Deadline decisions - What will Avs, Kraken and others do?

Deals are going to get done ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Or at least that's the plan.

Although, there is a shared sentiment by a number of NHL executives that many of them are in «wait and see» mode. But how? How is it that teams are either approaching or have reached the 60-game mark and are unsure of what they are going to do — if they do anything at all — at the trade deadline?

Let's just say there are a number of different reasons. One Western Conference executive told ESPN that there is a greater importance when it comes to draft picks. The executive said that five or 10 years ago, there were teams that moved picks with ease. But the realities of the flat salary cap and the need to maximize young players on team-friendly contracts has changed the calculus.

Then there's the actual performance of the team. As of Feb. 26, there were four teams in the Eastern Conference that were either tied or within two points of the Buffalo Sabres for the final wild-card spot. In the West, the Calgary Flames are four points out of the final wild-card spot while the Nashville Predators are within eight points. But the West is also a conference in which one of four teams have a chance at winning both the Central and the Pacific.

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«Because of parity, there are a lot of ups and downs that the entire league has gone through with the expectation of the teams like Boston, Carolina, Toronto and Tampa Bay,» the executive said. «Everyone else has been hot or cold. You want to take your