The clock is ticking.
At the time this is published, we are 76 hours and 45 minutes away from Friday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline. As of this moment, Vladislav Gavrikov, who has been a healthy scratch due to trade-related reasons since Feb. 14, has not been traded yet.
However, time is running out. Two teams who were potential landing spots for Gavrikov, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, have already traded for defensemen, with Boston acquiring Dimitry Orlov and Toronto acquiring Jake McCabe.
There are still teams who could use a defensive defenseman like Gavrikov such as the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings, but looking at the two trades above, it took more than just a defenseman to garner a first-round pick in return. Does that mean a bottom-six forward will be packaged with Gavrikov? Either way, if Jarmo Kekalainen does not get at least a first-round pick for Gavrikov after sitting him for the past two weeks, it will be disappointing, regardless of whether or not it's reasonable to be disappointed. Considering previous years' trades for defensemen and the fact that Gavrikov has been out of the lineup for the last seven games plus an eighth when he doesn't play Tuesday against Buffalo, you'd have to assume Kekalainen had a good offer on the table, or else he wouldn't have been scratched so far away from the deadline, right?
Time is running out, and as Gavrikov's suitors decrease, so does his price tag.
