Sportsnet’s 30 NHL trade candidates to watch one month from the deadline

We are now on a countdown to the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline and even though two of the top available centres have already been dealt (Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan) there is still a long list of players who could be wearing a new uniform at some point over the next month.

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As we explored earlier this week, the tight standings picture around the league leaves many teams still figuring out what the best path forth is. We know the Canucks and Jets will be buyers because they’ve already stepped up, but several others are still feeling out the cost of entering the market, or sorting through what they need to prioritize adding.

With that as the backdrop, we’re presenting our second list of trade candidates — a collection of 30 players this time to watch as the trade winds pick up around the NHL. With files from Sportsnet insiders Luke Fox, Eric Engels, Iain MacIntyre, Mark Spector, Eric Francis and Rory Boylen, and scouting reports and cards from scout Jason Bukala, here is a look, in alphabetical order. We’ll update this list again in two weeks and, finally, on deadline day itself.

Jake Allen, G, Montreal Canadiens
Contract: $3.85M through 2024-25

He’s the odd man out of Montreal’s crowded crease, and that’s already been established. But whether or not that has Allen changing addresses between now and March 8 is still yet to be determined, with the goaltending market shifting considerably over the past month despite no movement. Some teams have stabilized in the crease — like the Edmonton Oilers for example — and others have fallen lower down in the race and need more time to assess their needs. It’s still likely a team or two set to buy see Allen as more reliable and proven than other goaltenders available, but his $3.85-million salary, which counts against the cap through the end of next season, could prove prohibitive. It likely forces the Canadiens to either retain salary or take back a bad contract, which they’ll be willing to do at the right price. Whether or not the right price gets offered is the question, because if it isn’t, general manager Kent Hughes will probably wait until the off-season.

Adam Boqvist, D, Columbus Blue Jackets
Contract: $2.6M through 2024-25

An offensive-minded, 23-year-old, right-shot blueliner who has not hit on the potential he had when the Blue Jackets first traded for him, Boqvist is averaging over 20 minutes a game this season and is behind just Zach Werenski among Columbus defencemen in average power-play time. Boqvist has seven points in just 20 games this season, interrupted by a couple different injuries and he’s again been on the sidelines since Jan. 25. Boqvist could add a puck-moving presence down a lineup, or be an option for the power play, and an acquiring team would have an extra season to look at him.

Philip Broberg, D, Edmonton Oilers
Contract: $863,333 through 2023-24 (pending RFA)

As it stands today, Broberg is the seventh defenceman for an Oilers team that fancies itself a genuine contender this spring. That means the Oilers would rather not trade the player — who divests themselves of D-men before a playoff run? — and would only do so if it meant acquiring a more experienced defenceman who could help them to their Cup goal. 

After mis-developing this player, Ken Holland sent Broberg down in November and told him that he would not come back up until there was 18 minutes a game waiting for him. At AHL Bakersfield, Broberg has settled in as a top-pairing D-man with 1-17-18 in 27 games — and a plus-13 while playing both special team units. 

At 22, Broberg projects as a middle pairing NHL defenceman. He’s young, cheap and very soon will be too good to keep buried in the AHL. He’s the kind of player a non-contender like Calgary should want back in a Chris Tanev or Noah Hanifin deal, Ottawa for Jakob Chychrun, or the Flyers in a Sean Walker trade. 

Jakob Chychrun, D, Ottawa Senators
Contract: $4.6M through 2024-25

Here we go again. Neither Chychrun nor Senators GM Steve Staios is thrilled that the player’s name is spinning through the rumour mill. The top-four defenceman likes playing in Ottawa and still has a season beyond this one on his team-friendly contract ($4.6 million). But it’s clear why teams are checking in on the situation. The Sens have an abundance of minute-munching lefties — Thomas Chabot and the untouchable Jake Sanderson the others — and won’t be able to easily give Chychrun his proper raise in 2025. Further, Staios is looking for a righty (hence the Chris Tanev report). Because he has term, there’s no guarantee that Chychrun is moved midseason, but it’s difficult to envision both he and Chabot staying put long term.

