If two NHL teams had agreed on a trade during the Olympic break, it would have been one heck of a secret. But just two moves have been made since the trade freeze lifted Monday morning, one minor deal and another where Colorado acquired depth defenceman Brett Kulak from Pittsburgh.
Every GM is now having conversations and re-stoking the fires of activity this week.
Coming out of the Olympics, only a handful of NHL teams are pure sellers with multiple players available.
In that class of teams, we list Vancouver, St. Louis, New York Rangers and Chicago.
That means teams like Nashville, Anaheim, San Jose, Philadelphia, and Toronto will see what happens in their next few games before deciding whether to let go of their playoff dreams this season, or not.
We are just 10 days away from the trade deadline, though, and the market will quickly be defined. This is what I’m hearing…
• Leading today’s trade board is Elias Pettersson. If this were Hollywood Squares, he’d be in the middle spot on the board, the No. 1 most intriguing centreman available. And one team to watch in connection with Pettersson is the Los Angeles Kings.
It might be an appropriate time for Kings GM Ken Holland to go shopping, as they have many boxes to check. They must find short-term supplemental scoring to replace Kevin Fiala, who suffered a season-ending injury at the Olympics.
Long-term, the Kings know Pettersson won’t age out of the league as quickly as some other available centres, such as Ryan O’Reilly or Vincent Trocheck will. Los Angeles knows it won’t have Anze Kopitar back next season, and replacing his top-line minutes will not be easy. That’s why they are seriously contemplating the 27-year-old Pettersson as an option, and we know he is attainable at the right price.
Another team to watch here is the Detroit Red Wings, an organization that has had great success with Swedish players in the past. They certainly have the assets to make a Pettersson deal happen. And Carolina is not going away on Pettersson either.
• It seems like the Maple Leafs are in a holding pattern for the next three games as they will want to see how they fare against Florida, Tampa Bay and Ottawa before figuring out their strategy.
Bobby McMann is their No. 1 trade candidate, but Toronto’s win/loss record will dictate if he, or some of his teammates, are moved.
• Calgary, on the other hand, is 11 points out of the playoffs and could be enticed to move Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman, but they still aren’t really interested in a fire sale.
Still, MacKenzie Weegar is a very interesting name to watch here. With right-handed defencemen in such high demand, teams are calling about him. Weegar has five years left on a contract paying $6.25 million against the cap, but he has a no-trade clause until after next season, when it changes to a 10-team no-trade list.
Again, the Red Wings come up here as a possible landing spot, as they would very much like to try and shore up their top four. The Ottawa Senators are also interested in a right-handed defenceman and would hate to see Weegar go to an Atlantic Division competitor. The Sens could go with a thriftier option, such as exploring a deal for Flyers defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen. Justin Faulk, under contract for just one more season, is another player Ottawa will be looking at.
• Lots of talk about pending UFA Sergei Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers. To my knowledge, so far, the Panthers have not discussed or explored this possibility. Their hope is that he comes back next season. One question to consider around the Panthers and Bobrovsky: what will his next contract look like? Right now, the feeling is they’re not on the same page in regards to what he’s worth next year. The other question we have to ask about his trade candidacy: what is he chasing that he would waive his 16-team no-trade list for? He’s won back-to-back Stanley Cups and, if he wanted to go somewhere else on his next contract, he could just do that in the off-season. There should be more clarity on this situation next week.
• In Winnipeg, Logan Stanley’s name is out there, and teams are also calling on winger Cole Perfetti. He would be Winnipeg’s most valuable trade chip outside of their biggest roster players. Perfetti is another two years away from being UFA eligible, so the Jets need to think about his future and decide if he’s worth a long-term extension soon. For now, he’s not on my list, but is a name I’m watching closely heading into next week.
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• Finally, while a few Nashville Predators players remain on my list, I’m taking Steven Stamkos off for a few reasons. One is that the Predators are still waffling on their deadline plans, thinking they might have a chance at the playoffs since they’re only four points out. Another is that Stamkos’s $8-million cap hit will be very hard to move in-season. What contender is going to be able to pay up to acquire him and also take on that AAV? Plus, he’s not going to accept a trade to anywhere that isn’t going to contend for a Cup.
It’s getting to crunch time in this year’s NHL trade market. As with past trade deadlines, we’re starting to get a sense of where things are going 10 days out, but there’s an added wrinkle in 2026 that we haven’t had in the salary-cap era. Now, teams have to consider the cap in the playoffs, in that the lineup they dress has to come in under the upper limit. No more taking advantage of LTIR for a benefit in the playoffs. How much will that alter the next 10 days?
The sands will continue to shift, and games through the rest of this week loom large for many of the teams on the border between buyer and seller.
The fact of the matter is that, 25 games out from the playoffs, the prices are still too expensive. No one is going to step up yet, and there are plenty of teams still deciding what to do. But as the buyers and sellers become defined, more teams will get involved and the prices will drop.
