The countdown to the NHL trade deadline is on as teams feel out the competition in the hopes of coming to an agreement on a deal that will either move a team closer to the playoffs or Stanley Cup, or give someone else a valued draft pick or collection of futures with which to move forward.
This week’s 31 Thoughts Podcast with Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman served as something of a preview for the deadline, as the guys had a few guests with front office experience talk about what goes on behind the scenes in the lead-up to the last trading day of the regular season.
To open the episode, though, Elliotte gave a trade deadline-related thought on each of the NHL’s 31 teams. Buyer? Seller? Somewhere in the middle? See where he thinks your team lands in advance of the 3:00 p.m. ET deadline on Feb. 26.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
CAROLINA
“Will buy as long as it doesn’t mortgage their future.”
COLUMBUS
“Buyer. Now here’s the problem. I’ve heard what they’re willing to pay, teams consider it to be way too low.”
NEW JERSEY
“I think a smart buyer. They’re a stealth team to me. Stealth Evander Kane team.” (The Devils have since landed Michael Grabner)
NY ISLANDERS
“I think they’re a buyer, but Calgary is out of the playoffs, they’ve got Calgary’s first-round pick. Don’t think they want to move that. I think they’re a buyer though. I just don’t know how they want to go. I’ve heard the goalie market is nowhere.
“The Islanders have always struck me as a team that believed if their defence was good their goalie would be good, so I think they will go D before they go goal, but could be totally wrong.”
NY RANGERS
“Sell, sell, sell. Just about everybody. Somebody’s gotta pay big money for McDonagh, but I think they are definitely a seller. I’m not a genius for saying that; everybody knows that.
“I’ve heard there’s teams out West (interested in McDonagh).”
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PHILADELPHIA
“Careful buyer.
“I understand what (GM Ron) Hextall’s thinking. He’s saying they’ve earned help. Not ridiculous help, but help. And that’s what he’s going to do.”
PITTSBURGH
“I still think they’re looking for a centre. (Matt Cullen?): I don’t think it’s a joke. There’s a reason they made Matt Hunwick available last week.”
WASHINGTON
“I think a careful buyer. I think the Michal Kempny deal is what they’re looking at. Depth pieces. One of the things that’s interesting to me is how comfortable John Carlson and the Capitals seem to be about going without a contract until now.
“I think the way Stamkos went to free agency has changed some teams’ opinions on this, that if you really believe a cornerstone player wants to stay you can wait. I think the other thing, too, is the Capitals see how they do in the playoffs to see if they have to get rid of someone else to make more room for Carlson.”
BOSTON
“I think the biggest question with Boston is how big they want to go. How big do they want to go?
“Do you think you can win? I think they are weighing that, how big do we want to go? McDonagh?”
BUFFALO
“Seller. I’ll say this: guys who were at that game on Saturday against the Kings said that Jason Botterill was as angry as any GM they’ve seen this year. He’s asked a lot. An awful lot.”
(Sam Reinhart?): “I’d reported I think a week ago that Philadelphia and Buffalo were talking and I could never pin it down, but I think Buffalo was looking at their D in the AHL, like (Sam) Morin and (Travis) Sanheim. That’s the kind of guy (Reinhart) I could see Ron Hextall looking at. I think the biggest problem is they’ve got Casey Mittelstadt probably coming maybe as soon as next year. I think they want O’Reilly there and you’re going to have Eichel there. Are you penning Mittelstadt in as your third-line centre or do you still need Reinhart?”
DETROIT
“I think they’re sellers. I think Glendening to Toronto is very real. I think with Glendening one of the problems is the Leafs are at 49 contracts (48 after Fehr trade), they can’t do it for a draft pick. I believe Soshnikov was in there, I could see Leivo being in there. And I still think they are a couple rounds apart on the draft pick, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that one gets done.”
FLORIDA
“For me the Panthers are almost like dollar in, dollar out, like you have to be wary of the money there. But I think they’re really good. I like their team a lot.
“I think Bjugstad could go, I think there’s some interest there. He’s having trouble finding a fit there. I think they’re a stealth team for Pacioretty. I think Petrovic could go. I think Florida’s got a couple things on the move, but I think they always take the long-term view.”
MONTREAL
“They’re obviously sellers. Pacioretty.” (Plekanec?) “I’ve heard that Claude Julien wants to keep Plekanec because they’re not very deep at centre, which actually would make some sense to me. I would also think that, with them, I’m wondering about Gallagher. To me, that’s a tough deal to make. Your most valuable guy to trade might be Gallagher.”
OTTAWA
“Seller, big time. Question is how much? You know there’s all this talk about does Karlsson go or does he not go? You’re nuts to think that Ottawa isn’t at least considering the possibility. There could be a lot of guys, there could be (Zack) Smith, there could be (Derick) Brassard…
(On Karlsson): “I look at it as if you’re going to trade him you have to get something back that excites your fans. You can’t just pair him with Bobby Ryan in some crazy salary dump. Like if you get Mikhail Sergachev back, that’s exciting. But if you don’t, how are you going to sell tickets?
“This one somebody brought up to me: what if Colorado said we’ll give you everybody back that you traded to us (in the Duchene deal)?
“Vegas makes a lot of sense. I heard Vegas was in on Hoffman and somebody said to me that makes no sense for them. But Karlsson might. I gotta tell you, if I’m Vegas and I’m blowing my money on anyone, Karlsson would definitely be high on that list. But I might wait to see what Tavares does.”
