Welcome to 10 Insights and Observations. Every Thursday, I’ll use this space to highlight teams, players, storylines, and general musings around the NHL, and perhaps at times, the greater hockey world.
This week we look at the salary caps influence on deadline day, Vegas's struggles, Giroux choosing Florida, the Dadonov debacle and more.
1. Lack of parity did not mean more trades
We’ll start this week with the trade deadline. For roughly a month we've been wondering whether the lack of parity in the league would lead to more trades. In the Eastern Conference, the eight playoff teams are firmly set.