel finally debuts for the Maple Leafs tomorrow after the Sept. 18 swap for three high draft picks, while the Bruins acquired Daniel Paille from the Sabres for a third-rounder a couple of weeks ago.
It was the first time the Bruins and the Sabres had ever traded a player under contract, although Buffalo once dealt the rights to Peter McNab to Boston back in 1976. The Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens got chummy with the Mikhail Grabovski deal last year, and, since March 1, just before the trade deadline, there have been 53 trades involving at least one live body, of which 16 were deals in the conference and seven between division rivals.
"What it really speaks to is the economics of the NHL today," Sabres GM Darcy Regier said of the Paille deal.
"Ironically, I was one that always wanted to place a player in the Western Conference. It's not always doable, and, in this case, it wasn't do-able. So you make the best deal you can in the Eastern Conference.
"I think the days of not dealing with teams in your own division or own conference are gone. You just have to hope that the player you're dealing helps that team beat the other teams in your division."
Atlanta Thrashers' GM Don Waddell had the same thoughts.
"When making any trade, you have to feel good about the pieces you are getting and can't be that worried about who you're trading with," Waddell said.
Flyers flustered
If you put the daily turmoil of the Philadelphia Flyers into the Toronto media market, there might be no resources available to cover other teams in town.
But the Flyers not only make headlines, they win a few games, sitting 6-4-1 heading into tonight's game after an eventful month:
- A flap about a clique of Flyers who allegedly lived the high life off the ice caused captain Mike Richards to try and organize a media boycott.
- There's another team medical controversy, this one regarding Simon Gagne's groin. The Flyers' doctors have advised him there are two small hernias that need surgery, but Gagne went home to Quebec for a second opinion and found two surgeons who disputed the Philly staff's recommendation. Gagne is now scheduled to visit an abdominal specialist today at nearby Hahnemann University Hospital for a final opinion.
"He'll see Dr. (William) Meyers, and we'll put an end to this," said frustrated GM Paul Holmgren.
- Daniel Briere is also sore with an abdominal pull, but after a few days of worry that it's related to groin muscle problem that wrecked last season for him, it's now believed to be a thigh muscle pull in a different area. It should sideline him about a week, but defenceman Ryan Parent will be gone a week with his own groin issues.
- The Flyers are now on the hook for US$1.375 million of cap space and half of Randy Jones' salary after they tried to sneak the defenceman back up to the NHL but lost him in a waiver claim by the Los Angeles Kings. With Jones in the final year of a three-year pact that pays him $3 million, they made some calls and thought the coast was clear to promote him during an injury crisis on the blueline.
- And the Peter Forsberg rumours are starting again. Forsberg is now being monitored by the team at a tourney in Sweden with the national team. He is 36 and two years removed from his last NHL comeback attempt from foot problems. He could be a cheap addition.
LANCE.HORNBY@SUNMEDIA.CA
