There has been a ton of speculation that the Mammoth could be looking to deal their pick. Which could still happen. Especially with the news this weekend that they really liked Brady Martin, they should consider trading down to draft him if they like him that much.
I checked out the latest Mock Draft from the Athletic, and they have Martin set to go at number seven. There are quite a few prospects expected to go ahead of him. The list includes Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, James Hagens, Caleb Desnoyers, Anton Frondell, and Porter Martone, all of whom have a strong chance of going inside the top seven.
At the draft, for those who don't know, general managers will usually discuss the possibility of trading picks behind the scenes to make sure they get their guy. The most notable time this happened was when Brian Burke and the Vancouver Canucks made moves to land both Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
The reason I bring this up is because Utah could put themselves in a position to trade down with a team in and around picks six, seven, or eight to make sure they still land Martin. If that happens, there are two things that will likely need to happen. First, they'll talk to the teams in between their current pick and the pick they're trading for to get a feel for who they’re targeting.
For example, say Utah trades pick four to Boston for pick seven. Bill Armstrong would likely do his due diligence and find out who Nashville, Philadelphia, and Boston are looking at to make sure Martin is still on the board at seven. There’s always a bit of risk—if a GM or source lies and takes Martin anyway, then Utah would’ve traded down for no reason. But there’s usually a pretty good chance that doesn’t happen.
The other thing is Armstrong would likely look to land an extra asset in the deal. It might not be a huge piece—maybe just an extra draft pick—but it could help the organization’s depth. Even a small addition would be a win.
So if Utah can trade down a few picks, get the player they want, and land an extra asset in the process, doesn’t that seem like a no-brainer?
