Real Kyper’s Trade Board 4.0: Why the Blues are open for business

Is there anything new an NHL team can learn with less than 10 days until the trade deadline?

That’s what many teams are asking themselves.

Teams have their trade wish lists all set and ready to go, but what isn’t set yet is how high of a price they are willing to pay. Believe it or not, there is still plenty of time for decisions to be made.

Take the St. Louis Blues for example. I have five Blues players on this week’s list and they will be listening on even more as GM Doug Armstrong considers how to take a new approach with this team before handing over the reins to Alexander Steen in 2026.

We should be clear about something, however: this isn’t a fire sale for the Blues. They will look to move one or two of the big pieces they are listening to offers on in an effort to change the look and feel of the roster for next season. The only untouchable player is believed to be Robert Thomas.

Armstrong is thinking about taking a similar approach as the Washington Capitals, who did many teams a favour by showing you don’t have to go into a five-year rebuild if things aren’t going according to plan. The Capitals are a perfect example of a team that re-shaped its roster, and turned around from a non-playoff team in decline two years ago to become the Eastern Conference leading contender we see today.

If you make the right decisions, you can quickly turn around your fortunes.

So the Blues are one of the most interesting teams to watch as we approach the trade deadline, but are far from the only organization with tough decisions to make.

The Edmonton Oilers, for instance, allowed 17 goals in their first three games back from the 4 Nations Face-Off. If you include the loss to Colorado before the break, that’s 22 goals against in four games.

With Florida and Carolina still ahead of Edmonton on their current road trip, what would another bad loss or two do for president Jeff Jackson and GM Stan Bowman and how confident they are in their goaltending? Jordan Binnington appears on this list and the Oilers will have to think about him.

Staying in the West, I hear the Kings are desperate to shake things up to give themselves the best shot of getting out of the first round of the playoffs and not suffer another defeat against Edmonton.

Quinton Byfield isn’t a name we’ve heard come up in trade rumours until this week, but suddenly he could be in play. Perhaps he is the player Los Angeles can move to change their look for an opening playoff round.

Meantime, there is a lot of talk that Carolina’s eight-year offer worth more than $100 million with deferred salary to Mikko Rantanen might not get it done and could quickly put him back on the market.

Teams are ready to pounce on Rantanen. In the West, the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars — who have yet to replace Tyler Seguin — are ones to watch on that front, if the Hurricanes decide they have to move the star winger.

In the East, the Florida Panthers could be a team in the running for Rantanen if Matthew Tkachuk’s long-term groin injury potentially ends his regular season. And don’t rule out the Toronto Maple Leafs either, as they could acquire Rantanen as a bit of security in case Mitch Marner decides to head to free agency on July 1. They could seamlessly replace Marner with Rantanen on a line with Auston Matthews and could probably get an extension done.

Finally, there is a big and physical player who intrigues me: Buffalo’s Alex Tuch. The six-foot-four winger will be appealing to any Stanley Cup contender. Once projected as a possible captain of the Sabres, he no longer appears destined to be part of their long-term plans.

Some teams, such as Anaheim, Boston and the NY Islanders are teetering on the cut line and are using the last few days to consider their options. But many others on either side of the buyers or sellers line are ready to trade.

Let the games begin.

Nine games into Mikko Rantanen’s time with the Hurricanes and the team is still looking for answers from him. If Carolina doesn’t get the response they want to their nine-figure contract offer that our Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night in Canada this past weekend, look for trade talks with other clubs to kick into high gear.

The offer, north of $100 million over eight years, is a lot of money to turn down if he doesn’t sign, though it’s possible Rantanen could push for a higher AAV as a free agent on the open market. However, his term would be capped at seven years as a UFA instead of the eight Carolina can presently offer.

The Hurricanes are now on the clock, nine days away from the trade deadline. If Rantanen doesn’t take this offer, it’s unlikely Carolina would increase it significantly. So, rather than lose him for nothing as a UFA on July 1, as they did with Jake Guentzel last season, Carolina could trade Rantanen. It’s believed all contending teams will kick tires on Rantanen considering his cap hit could drop down to $2.3 million if the Hurricanes retain another 50 per cent, after Chicago already did from the original trade.

When Don Sweeney spoke to the media on Sunday, he didn’t sound like a GM who was going to be actively adding much at the deadline. Sweeney talked about being cautious and maybe planting a seed for the draft — things selling teams talk about doing this time of year.

