Even though we saw three trades with playoff ramifications over the weekend, we enter the final week before the NHL’s trade deadline with plenty of teams still weighing the market, their outlook, and contemplating how aggressive they want to be by Friday at 3:00 p.m. ET.
While just over a week ago I had the St. Louis Blues hanging up the ‘for sale’ sign and writing that Doug Armstrong was open for business, they did manage to follow that by stringing four wins together and putting themselves back to within a whisker of the Canucks and Flames for the last wild card spot in the west.
Armstrong always says he lets the players tell him with their play what he should do at the trade deadline, so their situation is not so clear again. Is it possible that Wednesday’s game in Los Angeles — St. Louis’ last before the trade deadline — will dictate how aggressive, or not, Armstrong plays his hand?
Meanwhile in the East, leave it to the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers to set the tone on the trade market and reset expectations by going big and acquiring Seth Jones over the weekend.
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In the wake of that deal, Dallas’ low bid to Chicago to try and get Jones leaves them going back to the drawing board, but don’t expect them to be idle. Stars GM Jim Nill may now turn his attention towards other defencemen, such as Rasmus Ristolainen, as a possible solution.
Toronto is also feeling the squeeze of Jones going to Florida, a direct competitor in the tight Atlantic Division. The Maple Leafs would love to finish first in the division to likely avoid a first-round matchup against Florida or Tampa Bay, but lead the Panthers by just a single point despite winning three games in a row. Look for the Leafs to respond to Florida’s move in some way.
Despite GM Brad Treliving’s public plea for a centre, I’m hearing there is a focus on acquiring more depth for the blue line.
There is another big question around Toronto as we head to this important week: where does the team stand with Mitch Marner now less than four months until his contract expires and he becomes eligible for unrestricted free agency?
The fact is, Marner’s no-movement clause makes this situation rather easy to understand. After many failed spring playoff attempts, only a deep post-season run can give management a shot at re-signing him this off-season. Another early playoff exit and Marner is as good as gone. If that comes to pass, Toronto would be looking to reinvest cap dollars in other big ways.
Believe it or not with as many as 23 teams still waiting out results from their next game, we might have to wait another 72 hours before the floodgates really open up on the trade market.
Detroit and Columbus are also in buyer positions, but both remain reluctant to overspend now when their rosters are not quite ready for deep runs. Ottawa, on the other hand, is in cap hell and much like the Winnipeg Jets, they are working around many players having them on their ‘no-trade’ lists. Meantime the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins, right on the heels of those three, are thinking about selling.
As we head into what’s always a wild week of NHL transactions, here’s my latest trade board, which we’ll update as the games unfold.
In 11 games with the Hurricanes, Mikko Rantanen has two goals and six points while Carolina sits 4-6-1, not pulling away from the pack behind them as GM Eric Tulsky may have hoped when he traded for the player in January.
It hasn’t been an easy time for Rantanen to get acclimated to his new surroundings, with six of those games being on the road and the schedule interrupted by the 4 Nations Face-Off.
For now, Rantanen’s status remains status quo and the Hurricanes have a big decision to make. Word is he won’t sign an extension this week, so the ball is in ownership’s hand to keep him and push ahead into the playoffs with a top 10 player in the league who could leave via free agency, or trade him again.
Whichever team has Rantanen on the roster after the deadline has passed is the only one that can offer him an eight-year deal, but can only do so until the market opens on July 1.
I was so tempted to take Brad Marchand off my trade board because he’s hurt and not expected to play again until after the deadline. He publicly remains adamant that he wants to remain a Bruin, but I keep hearing teams like Vegas and Colorado won’t go away.
Marchand, who doesn’t have a complete no-trade clause, has made it clear around the league he doesn’t want to be traded. Boston also has made it clear that if he does open up to the possibility of being traded, the 36-year-old winger will return GM Don Sweeney some much-needed assets back. This could also leave the door open to Marchand re-signing with the Bruins again in the off-season as a free agent.
After a great performance at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Erik Karlsson has returned to NHL action with seven points in six games, but a minus-7 rating overall.
