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We’re down to less than one week to go until trade deadline on Monday. But first the Colorado Avalanche have games to play, and that includes tonight in hosting the New York Islanders.
The Avalanche are losing Mikko Rantanen for “weeks” and that forced GM Joe Sakic to make up the talent deficit with their former 16th-overall pick from the 2018 draft, calling up Martin Kaut to make his NHL debut tonight. Exact lines are not known at this time but head coach Jared Bednar indicated he might see time with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Matt Nieto in an important defensive role.
Kaut is excited and ready to get on the ice!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/hxt3aibHre
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 18, 2020
Several teams decided to begin their trade deadline shopping early and got in on the rental-defensemen action.
Ottawa kicked things off with the first domino in its firesale.
Trade alert: The #Sens have acquired a 2020 third-round draft pick from @NHLJets in exchange for defenceman Dylan DeMelo.
— Sens Communications (@Media_Sens) February 18, 2020
Alerte transaction : Les #Sens ont acquis un choix de troisième ronde en 2020 des Jets de Winnipeg en retour du défenseur Dylan DeMelo.
Then the Sharks decided to pull the trigger on their own defensive offering. Fun fact: Washington used the second-round pick they received from Colorado in the Andre Burakovsky trade to complete the deal.
#SJSharks acquire two draft selections from Washington Capitals in exchange for defenseman Brenden Dillon.https://t.co/TR5oD210z9 pic.twitter.com/ny4GOjAvJR
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) February 18, 2020
And then Montreal earned asset value for holding on to Marco Scandella for less than two months.
The Canadiens have acquired St. Louis’ second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft (and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2021), in exchange for defenseman Marco Scandella.#GoHabsGohttps://t.co/7ZqALTfebc
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 18, 2020
And finally, another trade in the works. Perhaps when Vegas sorts out cap space issues.
It’s not done yet, but VGK and LA are working to try to finalize a deal that would send defenceman Alec Martinez to the Golden Knights. Most telling sign will be if Martinez is in or out of the Kings’ lineup tonight vs. WPG.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 18, 2020
In light of all the recent serious injuries to the Avalanche anD around the league, here’s a good discussion from The Athletic for subscribers on load management.
Load management isn't just about extra rest, but it’s also a precaution to lower the chance of injury and re-injury.@domluszczyszyn on why it isn’t happening in the NHL, why it should and why it probably won’t.https://t.co/P0kRromEcr
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) February 18, 2020