NHL Trade Rumors: Latest Rumblings from Around the League

Thanksgiving is almost here, which is generally considered the time of year that NHL teams decide if they are fully invested in making a run toward the playoffs or have their eye on rebuilding for the future.

With that in mind, it is no surprise that there are some trade rumors circulating around the league.

Read on to get a closer look at a couple of them in particular.

Tyler Myers

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Chad DeDominicis of TheFourthPeriod.com passed along the latest regarding Buffalo Sabres defender Tyler Myers:

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For nearly two years, Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers has been the topic of trade rumors. The 2010 Calder Trophy winner has struggled to live up to the high expectations and patience is becoming thin in Buffalo. [...]

The rumored price for Myers right now is 1-2 prospects, a roster player and a 2015 1st round pick.

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Myers is still working to reach those expectations. He only has one goal in the early going this season and has a plus/minus rating of minus-23 in his young career.

DeDominicis suggests that a change of scenery may be best for the 24-year-old if he ever hopes to fulfill his potential. A trade would also make some sense from the Sabres’ point of view because they are rebuilding with an eye toward the future.

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Giving up a talented player like Myers could land Buffalo a couple of young assets in return who could help when it is ready to compete again down the road. 

If for no other reason than a trade could benefit both the team and the player, Buffalo may ship Myers somewhere else before the season ends.

Chris Stewart

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Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal provided an update on Chris Stewart of the Buffalo Sabres: “The Boston Bruins sniffed around Stewart, too, because they’re still looking for a right-winger to replace Jarome Iginla for linemates David Krejci and Milan Lucic.”

While the specific rumor mentioned there from Matheson deals with the Boston Bruins, he also speculates in far more detail that the Columbus Blue Jackets may be a more realistic suitor. Nathan Horton is out for the season (and possibly his career) with debilitating back issues, and Stewart is someone who could theoretically fill that spot.

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The Blue Jackets are a fascinating possibility because there is a lot at play here. Entering the season, they had high expectations after a playoff run last year and solid performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins when they got there, but this season has gone off the rails because of injuries.

In fact, Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch noted that, going into Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, Columbus had lost 118 man games to injury and only had five players participate in every one of the first 17 games.

Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen commented on the unique situation, via Ken Campbell of The Hockey News: “Somebody also told me that you have no chance of making the playoffs if you have 300 man-games lost to injury, and we’re on pace to be almost double that.”

The question now, especially as it regards to Stewart, is whether the Blue Jackets would be a in a buy-now mode even with the slow start with the hope that many of the injured pieces return and lead to a second-half resurgence. The flip side of that would be looking at this season as a lost cause, which would mean Columbus probably wouldn’t make a move in the near future. 

Perhaps someone like Stewart could help change the string of bad luck the Blue Jackets have suffered early in the season.

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