On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, Frank Seravalli and Colby Cohen discuss why Jonathan Toews has fallen out of the top 10 on the trade board and why Seattle Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy’s trade value has risen on the board.
Colby Cohen: Well Frank I’m going to take your hat here for a second and pepper some questions your way about the trade board. Your new trade board debuted on DailyFaceoff.com today (Thursday) and Jonathan Toews has stumbled out of the top 10, this is the first time in a while he hasn’t been there. What’s the latest surrounding Toews in Chicago?
Frank Seravalli: Yeah, Colby I think teams have really been concerned about his status when you look at the amount of time missed already to this point. It’s been six games, and he’s not expected to rejoin the team as they head on their trip to Ottawa and that makes it seven games, but more importantly he’s a guy who hasn’t been skating a lot. So as a result you see him drop down to the No. 11 spot on the trade board, where he was previously at five. It’s not so much the concern about the current illness, it’s more about the history that’s existed there. When you think back to him missing the entire 2021-22 season as a result due to his chronic immune disorder and potentially some long COVID related issues that have been going on, that raises eyebrows with teams. It says “what is our reliability moving forward” and also “are we getting a player if we were to send the assets that are as close to 100% and someone who can compete at the high level” something which we are used to seeing Toews play at. It’s probably not fair to say it’s impossible that Toews will be traded but I think it’s a significant long shot and the odds increase the longer he’s off the ice.
Colby Cohen: The next player caught me by surprise a bit, I’ve been looking at the boards you’ve been uploading and today we have a newcomer in Carson Soucy who sits No. 8 and Seattle is a playoff team, they have been a big surprise. So, why is Carson Soucy now in the top 10 on your trade board?
Frank Seravalli: Yeah, it actually surprised me to hear his name out there. But I think where the Kraken are is an incredibly healthy and envious place to be if you’re the opposition. They’re in a spot where Soucy has significant value and lots of teams are interested in trying to get their hands on a 6-foot-5 defenseman who makes $2.75 million and is a pending free agent. I don’t think there’s been much there in terms of contract extension talks, and so the Kraken have now arrived at this point where they go “should we try and recoup an asset for Soucy” and I believe it could be a significant return, I believe it could be first-round pick territory if Soucy is potentially on the move. In the standings, the Kraken are on pace for 100 points and depending on where you get your information whether that be HockeyVhiz or MoneyPuck.com they have somewhere between 85%-94% chance to make the playoffs and I think a lot would need to go wrong in order for them to miss. So to take a guy who has played second and third pair minutes averaging just about 16:00 ice time it’s probably not going to change their playoff odds or odds to win a series all too much. So, if they can sell on Soucy and get a significant asset in return and then either use that or other pieces to go out and bolster this team elsewhere. This is a fun spot to be in for Ron Francis where you can consider just about anything. I’ve been told at this point from sources around the league that the Kraken are willing to do just that. They’re happy to keep Soucy, but they’re also willing to entertain some offers there.
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