The Bruins are running out of time to put themselves in any better position in the playoff race before the trade deadline, and long-term injuries to Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy make the road ahead an even tougher journey. As a result, players like Trent Frederic and Brandon Carlo could be had.

And we still wonder what the conclusion will be on winger Brad Marchand. It sounds like negotiations hit a snag a while ago and are at a stalemate today.

“We’ve been in negotiations with Brad and communicating with him through the year,” Sweeney said. “We’ll have to have a conversation now that the 4 Nations is over, sit down with Brad and his representatives and have a clearer path in the next two weeks as to what his final outcome will be.”

Whenever Marchand is asked about his future, he’s adamant that he wants to finish his career as a Bruin. Boston would like the same thing, but is holding firm on not wanting to pay Marchand too much, or give him too much term as he turns 37 years old in May.

At this stage, it remains more likely than not that the Bruins will keep Marchand past the trade deadline, even if a contract extension is not done by then, and take their chances that an agreement will eventually be completed. That probably means Marchand will eventually need to accept Boston’s price and term, one or two years instead of his preferred three or four.

As long as he’s unsigned rumours will persist and teams will ask up until March 7, but Marchand is the team captain and means a great deal to the organization and city. That likely means that, when all is said and done, he’ll still be a Bruin.

Another player who’s been on my radar since first appearing on my 2.0 trade board in January, Seth Jones confirmed last week that he and the Blackhawks have discussed the possibility of finding a trade. Jones is 30 years old and with five more years remaining on his eight-year contract, it isn’t clear that his career trajectory is in line with what the Blackhawks are doing.

“I would like to give myself a chance to win in my career,” Jones said to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. “I know that the money is not an easy thing to move, and that’s what we’re figuring out.”

The money will be the trickiest part of this, with Jones making $9.5 million against the cap. At the same time, teams pursuing Jones will weigh his age and the fact the NHL’s salary cap is projected to be at $113.5 million in three years when Jones will still have four years remaining on his deal.

Will the Blackhawks explore using their final salary retention slot on Jones, before the other two slots open again next season? They might have to consider that if they are going to squeeze every ounce of value out of the player in a trade.

At the 4 Nations Face-Off Sam Bennett stood up and solidified himself again as a big-game player and someone you can count on to show up in the playoffs. So then, you might ask, why is this member of the defending Stanley Cup champions on a list of potential trade candidates?

You can’t replace what Bennett brings to the table, and now that Matthew Tkachuk is out long-term the Panthers are less likely to move No. 9. He should make at least $8 million on an extension, a big number, while Florida also has to figure out what it’s going to do with another important pending UFA, Aaron Ekblad.

Bennett started this season off very hot, then cooled off considerably and didn’t score a goal for a month-and-a-half. But just before the 4 Nations break Bennett got rolling again, scoring five times in 10 games. He had a goal and an assists Tuesday night this week.

Erik Karlsson had a notably strong performance at the 4 Nations Face-Off, which is stoking the fires of his trade candidacy. Making $10 million against the cap for another two seasons beyond this one, it won’t be too punishing if the Penguins retain a little money, especially if it increases his trade value. Besides, the retained money on Jeff Petry and Reilly Smith come off the books after this season.

Karlsson is still an offensive dynamo, sixth among all blueliners in even strength points this season, ahead of the likes of Evan Bouchard, John Carlson and Victor Hedman.

The Ottawa Senators remain an intriguing potential suitor, while Dallas has also popped up as a potential destination. There will be others, too.

After the J.T. Miller trade, things aren’t getting much better in Vancouver with Elias Pettersson. He has played seven games since the Miller trade and has just three assists to show for it (all primary helpers) while being shut out in goals. In fact, he hasn’t recorded more than one shot on goal in a game since Jan. 31 against Dallas.

Pettersson’s performance at the 4 Nations Face-Off left a lot to be desired as well, and he was held off the score sheet completely.

So the situation is this: Pettersson signed the richest contract in Canucks history, an eight-year, $92.8 million extension just before last season’s trade deadline. The Canucks exerted some pressure to get that deal done or else consider moving the player, but at that time Pettersson was one of the top scorers in the NHL, 11th in the league with 75 points in 63 games.

No one could have predicted what’s happened to the team and player since.

Now Pettersson is currently a depressed asset, with just 35 points in 51 games, pacing towards a career-low 50-point season. The Canucks are left having to seriously consider moving Pettersson before a full no-movement clause kicks in for the second season of his contract in July. If things don’t vastly improve by the end of the season, their best course of action is to revisit his trade status at the NHL Draft in June when they invite the whole NHL market back to the trade table.

