from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

So we ask the question: Has the time come for general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to change his M.O., with the real National Hockey League trading deadline — i.e., the NHL Draft — just around the corner? He’s got trading chips in his top-10 draft pick; Dustin Byfuglien, who prefers to play defence, while head coach Paul Maurice sees him as a forward; and Evander Kane, who always has us wondering if any position will make him happy, so long as it is in Winnipeg.

Has the time come for some actual wheeling and dealing, to go along with all of that patient development in Manitoba?

“Maybe we’re the team that makes that blockbuster,” Cheveldayoff told Sportsnet this week. “You always have that zest, that desire to see if there’s that elusive deal that can help you. But when you do get on the phone, you quickly find out your counterparts are trying to find that same deal. It is a difficult thing.”

The free agent market used to be building tool.

Today, the July 1 market isn’t nearly as thick with talent as it once was, with everyone signing even their remotely valuable players to longer-termed deals.

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