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NHL: Which Eastern conference teams should stay, buy, and sell?

By Jasmine Yen

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 15: David Krejci #46 of the Boston Bruins skates between Kasperi Kapanen #24 and Andreas Johnsson #18 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 15, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Bruins 3-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 15: David Krejci #46 of the Boston Bruins skates between Kasperi Kapanen #24 and Andreas Johnsson #18 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 15, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Bruins 3-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images /

Sell

1. Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens have a lot of young pieces that are anchored by a 10-million dollar goaltender in Carey Price. The team has a bright future ahead and some older players that could be flipped for some valuable prospects. The two biggest names circulating around Montreal is Ilya Kovalchuk and defenseman Jeff Petry.

Ilya Kovalchuk has been a great project for the Canadiens. They were able to sign him to a very flexible contract and increase his value with proper ice time and linemates. With the LA Kings, he played 15:25 minutes of ice time and had 9 points (3G 6A) in 17 games played. This is a huge contrast to his 19:36 on the first line with the Canadiens in which he has 8 points in 8 games. He is now a very inexpensive but useful player that playoff teams can use to increase their production and the Canadiens can get a nice return.

Jeff Petry is a right-handed defenseman that has a year left on his contract after this season. He’s a dependable defenseman that can play big minutes as well as on the penalty kill and is a huge body that can hit. On the market, he will fetch the Canadiens quite the package and will free up 5.5 million dollars in cap space for the team to make more moves in the offseason.

2. Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators are in the middle of a rebuild and have a lot of young, promising players to build around like Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk. However, they still have some ways to go and they have players that they can ship out to bring in more talent. The biggest name they have to offer is Jean-Gabriel Pageau who is fourth on TSN’s Trade Bait board.

He is a UFA at the end of the season and is on pace for the most productive season of his career. In 46 games, he already has 31 points including 19 goals. He would be a huge help offensively to whichever team acquires him and would help Ottawa move along with their rebuild.

Related Story. 5 teams that should trade for Pageau. light

3. Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings have been in denial for the past few years but the lack of success they’ve been having has to indicate to general manager Steve Yzerman that a full rebuild is the best course to take. The team has promising pieces, but their team has gone through four goaltenders and the only one who has a save percentage over .900 is Jonathan Bernier (.904).

Dylan Larkin is a good player, but he can’t do everything on his own. This team lacks a legitimate difference-maker and right now the team has a chance to make trades for young prospects and free up cap space to make some damage in the summer.

Top midseason award candidates. dark. Next

A player like Andreas Athanasiou would be very appealing to a playoff team as a depth offensive player. Being 25 years old and a UFA at the end of the season, teams would be interested in signing a promising winger who would not cost much. His situation with the Red Wings isn’t exposing his true potential and a trade would be beneficial for both parties.

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