It was Sunday afternoon, and the general manager of a contending team conceded that as of that moment, there were still just two sellers on the trade market. It was a little frustrating, but it hadn’t stopped conversations from happening all over the league.
“There’s a lot more talks now,” he said.
Then he offered a brief hint of optimism.
“Who knows? Something may happen tonight,” he said.
A few hours later, the Dallas Stars suffered a crushing loss at the hands of the Nashville Predators, blowing a 3-0 lead to ultimately lose to Nashville, 5-3.
It was Dallas’ fifth loss in six February games, and dropped the Stars to eight points behind the Predators in the wild-card standings, and six behind the Los Angeles Kings, who are enjoying a bye week.
It was the kind of loss that if you were a general manager on the fence with your team regarding whether or not to sell, well, the fence just collapsed.
At game No. 57, it’s just about clear that the Stars don’t have it this season. They can’t hold leads. They have an ugly, minus-24 goal differential. They don’t defend particularly well.
There are still more than two weeks before the March 1 trade deadline, but this game should have been the clincher for GM Jim Nill. He has pieces like Patrick Eaves, Dan Hamhuis, Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya that will bring a real return at the deadline.
Prices are sky-high right now for rentals, because there are so few. Perhaps that’s motivation enough to join the market now.
On Tuesday, the Stars play a team right next to them in the standings when they travel to Winnipeg. If the loss to Nashville didn’t convince Nill to sell, one in Winnipeg most certainly should do it.
Nine more takeaways from the weekend:
2. Next stop for Claude Julien
The fact that Claude Julien is now available in the coaching pool could make for interesting decisions during the stretch run. The Stars, for example, may normally be inclined to let coach Lindy Ruff finish out the season before making a decision behind the bench. But Julien is just about the perfect fit for a Dallas team that needs help defensively.
If Montreal continues to struggle, with the Canadiens shut out by the Bruins on Sunday, the calls for Julien will get louder in Montreal. They’ve already started.
Julien may not be in a rush to return to coaching, but there may soon be a rush among general managers to figure that out.
3. Penguins fighting mental fatigue
The Penguins' loss to the Coyotes over the weekend has raised some internal concerns that the team is suffering from a bit of a mental fatigue right now. Pittsburgh is coming off a short summer that ended with key players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist and Matt Murray competing in the World Cup.
Now, they’ve hit the dog days of the schedule, with a playoff spot all but locked up but the top spot in the division pretty much secured by the Capitals. There’s not a lot to play for during a weekend game against a bad Western Conference team, which is exactly the time when mental fatigue will show up.
4. He'll be back when he's back
Kings GM Dean Lombardi has stopped trying to put a timeline on Jonathan Quick's return. Initially, the projection was mid-February. Then it became March. Now, after it was reported by Kings beat writer Jon Rosen that Quick practiced in full pads, Lombardi declined to put a date to a comeback, offering only that Quick continues to make progress.
“He hasn’t had a setback,” Lombardi said during a Sunday phone conversation. “This is one of those injuries, you try to do a projection, but you just don’t know until he gets on the ice. It’s all in how he feels. This isn’t a common injury.”
5. Budaj has been just what the Kings needed
With his team on a bye week, Lombardi seemed to appreciate the effort they’ve turned in so far this season to occupy a playoff spot without the services of their franchise goalie.
“Our team has done a great job of not using him as an excuse,” Lombardi said.
Stand-in starter Peter Budaj has 46 starts in goal this season for the Kings, a total he’s topped only one other time in his career, when he started 55 games for the 2008-09 Avalanche. He’s done an admirable job after being pressed into regular duty, with his seven shutouts tied for the league lead. He currently has a .917 save percentage this season, a total higher than Quick’s career average of .916 and only slightly lower than Quick’s total of .918 over the previous two seasons.
There may be a mental boost when Quick returns, but the reality is that the there may not be a huge difference in goal.
6. The perils of the trade market
While the asking prices for trade deadline additions remain high in Colorado and Arizona, one GM looking to add to his roster had no issues with it. He’s taking a very zen approach to the deadline. “It’s not crazy who asks; it’s crazy who pays,” he said.
7. Hanzal's price is set
The bet here is that Coyotes center Martin Hanzal is moved sooner rather than later. The Coyotes have set their price, and have no intention of stringing this out any longer than necessary. If one of the many interested teams -- a list that includes the Wild, Predators and Canadiens, among others -- meets the asking price, a deal will be struck, whether that's today or right before the deadline. This isn’t going to be some sort of prolonged bidding war.
Hanzal had two goals for the Coyotes in their win over the Penguins, giving him 12 on the season. He logged 23:39 of ice time for Dave Tippett.
8. Which vets should the Coyotes keep?
While the Coyotes going into full-on sell mode seems like a no-brainer, one Western Conference NHL scout wondered if there wasn’t an advantage to keeping some of the veterans around in the desert. Arizona has a lot of young talent and will be adding even more next season, but that youth also needs to be surrounded by the right veterans.
The argument from the scout was that dumping all the veterans on expiring contracts rather than extending one or two of them will bring unnecessary exposure to the Arizona youth.
However, that will likely be an offseason concern for GM John Chayka, whose focus remains on adding young assets to the organization.
9. Flyers win by playing conservatively
The Flyers earned a nice win over the Sharks on Saturday afternoon, but one observing scout wasn’t necessarily impressed with the style of play.
“They’re playing a conservative style. It was an awful game to watch,” he said.
Shayne Gostisbehere, whose game has been scrutinized following a few healthy scratches, played more than 20 minutes of ice time and impressed the scout with his willingness to try to create offense.
“He hasn’t been the same as last year, but at least he does something every once in a while,” said the scout.
10. Why there seem to be more sophomore slumps this season
Gostisbehere’s sophomore struggles are typical of second-year players in the NHL, and this season has been no different. A look at last season’s rookie leaderboard reveals a host of players who are less productive this season, including Gostisbehere, Dylan Larkin and Anthony Duclair, among others.
One theory suggested by an NHL source is that this season is even harder on sophomores because of the condensed schedule.
“Everybody goes through tough times,” he said. “No teams practice anymore because of the condensed schedule. It’s hard to get out of the funk.”