NHL Trade Rumors: Trade deadline preview and predictions

Atlantic Division

Boston Bruins

Position: Buyer
Market to watch: Artemi Panarin

Boston’s offense has largely siphoned through one of four forwards: David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Krejci. No other forward has more than 20 points, which is worrisome this time of year. Especially considering the Bruins would likely have to go through one of if not both the Maple Leafs and Lightning to get anywhere in the playoffs, secondary scoring is of the utmost importance.

Artemi Panarin has the ability to make a line that much more potent, and would do wonders creating the Bruins’ second line into something elite. Or, they could move Krecji down to the third line and put two younger forwards with Panarin on the second line. Point is, adding Panarin would make this team that much more dangerous, in front of an already stacked blue line, as well as a great goalie in Tuukka Rask. Panarin would make the Bruins a force come playoff time.

Buffalo Sabres

Position: Extremely Cautious Seller
Market to watch: Jeff Skinner

The Sabres have one of the toughest positions right now in terms of whether to buy or sell. On the one hand, the Sabres had a blazing hot streak to start the year, and at one point had the best record in the league. On the other hand, just about all the other hockey they’ve played has been somewhere between mediocre and abysmal. The question is, are they Jekyll or Hyde here?

This murks up the Jeff Skinner contract situation. You would think it’s imperative to sign him to an extension the way he’s playing, rightfully so. But also, if the Sabres doubt their ability to make the playoffs as they’re currently built, which is entirely possible, could you sell on Skinner and hope to get a big return for him and then hope he hits free agency and sign him back? Or is that too much to ask? Either way, the Sabres will likely spend the next couple of weeks weighing those odds. I don’t envy GM Jason Botterill.

Detroit Red Wings

Position: Clearance Sale
Market to watch: Anything they can

The Red Wings have a problem, and that’s the glut of no-trade clauses handed out by GM Ken Holland. There are three big time rental opportunities Detroit can trade out, but they’re held back by some kind of NTC. Niklas Kronwall has a 10 team NTC, while Thomas Vanek and Gustav Nyquist each have a full NTC. Trading any of them would bring back decent returns, and allow the Red Wings further advancement in their long awaited rebuild.

They also feature Jimmy Howard, who’s also a straight up rental, but is not tied down by an NTC, so he’s more than fair game. With teams looking for high caliber goalies, and Howard has shown he can hang this year, Howard can certainly be someone teams look for. If the Red Wings can get a good return for Howard, as well as anything from Kronwall, Vanek, or Nyquist, the rebuild can take a big step forward.

Florida Panthers

Position: Seller
Market to watch: Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan

As they are constructed, it seems as if the Panthers are just short of what it takes to win. Sure, factors include the fact they have been missing Vincent Trocheck most of the season, and the goaltending has been pretty bad most of the year. It didn’t matter, though, and the Panthers started moving some gears and getting ready for some big moves. The Nick Bjugstad deal was certainly a good start.

The Cats acquired two expiring contracts, allowing them to free up some cap space to land one or two big free agents this coming summer (somewhere, Jay Onrait is yelling “Bobrovsky!”). They could also trade for one and sign them to an extra season if they so choose. If they go with the route where they wait until the summer, they may call this season a loss, and trade those two expiring contracts they just picked up, and get even more future value with them. Can’t hurt, can it?

Montreal Canadiens

Position: Buyer
Market to watch: Defensemen

Montreal’s sudden return to relevance makes the Atlantic division that much more deep. Despite the much lower goal differential, they right up there with the Maple Leafs for second in the division. The additions of Max Domi and Jesperi Kotkaniemi have certainly paid off, and Carey Price staying healthy and playing well is a must in Montreal.

One place they could and should try to improve on is their defense, possibly helping out Price a little. Reinforcing the blue line is crucial when it comes to competing with the other top teams in the East, including Tampa, Toronto and Boston within their own division. The Canadiens do have some extra picks lying around in this and next year’s drafts, so it may be helpful to spend one or two of those on a defenseman with some experience.

Ottawa Senators

Position: Clearance Sale
Market to watch: The big fish

The Senators are currently hovering around last in the NHL standings, yet don’t have their first round pick this year due to the Matt Duchene trade. So the worse they do this year, the better it is for the Avalanche. That being said, they can still help their own future stock by trading away their big ticket pending UFA’s, Duchene and Mark Stone.

There has been talk of extending one or both of them, but nothing more than whispers have materialized from it. Considering that the Senators franchise is pretty close to rock bottom, it should behoove the team to sell off those players and get more parts to build the future of the franchise with. It makes little sense to commit money and term to those guys if they’re going to clog up the roster when time comes to contend years down the road.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Position: Stand Pat
Market to watch: Depth

This year’s Lightning team is one of the best teams in the lockout era. It helps that they are getting production from Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, and Mikhail Sergachev while they’re on cheap entry level deals, so when it comes time to pay them, who knows what would happen with this team?

Until then, the Lightning don’t need to do much to improve on the product they have. As long as they are healthy come playoff time, they are the team to beat. If it ain’t broke, as they say.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Position: Buyer
Market to watch: Anything that’ll help

It’d be weird to call this year a must win for the Leafs for a couple of reasons. Firstly, John Tavares just got here, and has a long Leafs tenure ahead of him. Secondly, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are each just 21 years of age, and the rest of the core isn’t much older. So why would this be such an important year for the Leafs?

Matthews and Marner are exactly why. Matthews is now locked in for five years at about $11.5M, and Marner deserves around that much as well. The cap hit on these two combined will jump from the $1.8M to some figure at least 10 times that, which would take otherwise useful money away from the complementary pieces they need to win. So this year is the last year they can afford the amount of talent they have now, before most of their money gets tied up in only a few players. Better buckle up.