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Good day to all.
Connor Hellebuyck for William Nylander. Pierre-Luc Dubois for Kirby Dach. Mark Scheifele for Alex DeBrincat.
Mock trades. What a crock.
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Reading NHL trades concocted by armchair quarterbacks, ill-informed bloggers and basically anyone with a social media presence makes me want to break stuff. The fingers of the dimwits typing this crapola, to be more precise.
I loathe fake trade chatter. Like I loathe mincemeat. Neither has any place in modern society but is served up with appalling regularity.
(And cilantro. Don’t even get me started on that vile weed.)
Trade speculation is everywhere these days. Mock deals are continuously tossed out on Twitter, Facebook and websites devoted to rumour-mongering, yet the vast majority never materialize.
It’s never sourced. It’s fake news. It’s clickbait. And I’m too old and cranky to get whipped up by hypothetical trades right out of the fantasy-hockey realm.
I guess for some it’s a bit of a hobby. And it’s not exactly a new phenomenon.
Back in the ‘80s, I’d listen intently to the radio — including a call-in portion for fans — following Winnipeg Jets 1.0 games. Invariably, my enjoyment turned to exasperation when some knucklehead would suggest an absurd trade as the magic cure for all that ailed the team at that moment in time.
“The Jets should trade Laurie Boschman for Luc Robitaille.”
OK, so I made that one up. For effect.
But trust me, there were some really dump trade suggestions that made it to the airwaves. Dave Babych was dealt by callers 1,000 times before he was eventually shipped to Hartford for Ray Neufeld in an historically pitiful November 1985 trade by general manager John Ferguson.
I hated mock trades then. I hate mock trades now.
Back to the here and now, there’s no question the Winnipeg Jets MUST, and I truly believe WILL, make at least TWO major deals within the next couple of weeks.
Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff needs to overhaul the core.
The chase for the Stanley Cup is done (congratulations GM Kelly McCrimmon and the Vegas Golden Knights), and attention has shifted to offseason moves and the upcoming draft. And, remarkably, the local hockey team is a focal point of the NHL right now.
The camps of brilliant goalie Hellebuyck and talented centre Dubois — who we can now firmly establish as a problem child — have indicated those players want out.
Meanwhile, it’s become abundantly clear the long-serving and productive duo of Scheifele and Wheeler needs a change of scenery.
Do the Jets grant PLD his wish and send him to Montreal? Or is he bound for Boston or the New York Rangers?
Hellebuyck might be just the answer for a markedly improved L.A. Kings squad, but several other organizations likely feel they are a Vezina-calibre netminder away from being a legitimate Cup contender next season.
Does Scheifele get shipped to Ottawa or Carolina?
Will the deals include prospects, draft-pick swaps or salary retention.
Indeed, the returns for the Jets stars should be high. But I find no value — not even just for kicks — in reading guesses of what those returns might be.
Only the Jets and their dance partners will know for sure. Whether Cheveldayoff has any slick moves remains to be seen.
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