Quote:
Originally Posted by Torture
At this point I think it's a pretty safe bet that Rasmus is starting the season with the Flames and for sale at the trade deadline. Teams have their rosters mostly locked down or have already pursued alternative options after the flurry of activity around draft day and free agency.
|
I also wonder if teams will want certainty of not having a bad start to the season before trading first round picks.
For example, Dallas has traded their 2026 1st and their 2028 1st to Carolina in the Rantanen trade. The 2026 pick is top 10 protected - if it ends up being a top 10 pick in 2026 then Carolina gets Dallas’s 2027 1st (unprotected) instead. If Dallas were to trade their 2027 1st to Calgary in a trade for Andersson, it would remove the protection on their 2026 1st round pick that was sent to Carolina.
If Dallas starts strong in their first 20 games of the season (say something like 12-4-4), they are likely less hesitant to remove their pick protection for their 2026 pick. The acquisition cost is not likely to go up by much during those 20 games.