Trade talk intensifies heading into 2022 NHL Draft

MONTREAL -- David Poile said he likes to look a fellow general manager in the eye when discussing a trade, especially in the days and hours leading up to the NHL Draft.

For the first time since 2019, he and the other 31 GMs are getting that opportunity. And they're relishing it.
Representatives from all 32 teams and fans will be in attendance at Bell Centre for the first round of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS). And to hear some GMs talk, there should be plenty of activity heading into the event now that it's in person again.
"This is awesome to see everybody and interact," Poile, the Nashville Predators GM, said Wednesday. "Everything is way better.
"Always a good thing, I think, when you get face-to-face with somebody and you say, 'I'd like to trade you A for B,' or whatever. You can get to the point really fast as opposed to a phone call. You could be playing video games or something like that and not concentrating."
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 drafts were held in a remote format with teams convening via video conferences. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the selections in the first round, and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly handled the next six.
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General managers and other team representatives started arriving in Montreal earlier this week.
"We've been here for three or four days," Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill said. "You're walking around, you're going out for supper with your crew, and you bump into somebody from another team. And then you get chatting and it can go from there."
Those talks, Nill said, are accelerated by the salary cap, which will increase by $1 million to $82.5 million for the 2022-23 season. For the teams up against the ceiling and looking for relief, trading established players for draft capital and/or cap space has been a popular topic of conversation heading into the first round.
"I think there's a lot of those types of conversations happening around the League from the conversations I'm having," Philadelphia Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher said. "Whether it leads to more trades, we'll see. But certainly, there are teams that are trying to create more cap flexibility right now, whether that's using draft capital or taking back different types of contracts.
"Everybody's trying to be creative to maximize their flexibility going into free agency (opens July 13) and getting ready to find players to help their team. But then in saying that, we all need young players, so these draft picks are critical."
Two trades were made Thursday. The Ottawa Senators acquired forward Alex DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks for three picks, including the No. 7 selection in the 2022 draft. The Colorado Avalanche acquired goalie Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers for three draft picks.
The Flyers made one of the bigger splashes on the trade front right before last year's draft, acquiring defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen from the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Robert Hagg, a 2021 first-round draft pick and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Other prominent players who were traded over the course of the two-day event in 2021: The St. Louis Blues acquired forward Pavel Buchnevich from the New York Rangers, the Vancouver Canucks got defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and forward Conor Garland from the Arizona Coyotes, the Chicago Blackhawks landed defenseman Seth Jones from the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Flyers acquired forward Cam Atkinson from the Blue Jackets, and the Sabres sent forward Sam Reinhart to the Florida Panthers.
One area to monitor over the course of this year's draft is the potential movement of goalies, a coveted commodity for teams like the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Oilers GM Ken Holland said Wednesday he would like to address their goaltending situation in the next 10 days. Mikko Koskinen signed a two-year contract with HC Lugano of the Swiss Elite League last month, and 40-year-old Mike Smith has not decided if he'll be back next season.
Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said he continues to have talks with the representatives of Jack Campbell, who started 47 games this season and can become an unrestricted free agent July 13. Dubas stressed that goaltending remains his team's priority.
"Obviously it's getting close to decision time for everybody, and especially for Jack because it's a life-altering event," Dubas said. "And so, we'll continue to speak with them here this week, through the weekend and be well prepared going into next week for where we want to go."