The Minnesota Wild ain't foolin' around.
The top team in the Western Conference (39-14-6: 84 points) just scooped the Montreal Canadiens and several other Stanley Cup contending teams by trading for red hot ticket Martin Hanzal.
Wild GM Chuck Fletcher just slid all of his poker chips to the center of the table in an all-in power move.
The Wild will add two great veteran pieces in centers Hanzal and Ryan White. The Wild will also receive Arizona's 2017 4th round draft pick.
Heading to Arizona are three premium draft choices:
2017 1st round pick
2018 2nd round pick
2019 conditional pick
Riddle me this:
If Hanzal and White are worth a first rounder in a weak draft, a second rounder in a strong draft and a conditional draft choice, then what are Evander Kane, Matt Duchene and Gabe Landeskog worth on the NHL trade market?
The Sabres are looking for a top pair D and a forward prospect in return for Kane, who has term left on his deal. The Avs are looking for a top pair D, a top prospect forward, a D prospect and a roster forward for Duchene. I've heard that Landeskog can be had for two fist rounders, or, a package that includes a first rounder in 2017, a top D prospect and a top six forward. Like Kane, Duchene and Landeskog have term remaining in their current contracts.
Hanzal is a rental player and may not even end up signing a long term deal to stay in Minnesota.
Hanzal, 30, has 16 goals and 26 points this season for Arizona, but has been on a roll lately with seven points in his last eight games.
Hanzal is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
The Hanzal trade just moved the Western Conference to Defcon One.
How much do you want to bet that the LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose and Edmonton Oilers are about to throw down a trade or two of their own?
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The LA Kings have traded for a veteran goalie.
Tampa's Ben Bishop is now Jonathon Quick's abckup tender.
The Kings are sending Erik Cernak, Peter Budaj and a draft pick to Tampa to complete the Bishop trade.
LA gains Tampa's 5th round pick in 2017 and will send their 7th round pick in 2017 and a conditional pick in 2017.
The Kings are 3 points out of a wild card with 7 back-to-back games on their schedule.
The Kings want a veteran number one goalie in their net every game from here on out.
Quick returned Saturday afternoon from a three month injury by beating the Anaheim Ducks. With a grueling schedule in March and April, the Kings will need a strong under study for Quick. Like Quick, Bishop is no stranger to serious injuries.
We will see how this Bishop trade turns out.
Oh, by the way. The Kings are 25th in the NHL in goals scored and 25th in 5v5 goals.
Bishop can't score goals, can he?
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