So, with all my kids now in college/medical school, and a lot of extra time on my hands, I'm finally getting to do what people have asked me to do for years, which is show you a little bit inside behind the scenes here and how I come up with the rumor chart and how I come up with who I call and what sources I reach out to on what days….
The first part of my rumor chart prep is an article I did a little bit ago, showing which teams were the most desperate in hockey… because desperation always plays into the trade deadline. The next thing I do is I talk to people around the league and my writers and I try to get a concept of what are the three biggest needs of a team. I'm constantly changing this in my notes. But here's where we are currently… I'm gonna first do an overview today and then over the next four days after that I will put out each of the divisions….
Like I said, this isn't what these teams are gonna do at the trade deadline. It just is a place to start when I call up a GM or if I call up a source that I know who works with the team or someone who is connected to the team, etc. I don't like to just call somebody up or text them and say "hey what's going on?" The people I talk to are very busy people and they don't have to share information with me so I need to come to them with something interesting or something else I'm hearing from someplace else, which is usually what they want to hear from me…. Information is a commodity and I can't just get it for free. At times I do have some really good friends who do just tell me what's going on, but even in those situations I like to have it as a conversation back-and-forth. And they know they can trust me so a lot of what I'm told stays off the record, unless I start hearing from other places at which time I have to go to them and say hey, I'm hearing this from other places… you might be curious as to why that matters but the reality is this: if one person tells me something they're never sure if they're the only person who knows about this. So if I put it out there, it could be leaked back to them very easily. That's usually the reason something would be off the record.
The ones I know really well will often tell me, you can talk about this, but you gotta find it from someplace else. So I have to legitimately do that. I can't just pretend I found it from someplace else so I go around and I look for it. And I usually when I'm doing that look for whatever I've been told plus something else that would show them that I definitely got this from someplace else. If someone tells me for example off the record, "we're going to try to trade our goalie" I can't just go to somebody else and say "hey did you hear that so-and-so was going to try to trade their goalie?" and then count that as another source. I have to have conversations with a lot of people until someone says to me, "I hear so and so is trying to trade a goalie and they want a second round pick back"… or something like that.
So I will post two articles today focusing on the Central and Pacific…and two articles tomorrow focusing on the Atlantic and the Metro…Then, over the weekend I will look at trends between teams, possible trading partners, GM tendencies, owner wants, and finally the players that could move…All that will lead into a Thanksgiving Day Rumor Chart Launch. And with the rumor chart launch will come a big surprise. I think you guys will all be very happy about. That's all I can say for now.
NEEDS OF THE CENTRAL DIVISION>
Colorado Avalanche (13-1-5, 31 pts in 19 GP)
Last Year: 49-29-4 (102 pts) | Projected: 56-4-22 (134 pts)
Top 3 Needs:
- Overtime Success - 1-5 in OT games (minor concern)
- Depth Forward - After Rantanen trade, need more secondary scoring
- Defensive Depth - Additional depth defenseman
Dallas Stars (12-5-3, 27 pts in 20 GP)
Last Year: 50-26-6 (106 pts) | Projected: 49-21-12 (111 pts)
Top 3 Needs:
- Penalty Kill Improvement - Near bottom of NHL after finishing 4th last season
- Depth Scoring - Additional middle-six forward
- Defensive Depth - Insurance on blue line for playoff run
Winnipeg Jets (12-7-0, 24 pts in 19 GP)
Last Year: 56-22-4 (116 pts) | Projected: 52-30-0 (104 pts)
Top 3 Needs:
- Second-Line Center - Jonathan Toews struggling (39% expected goals share)
- Defensive Depth - 32nd in 5-on-5 expected goals share
- Secondary Scoring - Too dependent on Scheifele, Connor, Morrissey, and Hellebuyck
Chicago Blackhawks (10-5-4, 24 pts in 19 GP)
Last Year: 25-46-11 (61 pts) | Projected: 43-22-17 (104 pts) | Status: AHEAD by 43 points Top 3 Needs:
Top 3 Needs:
- Defensive Structure - Allowing 3.64 expected goals per 60 (31st in NHL)
- Spencer Knight Support - Can't rely solely on goaltending to mask defensive issues
- Building Around Bedard - Need complementary pieces for franchise center
Minnesota Wild (10-7-4, 24 pts in 21 GP)
Last Year: 45-30-7 (97 pts) | Projected: 39-27-16 (94 pts)
Top 3 Needs:
- 5-on-5 Scoring - Lowest in NHL at 1.79 goals per 60 minutes
- Health - Need Kaprizov, Rossi, and Zuccarello back from injuries
- Secondary Scoring Depth - Too reliant on Kaprizov
Utah Mammoth (10-7-3, 23 pts in 20 GP)
Last Year: 38-31-13 (89 pts) | Projected: 41-29-12 (94 pts) |
Top 3 Needs:
- Goaltending - 29th in all-situations save percentage
- Offensive Depth - Need more scoring beyond Keller, Cooley, Guenther
- Defensive Consistency - Build on Sergachev and Marino additions
St. Louis Blues (6-9-5, 17 pts in 20 GP)
Last Year: 44-30-8 (96 pts) | Projected: 25-37-20 (70 pts)
Top 3 Needs
- Goaltending - .863 save% is worst in NHL; Binnington needs support
- Draft Picks - No 2nd round pick until 2028; only 3 picks in 2025
- Defensive Overhaul - Long-standing defensive issues persist
Nashville Predators (6-10-4, 16 pts in 20 GP)
Last Year: 30-44-8 (68 pts) | Projected: 25-41-16 (66 pts) |
Top 3 Needs:
- Team Direction and coaching. unclear
- Offensive Production - 262 goals since start of 2024-25 (31st overall)
- Youth Development - Build around Matthew Wood and prospects
I could use your help!
I am trying to keep up with 32 teams, if you feel your team's needs are different than I am hearing, please let me know in the comments!
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