Poile gonna trade Ekholm or stay pat?

[ProxyCentauri 2]

I just dont get this media buzz around Ekholm. Why are everybody so sure Ekholm is going to be traded?
And traded in this window?
As of today(22.03.2021) Nash is 14-17-1, 4p out of nr 4 spot and play-off. They went on the franchise's
longest roadtrip ever(8) facing some of the toughest opponents in the league(Canes, Tampa, Florida),
some of them twice, and went 4-3-1. Very few teams have dealt with more serious injuries.
Ekholm has been the only D-man healthy of the top 4 for a very long stretch now.He has been the glue.
Forthcoming scedule:
Detroit(H) 23.03, Detroit(H)25.03, Chicago(A)27.03, Chicago(A)28.03, Dallas(H)30.03.
Timeline brutal but so it is for everyone else.
Rest of March will decide a lot, I suppose during this session Nash need smth like 0.750 for realistic chances and so forth.
Point is, Nash is by far out of the discussion yet.
So where is the incitament for Poile to sell his only movable bluechip with a reasonable pricetag right now?
Trade Ekholm and the D-core is screwed, franchise in blow-up mode. I just dont get the logic in that.
Ppl are starting to get back from injuries(Duchene, Josi). Kids are doin fine. Tolvanen ranked
as nr 3. rookie right now. Sure, there comes a point where Poile might blow the franchise up but cant see
this deadline can be the right time. Everything out of sync with covid and all. 
Why am I wrong?

[ProxyCentauri 2]

Hockey forum completely dead atm?
Havent been in here for a couple of years myself...

The answer to my Q is that the team has put Poile into a difficult spot as of this date, 28.03.
It starts with Saros/Rinne. Last 5 games Saros has a save % of 0.9748 with 34.2 shots against on average.
That is nothing short of insane and ofc it will not stay like that. But every winning team needs goaltending
of .915/.920 seasonwise to be able to compete for play-off.
Saros is the real deal now, he has matured. Poile gotta be impressed, and suddenly Preds are within 2 points of
Chicago for the nr 4.spot in Central. The scedule up next is massive and the next 4 games that all are essentially
4p games for the nr 4 spot can actually force Poile into the buying position just before deadline.
Chicago tonight, Dallas 30.03, Dallas 01.04, and Chicago 03.04 will be decisive. 
After that comes 2 games against Detroit which the Preds have handled pretty well so far. I think at 04.04
Poile will know what to do, but then it is only 6 days to deadline. 
With such a limited timespan, and with the franchise looking that competitive atm,
I cannot see that a massive bluechip deal involving Ekholm can materialize.
Poile is up against the wall.  Roster is stacked, both regarding cap space and bluechip players.
This roster should have enough quality to go for another run, even if that implies facing Tampa in round 1. 
My guess is that Ekholm stays, and that Poile actually can make a pretty aggressive move close to deadline
in a buyer's role.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Ekholm should only get moved in a monster deal.

Lots of weirdness with Covid in sports this year. We can never really know which players are still feeling the effects from having it and how that has affected them.

[ProxyCentauri 2]

2 minutes ago, FCP Bob said:

Ekholm should only get moved in a monster deal.

Lots of weirdness with Covid in sports this year. We can never really know which players are still feeling the effects from having it and how that has affected them.

@Bob, that's true. Its only because the trade deadline is out of sync it has become a theme me think.
Bluechip trades normally take place in between seasons. For the Preds, any trade involving Ekholm essentially says we are in rebuild mode.
Cant see that happen atm