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How the market for forwards may shape the NHL trade deadline
What happens with Tampa Bay lightning captain Steven Stamkos could have a major ripple effect. Scott Audette/Getty Images

The market for forwards may shape the NHL trade deadline

During this festive time of the hockey season when the trade deadline is rapidly approaching, the press boxes tend to have a few more scouts than usual.

While the market for defensemen has been the topic du jour — as we discussed earlier this week — there are still teams out there looking to add power up front.

Of course, when you mention forwards in this trade deadline, the bulk of the attention turns toward Steven Stamkos. That is unless you’re in Pacific Division territory, where there’s a bit more focus on Patrick Marleau, (more on that later.)

Here are some offense-focused odds and ends from the trade market front.

An interesting tidbit to start with: There is the possibility that this trade deadline could end up being fairly uneventful. Cap space is a factor, as USA Today points out: “10 teams in the playoff race have fewer than $4 million in cap space… All of those teams are looking to improve, but it will be challenging to pull off a major deal.”

The other factor is that a number of buzzed-about players on the market have no-trade or no-move clauses in their current contracts that makes the likelihood of movement that much harder to figure out. Forwards with no-trade clauses: Eric Staal (Carolina), Radim Vrbata (Vancouver) and Andrew Ladd (Winnipeg). Stamkos and Marleau are top names on the market front with no-move clauses in their contracts.      
Of course, that doesn’t scare away some teams from putting as many feelers out in the market as possible.

Even after this week’s nine-player swap-a-palooza, the Ottawa Senators are reportedly not done making moves, looking for help up front. TheFourthPeroid.com has the Sens linked to Staal and every winger under the sun from Ladd to Jiri Hudler (Calgary). It was also reported on Friday that they have become the front-runner in the Jonathan Drouin sweepstakes. Which brings us to…

The Tamps Bay Lightning’s front office is reportedly being very careful, albeit very smart, with how it handles the young, moody Drouin. A SportsNet account suggests that Bolts GM Steve Yzerman avoid a situation akin to that of Kyle Turris in 2011, another disgruntled young forward who insisted on leaving the Coyotes and ended up in Ottawa.

This shows, for one, that Yzerman has remained one cool customer even after Drouin stuck his nose up and refused to report to the AHL. But that also shows that an unhappy Drouin has to stay put a bit longer, making him potentially a bigger headache for TB than the Stamkos situation is. Even with multiple teams showing interest, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if a deal involving Drouin came down to the wire.

The Predators’ acquisition of Ryan Johansen has proven to be a positive one, and the Preds are looking to continue adding more offense during a season in which scoring has been an issue — notably a player they can plug in on Johansen’s wing. Adam Vingan of The Tennessean said earlier this week that he thinks the Predators:

“need a crash-and-bang left wing, someone who can play on the first line with forwards Ryan Johansen and James Neal and fearlessly stand in front of the net hunting for rebounds and deflections, goals that Nashville hasn’t scored enough of this season.”

There are players on the market fitting those specific guidelines. Vingan wrote that he sees Scott Hartnell, currently playing in Columbus, as a potentially good fit. The Preds have also been linked to the Vrbata sweepstakes, and there has been a Nashville scout present at recent San Jose Sharks games, potentially watching veteran winger Patrick Marleau.

The mystery surrounding Marleau and whether or not he’ll stay in Teal Town hasn’t faded since rumors first surfaced earlier this season that the veteran had hired an agent to help test the trade market waters. Marleau, who has been a Shark since San Jose drafted him in 1997, has remained mum on the subject of waiving his no-movement clause for a change of scenery. But the plethora of scouts who have consistently been at Sharks home games this season would suggest that he’s still an available commodity.

Yes, every other article out there talks about Stamkos already and how a deal to the Toronto Maple Leafs has been a hot topic of conversation for months. But he needs to be mentioned here again, mostly because, as the biggest name out there, his status and move could end up having a huge impact on the rest of the trade market. That, and he continues to keep his lips zipped when revealing any kind of information, leaving everyone outside of the business to speculate what his Twitter behavior over the last several months has meant — and whether we should read too much into TSN’s Bob McKenzie that the Buffalo Sabres should top Stamkos' list of potential teams to be dealt to.

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