Mailbag: Kraken trade options before Deadline; outdoor game ideas
NHL.com's Dan Rosen answers weekly questions
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Do the Seattle Kraken go into a fire sale by the trade deadline, or do they stay put? Names that could potentially be moved: Jordan Eberle (UFA), Tomas Tatar (UFA), Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (UFA), Justin Schultz (UFA), Chris Driedger (UFA, possibly having his contract retained for the remainder of the season). -- @LittlestOfMen
It's too early for the Kraken to be ready for a fire sale. It was a big deal that they made the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, and it will be if they qualify again. They're trying to establish a winning culture and consistently making the playoffs goes a long way toward that. They're three points out of a playoff spot with points in three straight games (2-0-1) and opened a six-game homestand with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Monday. Their next five games are against Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers.
That takes them through March 2, six days before the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET on March 8), and by then we could know a lot more about the Kraken. They won't get a blockbuster return in any trade involving Eberle, Tatar, Alex Wennberg (also a pending unrestricted free agent), Bellemare, Schultz and Driedger unless it becomes a bigger deal. If the thought is to trade them as rentals, it's worth holding onto them through this homestand before any decisions are made.
MetLife was incredible this past weekend. I wonder if the NHL can learn something from this. Book a Stadium Series on a weekend in February every year; four teams in two games in a rivalry matchup. Could be important games as it's close to April. Thoughts on this? Keep it in February to prevent going against the NFL playoffs. Can even do it on Hockey Day in America in February. Four team combos could be like this past weekend, but future could be Toronto, Boston, Montreal and Ottawa, or three California teams and Vegas; Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle; Colorado, Dallas, Nashville, Chicago. Lots of ideas. -- @FrankBrodka
Lots of ideas. All interesting. That's the beauty of the NHL's outdoor game bonanza; nothing is off the table. However, I have my reservations about your ideas.
Last weekend in East Rutherford, New Jersey, was special with more than 150,000 fans seeing two regular season games in less than 24 hours. It was also unique in the fact that the four participating teams are all close to one another and, most important, to MetLife Stadium. It was easy for fans of the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers to get there Saturday, and for fans of the New York Islanders and New York Rangers on Sunday. They could drive or take public transportation right to the stadium. They didn't have to stay overnight in a hotel. Maybe some Flyers fans decided to do that if they had to drive the hour-and-a-half to two hours to get there, but it wasn't a must. They could have done it as a day trip, particularly with the 8 p.m. ET start time.
However, if you hold two Stadium Series games involving four teams at, for example, Soldier Field in Chicago or Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, it will require fans of the three other teams to spend additional money on travel and accommodations in addition to tickets. That could be a big ask.
Relive the best moments from the Stadium Series
When the NHL stages outdoor games, they are tailored to the market they're in and many of the fans attending are from that local market. You will get fans of the opposition or just simply fans of hockey, traveling in from out of town, but it's not enough of them to fill a big football stadium. If you have two games in a market where there is only one NHL team, then one of the games will be played without a team from that market. It's asking a lot for fans of those two teams to fill the venue. It likely won't happen, but it happened at MetLife Stadium because it's in the center of a market with three teams and very close to a fourth.
The one way I can see this working is if there were back-to-back Stadium Series games at Dodger Stadium with the Los Angeles Kings the home team in one of the games and the Anaheim Ducks in the other. The Ducks and Kings share the Southern California market, so their fans would be the majority at their games. Then you'd be asking fans from, in your example, the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights, to come to a road game, but at least there will be a true home team.
What should Tampa Bay do at the deadline? -- @MChockey19
The Tampa Bay Lightning have an $8.5 million-sized hole at defenseman that has to be filled. Mikhail Sergachev won't be back this season because of his leg injury, so the Lightning need to replace him if they want to be a serious contender this season.
The best candidate to replace what Sergachev does for the Lightning is Calgary Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin, a pending unrestricted free agent. Hanifin has reportedly had an eight-year contract offer from the Flames for some time now, but the fact he hasn't signed that yet suggests he's not interested in staying in Calgary. If that's the case, the Flames will trade him. The Lightning, though, may not have what the Flames want. And that's their biggest issue.
Tampa Bay has depleted assets, reduced its draft-pick capital through trades in previous seasons. It does not have a first- or second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, or a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Odds are the Flames will be able to get a first-round pick from another team in a trade for Hanifin. They're reportedly looking for at least a first-round pick in a trade for Chris Tanev, another pending UFA. If the requirement to get either of them is a first-round pick, it removes the Lightning from the equation unless they make more trades that bring one back.
The Lightning should also be checking in with the Flyers about Sean Walker and Nick Seeler, the Nashville Predators about Tyson Barrie and the Montreal Canadiens about David Savard, who is not a pending UFA but has previously played for Tampa Bay. The need for the Lightning before Sergachev's injury was bottom-six forward depth. That remains a need. Maybe they can fill both, but the acquisition cost is an issue.
STL@CGY: Hanifin's one-timer makes it 2-1 in the 2nd
Biggest need for the New York Rangers right now: Top three right wing, defense or goaltending? Is Igor Shesterkin the answer for them? -- @JNevs27
I'll skip right by the Shesterkin question because I don't think it's fair to ask if he's the answer. He may not be having a dynamite season, but with Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick, goaltending is the absolute least of the Rangers' concerns. You didn't bring up their biggest area of need, which is No. 3 center.
The third line with Jonny Brodzinski in the middle, Kaapo Kakko on the right wing and Will Cuylle on the left wing has been solid in the past few weeks. There's no arguing that, but in the playoffs the top two lines often can cancel each other out in a seven-game series, leaving the third line to be a difference-maker. With due respect to Brodzinski, he has for his entire career been a borderline NHL player, which is why he has been in the American Hockey League so often. He's fine for the Rangers as a 6-foot, 204-pound depth forward, but third-line center is a premium position for a playoff team, and they would benefit from a more versatile, physical, bigger-body presence in that position in the absence of Filip Chytil (6-2, 208).
If the Rangers get that, I think they could leave Jimmy Vesey as the right wing on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider and feel good about it. Vesey will hunt pucks and he has the offensive and defensive instincts to play with Kreider and Zibanejad. If they can upgrade at third-line center and first-line right wing through trades, then that would be even better. I addressed that last week, but prioritizing the center position makes the most sense.
