derek stepan

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There’s a lot going on in the hockey world, with trades and buyouts going down and the expansion draft looming. I can’t really say I’ve got any unified thesis on the state of things, rather, I’ve got an assortment of hockey thoughts to throw out there this Saturday morning. After all, given that the trade freeze is at 3pm today and expansion draft lists are due at 5pm, things are likely to be changing soon anyways.

  • While things might seem hectic now and it may be tempting to make a move sooner rather than later, I would hope that Jeff Gorton shows some patience in potentially trading Derek Stepan. Of course it would be ideal to trade him before his No Trade Clause kicks in, but he is a valuable asset who could potentially bring home a haul – no need to pull the trigger in the next day if you’re not getting fair value. There’ll be plenty of time after the expansion draft to make trades should GMJG be so inclined.

  • As far as the expansion draft goes, I’m really not sure who Vegas will take from the Rangers, but I’m leaning either Michael Grabner or Nick Holden. This really comes down to whether they need a defenseman or a forward – they both punched above their weight class this past season in terms of point production, and both could potentially be flipped at next year’s trade deadline to contending teams for the kinds of futures Vegas will likely be trying to stockpile. Obviously I’d prefer they take Holden, but that may require the Rangers bribing the Golden Knights with some kind of prospect or draft pick – if it does cost something however I wouldn’t expect it to set us back that much, as Holden has a certain rep around the league for being reliable (he was, of course, Patrick Roy’s best defenseman) and the aforementioned point totals should make him appealing enough to Vegas.
  • Aside from who Vegas takes in the expansion draft, I’m intrigued to see if they land any big name free agents. Jumbo Joe would be bizarre but kind of cool, and I could totally see Alex Radulov signing with Vegas. The Golden Knights are sure to be a ragtag bunch given the way they’re selecting their team (picking players other teams don’t want, working out behind the scenes deals with Anaheim, getting an early shot are free agents) but I wouldn’t be shocked if they land one of the bigger fish on the FA market (not Shattenkirk though please, I want him in blue)
  • How about that Drouin trade? I guess Montreal wants their defensive group to get older rather than younger, although now they’re allegedly looking for a defenseman s who knows. What I do know is that this likely sets the market value for guys like William Nylander, David Pastrnak, et al and that the next few years are going to be interesting in terms of rising stars and the contracts they receive (or don’t).
  • Lastly, while this isn’t strictly hockey related, I’m excited to see the new jerseys unveiled. Some teams are apparently getting redesigns (the Minnesota Wild are reportedly switching to green home jerseys for example) and Adidas has already released teasers for others. What’s most crucial is that Adidas doesn’t add the three stripes to the sides of the jerseys like they did with the World Cup of Hockey jerseys – given how iconic sweaters like the Habs, Rangers, and Leafs are I really doubt it but you never know, this league always has plenty of dumb tricks up its sleeves.

Anyways those are my scattered thoughts from this evening heading into tomorrow morning. There’s a pretty solid chance that all of this turns out to be irrelevant and that we see a bunch of blockbuster trades go down, so take it all with a grain of salt and buckle up, because this next week’s going to be big. Happy Saturday!

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