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 Karlsson’s trade value. Seth Jones, though a younger defenceman, was moved over the weekend for a young, future hopeful No. 1 netminder and a first-round pick and the Blackhawks had to retain $2.5 million of his cap hit to get that return.
Could the Penguins take a similar approach with Karlsson? The team has one more salary retention slot remaining, with Reilly Smith and Jeff Petry on the books through the end of this season.
Coming out of a tough weekend in a tie for the second wild card with Calgary at 65 points and just 1-4-0 since returning from the international tournament break, it’s believed the Canucks don’t want to wave the white flag on the season and are still trying to find ways to improve their group.
Unfortunately, no new meaningful talks on a contract have happened with Brock Boeser recently, so an $8 million AAV remains out there on a short-term deal from earlier in the season. A 40-goal scorer last season, Boeser has scored just four times in 24 games since the calendar turned to 2025 and didn’t record a shot in Saturday’s 6-3 loss to Seattle.
Vancouver remains open to any avenue with Boeser, whether to re-sign him by Friday, trade him as a rental, or possibly even move ahead with him on the roster unsigned.
With the Canucks not setting up to be an outright seller, I’ve taken Elias Pettersson back off the trade board this time, though he will remain a player to watch after the season ends.
The Sabres are set up to sell again, but with so many options of how to approach this week in front of him, the question is how big and bold will GM Kevyn Adams get in the trade market?
Dylan Cozens remains a name to watch, two seasons removed from a 31-goal output, making $7.1 million against the cap through 2029-30, still just 24 years old and with big upside as a top-six centre. But his value is perhaps not as high as it should be right now, facing back-to-back seasons of declining production.
It’s a situation for the Sabres to be cautious about. They’ve extended a rebuild before when they traded Jack Eichel and have seen several players moved go 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.
Bowen Byram will be an RFA at the end of the season and a valued asset — he’s equalled his career high in points already and is 13th among all NHL blueliners with 27 even strength points, tied with Victor Hedman and John Carlson
As the Sabres explore their options, they’re listening to teams on the 23-year-old Byram, but also on 24-year-old blueliner Mattias Samuelsson who is already under contract at a $4.285 million cap hit through 2029-30. It’s unlikely the Sabres would trade both of these players, but one could be in play.
Alex Tuch could be another option for the Sabres to move, a 28-year-old power winger who’s third on the team in scoring and tied for 20th among all NHL forwards with 18 even strength goals. He has the size (6-foot-4, 220 pounds), goal scoring acumen, penalty killing ability and willingness to block shots that will all be valued by rival GMs.
As Adams considers his options, trading Tuch may not be as eyebrow-raising as a Cozens or Byram move, but it surely would make for en exciting hockey trade. Tuch is not a rental, still under contract for one more season at $4.75 million and in his prime at 28 years of age.
A four-game winning streak was snapped with Sunday’s 6-3 loss in Dallas and, outside of that game, Jordan Binnington has been excellent since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off. Suddenly the Blues are in the thick of the Western wild card race again, just one point behind Vancouver and Calgary, though with two more games played than both.
GM Doug Armstrong could take all of his decisions right down to the wire, with a road game in Los Angeles Wednesday night their last before Friday’s trade deadline.
Binnington remains a name to watch as he would be the top goaltender available, still under contract at $6 million for another two seasons. The issue for Armstrong is a very weak goalie market that may need to wait until the off-season. Edmonton remains the only bonafide partner at this point. The Oilers are on Binnington’s no-trade list, but he could change his mind for the possibility of chasing a Stanley Cup with Connor McDavid. Binnington would have Carolina on his no-trade list as well, and Detroit seems an unlikely candidate at this point in their team’s development.
Whatever happens, Armstrong still wants to shed some money and turn over some of this roster before next season, so many possibilities are on the table. Brayden Schenn, 33, is making $6.5 million for another three seasons and though he’s the captain of this team, might be a candidate for the GM to attain that change.
Schenn is having a down season overall in 2024-25, but has been something of a leader in this charge back into the playoff race for St. Louis, with six points in his past five games. That may yet convince Armstrong to keep his captain around, but if many teams get involved and drum up a competitive market, St. Louis may be presented with an offer they can’t refuse. The idea of uniting Brayden Schenn with his brother Luke in separate deals remains a target for a couple teams.