Nic Dowd, C, Washington Capitals
Contract: $1.3M through 2024-25

Centre depth is always a focus for teams to acquire around the trade deadline and while a couple of top-six pivots have been moved already (Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm) other teams will be looking to shore up their third and fourth lines. That brings us to Dowd, a 33-year-old centre capable of third- or fourth-line duty who also has penalty killing chops. A true depth player, Dowd is winning just shy of 50 per cent of his draws and also has a pinch of offensive presence coming off a career-high 13 goals last season and following it up with seven goals in 39 games this season.

Anthony Duclair, RW, San Jose Sharks
Contract: $3M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

As a $3-million pending UFA, Duclair screams rental. Currently on his seventh NHL team — at just 28 years old — he’s a guy who can come in to help you in the short-term, before you figure out if you want him to stay around and help you in the long-term. 

Duclair has average size (5-foot-11, 195 pounds), and below average stats this season (9-8-17 in 46 games, minus-12). He’s a second-unit power-play guy in San Jose, and doesn’t kill penalties, but he had jump on Florida’s playoff roster last season with 4-7-11 in 20 games. He could be revived on a team making a run. 

A team that needs some punch in its bottom six could take a chance here, but not one looking for a lock-down type of left winger. Duclair can skate and check, but won’t punish anyone. In the right role he’ll help a team that’s light on depth scoring, though he hasn’t regained his 30-goal form after missing much of last season due to injury. He’s a late target as the deadline approaches, for a team that perhaps failed on Plans A and B. 

Jordan Eberle, RW, Seattle Kraken
Contract: $5.5M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

Here’s a big-game player who could use a run on a serious Cup contender after a productive, nearly 1,000-game NHL career spent entirely on teams that never quite had enough to truly have a chance at Big Stanley. 

After a goal-less 13 games on his first playoff foray with Edmonton back in 2017, Eberle has 19 goals and 45 points in his past 63 playoff games with the Islanders and Kraken. Today, his availability at the Trade Deadline hinges on Seattle’s viability, with the Kraken coming out of the All-Star break just two points back from the second Wild Card spot out West. 

We all know what Eberle brings: a boat load of skill off the right wing; the ability to play with the best players in hockey, and by the time the playoffs begin, 1,000 games of NHL experience. He’d do just fine on Leon Draisaitl’s right side in Edmonton, or on the second line and power play unit in Colorado. 

Mario Ferraro, D, San Jose Sharks
Contract: $3.25M through 2025-26

Ferraro is different than most of the players on this list because he is clearly not a rental. The 25-year-old has two more seasons under contract at a reasonable $3.25 million. And while Ferraro is slightly out of his depth as a top-pairing defenceman in San Jose, averaging 22:45 of ice time, the mobile, well-rounded player could make a good team even better as an upgrade in the middle or bottom of a blue line. The question is whether San Jose GM Mike Grier really wants to sell Ferraro when he is starved for good players and has a defenceman who competes and will still be in his prime if the Sharks somehow become respectable in the next three or four years.

Marc-Andre Fleury, G, Minnesota Wild
Contract: $3.5M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

With a no-movement clause, any deal involving Fleury is up to him. With Minnesota a distant five points and five teams removed from a Wild Card position, it’s hard to believe that a 39-year-old Fleury wouldn’t acquiesce to joining a Cup contender. 

But what is Fleury? And how many games can he play, once a team makes room for his $3.5-million cap hit on a pure rental basis? 

Fleury has started 20 of 50 Wild games, with an .897 save percentage behind a team whose defensive stats are bottom-third in the NHL. He likely isn’t a guy you’d ride through four playoff rounds anymore, the way Pittsburgh once did. Today, Fleury would be a top-end backup with enough high-end game left to finish off the last two or three games of a series, but likely not start the next round. 

He’d upgrade the goaltending in Toronto and Carolina, no doubt, and wouldn’t hurt the L.A. Kings behind Cam Talbot. New Jersey? The Devils need an upgrade in goal for certain. 

Morgan Frost, C, Philadelphia Flyers
Contract: $2.1M through 2024-25

Sooner or later, the Flyers will need to commit or cut bait with their 24-year-old centre. Frost was one of the final RFAs to put pen to paper over the 2023 off-season, agreeing to a two-year, $4.2-million bridge deal only to see himself get scratched early and often by coach John Tortorella. Philly’s 2017 first-round pick mixes bouts of inconsistency and flashes of effectiveness. Middle-six centres are hard to come by, but Frost’s stock is low considering he’ll be hard-pressed to match last year’s 46-point breakout. Despite their surprise first-half success, the Flyers plan to be a deadline seller, and Frost represents one of their more intriguing chips.