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TAMPA BAY
“Buyer. The question is how big? I got a call from someone and he says ‘I see what you’ve been writing about Tampa.’ And he said ‘you’re right to a degree, but Yzerman’s not going to deal (Brayden) Point, so they’ve got a lot of prospects, but how many of them are really high end?’ Who is Yzerman going to trade that’s really going to be high end?”
(Tyler Johnson?): “OK, but he doesn’t want to make his team worse. Tyler Johnson is a good player. But if you’re going for prospects, which high-end prospect is he going to deal you?
“The highest guy is Point, and you’re not getting him. The second-highest guy is Sergachev, are you getting him? After that what are you getting? I’ll give you another name I could see for Tampa, if he’s willing to waive his no-trade clause: Alex Edler. But he’s gotta be willing to waive.”
TORONTO
“You know what, I have no idea what to expect from these guys. They asked about (Chris) Tanev, they’re obviously in on Glendening. I could see the Maple Leafs making a lateral move to get something else. Like what if they trade someone to get something and then use that something to get someone else?”
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
CHICAGO
“I’d heard Columbus asked them about Anisimov. I think Chicago’s position is centres are hard to find. They’ve dealt one UFA in Michal Kempny, they’ve got more. They have Rutta, they have Wingels, they have Bouma who’s had a pretty good year. The interesting one would be Patrick Sharp. Does he finish the year in Chicago? Calgary and Boston were teams that looked at him in the past, are they going to look at him again?”
COLORADO
“Smart buyer. The tough one is Erik Johnson gets a bad injury. I think some teams have asked about Blake Comeau, but I could see them keeping him just to stay in the run. Like Philly, I think their players have earned a chance to stay. I think they’re a smart buyer. If they get something small, but inexpensive or something that helps them long term they could do it.”
DALLAS
“I still think Nash is a possibility there. They don’t want to trade Jason Dickinson, I can see that being the guy everybody’s asking for. So I think they’re a smart buyer.”
MINNESOTA
“They don’t have a lot of room to do things. They just made a 2-for-1 minor league deal which opened up a contract spot for them and one of the things they’re trying to do is sign one of their NCAA players who can become a free agent on Aug. 15.”
NASHVILLE
“They’re a buyer. My question is what are they willing to give up? They just gave up a lot to get Turris, they don’t want to deal (Dante) Fabbro, they don’t want to deal (Eeli) Tolvanen, what are they giving up?”
ST. LOUIS
“I think they’re a buyer. But I’ve heard they’re really not interested in dealing (Jordan) Kyrou or (Robert) Thomas. (Klim) Kostin’s name I haven’t heard. I think Ottawa’s talked to them about (Robby) Fabbri before. I’ve heard Ottawa’s looked at some of his medical stuff. I do believe he’s been a guy teams have talked about.”
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WINNIPEG
“I’ve heard one of the biggest issues is all the no-trades. I have to tell you I don’t get this. If I was a rental or I had one year left I would go to Winnipeg. They’re talented.
“I would bet on Winnipeg. They’re going to score, they’re talented. If you succeed in Canada as a free agent your stock goes through the roof. Also, I think they are trying to go for it.”
ANAHEIM
“I think Bob Murray’s kind of in the middle. He’s the kind of guy who it wouldn’t surprise me if he was looking at McDonagh. I don’t know that, but Bob Murray is a guy who has his hand in every potential big deal there is. He’s got young players, but he’s also a guy who says no matter how good my team is if there’s a good player out there, I’m in. Regardless of position.
“He hates rentals. As he pointed out last week, when he traded for Patrick Eaves it was a guy he was eyeing towards signing, which he did.
“That to me is the kind of deal he will make. He will make a deal that, regardless of where he is this year, he thinks himself better for the long term.”
ARIZONA
“I don’t think Hjalmarsson. Domi, yes. It’s a tough one, though. He’s still a talented young guy and I think they’re asking a lot and teams are like ‘look at his production.’ But I don’t think Ekman-Larsson goes. I think they take their shot to sign him this summer.”
CALGARY
“I think they’re a buyer. I don’t think they like the way their team is kind of lurching along. They have a win, then they have an ugly loss. I think they’re looking for scoring — a scoring winger.
“Treliving is another guy who has his hands in everything and if someone was to pull off a surprise trade where you look at it and you go ‘wow’ it wouldn’t surprise me if it was him.”
EDMONTON
“Obviously the UFAs are there. I don’t see Draisaitl doing it. First of all, I think it’s a bad idea and secondly I just don’t see it.
“The one I really wonder about is what are they going to do on their blue line? I don’t understand why Klefbom is playing, just shut him down. Could they do Larsson? It’s a tough deal for them to do, but I think they’ve got something cooking with their D. I don’t know if it happens now or later, but they’ve got something cooking I think.”
LOS ANGELES
“Buyer. I could see them looking at Detroit’s wingers kind of thing.”
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SAN JOSE
“Buyer, looking for scoring.” (Stealth team for Tavares?) “Oh for sure. Don’t forget, first of all they have $20 million in cap room and No. 2 don’t forget they made a pitch for Stamkos.”
VANCOUVER
“I think a seller. I think also they’re looking for forwards with term, guys like (Nick) Bjugstad. I could see Vancouver having interest in that kind of player.”
VEGAS
“I look at them and I see a team that will probably add, but not at the expense of their future.”
