Where Are All the Trades?

Slow trade season so far

The NHL trade deadline is next Tuesday, giving GMs a little under seven days to make a move to improve their team for this year (or next year). Compared to past seasons, it sure feels like there haven't been many trades. According to NHL.com, there have only been 13 trades since January 1st. Morover, the biggest names that came out of these trades have been Modry, Stillman, Commodore, Tarnstrom, and Shelley...not really jaw droppers are they?

So why haven't there been many trades? Well, the market is screwed up. Just take a look at the NHL standings, almost every team in every division is somewhat still in the playoff hunt. Consequently, almost everyone is a buyer and nobody is a seller...making for a terrible marketplace.

So why is almost everyone a buyer? Well, you can blame the point system used to determine NHL standings. With teams receiving a point in a loss, it has created a scenario where a team can lose 10 games in a row in OT and still be .500 in terms of points gained. In a world where the loser still gets a point, you are bound to have a lot of teams on the bubble.

Looking at the standings, there are only a handful of teams that are pretty much out of the playoff hunt: Toronto, Tampa Bay, Chicago, Edmonton, Los Angeles. Everyone else is four to five points away from selling playoff tickets...no wonder everyone still feels like they're in it.

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