Under normal circumstances I’d have him off my pre-deadline list, but I’m putting Pettersson back on because Jim Rutherford runs this team. Enough said.

The Canucks appreciate the player and would like to take another crack at signing Brock Boeser to a new contract, but money and term remain a sticking point. An ask believed to be in the $8 million range seems achievable, but it might not come with the term Boeser is comfortable with. If Boeser wants to maximize his earning potential and get six or seven years then he’ll have to go to UFA, so the threat of him being traded still hangs in the balance, even if the Canucks are in a playoff spot on March 7. They’re in a tight race for the second wild card, sitting one point out Wednesday morning, and management isn’t confident enough to hold their own rental.

The Canucks have been struggling to put pucks in the net, averaging 2.10 per game since January 1 (last in the league), and the goal scoring winger hasn’t pulled his weight on this front. Boeser has just four goals in his past 21 games, a 16-goal pace for someone who notched 40 last season.

The lineup is out the door and around the corner of teams calling on Dylan Cozens‘ availability, which gives the Sabres options. Just two years removed from being a 31-goal scorer, Cozens is facing having back-to-back years of declining production but it’s not going to be so easy for Buffalo to move on from this player. After all, Cozens is still just 24 years old and is in just the second season of a seven-year contract.

Other teams will see the potential Cozens has, and that’s why Buffalo locked him in for so long. Making $7.1 million against the cap through 2029-30, if Cozens even comes close to recapturing what he showed in 2022-23 he will have an extremely valuable contract when the upper limit expands to wildly new highs.

The Sabres must tread carefully. They’ve extended a rebuild before when they traded Jack Eichel and have seen several players moved who went on to have much more success elsewhere. Making the same mistake again with such a young player at an important position is a risk the Sabres would be taking by trading Cozens.

So, Buffalo would need to hit a homerun here, while rival GMs might be looking to take advantage of an underperforming player and scoop him up for a relative bargain. But the Sabres are staring down the reality of missing the playoffs for a 14th straight season, which requires some reaction from the front office.

Bowen Byram will be an RFA after the season, so the Sabres aren’t forced into a trading situation with him yet. And, in fact, he has two years of RFA eligibility remaining before Byram would become a UFA in 2027.

This is another player for the Sabres to tread carefully with.

One year after acquiring Byram for Casey Mittelstadt, the dynamic defenceman is tied with John Carlson for 13th in even strength points at the position, right behind teammates Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. Byram’s seven even strength goals lead all Sabres defencemen.

Even if he were to double his salary on an extension and end up at $8 million, it still wouldn’t be a bad number for a productive blueliner and would come in under both Dahlin and Power.

The second-leading goal scorer on the Sabres, Alex Tuch is a local kid and not a rental dump. Making $4.75 million for this year and next, the 28-year-old is valued and productive — he has as many even strength goals this season as Sam Reinhart, and one more than Nathan MacKinnon.

So why would the Sabres entertain moving such a player when one of the problems here is surrounding the young core with experience and secondary production?

It’s because Buffalo has to consider how to move forward with a different look if they’re going to miss the playoffs for a 14th year in a row and, if they’re going to make a positive acquisition that brings in something to get excited about, they’ll have to move out something good to get it.

Tuch would be an attractive addition to any team looking for scoring help on the wings and someone with size. Tuch stands 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, is second among all Sabres in blocked shots, and kills penalties. If Tuch moves, look for it to be part of an exciting hockey trade.

Two Sabres defencemen appear on this list, but it’s unlikely that GM Kevyn Adams would move both of them by the deadline. In Samuelsson, Buffalo has a defenceman signed at a $4.285 million rate through 2029-30 — an extremely valuable deal, given he’s only 24, leads Sabres blueliners in penalty killing minutes, and is charged with plenty of defensive zone matchups.

The feeling remains that if the Sabres find a home for Samuelsson that returns them a good price, they could turn around and re-sign Byram. Or, if Byram fetches an intriguing return, Adams could instead go that route and keep Samuelsson for the top four.

There was a lot of doubt that Jordan Binnington was the best choice to tend Team Canada’s net at the 4 Nations Face-Off, with Logan Thompson sitting at home. But Binnington put together a great performance, with standout efforts in the most important parts of the games he played. Binnington’s play against the USA in overtime of the final was the reason why Canada came out with the win, and garnered him some MVP consideration. He all but locked up the country’s starting job when the Olympics roll around next winter.

