The Carolina Panthers don’t have a lot of realistic trade chips. The fringe starters they could move on from, with all due respect, are not all that good, so they wouldn’t get anything for trading players like D.J. Wonnum, Hunter Renfrow, Nick Scott, or Tommy Tremble.
The bigger pieces are far too important to what Carolina is building to move off of. Derrick Brown, Tetairoa McMillan, Jaycee Horn, Tre’von Moehrig, Taylor Moton, and others are too good. But there is one player right in the middle of all that makes him, per one insider, the Panthers’ best trade chip.
Chuba Hubbard has suddenly become expendable. When he signed the extension last season, he was anything but, but Rico Dowdle has taken his job and probably forced the Panthers to reconsider their RB room.
And that makes Hubbard, a 27-TD veteran who nearly made the Pro Bowl last year, expendable and the Panthers’ best asset for trading. At least, that’s how Bleacher Report insider Brad Gagnon sees things.
“Rico Dowdle has easily outperformed Hubbard this season, which should lead to a new contract or the franchise tag. Carolina also used a first-round pick on Trevor Etienne, who has played well in limited action as a rookie. Hubbard still has a strong track record, and someone else could save the Panthers some cash by seeing if the 26-year-old can excel elsewhere,” Gagnon said.
It would be a tough pill for Panthers fans to swallow if the team let Dowdle walk. He was given a one-year flyer contract, but he’s more than earned an extension. It’s not clear if they’ll give it to him, but the best route would be trading Hubbard and extending Dowdle.
Other teams will realize that Hubbard is, at least right now, a little depleted. That will drive his cost down, but they will also remember that he’s capable of being a Pro Bowl-caliber back that’s on a fairly inexpensive long-term deal.
Hubbard has team control and is making a little over $8 million, which is hardly exorbitant for a starting running back. Maybe he’s not quite healthy (which would make sense) or just needs a change, but another team would certainly benefit from his services.
“We didn’t play our best tonight, and it’s frustrating. The injuries are piling up, but we can’t let that be an excuse. We’ve got to fight through it, especially when we have a chance to take control. We’ll need to learn from this and be ready for the road trip.”
— Jeremy Swayman, on the Bruins’ frustrating loss to the Hurricanes.
Boston Bruins fans were hoping for another strong performance on Monday night, but instead, their team fell flat in a
The Bruins entered the game already dealing with several key injuries. Elias Lindholm remains sidelined, and both
The turning point came in the
Despite having four power-play opportunities, the Bruins failed to capitalize. They registered just five shots during those man-advantage situations, and
The Bruins pushed hard in the
After the game, Jeremy Swayman voiced his frustration: “We didn’t play our best tonight, and it’s frustrating. The injuries are piling up, but we can’t let that be an excuse. We’ve got to fight through it, especially when we have a chance to take control. We’ll need to learn from this and be ready for the road trip.”
The Bruins will now embark on a four-game road trip, starting with a matchup against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night in Southern California. With their injury list growing,