Jake Guentzel, LW, Pittsburgh Penguins
Contract: $6M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

Pittsburgh president/GM Kyle Dubas got paid the big bucks to accomplish two things at once: refuel the next wave of Penguins’ relevancy and keep presenting the triumvirate of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang with chances to make the playoffs. No doubt, the executive could bend his mind into a pretzel with the 29-year-old Guentzel — a natural scorer and one of 2024’s most coveted UFAs. Re-sign the top-six winger and commit deeper still to a bunch of 30-somethings? Or flip him and begin to restock a cupboard that has been plundered bare?

Letting Guentzel walk when playoffs aren’t guaranteed does not feel like an option, and Dubas is open to moving the player if he doesn’t re-sign for a slight discount. The all-in Canucks, led by former Pittsburgh execs, wanted to add Guentzel, but spent their assets on Elias Lindholm. Guentzel is the most reliable scorer who could switch sweaters by March 8.

Noah Hanifin, D, Calgary Flames
Contract: $4.95M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

There is a contract in front of him to extend his stay in Calgary another eight years. The 26-year-old just needs to decide whether he wants to sign it. The Flames have been patient, but now need an answer. Hanifin was back home in Boston during the all-star break, where he spent plenty of time discussing his future with his family.

Should he decide to test whether the grass is greener like his pal Matthew Tkachuk did, the slick-skating defenceman will be amongst the league’s most sought-after defenders, as he runs the Flames’ top power-play unit and kills penalties as part of his 23-minute nightly workload.

The starting price for the man who scored his ninth goal of the year Tuesday is a first-round draft pick and solid prospect.

Jordan Harris, D, Montreal Canadiens
Contract: $1.4M through 2024-25

The 23-year-old has been in and out of Montreal’s lineup lately — with the Canadiens’ blue line suddenly overcrowded by the unexpected rise of Jayden Struble — and he could be out permanently at some point over the coming weeks. The Canadiens need to make room for Lane Hutson and moving Harris seems like one of the ways that might happen. He has already established his floor as a third-pairing defenceman in this league, but he still has a ceiling that can push him up some team’s lineup. There’s some untapped offence there, and that should be enticing. Harris’ defensive profile should be attractive, too. For just $1.4 million against the cap next season, there’s reason to believe he can help now and prove to be a valuable piece for the future. We can think of at least one team that’ll be moving defencemen out and looking to replace them between now and the deadline — watch out for the Calgary Flames on this one.

Adam Henrique, C, Anaheim Ducks
Contract: $5.825M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

Adam Henrique is Elias Lindholm Lite. And while we don’t expect a trade return for Henrique to be close to the two draft picks (including a first), top-six winger and B-plus prospect the Canucks paid the Flames for Lindholm, there should be serious interest in the Ducks centre who can do a little bit of everything. Sure, Henrique is 34 years old and no longer a first-line NHL pivot. But he had 15 goals and 33 points in 49 games through the all-star break, outscoring Lindholm, while averaging 17:16 of ice time and helping both the power play (2:21 per game) and penalty kill (2:35). And on an awful team, Henrique’s possession numbers are solid. He also wins 53.4 per cent of his face-offs and is on an expiring contract. Other than his $5.825-million cap hit, what’s not to like?

Nils Hoglander, LW, Vancouver Canucks
Contract: $1.1M through 2024-25

Available all of last season and at the start of this one, Hoglander may have played himself off the trade block by discovering over the past 2½ months the kind of direct, physically-engaged, consistent game as a fourth liner that may allow him to build an NHL career. Aside from the energy Hoglander is providing the Canucks and coach Rick Tocchet, whose tough-love approach appears to be paying off, the 23-year-old has also contributed 14 goals — all of them at even strength — while averaging just 11:05 of ice time. And with another season under contract at $1.1 million, the Swede looks like a bargain. So why would the Canucks still entertain the idea of trading him? Because this is a team loading up for a playoff run few people expected, and to add further to their lineup (after acquiring Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov) they will have to give up something or someone.

