Trades pick up after GM meetings; will it continue?

NHL general managers descended on Toronto last Tuesday for a state-of-the-league summit, and with all 30 bosses in one room, trade chatter was bound to happen.

Perhaps the get-together can be credited for opening the lines of communication as the final two opponents on the Arizona Coyotes' three-game road trip made deals recently.

The Anaheim Ducks added winger Rene Bourque from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Bryan Allen, and the San Jose Sharks sent defenseman Jason Demers and a 2016 third-round pick to the Dallas Stars to land defenseman Brenden Dillon.

After playing against the Coyotes on Thursday with the Stars, Dillon made his Sharks debut Saturday.

"There's a lot of teams that would love to make deals," Coyotes GM Don Maloney said. "It's just finding the match."

The length of contracts combined with the uncertainty about where the salary cap could land next season has forced many managers to be cautious in their dealings. Maloney isn't sure if the market will change any time soon.

"I don't know if there's an ability to shake it loose unless you get teams very desperate to do something," he said.

Ownership update

Maloney said he has been told the Coyotes' ownership situation will be on the agenda at the Board of Governors meeting Dec. 8-9 in Boca Raton, Fla., but it's unclear whether the group will give its approval to Andrew Barroway's 51% purchase of the club.

Barroway agreed to buy a majority stake of the franchise Oct.10, but the deal is still awaiting approval from the league to be finalized.

"I think we're all hopeful that it will be resolved at that stage," Maloney said. "At one point, when it was announced, there was a thought it would happen earlier. So consequently, if it does happen, then shortly there after I'll meet Mr. Barroway and get a better sense of where we're going to be going forward."

Sarah McLellan writes for the Arizona Republic