His 4 Nations tournament has once again opened the eyes of many teams that he’s a ‘big game guy’.

On my last trade board, I had listed several Blues players because GM Doug Armstrong was not happy that his team was again chasing the playoffs from distance so he started looking to shake things up. Binnington did not make the list earlier this month, but there’s enough talk to put him on this one with the Blues still four points out of the wild card and with three teams to climb over.

The goalie market is a difficult one to figure out. Thompson himself was traded for a couple of third-round picks in the summer. Colorado went and upgraded its net during the season and acquired MacKenzie Blackwood for Alexandar Georgiev, Nikolai Kovalenko, plus second- and fifth-round picks. John Gibson has been out there for years, including this one again, but injuries keep biting the Ducks’ netminder.

The Blues would surely demand more for Binnington, a Stanley Cup winner making $6 million for another two seasons and with an 18-team no-trade list attached to his contract. Binnington would be the focus of the goalie market, and we shouldn’t underestimate the interest level Edmonton, Carolina and Detroit have in him. The Oilers may be one of the teams on his no-trade list, but the Edmonton market and playing with Connor McDavid could re-create the excitement that shot into him at the 4 Nations, so he may waive for them in the end.

Buchnevich signed a six-year extension with the Blues that doesn’t kick in until next season, but as Armstrong looks to adjust his team on the fly the 29-year-old left winger remains one of the most interesting players the GM could move.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound forward has scored 30, 26 and 27 goals in the past three seasons, but just 12 through 57 games in 2024-25.

Even though his production is not where it usually is, the fact Buchnevich has a contract perhaps makes him more valuable in trade than if he were a rental. His new deal will jump to an $8 million AAV, which is around what Boeser is asking from the Canucks. Buchnevich currently has a 12-team no-trade list, which becomes a full no-trade clause beginning next season.

Jordan Kyrou does not have any trade protection attached to his contract for now, but a full no-trade clause is introduced in July and will run through the next five years of his deal, which comes with an $8.125 million AAV.

Kyrou is the most shocking Blue on this list because he re-signed ahead of a breakout 37-goal season and was seen as a core part of where the Blues were going. He and Robert Thomas still make more than any other Blue, but as the team struggles to take a leap forward, Armstrong is having to consider changing over the core group.

Kyrou is still highly valued and on track to finish with his third straight 30-goal season and a similar point total to what he finished with in 2023-24. He’ll be 27 in May and in the prime years of his career.

Brayden Schenn appeared on my previous list earlier this month, but I noted at the time that there wasn’t an indication Armstrong would shock his fan base by trading his captain yet. The fact is those calls are picking up in frequency and the offers may end up being too much for him to turn down.

The idea of acquiring both Schenn brothers (Luke from Nashville) is appealing to more than one team, but Brayden would be the prize of the package. Still productive with 12 goals and 34 points. If you can’t get Sam Bennett, or if the Panthers take their centre off the board, Schenn is one of the next best players who can have the sort of playoff impact Bennett does.

Schenn has three more years left on a contract paying $6.5 million against the cap and has a no-trade clause. But as the Blues’ playoff hopes fade, Schenn may be open to a change of scenery, especially if it means joining up with his brother.

Just a few short weeks ago, Colton Parayko was deemed untouchable by GM Doug Armstrong. Since then, he’s hung up the sign that he’s ‘open for business’ and that includes the potential of trading his top defenceman if the deal is right.

The Blues have been looking into trading one of their top paid defencemen for some time, but four of them have no-trade clauses and Armstrong has been trying to build up a winner. As it becomes more clear that this group isn’t going to have its breakthrough, however, the possibility of trading one of them gets stronger as we approach the deadline.

On my last list I included Justin Faulk as the Blues defenceman who could go, and his name is still on the table. But Parayko’s value has never been higher than it is right now coming off his performance at the 4 Nations Face-Off and Armstrong will move him if a contending NHL team offers a homerun return he envisions.

Parayko leads the Blues in shorthanded ice time per game, plus he leads all St. Louis defencemen in hits, goals and points. The 13 goals Parayko has put in this season is a career high. His stature, 6-foot-6, 228 pounds, is also appealing.

