from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

All signs point toward a supernova of trade activity when the league’s hockey personnel gather in Philadelphia in late June:

■ Vancouver (Jim Benning), Philadelphia (Ron Hextall), Carolina (Ron Francis), Buffalo (Tim Murray), Calgary (Brad Treliving), Washington (TBD), and Pittsburgh (TBD) will have different GMs overseeing their war rooms than the ones (Mike Gillis, Paul Holmgren, Jim Rutherford, Darcy Regier, Jay Feaster, George McPhee, Ray Shero) who led the charge last year in Newark. This window will be their opportunities to rebuild according to their respective visions. Aside from superstars (Claude Giroux, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Mark Giordano) and young players (Sean Couturier, Olli Maatta, Sean Monahan, Zemgus Girgensons, Rasmus Ristolainen), nobody is untouchable. Everybody is available.

■ Other teams are anxious to improve. Dave Nonis, with Brendan Shanahan peering over his shoulder, has to fix a Toronto roster that fizzled under the watch of Randy Carlyle. Doug Wilson, architect of San Jose’s regular-season behemoth, is not happy about his team’s gag job — up, 3-0, against Los Angeles — in the first round of the playoffs. Craig MacTavish, GM of the perennial punchline in Edmonton, must acquire experience, especially on defense, to complement his kids. Doug Armstrong, another boss of a one-and-done postseason failure in St. Louis, is looking for answers.

■ The era of building through free agency is over. Teams re-sign their stars before they hit the final years of their contracts, to say nothing of letting them reach the market. The July 1 gems are a calcifying Thomas Vanek, a nice but far from elite defenseman in Matt Niskanen, and 33-year-old Ryan Miller, a bust in St. Louis. When these players reach the market, multiple teams enter the bidding process, thereby driving up the price. GMs are wising up to paying inflationary prices for non-impact players. The free market is an opportunity to sign complementary players, not stars. We’ll see if Florida GM Dale Tallon, famous for UFA spending, has received the memo.

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