Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolven
I do not think there will be that many teams "tanking" this season. The Penguins and Flyers are both looking like they are headed in that direction. The rest of the teams all looking like they are trying to improve and get out of the basement.
The Sharks, Blackhawks, Sabres, Ducks group that has been tanking forever are not going to want to blow yet another season. Not only would that continue to disengage their fans but it would also increase the risk that the young star players that they already have (Bedard) will start looking for an exit from a perpetual rebuild.
We might see a team like the Bruins that was on the bubble but then slid outside of the wildcard race a little bit and opted to sell at the deadline but they won't be tanking hard all season long and they won't be trading McAvoy. Same with the Red Wings, even if they are selling this year they wouldn't sell Seider.
Aside from Karlsson, I do not see a lot of alternatives for teams who are interested in Andersson.
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Once the season get going, any team that isn't in the playoff race could change their direction. Right now, very few are thinking tank and because of that Ras is one of few top end players available with more than a few that want him and have the cap to get him.
Deadline, he won't be the top guy available.
I just went through 25 years of trades in the summer. Very few big trades happen in September. Kessel and Heatley both happened 1 sept over a decade ago. Karlsson to the Pens was in Sept, but that was a contract dump.
Kessel, Heatley and most of the big trades were due to contract disputes. Teams don't want to add big players too close to camp. Players need time to move and get settled in before camp. If this trade doesn't happen in the next 3 weeks, it will be a deadline move. IMO that is a mistake as Ras is looking out for himself only. He should, why would he want the Flames to hose his new team of all their top assets?