When the Los Angeles Kings consider how to approach the trade deadline, they have to still look up at Edmonton and Vegas in the standings and wonder how they could get in position to knock off either, or both, of them. The Kings have been knocked out three years in a row by Edmonton, finding a quicker way to elimination each time.

So the Kings have to be asking themselves, what can we add that would give us a better shot at beating these teams?

Quinton Byfield is a name to watch here for a few reasons. The first is that, if Los Angeles is to make a big move to counter Vegas and Edmonton, they’ll have to give up a significant young piece to a seller. Byfield is exactly that, a 22-year-old and the second overall pick from the 2020 draft.

Byfield took a step and finished with 20 goals and 55 points last season, which had some wondering if he could crack Team Canada’s 4 Nations roster with another elevation of his game in 2024-25. That hasn’t happened yet and, in fact, Byfield is pacing to fall short of last year’s offensive totals.

That has left the Los Angeles organization wondering how high Byfield’s ceiling truly is and if the team would be better off focusing on the here and now by flipping Byfield for a more seasoned roster upgrade. Of course, Monday’s four-assist game in a win over Vegas will give the Kings’ decision makers pause.

There are rumblings that the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings have held talks and both sides may be interested in a package that includes top assets coming from Buffalo.

Chris Kreider appeared on my first trade board in December when it got out that the Rangers were looking to trade him and Jacob Trouba. After the captain was traded to Anaheim, however, things died down in New York for a time. They’ve gone 12-5-3 since early December and have pulled themselves back into the race, just two points out of a wild card spot. But there are still cracks in a roster that gives up more high danger chances against at 5-on-5 than every Eastern Conference team except Montreal.

Back from the 4 Nations Face-Off where he scored one goal in two games, Kreider returns to my trade list because it doesn’t sound like GM Chris Drury is done making tweaks to his team. Kreider has not had one of his stronger seasons, scoring 17 times versus four assists. The long-time Ranger has two seasons remaining on a contract worth $6.5 million against the cap and he has some control over his situation, with a 15-team no-trade list. Though, we should point out, Jacob Trouba was leveraged to waive his no-trade to Anaheim.

Kreider was a late scratch with an upper-body injury for Sunday’s win over the Penguins and missed Tuesday’s game against the Islanders as well.

A pending UFA, 27-year-old Ryan Lindgren falls into the rental category and if the Rangers wanted to retain some of his $4.5 million AAV to make a deal work better for a buyer, they haven’t yet used any of their three retention slots.

Without a contract in place, the Rangers have to ask themselves if Lindgren is part of this core moving forward or not. And if the answer is no, it’s time to consider trading him to the highest bidder instead of moving forth with an own rental for a playoff push.

Lindgren has stepped up into a more prominent PK role since Trouba was traded away and he’s second on the team in blocked shots. The more pressing defence contract for the Rangers to wrestle with is K’Andre Miller, a pending RFA who is not having his strongest season after trending up the past few years. Still two years away from being UFA eligible himself, Miller could assume some of Lindgren’s cap dollars if re-signed.

Losers of four straight, including two post-4 Nations losses at home to Dallas and the Rangers, the Islanders are seven points out of a wild card spot and just barely hanging on to hope. Given Lou Lamoriello’s trend of being loyal to this group, he may take any trade decisions down to the wire.

And there are many of those decisions to make. Kyle Palmieri is a goal scoring winger on an expiring contract. Noah Dobson, a 25-year-old defender, is a possible trade candidate before he becomes an RFA this summer. Nelson might be the player who moves the needle most for contenders, however, a middle-six centre who has scored 37, 36 and 34 goals over the past three seasons and has 17 goals in 57 games this season.

Nelson was held without a point and was a minus-3 at the 4 Nations Face-Off, then returned with an assist in Sunday’s loss.

The Colorado Avalanche have been looking for a productive second line centre ever since Nazem Kadri walked as a free agent in 2022. Kadri was a key piece of Colorado’s Stanley Cup win that season and the team has missed his presence ever since.

That’s why the Avs went out and acquired Casey Mittelstadt from Buffalo last season and gave up the costly return of Bowen Byram to get him. Mittelstadt scored nine points in 11 playoff games for Colorado last spring and showed the potential he could be the missing piece. This season, however, hasn’t been so neat.

Mittelstadt is a middle-six NHL forward, but miscast as a follow up pivot behind Nathan MacKinnon. Mittelstadt has won just 41.7 per cent of his faceoffs, has just two goals since New Year’s Eve, and even made way for Mikko Rantanen at the position for a brief time before he was traded. When you compare Colorado’s second line centre to other contenders in the West, Mittelstadt is not stacking up this season.

