NHL Trade Rumors: Trade deadline preview and predictions

Pacific Division

Anaheim Ducks

Position – Seller
Market to watch – Jakob Silfverberg

Just a couple months ago, John Gibson was single-handedly dragging the Ducks toward a potential playoff spot. However, as far as regression curves go, it was widely expected that eventually Gibson would come down to earth, and the Ducks would plummet in the standings. Sure enough, Gibson sprung a few leaks, and the Ducks are bottoming out.

The Ducks made some tinkering to their roster, adding Michael Del Zotto, Devin Shore, and Derek Grant all in one week, but to no avail. The play here would be to sell, but the Ducks don’t have much other teams would want to buy, save Jakob Silfverberg. While the Ducks have said they want to extend Silfverberg recently, it may be more prudent to trade the pending UFA for futures, and try and retool around a new core of Rickard Rakell, Daniel Sprong, and Hampus Lindholm.

Arizona Coyotes

Position – Cautious Buyer
Market to watch – Veteran forwards

The injury to Antti Raanta may have been the arrow to the knee that took out the Coyotes from being a legitimate threat to a playoff berth in the West. Despite that, the Coyotes are still within reach of that coveted spot. It would really great for this team to actually get some playoff experience for a change, considering all the young players they currently have.

Because of the collective age of this group being what it is, there are a lot of pending RFA’s to renew next year, mostly at forward. Lawson Crouse, Conor Garland, and Nick Cousins all are due new contracts, and that may take away one of the Coyotes’ strengths in play here, and that’s cap space. So if they really want to make a run for it, buying in on some veteran scoring help may be their play here. If they don’t want to buy though, it’s perfectly reasonable.

Calgary Flames

Position – Stand Pat
Market to watch – Backup goalies

The Flames have a great luxury on their hands, and that’s the fact that their main group of players are locked up for at least three seasons after this one finishes, and for reasonable money. Dave Rittich and Sam Bennett are due a new contract this summer, and there isn’t a ton of wiggle room for that, even with letting Mike Smith walk. But that’s a summer problem.

Calgary is running away with the Western Conference’s top spot right now, and they don’t need to change anything to make a potential deep run in the playoffs. The only thing they may be concerned about is their backup goaltending, because Mike Smith’s three-plus goals against and sub-.900 save percentage aren’t gonna hack it for a contender. Other than that, though, the Flames shouldn’t tinker with the success they already have.

Edmonton Oilers

Position – Good question
Market to watch – Anything within reason

Oh boy…where to begin? Peter Chiarelli was fired far too late, and the collection of his moves amount to the same result as surrounding the Hope Diamond with cardboard cutout security guards and nothing else. The Oilers’ new regime, be it led by interim GM Keith “Not Wayne” Gretzky or someone else, have to task themselves with cleaning up after the Chiarelli Oil-Spill (see what I did there?), and build a legit team around the best hockey player in the world, Connor McDavid.

There are some pieces in place that should stick around for that next page to be turned, and others who probably won’t be. Aside from the obvious (Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Larsson, Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom), the other kind of obvious (Milan Lucic, Mikko Koskinen), and the up-and-coming (Kailer Yamamoto, Jesse Puljujarvi), everything should be fair game. It’s just damage control until such time where things get cleaned up.

Los Angeles Kings

Position – Clearance Sale
Market to watch – Everything

It’s amazing how quickly the Kings went from contender to dumpster fire. This archetype of regression tends to happen over longer periods of time than, say, a month. Now, the Kings are stuck in a really bad spot, where they have some older players stuck with bad contracts worth lots of money, and wouldn’t be particularly useful to other teams.

That said, the Kings should be open for business, and have already begun shedding parts with the Jake Muzzin trade. Muzzin may have been the easiest player to trade, but the pattern has to continue for the Kings to regain any form they’ve had over the past decade. Everything that isn’t bolted down (meaning everyone but Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty) is on sale, and can be had for a reasonable price.

San Jose Sharks

Position – Buyer
Market to watch – Goaltenders

The Sharks are one of a couple of teams that are in severe win-now mode. Consider their UFA class right now that includes Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Joonas Donskoi, and Erik Karlsson, add on the fact that they have $57M locked in to 14 players next year already, money will be very tight. If they decide to attempt to sign Karlsson to a new contract, figure at least $10M more against the cap for a 15th player.

So, because the Sharks’ window is currently set to possibly slam closed by next year if nothing goes right, this year is a must win situation. That means gathering as many provisions as possible and just playing their hearts out. One thing that needs improvement more than anything is goaltending, and there are some affordable pieces out there with proven ability in limited appearances to shore things up.

Vancouver Canucks

Position – Passive Buyers
Market to watch – Depth defensemen

One of the most pleasant surprises this season has been the emergence of the Canucks’ young roster. One year after Brock Boeser broke out, Elias Pettersson has emerged to steal the show. Dekey Pete is just one of many younger players that the Canucks can boast, and they may even sneak in to a playoff spot on their merits.

The reason why they should remain passive is that it’s not worth mortgaging much of the future to assure a playoff berth, only to get knocked out by one of the West’s elite teams in the first round. Additionally, the Canucks will have some money to shell out this summer (Boeser, Nikolay Goldobin, Josh Leivo, Markus Granlund, Ben Hutton, all RFA’s), and may be able to make a move then to move the needle more. However, if the right deal comes along to help make the playoffs, there’s no reason they shouldn’t see that through.

Vegas Golden Knights

Position – Buyer
Market to watch – Forward depth

The Golden Knights may have began life by quickly jumping into the thick of things, but that doesn’t mean it’s not sustainable. The reason being, is that the Golden Knights have a couple of tricks up their sleeves that no one else can say they have.

Firstly, draft picks. Vegas picked up so many extra picks in the expansion draft, that they still have loaded up for more moves should they choose. They have three picks in the 3rd and 5th round this year, and three more 2nd rounders next year, including all their other top picks. Secondly, they are exempt from the Seattle expansion draft, so they can use that in some way as well.

The Knights have to try and keep track with the Sharks and Flames in the Pacific, which may look more and more difficult as the days roll on. Adding some help in the depth department can never hurt, and they have plenty of picks to trade if they choose to do so.