By the time I update this list again at the start of next week, things will really be heating up.
For now, here are the latest players of interest on my trade board coming out of the Olympic break…
His on-ice play has not yet lived up to his $11.6 million cap hit, and a two-goal performance at the Olympics won’t lead to any new optimism about the player. Finding the right trade for Pettersson will be complex. Do you believe he will bounce back from a 45-point (in 64 games) season last year, and a 34-point showing (in 49 games) so far this season? He was a 102-point player just three years ago and is in his prime years. Vancouver will not want to trade him as a cap dump and already has a need for a centre with him, so moving him will require a replacement. It’s a tough balance, but there are teams exploring how to make it happen.
Carolina has never stopped showing interest. Detroit and Los Angeles also have a need for a top-six centre and are seeing if a Pettersson deal can work for them. This is kind of like the Quinn Hughes situation where the Canucks could keep Pettersson for good, keep him for now and revisit trades in the off-season, or they could get something good for him now and he’s gone.
GM Doug Armstrong returns from a silver medal finish at the Olympics to an NHL team that’s 14 points out of the playoffs. This will be his final trade deadline, and plenty is potentially on the table for the Blues. There is a sense from both Kyrou’s side and the team’s that a change in scenery might be best for everyone. Kyrou has a full no-trade clause, but will listen to options.
You’ll be hearing a lot about the Blues over the next 10 days. Kyrou’s situation may yet get pushed into the summer, however, it is also very realistic that this happens by March 6.
In recent seasons, Armstrong has floated the possibility of trading several players off his roster, but the team has done pretty well to turn around its play and quiet that talk before the trade deadline. This year, however, they’re not likely to close the gap to the playoffs, and since it’s Armstrong’s last deadline in the GM chair, we’re keeping a close eye on them.
Rumours about Thomas (and other Blues players) have been swirling for a while, and if there was nothing to them, you’d think they would have been kiboshed by now. But they’re not going away, and now the players are being asked about them, and Thomas has talked about his own situation.
Thomas and Kyrou both are likely to waive their no-trade clauses for the right destination, and if Armstrong can find a return he’s happy with. Thomas seems to be linked to Detroit, and if a team has the assets to satisfy Armstrong, my best guess is that the Red Wings are it. They are looking for an impactful guy. I have already mentioned Detroit alongside Pettersson, but they could be sniffing around on Thomas, too.
This is a situation that could still be pushed to the summer, but overall, this doesn’t appear to be a long-term marriage between the Blues and Thomas anymore.
Top four defencemen are in high demand, and Weegar is attractive to many teams. The Flames may not have planned on trading Weegar this season, but with the position they’re in and the calls they’ll get, they will have to consider it
Calgary likes Weegar, but he’s going to turn 33 years old next season, so does he really fit into the window when the Flames will be competitive again? They have a ways to go here. Much like Kadri, the Flames have to ask themselves a tough question: when’s a good time to unload?
As I mentioned off the top, the Senators really like Weegar and would love to add a top-four defenceman.
Armed with a 15-team no-trade list, Faulk has some say in how things might play out for him, but it’s different than in years past where he had a full no-trade clause. More than ever before, Faulk is in play at the trade deadline and he’s the Blues’ scoring leader from the blue line with 30 points in 57 games. He plays in all situations for St. Louis and averages over 22 minutes a game.
As New York looks to continue turning over its roster, Trocheck is one of the more likely players to get traded. On Team USA at the Olympics, he fit into a fourth-line and penalty-kill role for a team that had a perfect PK all tournament. That will be appealing to buying teams looking for centre and checking depth for the playoffs. It’s hard to see how the 35-year-old’s value will ever be higher than it is right now, and the Rangers know they can’t hold on to him.
Bill Guerin got a firsthand look at Trocheck’s impact at the Olympics and may want to add that to his NHL team. However, Trocheck’s preference is to remain in the east so Guerin might have to talk him into Minnesota if he wants to take a run at him.
A highly appealing player because he’s on track for a career offensive season, McMann skates well and his $1.35-million cap hit will easily fit in with any team’s salary structure. McMann is a pending UFA so he will be viewed as a rental player for now.
As much as Toronto would like to keep him and re-sign him for something around $4 million, the probability is that the Leafs will miss the playoffs and they can’t sit on this asset and risk losing him for nothing.
What will the Leafs get back for McMann? It’s debatable what his price tag is. A lot of people have talked about Toronto getting a first-rounder back, but one Western Conference team told me they just don’t view him as a legitimate top-six guy. He can play in the top-six, but some teams just don’t see him as a surefire player in that position. Players who are definite top-six upgrades pull first-rounders in trades, but usually not a winger who only has good stretches there. But all it takes is for one team to offer that up, so McMann’s real value is debatable. Many teams would rather give something in the ballpark to what San Jose gave Vancouver for Kiefer Sherwood (two seconds or a second and a third).
