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Avs, Rangers, Oilers and Wild can't stand pat this summer |
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The San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues are being lauded in some circles for keeping their roster together through many a disappointing year in to reap significant benefits in the current Stanley Cup playoff tournament. However, there are a number of franchises that, for one reason or another, no longer have the luxury the 2016 Western Conference finalists enjoyed.
Don’t take this to mean all the teams listed below have to ship out their entire lineup, or a large part of their core – only that all four organizations are now in a position where the status quo isn’t an option for their hockey operations department or their fan base.
Let's get to that list. Here are four NHL teams that can't afford to sit on their hands this summer:
Oilers. Okay, this was an easy choice, as Oilers management is openly speaking about the possibility of moving the No. 4 pick in this summer’s entry draft and not ruling out moving one or more of star forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov or Jordan Eberle in exchange for players who can shore up their defensive efforts. But it must be stressed that the willingness of GM Peter Chiarelli to shake things up in a major way should’ve been shared by one of his predecessors, and Edmonton is a perfect example of a team that can be paralyzed by the optics of shipping out young talent.
Some might suggest a team could and would eventually deal itself into disaster by giving up on a developing asset too soon, but there’s a difference between a hair-trigger trade finger and an environment where a player like Taylor Hall can be heading into his seventh NHL regular season still looking to secure his first playoff appearance. The Oilers’ organizational inertia could be justified by focusing on one individual player at a time and rationalizing a route ahead that required that player to remain in Edmonton, but on the whole, it amounted to a fear of being the executive(s) who traded away a singular talent and more than likely didn’t get “equal” value in return.
Where did that better-safe-than-sorry approach ultimately take them? To the place where they were safe, and still sorry. And now, without having qualified for a playoff berth in a decade, they can’t afford to keep selling this group of players to their fans.
Yakupov has made public his trade demand, and something tells me he won’t end up reconsidering the way Travis Hamonic has with the Islanders, so he’ll be a lock to go. And I’d be surprised if Edmonton did hang on to that fourth-overall pick, especially if they can include it with one of their key assets to land that big fish on defense. It’s not a question of if a notable Oilers name moves on, it’s a question of how many. And that’s a good sign for their future.
Rangers. They don’t have the same problems as the Oilers do, which is why the Blueshirts’ changes this summer won’t be as extensive in scope and depth as Edmonton’s will be. But don’t kid yourself – the Rangers are under a not-insignificant amount of pressure to win a championship in the very near future.
After their fizzle job to a more dynamic, faster Penguins team in the first round of the 2016 playoffs – the first time they’ve been eliminated in the opening round in the past five years – the Rangers are looking at a situation where Henrik Lundqvist will turn 35 before the post-season begins, and where a number of key members (including winger Rick Nash and defensemen Marc Staal, Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein) all will be in their thirties before the playoffs start.
They’re not bereft of young, skilled assets, but the window with this group is moving rapidly to the closed position, and GM Jeff Gorton has some challenges to make it all work under the salary cap. It’s unrealistic to imagine he’ll make a number of blockbuster transactions that retool the franchise for a longer-term run down the road; far more likely, I think, are complementary additions and depth moves to give Lundqvist and team veterans one final shot.
Under current ownership, the one thing you can always count on in Manhattan is that change is coming to the Rangers. That was true during the ascent of this core group, and it will be as it struggles to keep up with a new wave of Cup contenders.
Wild. Changes in Minnesota began in short order after another letdown of a playoff showing by the Wild, who have made it out of the second round just once in the 15 seasons since they began operating: interim head coach John Torchetti was replaced by former Ducks and Capitals bench boss Bruce Boudreau, a move that will likely help the franchise turn to a more fan-friendly style of play. But it shouldn’t and can’t be the only alteration GM Chuck Fletcher makes this summer. If it is, there’s every chance the Wild’s modest four-season playoff streak could come to an end.
Again, don’t interpret this as an indictment of each and every player on Minnesota’s payroll. Most teams would flourish if a player such as Zach Parise or Ryan Suter were wearing their jersey, and Fletcher has built an above-average defensive team. Unfortunately, the Wild just don’t have the offensive firepower to defeat true Western Conference powerhouses. When you have just three players who finished with more than 50 points in the regular season – and none of your players hit the 60-point plateau – it should be clear what the off-season priority is.
The most important question you can ask with this franchise is who do they have, either in their prime or in their development pipeline, who’ll lead them to playoff victories just within their division, let alone the other beasts of the West? The answer, sadly, is they don’t have anyone fitting that description, and the only way they ever will is to – you guessed it – take action on the trade front. It needn’t be 100 percent turnover on the roster to achieve that goal, but it can’t be cosmetic, either. And fed-up Wild fans and team owner Craig Leipold surely can’t be in the mood for further excuses. Fletcher is working to hold onto his job at this stage, and he likely won’t go down without making some deals of distinction.
Avalanche. The Avs are like Edmonton South in many ways – a team that can boast of a plethora of high-end skill at forward, but one that needs extensive help on the defensive end. Colorado’s core has been part of a group that’s missed the playoffs in five of the past six years, and team management comes from a lineage where blockbuster deals involving young players occurred frequently. With the Ryan O’Reilly-to-Buffalo trade last summer, they proved they could do the same thing – and they’ll very likely make more waves this time around.
There’s next to no chance GM Joe Sakic and head coach Patrick Roy will be satisfied with returning the same team to Denver next year, and though it doesn’t have to be (and probably won’t be) Matt Duchene who gets moved, there has to be someone who pays the price for it, fair or unfair. Besides, if you're a GM whose team finished ninth in the conference, you're usually too tempted to make a deal or two that will get you over the hump – on the ice, in the standings, and on the business end of things.
In Colorado's case, the pressure to produce sooner than later is both self-generated by the highly-competitive Roy and Sakic, and also external in the response of fans who'd in short order grown accustomed to seeing a winner in Denver. The Avs' momentary resurgence in the 2013-14 campaign reminded Colorado's hockey community what winning felt like, and that renewed hunger doesn't necessarily bring with it an appetite for patience. The setting is ideal, then, for transactions of note to involve the Avs this year.
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