As the trade deadline approaches, it appears Sam Lafferty is on his way to a new team. The forward will sit on Saturday night due to "trade-related reasons."
As the trade deadline approaches, many players are being held out of games. As of Saturday, Patrick Kane will not play against the San Jose Sharks with a potential trade likely occurring in the near future. Now, it also appears that Sam Lafferty will not play on Saturday too. However, his reasoning is more clear, as he is sitting for "trade-related reasons", per Charlie Roumeliotis.
There have been some reports on what the believed asking price is for Lafferty. According to Emily Kaplan, the believed value is a second-round pick. Lafferty has 21 points in 51 games so far this season. In addition, he has predominantly been a penalty killer and bottom-six player for the Hawks.
Despite the high asking price, it appears Lafferty is drawing a lot of interest. Not only has he been good for the Hawks since he was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins, he is also under contract at a reasonable $1.15 million for this season and next season. Having that additional year on the contract drives up his value, especially for contending teams with cap constraints.
There still isn't a lot of indication as to where Lafferty might end up. However, it is fair to assume that a number of contenders in need of depth for a playoff run are looking into Lafferty's services. It will be interesting to see if he is moved prior to March 3, or if the bidding war comes down to the final hour.
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