We are two weeks and a day from the NHL’s trade deadline, and deals aren’t exactly plentiful.



In fact, there have been hardly any of note all season. No offence Vern Fiddler.



I’ve been digging in the weeds for some inkling of what’s going on around the league, and mostly what I’m getting are complaints. Teams are having a hard time making deals, and they’re saying that one of the big reasons is June’s expansion draft.



Making a trade in the NHL has become very complicated under the salary cap and with the way the standings are. There are only five teams projected to have more than $5-million in cap space at the end of the year. And 17 teams, including the Leafs, are projected to have less than $1.5-million.



In the East, you’ve got teams ranked sixth through 16th separated by 10 points and most of them can theoretically consider themselves “in” the race. (Things are more clear in the...