There is always a need for centres around the league and Kadri would seem to hit a lot of the right notes. He’s still productive, leading Calgary in scoring, he’s got plenty of playoff experience, and he’s won the Stanley Cup. The complicated part of this is that his contract goes on for another three seasons, and teams are cautious about taking on that full freight.
Meantime, the Flames do not want to eat any of the remaining money and, for now, that’s the only thing keeping him in Calgary. Kadri has a 13-team no-trade list, but he’s willing to waive that if it means taking a run at another Cup. On Monday, Kadri was addressing trade rumours and our own Eric Francis wrote how a Kadri trade feels inevitable now. Calgary has been playing hardball on this the whole time and now we’re down to the final days for them to make a call. There are six teams believed to be in on this, including Dallas, Carolina and Montreal.
Luke Hughes has been out of the lineup since mid-January with an injury and as long as the Devils were missing him and trying to hang around the playoff race, it didn’t seem like GM Tom Fitzgerald was too eager to trade away Hamilton. However, Hughes has been back skating with his teammates and might be on track to return soon, while New Jersey lost five of its last six games before the Olympic break and are now 11 points back of the final wild-card spot. So, in that sense, the conditions might be just right for Fitzgerald to try and find a deal by March 6.
But actually finding a partner in-season might not be so easy. Moving a $9-million, multi-year contract during the season is going to be a tough nut to crack.
O’Reilly is the only one of Nashville’s premium trade assets without any trade protection in his contract, so it’s going to be hard for Barry Trotz to keep hanging on to him. A reliable and experienced defensive centre, O’Reilly’s cap hit is entirely manageable, and he comes with an extra year of contract control so he’s not a rental. Of anyone on Nashville’s roster, O’Reilly is garnering the most attention because he plays such a sought-after position.
O’Reilly is much like Kadri is to Calgary. His value to Nashville will never be higher than it is right now, so you have to move him even though his contract isn’t expiring. O’Reilly has had a great season and proven he can still compete. He leads Nashville in scoring with 56 points in 57 games, but by this time next year, he could have half as many points.
If the Hurricanes think they need to shore up their roster with some grit, I could see them taking a run at O’Reilly. Montreal has also been connected to him, but he wants to go somewhere quieter so it’s unlikely he’d green-light a move there. And although O’Reilly doesn’t have any trade protection, the Predators are still trying to work with him on a landing spot.
The top centres most likely to be available at this deadline are Pettersson, Kadri, O’Reilly, Trocheck and Brayden Schenn. That’s a deep group of players at a highly desirable position and makes for an interesting market at centre. Schenn joins the long list of Blues who are out there and this might be the year he does get moved.
With seven points in his last 10 games before the Olympics, Marchessault and the Predators were doing enough to cast some doubt on the idea that trading away veteran players had to be done before the trade deadline. However, the Predators’ front office absolutely does want this team to get younger. The front office and ownership will be considering that and have to balance it with the fact that the team is just four points out of the playoffs, and may well have a shot at that post-season revenue.
The Predators are also expected to leave a lot of the bigger decisions to their next GM, who won’t be in place until after the deadline or even the off-season. I took Stamkos off my list because his contract will be so hard to move, but Marchessault’s isn’t as tough. He’s a more logical player the team might ask to waive if the right opportunity comes up.
Just like his teammate Pettersson, DeBrusk is having a disappointing season for Vancouver, where reaching even 20 goals might be tough do after he scored 28 times a year ago. But at $5.5 million, DeBrusk’s cap hit isn’t too much if a buying team thinks he can recover as a complementary scorer. There is a market brewing for DeBrusk, and the Canucks are very much in rebuild mode, aggressively pursuing all the options available to them.
Through 56 games, Wright is only halfway to his full-season point total from 2024-25, which has been disappointing for a Kraken team that could really use more offence. However, he’s just 22 years old and only four years removed from being selected fourth overall in the draft, so the collection of NHL teams eager to get younger on the pro roster might want to take a shot at Wright’s upside. If Seattle, currently third in the Pacific Division, can find the scoring it needs in a trade, Wright would absolutely be someone the team would entertain moving.
A new addition to my trade board coming out of the break, momentum is certainly building around the possibility that the Flyers trade their big, right-shot blueliner. With teams so hungry for this type of player at this time of the year, the Flyers are considering trading him now when he has another season remaining on his contract and before he becomes a potential rental. Dallas is a potential landing spot for Ristolainen because they’re not content with their blue line depth heading towards the playoffs.
Calgary has a few trade candidates potentially available at this deadline, but if you had to pick one who was the most likely to get traded, it’s Coleman. He has partial trade protection, in which he’d allow a move to 10 teams, and the two-time Stanley Cup champion is also under contract for another year. This is the player Calgary is taking the most calls on, so the market could spin up a highly valuable return for the Flames.
