from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

We’re still waiting for that flurry of trade activity. It was hard to know what to expect with a 48-game season and a new CBA, but so far it’s been awfully quiet in terms of significant moves.

"Nobody wants to take any significant money back," reasoned one Eastern Conference GM on Monday.

"The question I’m asking myself is why would I take on a player with three more years on his deal at $3 million or $4 million a year, and then have that contract limit what I can do this summer?" a Western Conference GM wondered to ESPN.com.

Don’t forget that the NHL salary cap is going to $64.3 million per team next season, down from $70.2 million this season.

I still think it’s going to be a busy April 3 trade deadline, but I also think there could be even more activity in the offseason, so there are some clubs who will wait until then to make their biggest moves.

Still, one team executive said Monday there’s too much pressure on some teams not to finally ante up soon.

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