The NBA can move its entire pivot at the trade deadline or in free agency. The NFL is starting to put more jazz into the deadline and offseason. MLB could if any owner wanted to actually spend money outside of Queens. The NHL certainly has its free agency and trade deadline, with the latter approaching and arriving in two weeks. But it rarely shakes the Earth like its winter counterpart can.
There are various reasons for this. It’s harder for one, one player to change the fate of a team in hockey. He could move Connor McDavid to a mediocre team like the NBA Phoenix Suns, — in this case, say the New York Islanders — and they would only become a team in the playoffs instead of a favorite, because McDavid is only on the ice for at most a third of the game. Second, NHL players simply don’t stress like their peers in other sports and rarely ask to quit or demand to be moved. It’s just not in their DNA. in good and bad. Third, the hard cap makes mega-deals nearly impossible, as you’ll soon see. There are no exceptions, there is no luxury tax and GMs have to cram everything into the room they have without legs or helmets sticking out. Flexibility, does not create.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any interesting stories around March 3 landmark, and we’re here to tell them. So who are the guys for sale?