from Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun,

Anybody else out there think the NHL’s annual trade deadline has gotten out of control?

This time of year used to produce strategic moves by a handful of teams who believed they had a real shot at winning the Stanley Cup.

All they needed was “the missing piece,” the forward or defenceman to put them over the top. Most moves took surgical precision from a GM, with one eye on his salary cap, the other on team chemistry.

That’s all out the window in favour of a week-long free-for-all, a greedy grab at any object that looks a little shinier than the one in a rival dressing room.

The scene resembles the first day of trading on the floor of a commodities exchange.

GMs don’t have to be shrewd talent evaluators as much as financial gymnasts.

read on