Making the Case for a January Trade Deadline

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Written by Ryan

Thursday, 21 January 2010 08:45

I don't really like the idea of rental players. Not that I'm against a team bolstering their lineup and really making a run for the Cup, because dealing away your future assets for a short-term sniper is a gamble that you have to respect, but what I'm against is the brevity of the situation from a fan's standpoint.

When the Flyers rented Vinny Prospal two seasons ago that's exactly what it felt like. I was kind of hesitant to root for him at all because I knew he was a very temporary part of the team. I doubt if any Prospal jerseys were sold upon his return - maybe one was dusted off and brought in from the garage. But the general feeling among fans I was around at the time was that we needed to milk this Czech for all the hockey he was worth and then leave him jobless in Prague. He played well in the regular season and his point totals in the playoffs were deceiving as he did score 13 points in 17 games but looked like a 75 year old tennis player.

But the whole situation was just….gross kind of. It was like he hadn't put the time in to re-become (in this case) a Flyer, and you could smell it when he was on the ice. For players who are brand new to an organization and quite clearly not considering relocating it must feel even stranger.

That's why I think it'd be a smart move to bump the trade deadline up to the middle of January - right around the midpoint of the season for most teams. I think this could work out for all parties involved for a couple reasons.

The first, and the answer to 99 out of 100 questions, being money. If teams had just brought in rentals last week there'd be a whole lot more season left for those players to meld into the organization - which I guarantee would show up in merchandise sales. 20 games and however many playoff games feels like too short of a time to buy a jersey. Even a t-shirt maybe. But if you bring in a legitimate superstar I think that their gear would be much more marketable - especially if they were a bonafide superstar like Ilya Kovalchuk - with an entire half a season left and a lot of football fans gravitating towards the only source of violence they can find until Ricky Vaughn hits camp in a month.

I also think that moving the date up would help a lot of teams shit or get off the pot. Teams that are dealing, like Carolina apparently already is, could just go ahead and deal. Their new players would have more time to get accustomed to their teammates, coaches, system, and new long term surroundings. Hell, if enough teams were sellers at the deadline in January sellers might even end up fighting for the 7th or 8th playoff seeds with their new crop of young and excited talent. Fans wouldn't get the impression that their favorite clubs are packing it in for the season but rather shooting for an alternate root to the playoffs on the backs of this energetic and eager-to-impress talent. And if it doesn't work out this year then get excited for these kids in the future.

An earlier deadline would also make great strides towards eliminating the rental atmosphere that hangs over new arrivals. When a player is being called a rental, and feels like a rental, their perspective becomes that of a temporary member of the organization right of the bat. If they were brought in with half a season left you might see a lot more "rentals" just turning out to be trades with re-signings happening over the summer or even immediately during the second half of the season. With the cap set to fall a bit some guys might be willing to forgo big money for long term security.

I guess in the end it just seems cheap to bring in big names for what basically becomes and end of season preseason for them and then a tournament. It makes the regular season seem arbitrary and unnecessary for the post point. Except that I would be bored out of my mind at work if it didn't exist. I understand that rentals come at a significant cost, but the cost would be the same in January and the benefits to the fans and the players are significant.