Weeks of rumors, innuendo, and e5s will finally come to a head on Wednesday. At 3pm Eastern, the NHL trade deadline will pass. Entering play Tuesday night, 23 NHL teams are either in a playoff position or within six points of one. While this is great for the playoff races, it's not so good for the deadline.
It minimizes the number of potential sellers, drives up the trade market for the few players who should be available, and leaves us wondering if any big deals will go down. Here's a look at how the Western Conference looks heading into the deadline. Sharks general manager Doug Wilson appeared on NHL Live Tuesday, and if he was planning anything notable, he did a good job of hiding it. I don't see a move this team could make, even if they wanted to.
The Wings could use some help in net, but they don't have any cap flexibility, and I see them standing pat. With Daymond Langkow at least out for the Flames Eastern road trip , they should at least consider finding a way to add someone. The problem is the virtual lack of cap space. Calgary would have to give up equal salary to bring in a guy like Ryan Smyth , and there's no guarantee that doing so wouldn't open up another hole somewhere else on the roster.
The Blackhawks could try to make a move up front, but like Detroit, they lack any real cap flexibility. The Canucks could use a guy like Smyth, but it doesn't seem like anything more than a longshot. If they were floundering in the bottom half of the West, there may be talk of a Sedin trade, as the Canucks appear to be in trouble with that negotiation this summer.
Vancouver could also use a guy like Leopold to help them out on defense. I'd be surprised if any kind of move was made, though. The Canucks know they can ride Roberto Luongo to the playoffs now. Columbus has to find a way to score more goals.