He had another strong international showing even though this one ended in a second-place finish, but Binnington’s play at the Olympics has given Armstrong a shot in the arm to try moving him again, and further proves that he’s a player who steps up in big games and moments. Statistically, he’s been one of the bottom goalies in the NHL this season, but behind a better team defence, Binnington might elevate for the playoffs. He’s a hard trade candidate to get a read on, but he’s got a heck of a resume.
I know the Hurricanes just signed Brandon Bussi to an extension, but if the Hurricanes want to take a run at Tampa Bay this year, they should seriously consider looking at Binnington. A long shot here is the Montreal Canadiens. Edmonton was a possible candidate earlier in the year, but it appears they have made their bed in net with the Tristan Jarry trade and have to fix other things with its roster at this deadline.
As much as Minnesota would like to keep the 23-year-old netminder as an insurance to starter Filip Gustavsson, the Wild see themselves as a Stanley Cup contender but know they need another top-six scoring option. This is where Wallstedt comes in, a young goalie making a case for the Calder Trophy who could be a No. 1-in-waiting for a rebuilding club lacking that element in their depth chart. If the Wild can get the exact type of player they need to improve their shot at a Cup this season, Wallstedt could be expendable.
He hasn’t played a game since October after having surgery on a core muscle, but Laine returned to practice with Montreal over the Olympic break and the potential for a trade involving the scoring winger is growing. His $8.7 million cap hit might be high at first glance, but Laine is in the final year of that deal, so it’s a low-risk pickup for a team. Montreal also hasn’t used any of its salary retention slots, so would entertain the idea of lowering Laine’s cap hit for a trade partner. If you’re a team that needs to find some scoring and wants to take a chance on Laine for a couple of months, he’s certainly attainable for little cost.
It’s going to be fascinating to see what happens with Florida in the next couple of weeks. Eight points out of a playoff spot, the back-to-back champs aren’t throwing in the towel yet, and a strong start out of the Olympics could lead to them hanging on for another go. But we’re also waiting to see how affected they will be by injuries, and if anyone gets shut down out of the break.
However, if the Panthers have designs on taking a run for the playoffs, and knowing Aleksander Barkov may still return in the regular season, the team could still run into cap troubles. That’s where trading Rodrigues’ $3-million cap hit comes in. How he’s handled by March 6 will indicate just where Florida sees itself at this stage of the season
The Rangers are still taking calls on Schneider as they consider any and all trade options on the roster except Igor Shesterkin. A 24-year-old, right-shot blue liner, Schneider has been getting top pair minutes here, and will be an RFA this summer still a few years away from being UFA eligible. Those facts might be appealing enough for the Rangers to keep him, but they will also create a market since these types of blue liners aren’t often available at this age. New York is looking at everything, and not just its veterans.
As mentioned on previous trade boards, Kotkaniemi is a 25-year-old centre, and while he hasn’t paid off on the potential he once had as a third overall pick, and hasn’t been able to build momentum or production in Carolina, his age and position may yet be appealing to any team looking for a young NHL player. Carolina won’t just give him away, and the return has to further their ambitions of making a Stanley Cup push.
The Oilers would be looking to trade Mangiapane just for the extra cap space his departure would create, so we shouldn’t expect the return to be much. A Mangiapane trade would open up other options for Edmonton on the market, unless they could fill a need in this deal. It just hasn’t worked out between the Oilers and Mangiapane, and it’s not believed that his no-trade clause would get in the way of much, as he also would like to try it somewhere else.
The Oilers were prepared to send Mangiapane to Toronto for Matias Maccelli, but the feeling is the Leafs weren’t too interested in it.
While the trade return won’t be huge, the Canucks will absolutely move Kane if they can find a taker. His agent, Dan Milstein, has already been given permission by the team to do his own research into trade partners, and so, it would seem, the only thing holding up a move is the lack of a market. That may take right up until deadline day to form, but there is little doubt the Canucks would retain up to 50 per cent on the final year of his contract to get back any asset they can. I’m hearing that Kings GM Ken Holland, who acquired Kane once before with Edmonton, could trade for him again with Los Angeles. I’m also hearing that Colorado might be interested in Kane.
Murphy is a depth, right-handed defenceman on an expiring contract and one the Blackhawks will explore moving as their playoff chances fade. Murphy is in the Ristolainen sort of category, but plays lower in the lineup and could be obtained for a cheaper cost.
A depth defenceman who shoots left, Stanley is on an expiring contract. If the Jets were in the playoffs, they may want to keep him for any sort of run, but they’re 11 points out of the wild card now and will look to get back an asset or two for Stanley. He fits a role on a playoff team that will need seven or eight defencemen to survive a post-season run.
