Is it just me, or are the so-called rumblings and grumblings usually a bit more prevalent at this point, less than two weeks out from the trade deadline?

Perhaps it’s the gradual transition the league has seen from waiting until the buzzer to go for the big swings to addressing needs earlier on and giving players more time to adjust to new teams. Perhaps it’s the cap’s failure to significantly rise and the league’s promise to change that next year, a topic I will find a way to blame literally everything on.

In any event, the juiciest gossip we’re getting so far is essentially: “the New Jersey Devils need a change,” “folks are calling Vancouver about Elias Pettersson,” and “Sidney Crosby is about to hate his life.”

Maybe deadline day will shock us all and bring plenty of blockbusters. Until th