The Colorado Avalanche will face the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon at the TD Garden in the team’s first game following the massive Mikko Rantanen trade.
Unlike video games, players don’t join their new teams immediately. It often takes a couple of days for new players to get settled in following a trade before they can get into the lineup. As such, Avalanche fans may have to wait a game or even two before seeing Martin Necas and Jack Drury suit up for the Avs.
This situation means it’s unlikely we see either player in an Avs uniform on Saturday. However, the Hurricanes are scheduled to play the New York Islanders on Saturday at UBS Arena in Long Island. So, there might be a chance that Necas and Drury could join the Avs in Boston.
I’m not sure last-minute flight arrangements and such could be made to ship Necas and Drury out in time for the Saturday afternoon game in Boston, but I’m assuming both the Hurricanes and Avalanche are in a hurry to get their new players on board.
In fact, the timing of this trade leads me to believe both sides called it in at a point where the two teams were as geographically close as possible to facilitate travel for all parties involved.
Be that as it may, it’s unlikely Necas and Drury play Saturday. The likeliest scenario is they suit up for the Avalanche game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon. Even with traffic, it’s much closer for Necas and Drury to drive from Long Island to Manhattan than to fly (or drive) from New York to Boston and then back to New York.
We’ll see how that goes. Stay tuned.