Trade Rumors: It’s Crunch Time, Will The Hawks Add More Pieces?

March14, 2013; Raleigh, NC, USA; Washington Capitals center

(9) skates agains the Carolina Hurricanes at the PNC center. The Capitals defeated the Hurricanes 3-2. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

The trade deadline comes tomorrow and after a Monday filled with trades around the NHL including the Blackhawks trade for Michal Handzus. Will there be a lot more movement or since so many teams have playoff aspirations will most organizations stand pat.

The most telling part of the trade deadline is whether players get the extensions they are looking for or will they get dealt as a rental player.

Mike Ribeiro is the leading scorer for the Washington Capitals but is looking for a 5 year extension.  The Capitals are in the #8 spot in the Eastern Conference so it is unlikely that they are going to be sellers when all it takes is to be in the Stanley Cup playoffs to win the Cup.  The LA Kings run to the Cup from the #8 spot will deter a lot of teams from making this type of deal in the next two days. Even though Ribeiro’s name will be out there for the next two days don’t look for him to be wearing another sweater come this weekend.

The other player still being rumored coming to the Hawks is Mark Streit and today could be a huge day for him.  Streit will either get an extension from the Islanders or more than likely get traded on Wednesday with the Blackhawks and Bruins being the most talked about destination especially after the Kings trade yesterday for defenseman Robyn Regehr.  Johnny Oduya has been pretty bad for the Hawks the past two weeks and the Hawks cannot afford to have Oduya repeat last year’s poor playoff performance like last year against the Phoenix Coyotes if the Hawks are going to seriously make a run for the Cup.

The problem for Hawks fans is that the Handzus trade is probably all we get from Stan Bowman this year.  He has been very stingy with high draft picks and prospects which any of  these deals would cost plus he has a track record of not going for the splash at the deadline.  Last season Bowman aquired Oduya and dumped John Scott even though everyone thought for sure a Patrick Kane mega deal was going to happen or Niklas Hjalmarsson would be moved at the very least and none of these move came to pass.

The Hawks are more than likely done even though every center mentioned in the NHL that could be traded will be linked to the Hawks as well as rental defenseman.  Bowman has a plan and it usually doesn’t evolve around deadlines!!

Do you see the Hawks making another move in the next 2 days?

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