I mentioned on Twitter the other day that this will be my first NHL trade deadline as a casual observer since 2013. In recent years, I had the privilege of covering the annual gong show as “work”; this year I’ll be at my home office, performing my current duties while obviously keeping an eye on the proceedings (although I did write something for Daily Hive already).

In my experience, these are 5 simple NHL trade deadline rules you need to follow:

1. Don’t expect anything to happen before lunch – If you tune into the trade deadline shows in the morning, you’re basically watching a hockey version of The View.
2. Don’t fall for breaking news from fake insiders and team accounts.
3. Remember that not every report or rumour is fact until it’s announced by the teams, even if it’s coming from the most trusted hockey people.
4. Don’t immediately judge a trade. Sometimes these things take years to gestate. (Exception: Anything resembling Erat for Forsberg).
5. I originally have “everyone have fun out there!” here, but Ashley (who rules and you should all be following on Twitter) wisely came through with a good and important one here: Don’t @ your team.

Finally, don’t forget there are actual human beings with feelings and families involved in these decisions:

Seriously, this is too much.

What say you? Did I miss anything?