Page 160 of Body Check

Planning for their future.

Jed cleared his throat. “Look, I know you were interested in Tommy Higgins, but there’s no way we’re meeting in the middle on that, unless you’re willing to throw something more into the trade to sweeten the deal.”

“You know I’m not,” Gavin said with a laugh. Jed had been playing hardball. Gavin wanted Higgins, but notthatbadly. Not enough to lose an asset they so desperately needed.

“Can I interest you in Tom Bass?”

Gavin sat up straight, though outwardly he merely chuckled, trying not to give away his piqued interest. “Sick of having two Thomases on your roster?”

Jed chuckled too. “Nah. They usually go by Tommy and Tommo in the locker room. The guys make it work.”

“So whyareyou interested in getting rid of him?” Gavin asked warily. Because Tommy Higgins was a nice piece to pick up. Tom Bass was an asset. Amajorasset.

Jed sighed. “Believe me, it’s the last thing I want. But there’s been a weird situation here since last fall. A fan got … overly invested in Tom and started stalking his wife and family.”

“Oh right, I remember hearing about that,” Gavin said with a frown.

“Unpleasant stuff. Security and the police have been dealing with it, but it escalated recently and Tom’s wife’s not happy staying in LA. She took the kids out to Massachusetts where her family’s from. Tom’s itching to be with them of course. He’s committed to us through the end of the season but he’s going UFA this summer.”

“Ahh,” Gavin said, the pieces clicking.

“Yeah, we’ve got no leverage to keep him. I’m tight up against the cap and can’t afford to pay him what he deserves. He’s gonna go big this summer.”

“But you’re willing to let him go a little early if you can get something worthwhile for him,” Gavin guessed.

“Exactly. Tom, he’s a good guy. I’d love to keep him here, but he’s already mentally checked out of the team and if I have to lose him, I might as well get what I can in return, you know?”

“Okay,” Gavin said, drumming his fingers against his thighs. “What are you thinking?”

They discussed potential options, bouncing ideas back and forth for a while. Getting Bass would require giving up another of his high draft picks, but that was exactly why Gavin had stocked up on so many of them in the past two seasons.

Jed tossed out a couple of names of guys who regularly filled the bottom six forward roles and Gavin considered that possibility. He didn’t hate the idea. They weren’t contributing as much as he’d like, and it would give the organization the chance to pullguys up from Concord and see what they could do. There were a few who were ready …

“Yeah, I could do that,” Gavin agreed.

Jed chuckled. “That’s cute that you think that’s all I want.”

“Hit me with it,” Gavin said drily.

He laughed outright at the suggestion of a trade involving Luke Crawford. There were very few guys like him in the league and there was no way in hell Gavin was letting him go. If they intended to take a run at the Cup, theyneededCrawford.

But he paused when Jed suggested one of their forward prospects in Concord who had filled in for a handful of NHL games lately. He had the makings of a fine player but lacked the experience and seasoning.

Gavin didn’tlovethe idea of losing organizational depth, and he had the makings of a fine player, but it could takeyearsfor him to be NHL ready.

With Bass, they’d have a better shot at a Cup runnow. Gavin was wary of leveraging the future recklessly, but if he had enough cap space to pay Bass what he wanted this coming summer …

“Maybe,” he hedged, unwilling to commit just yet. “Let me crunch some numbers and get back to you.”

“Sounds good.”

They said goodnight and Gavin ended the call, then snuck back into the villa to retrieve his laptop.

Thankfully, the Wi-Fi signal was solid on the patio, and he spent a while reviewing the team’s cap space, what the projected capincrease would be this summer, and what the rumors were about what Bass would go for on the open market.

It would be tight, but the Harriers could probably swing it,especiallyif he pitched the idea just right and got Bass’ agent on board.

Whowasrepresenting Bass? He needed to refresh his memory on that. Oh, right, Mac Sanders. That was a good sign. They’d worked together well in the past and he’d seemed particularly happy with the way Gavin had handled Jesse’s trade.

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