Sharks exploring the trade market for Erik Karlsson and the Jets are looking to move a defender while the Maple Leafs are trying to acquire one.

 Sorry for the delay in blog posts as I am hoping that I get some more posts in the next few days, But today I give my opinion on some recent Waiver news as well as a few recent trade rumours involving the Jets, Sharks and Maple Leafs. 

Jets to move a defensemen. 

In some recent weeks we have heard some rumours and it seems like the Winnipeg Jets may be on the verge of moving one of their defensemen whether it is a young or older player as they have a crowded blueline and could use the roster flexibility to get more guys into game action as their deep depth on the blueline is boxing guys out. Now over the past few weeks we have heard that the Jets may be considering a defensive move because some of their younger players like Heinola and Stanley are getting boxed out of the lineup due to the Jets having a pretty good six defensemen that can usually play night in night out and I know that Heinola in particular would like to get some NHL time as he seems too talented for the AHL but the Jets have too many defensemen ahead of him in the NHL so they may need to either move him to get him somewhere where he can be a regular NHL defensemen or move one of their defensemen that’s a regular so that they can get Heinola some playing time. So in my eyes the Jets are not moving Morrissey or Pionk because those two are they best defensemen and I think that younger defensemen Stanley and Samberg should remain with the team as I think both of those two players could be good 2nd or 3rd pair players and Schmidt has a not to nice contract with a good chunk of money and term left so I don’t think he will be moved but I could see one of Dillon, DeMelo or Heinola be move by the Jets. Now I think that a defensemen move would most likely be to create a spot on the roster for Heinola so he can be a every day Defensemen so I think they would rather move one of DeMelo or Dillon first. Now Dillon has not played too well this season only having 5 assists in 25 games and still has the rest of this year and next on his contract at a cap hit of $3.9 Million dollars but I think that if a team were to offer up a depth forward with maybe one year left and not a nice cap hit then I think a team would consider it as Dillon is a good 3rd maybe even 2nd line defender for the Jets but his cap hit isn’t that good so if they can convince a team he is still a good top 4 defender then I think he could be moved, now the one who I think is most likely to be traded would be DeMelo as he has played consistently in the Jets top 4 this season and is a great defensive Defensemen who has 6 assists in 21 games this year and is a great stabilizing force and I think that not too many teams would have a problem with his $3 Million dollars cap hit for this year and next as that is a okay deal and I think that if the Jets could maybe get a good offer from a team who could use a defensemen like Ottawa, Edmonton or Vancouver then I think DeMelo could be gone as early as before the deadline, but if they don’t want to tinker with a pretty good lineup that right now has played then I think Heinola may be the one to be traded. He doesn’t have much hope of making the NHL right now with the deep blueline the Jets have but if the Jets move him he should be able to find a regular NHL role and play consistently in the NHL, and I think it may come down to possibly moving Heinola but if he was to possibly be moved then I have no doubt there would be a lot of teams interested in him and I think if the Jets wind up deciding to move Heinola he could be the bases of a package to bring them in a good young forward as their middle six isn’t doing too well especially with their injuries and I think that if he could help get them a top 9 forward then I think they could very well do that as the disgruntled prospect could definitely benefit from a fresh start but keep a eye out as the Jets may be able to make a defensemen trade in the near future to help with their crowded depth and get a forward.

Stephen R. Sylvanie USA Today Sports

Sharks testing the market on Karlsson. 

It seems as though the Sharks are just testing the Market right now on a potential trade for Erik Karlsson as the high priced defensemen probably doesn’t want to be on a losing team and the Sharks would love to get rid of his high priced contract. Now the Sharks have been rumoured to possibly be talking to other teams about moving their best defensemen Erik Karlsson to a team and it does sound like they may have serious interest in moving him but a trade of Karlsson would be no easy feat. To start with he has a pretty bad contract even though he is playing well as he has a $11.5 Million dollar cap hit for the rest of this season plus the next four and he has a NMC (or No Movement Clause) and would have to approve any trade that the Sharks want to make but on the flip side the Sharks may be willing to retain some salary and Karlsson is playing like the player that the Sharks acquired years ago as Karlsson has the most points of anyone in the NHL to this point with 12 goals and 37 points in 30 games and if he continues to play like this there will definitely be teams interested in acquiring him and that is why the Sharks are for now probably just checking to see what the market is for him as I think that a Karlsson trade would probably have to happen at some point in the offseason as the amount of cap gymnastics that would need to be involved in a Karlsson trade is huge so it does make a lot of sense that they are probably feeling the market right now just seeing what they may have to retain and what other teams are willing to take and if there may need to be a 3rd party involved to make the cap work and what sort of package they could get for the good defensemen as well as if the teams they are discussing possibly deals with would be okay for Karlsson as he needs to approve the trade so while I think with all of these rumours going around right now a Sharks trade of Erik Karlsson is not only possible but probably likely within the next year or two but while I think we should all keep a close eye on the situation I don’t really think anything is imminent and I would actually be quite surprised if there was a Karlsson deal before the Trade Deadline.

Leafs trying to acquire a defensemen. 

