Note to NHL GMs: Get Off the Fence!

Seems to me that, these days, GMs are paid more for sitting on their hands than they are for tweaking their teams through trades. I understand trades are not the only responsibility of a GM—drafting is in fact key—but why so silent on the trade front?

There are a number of teams out there that are struggling, and even though we are only 15-20 games into the season, nobody is pulling the trigger?

In my opinion, they are all afraid of losing their jobs. They would rather do nothing than take a chance via trade and have it backfire. This does not make any sense. Their job is to put as much talent on the ice as possible under the salary cap.

Give the fans and owners some credit, in today's NHL (with exception to Detroit—and its day will come soon enough) we all understand that you have about a four-year window before a team needs a significant overhaul.

This is due to the rising player salaries, long-term injuries and speed that comes with youth entering the game at what seems a faster rate every year. There will be peaks of performance and there will be valleys of frustration on every team depending on the year. Eventually all need to trade, what was their franchise player, for youth.

Take for example, my Ottawa Senators. I admit to being extremely excited when they were able to lock up Alfredsson, Spezza, Heatley, Phillips long term. Things looked great for at least four years.

But when nearly two thirds of your total cap space is paid to four or five players, you had better hope those players NEVER get injured, NEVER slump, and NEVER lose chemistry. If one of these things does happen, you are forced to rely on unproven youth or under-skilled veterans to fill the void. Nine times out of ten, you are not going to be happy with the outcome.

So my argument is why wait? If you could get a solid return for one of these players, why would you not take the chance? Why wait until you are 25-30 games into the season when you are trying to deal from a position of extreme weakness?

Right now, you could probably get a high draft pick, an AHL top prospect and an everyday player for one of your franchise players. Let's not forget, you would also be adding to your cap space which could lead to even more flexibility down the road. 

I can't understand why there is so much interest in Brian Burke going to the Leafs when we all know that he is simply going to sign free agents in the off season, and perhaps make a small deal or two close to the deadline. Having $4 million a year to start from scratch, no expectations for three or four years? Where do I sign?

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