David Poile did not go into the final deadline of his quarter-century-long tenure as general manager of the Nashville Predators thinking he would trade longtime defenseman Mattias Ekholm or 25-year-old forward Tanner Jeannot.
But the seasoned executive started listening on offers a long time ago, has so far completed three deals and said, 鈥淢y phone is on.鈥� Not just his, and there鈥檚 still plenty of time until 3 p.m. EST Friday.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of phone calls, not a lot of sleep and a lot of activity the last few days,鈥� Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen said Wednesday. 鈥淚 expect that to continue.鈥�
The Blue Jackets got in on the action very late at night Tuesday to finish the agreed upon, most notably Several of those moves set the table for more trades to come before the dealing is done.
On Wednesday, the domino effect continued with the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche acquiring center Lars Eller from the Washington Capitals for a 2025 second-round pick. Eller scored two of the biggest goals on Washington鈥檚 2018 championship run, including the game-winner in the clinching game of the final, and can win faceoffs and kill penalties and fill a void down the middle.
鈥淪olid, big, strong third-line center,鈥� coach Jared Bednar told reporters in Denver. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what he is. Penalty killer, good on draws, lots of experience. This is a good pickup.鈥�
Eller was expected to be traded with free agency pending. Two-time Cup-winning goaltender Jonathan Quick was not.
immediately made the 37-year-old a top target to get dealt again. The last-in-the-league Blue Jackets took Quick along with a first- and a third-round pick to balance out the salaries of defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goalie Joonas Korpisalo going to L.A.
Columbus could now flip Quick to a contender looking for depth in net, and Kekalainen said he鈥檚 鈥済oing to try to do the right thing鈥� with the respected veteran. Vegas, Toronto, Seattle and Pittsburgh are options.
Perhaps even Carolina, since the Hurricanes still have plenty of salary cap space left after acquiring winger Jesse Puljujarvi from Edmonton, which was clearing room to get Ekholm from Nashville. Goaltending injuries contributed to derailing the Hurricanes鈥� playoff run last year, and now in first place with a deep roster, now鈥檚 the chance to bolster the odds of coming out of a loaded Eastern Conference.
After NHL-leading Boston added size, toughness and depth by from Washington, the New York Rangers got elite playmakers Patrick Kane New Jersey with big winger Timo Meier, and over the past two weeks, Carolina has plenty of motivation to make another trade.
Ducks defenseman John Klingberg, who was linked to the Hurricanes at the deadline last year before Dallas opted to keep him, is an option to help the power play, even though he鈥檚 going through a rough season. Anaheim is keeping Klingberg out of game action for trade-related reasons.
Another is Arizona鈥檚 Jakob Chychrun, the 24-year-old blue liner The Oilers getting Ekholm, the Maple Leafs trading for Jake McCabe, Luke Schenn and Erik Gustafsson and the Kings making the move for Gavrikov dried up the landing spots for Chychrun.
But with an impetus to get something done with Chychrun before Friday, Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong could find a trade partner in an unlikely place. The Capitals have shown a willingness to buy as well as sell, giving up a first-round pick with Gustafsson to get Rasmus Sandin from Toronto, and because Chychrun is signed for two more years he鈥檚 got value beyond teams looking ahead to the playoffs.
Columbus could even be a player for Chychrun with the extra high draft picks from the Kings 鈥� and more if Quick is on the move again.
鈥淒efinitely with the picks we have now as assets, we鈥檙e looking to make our team better 鈥� not just be picking year after year,鈥� Kekalainen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a busy time, and everybody鈥檚 trying to figure out the present and the future.鈥�
鈥擲tephen Whyno, The Associated Press