If it’s not Schenn that gets a deal done, Armstrong is believed to still be taking calls on the likes of Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou, two younger players signed long-term who have appeared on my list in the past.
As for defencemen, the Blues have been looking into trading one of their top paid blueliners for some time, but four of them have no-trade clauses. That possibility remains true this week.
Colton Parayko has gone from someone deemed untouchable to suddenly a player garnering a lot of attention around the league. His trade value has never been higher, which is forcing the team to consider him in trade talks. Parayko has already scored a career high in goals and is tied for fourth among all defencemen in the league with 15. He’s also 6-foot-6, 228 pounds, can kill penalties, and is signed through 2029-30 at $6.5 million.
Justin Faulk has appeared on my list before and is a name that’s still on the table as well. Armstrong won’t trade all of these players, and isn’t looking to tear down the roster to rebuild, but is taking Washington’s lead in how to consider re-tooling a team on the fly to get a better result.
With a two-goal, three-point effort on Saturday, Brock Nelson helped lead the Islanders to their second consecutive win, but they still trail the playoffs by five points and will have to get over six other teams to get there. Still, it’s close enough that it’s not clear what GM Lou Lamoriello will decide to do or, if he does sell, how far he decides to go with it.
Nelson might be the player who moves the needle most for contenders looking at New York’s roster, a middle-six centre who has scored 37, 36 and 34 goals over the past three seasons and with 19 goals in 59 games this season. The market for centres is deep and diverse, but the Islanders could come away with a nice return for the 33-year-old.
The Islanders will also have to consider what to do with another rental, winger Kyle Palmieri, who has scored three times in four games since teams returned from the 4 Nations. Jean-Gabriel Pageau isn’t a rental — he has one additional season remaining at $5 million — but will be another player Lamoriello takes calls on.
A pending UFA making just $3.75 million against the Rangers’ cap (thanks to previous salary retention by the Penguins), Reilly Smith hasn’t fit in so cleanly with New York this season, scoring just 10 goals in 58 games and none since Jan. 23.
Smith was held out of Saunday’s game (a 4-0 win over Nashville) for “roster management purposes” which clearly increases the likelihood that he’ll be moved by Friday. New York plays again at home Monday vs. the Islanders and Wednesday against Washington before a call has to be made.
Meantime, the Rangers are just two points out of the East’s second wild card spot, with three wins in their past four games.
Colorado got the weekend off and play again on Tuesday at home to Pittsburgh and Thursday against San Jose before the trade deadline. The Avs have already traded for Martin Necas and Jack Drury earlier this season, then acquired defenceman Ryan Lindgren from the Rangers over the weekend, but may not be done yet.
Colorado has $3.286 million in projected deadline day cap space, per PuckPedia, but may also explore moving Casey Mittelstadt one year after acquiring him from the Sabres. Mittelstadt, a 26-year-old centre, makes $5.75 million on the cap for another two seasons, but hasn’t been the seamless answer as Colorado’s second line pivot, a role they’ve been trying to fill since Nazem Kadri left in free agency.
It’s an area Avs GM Chris MacFarland may still be looking to address by Friday.
Six points out of the playoffs, the Ducks’ charge may not be enough to finish the job this season, but they’re starting to make progress. Still, GM Pat Verbeek will be looking for ways to set his team up to take another step next season, and Trevor Zegras‘ name remains out there.
No longer a highly productive player on the rise, Zegras has dealt with various injuries the past two seasons, which have slowed him to 31 points in his past 65 games played. 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 Verbeek has been looking into finding the player a new home all season.
Still just 24 years old next week, making $5.75 million through next season, someone may yet be willing to step up and take the chance on Zegras while he can be had. He will return from a three-game suspension this week, when the Ducks will face Edmonton and Vancouver in Tuesday and Wednesday night road games.
When John Gibson was forced to leave a game early last week, the first question was ‘what did that mean for his trade candidacy?’ With so few quality netminders available in trade, Gibson was seen as an attractive target having a bounce back season — .911 save percentage, 2.76 GAA, and eighth in the league in Goals Saved Above Expected, per MoneyPuck.
