Trade market for centermen could be interesting in weaker free agent class
Lots has been made about the weak free agent market, and how teams are going to be hard pressed to find options if they’re looking to bolster the top ends of their roster, whether up front, on defense, or in net. The center position may be even worse off, with your few options being former first line centers in Jonathan Toews, Jordan Staal, and Ryan O’Reilly, or middle six centers coming off of solid years in J.T. Compher or Max Domi.
This could create even higher prices on the trade market for centers, one that looks a bit more promising in terms of high-end quality. Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna talked about what might happen on the center trade market on Daily Faceoff Live.
Frank Seravalli: Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers is rumoured to get a first round pick for essentially what is a bottom six center. I do think Laughton is the perfect third line center. What do you think?
Mike McKenna: You hit on it, he’s a perfect third line center, so if you’re in the market for a number one or two, it’s pretty finite. Even J.T. Compher, who’s probably the top unrestricted free agent is a two at best. Ryan O’Reilly is still a two.
So yeah, if you need a big dog to run number one for you, you’re kind of looking at Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mark Scheifele…
Frank Seravalli: And Elias Lindholm!
Mike McKenna: And Lindholm is there, true.
Frank Seravalli: This is actually a pretty decent year. It’s going to be expensive, but there’s at least guys available that you could wedge into that category as a number one.
Mike McKenna: And that’s where I think the trade market is really where you’re looking. It just seems like everything is going in that direction.
Frank Seravalli: A viewer mentioned Lindholm going to Colorado, is that an actual possibility or just a rumour? I think everything’s on the table for the Avs. They will probably will want to be pretty aggressive, especially with Gabriel Landeskog and that money.
You can watch the full episode here…