The Arizona Coyotes have finally done what has long been rumored, trading winger Anthony Duclair and defenseman Adam Clendening to the Chicago Blackhawks for Richard Panik and former Coyote Laurent Dauphin.
This represents a salary dump for the Hawks, who signed Panik last summer to a two-year, $5.6 Million contract extension after scoring 22 goals, but the winger has only 6 goals in 37 games this season.
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If you had averaged out the buyers/seller ratings of the 16 teams in the Eastern Conference on December 7 you would have gotten an average of 10.54...If you do the same today you get 10.49. So the general mood in the East hasn't changed much...in terms of the fact the conference is slightly more heavy on buyers....
But that wouldn't at all show you the story, because over the last month we have seen a HUGE shift in the names and strengths of these teams..
We may still have 11 Buyers and 5 Sellers in the East, but the biggest shift comes from the liklelihood of teams being buyers...
On December 7 we had 1 "Definite buyer" (Tampa) and 3 Strong Buyers (Toronto, NJ, and Columbus)
Today we still have Tampa as Definite, but now there are 5 Strong Buyers, four of whom are new.. Toronto and NJ remain, but Columbus has fallen down to "Possible Buyers" while Boston, Washington and Carolina are now all "Strong Buyers."
Biggest Movers Towards Buyers:
Boston up 27 points (moving from #11 to #3) Carolina up 16 (moving from #10 to #6) Philadelphia up 15 (moving from #12 to #9) Pittsburgh up 10 (moving from #9 to #7) Washington and the NY Rangers up 7 points
Biggest Movers Towards Sellers
Montreal down 20 (moving from #7 ro #12) Columbus down 18 (moving from #4 to #10) NY Islanders down 17 ( from #5 to #11) Ottawa down 12 (steady at #15) Detroit down 9 (from #13 to #14)
Switching sides...
Montreal went from being a "Likely Buyer" to a "Possible Seller." Philly went the opposite direction from "Possible Seller to Likely Buyer"
Here are all the numbers....
Ek’s Buyer Seller Rating for the Eastern Conference..
Definite Buyers (over 40)
#1. Tampa 46.46 (UP 6.5)
Strong Buyers (20 >40)
#2. Toronto 35.27 (DOWN 2)
#3. Boston 28.5 (UP 27)
#4. Washington 25.46 (UP 7)
#5. New Jersey 24.43 (DOWN 2)
#6. Caroilna 20,81 (UP 16)
Likely Buyers (10 > 20)
#7. Pittsburgh 19.3 (up 10)
#8. NY Rangers 18.39 (UP 7)
#9. Philadelphia 12.9 (UP 15)
Possible Buyers (under 10))
#10. Columbus 6.95 (Down 18)
#11. NY Islanders 2.4 (DOWN 17)
******BUYER/SELLER LINE*****
Possible Sellers (0> -10)
#12. Montreal –2.85 (DOWN 20)
#13. Florida –8.4 (DOWN 3)
Likely Sellers (-10 > -30)
#14. Detroit –14 (DOWN 9)
#15. Ottawa –21.8 (DOWN 12)
#16. Buffalo -26 (DOWN 7)
more to come...