Fears of an injury dissipated quickly, however, and Gibson returned to Anaheim’s net Saturday, though in a rough 6-3 loss to Chicago in which the netminder made just 18 saves on 24 shots.
The Ducks acquired another goalie, Ville Husso, last week, which gives them organizational depth and an option behind Lukas Dostal if Gibson is traded, but the move itself doesn’t indicate something is definitively coming down the pipe.
Gibson is signed at $6.4 million for another two years and will turn 32 in July.
Ryan Donato continues to appeal to contending teams and scored twice in Saturday’s win over Anaheim.
Donato is having a career season, now with 21 goals and 22 assists and the team leader in even strength goals and points. If there is one thing to be aware of, it’s that Donato’s shooting percentage is also at a career high, so this level of production may yet slow down, but he’s a feisty player and one of Chicago’s team leaders in hits. He wins just over 45 per cent of his draws, but also can be used on the wing.
By trading Seth Jones to Florida over the weekend for Spencer Knight and a first-round pick, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson signalled that this team was still in the thick of a rebuild and was able to get a good return for a player seeking a way out. While Donato could be a useful player for the Hawks going forward, the fact is he’s a pending UFA making just $2 million against the cap, so the team will likely sell high on him in this moment.
The Blackhawks have now used up all three of their retention slots, however, meaning a buyer will have to take on Donato at full value or else find a third team to get involved.
Sharks GM Mike Grier is still seeking the right return for Mario Ferraro, a left shot blueliner under contract for $3.25 million and signed for another season at that attractive number.
Ferraro can play physical and is not shy about blocking shots. He can kill penalties (third on the Sharks in PK ice time per game) and play reliable minutes in the top four. Ferraro does a good job tipping the ice more than most other San Jose defencemen and has gotten a lower percentage of offensive zone starts than any of them as well. He’s drawn tough assignments and has done well enough with them, considering the Sharks are the NHL’s worst team with a horrendous minus-73 goal differential.
Still just 26 years old, he’s on the fringe of 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. But by moving him now, a year before he becomes UFA eligible, the Sharks may try and acquire more future assets instead.
With four wins in their past five games — and at least one point in each — the Flyers are hanging on to playoff hope, four back of the wild card Monday morning. Management may be cautious in how it approaches the deadline overall, not wanting to give up on the roster yet — especially when the team is delivering results — and making sure to not sell low on any players under contract.
That brings us to Rasmus Ristolainen, who is enjoying something of a bounceback season with 19 points, a team-leading 90 hits, 88 blocked shots and an important presence on Philadelphia’s penalty kill. Big, right shot, physical defencemen are common targets this time of year and the Flyers could be enticed to move him for the right price.
But Ristolainen still has another season remaining on his deal, so the Flyers won’t be rushed into making a move if the price isn’t right. They’re by no means out of the race yet.
Scott Laughton stirred the trade rumour mill over the weekend with a ‘last supper’ photo that made it seem like he knew something was up. It turns out that Laughton, a mainstay on trade lists for the past year, was trying to have fun with the ongoing speculation.
“We were joking around, I think you kinda got to keep it light at this time of year,” he said Saturday. “Joking around that it was my last time (with the Flyers) on the road. (Teammate Erik Johnson) was kind of poking fun at me, so we re-created a little picture.
“I think when you’re in (trade) rumours for five years straight, it’s nice to get some people back with a little bit of trolling.”
Like Ristolainen, Laughton is not in a situation where he has to be traded now but if it is a sellers’ market for centres, the Flyers might entertain a move if someone meets their price, which is thought to be for at least a first-round pick.
Making just $3 million against the cap for another season, Laughton leads all Flyers forwards in penalty kill time per game, wins just shy of 50 per cent of his draws, and is one of the more physical players on the roster. He has the ability to play centre or wing, so allows a coach some flexibility with how he lines up the players. Laughton is a best fit in a bottom-six role.
It remains to be seen what happens with Laughton, who was in a similar situation a year ago. But he’s well-liked in the dressing room and by head coach John Tortorella, who certainly won’t be satisfied to give up when the team is on a little bit of a roll, beating Winnipeg on Saturday. The Flyers play Calgary and Winnipeg again before Friday’s deadline.