Erik Johnson, D, Buffalo Sabres
Contract: $3.25M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

There are a lot of limitations to Johnson’s game now that he is 35 years old and long past his days as a top-four defenceman. But on a one-year, $3.25-million contract, Johnson still fits the profile as an ideal, inexpensive rental for a team looking for dependable, low-maintenance blue line depth. Johnson is 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, remains first over the boards on the penalty kill for Buffalo, hits opponents and blocks shots. He has logged 961 regular-season games in the NHL and only two years ago helped the Colorado Avalanche win a Stanley Cup. 

Arthur Kaliyev, RW, Los Angeles Kings
Contract: $894,167 through 2023-24 (pending RFA)

Kaliyev lands on our trade board on the heels of an L.A. Kings slide that cost head coach Todd McLellan his gig. Did a measly six goals and 14 points in 38 games for Kaliyev play a role in that firing? Oh yeah, it played a role. 

The calling card for this 22-year-old from Tashkent, Uzbekistan has always been his shot. He can wire it, but the problem is, he has not been able to gain enough trust from his coaches to get enough ice time to utilize that shot. 

Three seasons into his career, Kaliyev is still playing just 13:09 per game. He’s been scratched four times in the Kings’ past six games, and he’s got just two assists in his last 18 games played. 

A left-shot right-winger, we’re not really sure what Kaliyev actually is. A strong shot off the right side, Kaliyev doesn’t score enough to hold down a top-six spot on a good team. Nor does he have the defensive acumen to play the type of bottom-six minutes that a Cup contender requires from a bottom-six winger. He does not kill penalties. 

We suspect the Kings would move Kaliyev. The first team to figure out where and how to use him would be able to acquire this player for a mid-round pick. 

Dominik Kubalik, LW, Ottawa Senators
Contract: $2.5M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

Excluding better reasons, the Senators need to trade Kubalik to shed a daily reminder that All-Star Alex DeBrincat wanted nothing to do with Ottawa and forced his way out. Coming back from the Detroit Red Wings in last summer’s trade, Kubalik was supposed to ease the market’s pain and indignation but, like his team, has been a disappointment. He had nine goals and 12 points in 43 games while averaging 13:47 of ice time. But the Czech winger can certainly shoot the puck, is on an expiring contract that carries a manageable $2.5-million cap hit, and may be able to help someone’s second-unit power play. But beware: Kubalik gets caved in territorially. His expected-goals-for is 43 per cent and the Senators have been outscored 34-15 at five-on-five with Kubalik on the ice.

Scott Laughton, C, Philadelphia Flyers
Contract: $3M through 2025-26

With Lindholm and Monahan fetching significant returns, it only makes sense the Flyers are listening to offers for the 29-year-old centre. Proven middlemen are clearly a valuable commodity. Reliable and respected, Laughton still has two years left on a deal paying him $3 million annually, which makes him a reasonable depth add for a playoff contender. His ice time and numbers are down this year, as the Flyers continue to push a youth movement that makes the alternate captain more and more expendable.

Ilya Lyubushkin, D, Anaheim Ducks
Contract: $2.75M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

“The Boosh” represents your classic deadline rental: a hard-nosed, stay-at-home defenceman playing out the final year of an affordable contract for a lottery-bound team. A contender will surely scoop up the right shot for blue line depth ahead of a playoff run. The Fourth Period has linked the Oilers, Bruins and Lightning as potential landing spots. Don’t rule out a return to the Maple Leafs either; Lyubushkin was a nice fit for Toronto in 2022, and the Leafs are on the hunt for right-handed D. Also, Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas is a fan.

Jacob Markstrom, G, Calgary Flames
Contract: $6M through 2025-26

Armed with a no-trade clause and two more years at $6 million on his contract, trading the red-hot netminder is a tricky proposition that may have to wait until the summer, at the earliest.

That said, an injury to a stud starter between now and March 8 could prompt a team to push for the 33-year-old who is the main reason the Flames have been able to hang on to the outskirts of a playoff race.

Yes, room needs to be made for Dustin Wolf some time between now and next fall, but for a GM who wants his team to stay competitive through its youth movement, the team’s first choice would likely be to trade Dan Vladar. L.A., Toronto and New Jersey would still all like to upgrade their goaltending.

Tanner Pearson, LW, Montreal Canadiens
Contract: $3.25M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

The former Stanley Cup winner can still provide some experience and depth, still carries a profile contenders look for, and if any of them are willing to take on the rest of his $3.25-million salary, the price to acquire him will be insignificant. It only goes up marginally if the Canadiens choose to use their final retention spot on him rather than Allen.