So his name is out there again as the Avalanche continue their search for Kadri’s replacement three years on.

At one point in time, and not all that long ago, Trevor Zegras was seen as a face of the Ducks franchise and a central part of the plan forward. Now, after injuries that held him to 31 games last season and interrupted this one mid-way through, Zegras is struggling to find the production and consistency he had when he was a young star on the rise.

Zegras posted a career-high 65 points in his 21-year-old season but has now been contributing at about a 41-point pace two years running. Since returning from his latest injury (knee) on Jan. 21 he has six points in 10 games.

There is no chance the Ducks will be able to get the same return in trade on Zegras today than if they had decided to move him two years ago, but GM Pat Verbeek has been looking into finding the player a new home all season. Zegras will turn just 24 years old on March 20 and has another season on a contract paying $5.75 million against the cap, after which he’ll be an RFA. Hard to imagine that being a big raise.

This is a tough sell low situation if the Ducks proceed, but it’s becoming more apparent that Zegras just doesn’t fit the mold of how Verbeek wants his team to play.

We talked about the goalie market earlier in this piece, and John Gibson is a great example of how it can be tough to move someone at this position. Gibson has been a mainstay in rumours and trade lists for years, but as his numbers struggled to keep up to his peak seasons, it was hard to suss out how much of that was him and how much was due to the rebuilding team in front of him.

Gibson again has been out there this season, and the rise of young Lukas Dostal in Anaheim’s crease appeared to make it even more likely that the 31-year-old would finally move. His numbers have even started to bounce back — Gibson has a .916 save percentage this season, his best mark since 2018-19, which is all the more impressive when you consider save percentages are down everywhere in the league.

And then the main concern with Gibson appeared again this past weekend. The injury bug bit Gibson, forcing him out of Saturday’s game against Boston after the second period. Ducks coach Greg Cronin said Gibson will be fine, but the episode was a reminder to any potential buyer that Gibson has sometimes struggled to stay healthy through the years.

On Monday, the Ducks acquired some organizational depth at the position by bringing in netminder Ville Husso from Detroit for future considerations.

Gibson makes $6.4 million against the cap for another two seasons and has a 10-team no-trade list.

A pending UFA making $2 million against the cap, Ryan Donato has 19 goals and 39 points in 56 games and is Chicago’s leader in even strength goals and points.

Donato can be a feisty player, third on the Blackhawks in hits, but he wins just over 45 per cent of his faceoffs. He’s a sell high type of player for the Blackhawks who will earn a raise off a career season, but his shooting percentage of 15 is by far a career-high as well.

If the Sharks can get the right return for Mario Ferraro they’ll be open to moving the player, but this is still not an urgent trade situation. That’s because Ferraro has another season remaining on his contract, makes just $3.25 million against the cap, and is a valued left shot penalty killer playing top pair minutes at even strength.

Ferraro is also one of the more physical Sharks defencemen and blocks a good amount of shots, too. Still just 26 years old, he’s on the fringe of still being young enough that he could be a useful piece for the Sharks when they come out of this rebuild, so it’s still possible the team keeps him and looks at re-signing him before he hits the open market in a year.

Three wins in a row and the Flyers are clinging to hope that they can stay in the playoff race. But take a step back and you’ll see they still need to step over five teams just to get to the first available wild card spot and they may be better selling off some pieces.

Rasmus Ristolainen is big, kills penalties, shoots right, throws his weight around and is having a bit of a bounce back season — all ingredients appealing to playoff teams. He has an additional season remaining on his contract too, which also comes with its own value. But the Flyers might see that and figure he’s worth holding on to yet.

The Utah Hockey Club will eventually become buyers, but this might be one trade deadline too early for that. There are a few interesting trade possibilities on this roster, from Matias Maccelli, to Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad. But, if he moves, Lawson Crouse might be the most valuable of all.

Crouse has two more seasons after this remaining on his contract and makes just $4.3 million against the cap, a bargain for what he can bring to the table. While his scoring is down to just nine goals and 13 points this season, he has shown he can get over 20 goals and 40 points and he’s a a big, physical forward, leading all Utah players in hits.

At 6-foot-4, 214 pounds, Crouse is a controllable asset and intriguing depth player whose stats this season might not jump off the page at you, but who you’ll notice when the games get tighter in the playoffs.