Just 4-5-1 in their past 10, Seattle has slipped to nine points out of the wild card and now GM Ron Francis will be considering a wide variety of moves. But one player who could bring the team back a sneaky good return is Brandon Tanev, one of the more physical players on the team who also leads all Seattle forwards in shot blocks.
Tanev is the Kraken’s PK minutes leader per game and plays with the sort of intensity that translates to playoff hockey and is targeted by GMs around the deadline. He’s not a big point scorer, though does have nine goals this season, so will be a load to handle in a depth winger role. A playoff rental type, through and through.
Since having surgery to repair a sports hernia, Yanni Gourde hasn’t played a game since Jan. 5, with an initial timeline that he was expected to miss five-to-seven weeks. We’re right near the end of that window now, though with just two games left before the trade deadline, Seattle may be careful with how it handles Gourde.
Before the injury, there was a long list of suitors for Gourde, an interesting and feisty third line centre who could greatly complement a contender’s top two options and can kill penalties as well. Gourde has the experience of winning two Stanley Cups with Tampa Bay, during which he scored a combined 13 goals in 48 games.
The injury introduces a bit more risk into acquiring the player, but it’s still believed there will be a market for the pending UFA.
Saturday’s loss to New Jersey ended a three-game winning streak for Utah, but they are very much alive again, just two points out of a wild card position. While they could look to leverage some assets to find improvement and upgrade the roster, it’s still believed Utah’s bigger trades will come in the off-season.
The fact is GM Bill Armstrong has lots to consider on this roster. Nick Bjugstad is a big forward on an expiring contract who could be sent out as a rental player. It’s also been suggested that Utah thinks it needs to size up its forwards, meaning some smaller players such as Alexander Kerfoot (another pending UFA) or Matias Maccelli (scratched since Feb. 8, one year removed from recording 57 points) could also be had.
But if the Hockey Club seeks out a more intriguing return, Lawson Crouse will draw interest from around the league. Though Crouse, 27, is having a down season on offence (13 points in 60 games), he’s a unique sort of player who can be used in all situations, and play physically (130 hits) at 6-foot-4, 214 pounds. Prior to this season, he scored at least 20 goals three years in a row.
Crouse is also under contract for another two years at $4.3 million, a reasonable number that someone might want to jump all over.
The closer we come to the trade deadline without an extension, the more likely Montreal will trade 28-year-old centre Jake Evans. Making just $1.7 million this season, Evans is on the cusp of surpassing career bests in goals and points.
The Canadiens are just three points out of the playoffs and so may yet keep some players they’d otherwise consider moving, but this is a team and management group still thinking with a more long-term outlook. Evans is a depth guy who can kill penalties, play with an edge and wins more face-offs than he loses. Teams are calling on the player and, if he’s pricing his way out of Montreal, GM Kent Hughes will be seeking the best offer.
With so many big things going on in Vancouver this season, depth defneceman Carson Soucy has come in under the radar, but is believed to be available. Not that he’s a replacement for Quinn Hughes, but the injury to the team’s captain over the weekend will put further pressure on the defence corps so, if managment does not want to give up on the playoff push, moving Soucy becomes a little tougher to do.
A 6-foot-5, 208-pound left shot defenceman, Soucy is a physical player, second on the Canucks in blocked shots, and relied upon for key penalty kill minutes. If you’re a playoff team looking for a depth defender on your third pairing, you could do worse than Soucy, who comes with the added value of having one more season left on his contract at a $3.25 million AAV. He also has a full no-trade clause.
Trent Frederic is one of the more physical forwards in the league, with 155 hits on the season. It’s that sandpaper plus the flexibility of being a centre or winger that will make him an intriguing player on the trade market.
Frederic is a pending UFA, but will be far easier for the Bruins to move on from than the call they have to make on Marchand. Frederic is also capable of providing a decent amount of offence from the bottom-six — though he has just 15 points in 57 games this season, he notched 18 goals and 40 points a year ago.
TRADED OFF REAL KYPER’S LIST: Seth Jones, Ryan Lindgren, Alexandre Carrier, Cam Fowler, Taylor Hall, Martin Necas, J.T. Miller, Marcus Pettersson, Drew O’Connor
