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LeBrun's rumblings: Are prices down for rental players?

A year ago, rental players such as Antoine Vermette and Andrej Sekera netted first-round picks to their respective selling teams, while a pile of other pending unrestricted free agents went for second-round picks.

The question this year is whether the rental market has gone down a notch, as is the prevailing wisdom three weeks away from the Feb. 29 trade deadline.

"There's no chance you're seeing first-round picks go out for rental players this year," one Western Conference hockey executive said Tuesday. "Those days are over."

Well, we've heard that before, so maybe it's just wishful thinking from the buyers.