With a whole bunch of Leafs going down due to injury I think the Leafs are trying to figure out how they can acquire a defensemen as they are in a very difficult predicament when it comes to their blueline right now and could benefit from acquiring someone to help out with the battered blueline. Now over the past few weeks the Maple Leafs have seemingly lost another defensive body every other game as they are playing battered and bruised right now as Muzzin, Reilly, Been and Mete are currently on IR and until yesterday Brodie was also among the list of injured players. Now for Benn he will probably miss a few more weeks with his injury and looked like he could be a good 3rd pair defensemen for Toronto in the handful of games he played, Reilly most likely will be out until at least after the Christmas break maybe even the start of the new year, Mete has a LBI and will miss at least the next week or two due to the injury, and Muzzin’s future is cloudy as he has had another head/neck injury and some people have said he may be out for the season and there is also the possibility his career could be over but it still seems like he is far away from a return right now and Brodie missed substantial time due to injury before coming back earlier in the week so the Leafs defence has been able to keep the Leafs in games and their goaltending and offence has definitely been helping but they may want some help on the blueline with a few good players out right now and especially if Muzzin is out for possibly the season. Now with Muzzin on LTIR they do have a bit of cap space if he were to stay there until the season ends and I think they could try to even get an upgrade for the top 4. Now if they want to just get a rental then they could look to a big name pending UFA’s on some bad teams like Klingberg or Shattenkirk in Anaheim, Gavrikov in Columbus, Gostisbehere in Arizona and maybe even Schenn in Vancouver as I think all of these players could really help the Maple Leafs have a lethal top 4 on the blueline but a maybe cheaper option could be Stecher in Anaheim, Maatta or Oesterle in Detroit or Tinordi in Chicago are all cheaper options and are also in the final year of their deals and could be acquired for less then the other guys, or they could look to get a defensemen out of a team who has a lot of defensive bodies on their team as the Kings have a few defenders and could move Walker, the Jets have a crowded blueline and may be willing to move Heinola, DeMelo or Dillon, and Pittsburgh has also talked about possibly moving a D-Men such as Pettersson or Joseph and if one of these teams are willing to move a defender then I think the Maple Leafs could be a likely landing spot so while I don’t really believe that the Lefas would go after huge names like Karlsson or Chychrun I do believe they could be seriously in the market to acquire a defensemen and even if all their defensemen come back I still do believe they will add a defensemen to this roster so keep and eye on the situation as the Leafs look to add to their banged up blueline.

Here is what has happened with the waiver wire from NOV 11th to NOV 19th.

Cleared Waivers 

San Jose

Scott Harrington LD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)

New York I 

Nikita Soshnikov RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)

Claimed off of Waivers 

Rudolf Balcers LW,RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars) was placed on Waivers by the Panthers and was claimed by the Lightning.

Tyson Jost LW,RW,C (1 year left $2 Million dollars) was placed on Waivers by the Wild and was claimed by the Sabres.

Analysis: so over these eight days there happened to be 4 players who were placed on waivers and two of them wound up being claimed while the other two were able to clear waivers and were sent down to the minors. So to start with the Sharks we’re able to place Harrington on waivers and he was able to clear and I don’t think it is to much of a surprise to see Harrington clear the waiver wire as he was only able to get a contract after going to camp with the San Jose Sharks on a PTO and then once he got a contract with the Sharks he was barely able to get into the lineup as he only got into the lineup for 2 games putting up a assist so while he is a decent defensemen in the NHL and I thought there was a very small chance that a team dealing with injuries may wind up taking a chance on him I am not at all surprised that he was able to clear waivers, while I would probably say the same for Soshnikov in NYI as he was brought back to the NHL from the KHL in the offseason by the Isles and was able to sign a league minimum deal with the Islanders but once he got there was also not able to get into the lineup on a regular bases and only got into 3 games and wasn’t able to put up any points so while I thought that some team may take a chance on take Soshnikov and play him in a bottom six role especially if they were a younger team or one who was dealing with a few injuries but Soshnikov clearing in my eyes isn’t too surprising at all. Now for Jost I was thinking that I wouldn’t have really been surprised if he cleared waivers but I thought that he stood a very good chance to be claimed and he does wind up moving. Now the 4th line Center has had a pretty decent tenure with the Wild before being claimed as he had been with Minnesota ever since being dealt there just before the trade deadline last year and he did well for Minnesota playing a bottom six role and having a good amount of points putting up 2 goals and 9 points in 33 regular season games in his short tenure with the Wild but he has been a very good 4th line forward in recent seasons and I thought that with Jost being a very good bottom six forward that he would very likely be claimed and I thought that the only reason he probably wouldn’t be claimed was because he does have a pretty high cap hit for a bottom six forward with a $2 Million dollar cap hit but he is a good forward and for a team like the Sabres who did claim him, they do have some cap space so it isn’t that big of a deal for them and I think Jost should do quite well as a bottom six forward in Buffalo. And then the Lightning were able to claim Rudolf Balcers from the Panthers and I don’t think this should’ve come as much of a surprise as Balcers was playing a pretty good middle six role with Panthers due to their lack of forward depth and they needed to regrettably make this move with Ekblad coming back off of LTIR as they didn’t have enough cap space to activate him and getting rid of Balcers contract would’ve gone a long way to getting them to be cap compliant but I knew that as soon as he was placed on waivers that he was going to be a great possibility of being claimed because even though I don’t feel that he is a top six forward in the NHL I do think he is a great bottom six forward and for a team with depth issues like the Bolts who wound up claiming him I think he would’ve drawn a lot of attention so he has done a pretty good job in Tampa so far going in and out of the lineup before getting injured so he has done well in Tampa and Florida lost a huge piece of their depth on the waiver wire due to their cap situation which I didn’t think was too surprising.