Lost in all of the talk about the Leafs and Penguins trade which saw a 1st rounder and prospects going to Toronto and Kapanen to Pittsburgh was the fact that this trade occurred while the Stanley Cup Playoffs were ongoing. A few people were confused, even questioning whether or not it should be allowed.

For those still confused allow me to explain. There is no trade freeze put in place at the trade deadline. After the trade deadline, any team can still trade any player, pick, or prospect that they want. The only caveat is that said asset cannot play on their roster until the beginning of the following season. If Tampa wanted to trade Stamkos for Barzal right now both teams could do it... just neither player would suit up in the playoffs for their respective teams.

Looking back, I cannot recall the last time a trade happened during the playoffs. Two years ago the Oilers traded a third round pick for Cooper Marody on March 21st, almost a month after the deadline but that was the only case I could think of that comes close.

In any other year we wouldn't even be discussing this but credit to Kyle Dubas for understanding that this isn't any normal year.

At the very latest, the NHL Playoffs will be finished on October 4th of this year. The 2020 Draft is tentatively listed as being on October 9-10 which would then mean free agency would start just a couple days after. The tentative starting date for the 2020/2021 NHL season is December 1st which means training camp would being the middle of November; let's say November 15th.

With this schedule in mind, the amount of time between the Draft and the beginning of Training Camp, when a coach and GM is going to want at least 95% of the team together is only a month. One month for GM's to take calls and make deals. That is an extremely compacted amount of time and it will be interesting to see how many rushed deals are made due to this.

Dubas has made the smart move here and while there are 8 teams that won't be taking any calls right now, the remaining 23 are open for business. Holland should absolutely be following suit here as there are a number of strong suitors for Edmonton that are not playing games now.

Toronto Maple Leafs - Dubas has let the hockey world know he is open for business. With players like Andreas Johnsson and maybe Frederick Andersen available and Edmonton looking to move some of it's defensemen I think there is a match here.

Arizona Coyotes - The League went 1/2 yesterday on smart decisions by heavily fining the Coyotes for violating combine testing; forfeiting a 2nd round pick this year and a 1st round pick next year. The Coyotes once again find themselves in a rough position (just move the team already) and are looking to dump salary and now likely reacquire some picks.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Like Dubas, Rutherford has opened the doors and has gone a step further by likely signalling his next move; that one of Murray or Jarry will be traded. Edmonton needs a goalie and one of Pittsburgh's would look pretty good. Would you trade the 14th overall for Tristan Jarry? I would.

Those are just three examples but plenty more could be discussed; from teams dissapointed with their first round exit like the Preds to teams that have been sitting around for half a year anyways like the Sabres. In any other year it would make sense to wait for all teams to be dealing to try and get the best offer possible but this is not a normal year.

Dubas dropped the first domino and Holland is doing the team a disservice if he doesn't follow suit.

Thanks for reading.

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