David Savard, D, Montreal Canadiens
Contract: $3.5M through 2024-25

“I can’t tell you right now that we’re looking to trade David Savard,” said Kent Hughes after moving Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets, and that was a convenient truth to be spreading five weeks from the deadline. Hughes doesn’t have to trade Savard, who has one year left under contract after this one at $3.5 million, and it was worthwhile for the GM to make that clear to anyone thinking they could pluck the 6-foot-1, 238-pound defenceman out of Montreal for cheap. But Hughes knows the phone’s going to start ringing once Chris Tanev gets traded out of Calgary, and we highly doubt he’ll turn away from a substantive offer for what should be considered one of the better right-handed defencemen available.

Savard, 33, is a Stanley Cup winner, a player who’s proven over and over again he’ll do anything to win, and a leader who excels playing 18-20 minutes a game. Some teams, purely in the rental market, will pass. But others, who would be more willing to give up something for the cost certainty Savard provides over what could be two playoff runs, will call. Hughes may not be actively shopping the player, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be selling him.

Nick Seeler, D, Philadelphia Flyers
Contract: $775,000 through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

There’s going to be a market for this player, especially if the Flyers don’t soon give him a new contract. Seeler’s current one, worth $775,000, is set to expire at the end of the season, and they won’t want to lose him for nothing when that time comes. The 30-year-old is 6-foot-3, nearly 200 pounds, a right-handed defenceman, and players with that profile aren’t exactly a dime a dozen. Trade isn’t guaranteed, but it seems more possible than it did a few weeks ago, especially with the Flyers crashing back down to earth from a remarkable first half of the season that’s had them in a playoff spot since October. Sure, there’s limited offence in Seeler, but that won’t matter much to teams wanting to beef up for playoff runs. The Flyers know that. Any teams whiffing on Tanev—or perhaps some of the other rentals—should be calling GM Daniel Briere.

Reilly Smith, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins
Contract: $5M through 2024-25

The Penguins traded a third-round pick last summer to get Smith out of Vegas as the Golden Knights were looking to dump salary. The hope was Smith would add more offensive punch around Pittsburgh’s stars and be a key piece in rounding out the top six. But, with just eight goals and 20 points in 41 games, Smith has not been able to capture the same production and presence he had year over year with the Golden Knights. Now the Penguins are at a crossroads — keep pushing for the playoffs and a hopeful run, or move out a vet or two with an eye on the longer term? Smith is still under contract for one more season so, unlike Guentzel, don’t have to sell him by this deadline if they feel he’ll help them make a push into the playoffs.

Chris Tanev, D, Calgary Flames
Contract: $4.5M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

The asking price starts with a second-rounder, but if anyone stepped up with a first you can bet he’d be moved immediately. While that might seem like a bit of a stretch for the 34-year-old, consider how many teams are interested in the defenceman that teammates call The Ultimate Warrior.

Toronto, Vancouver, Tampa Bay and the Devils headline the long list of teams looking to add the shot-blocking defender to their blue line. As a pending UFA whose age makes him expendable, Tanev makes $4.5 million this year, which the Flames would happily help subsidize to sweeten the return.

While the fear of injury is real, prompting many to push for a deal soon, the Flames seem content to wait for the bidding to rise.

Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, Ottawa Senators
Contract: $5M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

While the Senators may straddle the buyer/seller line this season as they eye returning with a more competitive roster in 2024-25, Tarasenko is the kind of player they could move on from given his contract status and potential value to other teams. No longer at his peak, Tarasenko nonetheless is an offensive threat who flashes his former 30-goal skill from time to time and has posted 13 goals and 33 points in 45 games with Ottawa. Earlier this week, it came out that Tarasenko had switched agents to Craig Oster. If the Russian winger is to move, he’s in complete control of the destination with his full no-movement clause.

Dan Vladar, G, Calgary Flames
Contract: $2.2M through 2024-25

A proven, reliable and well-liked backup in Calgary, the 26-year-old netminder still has another year left on his contract at $2.2 million, making him hard to trade without the Flames eating half his salary.

He’s been on form the past couple months, but a rough start for him and the team has him at 7-7-2, a 3.27 GAA and .888 save percentage, which will make it hard for the Flames to get back the third-rounder they spent to get the 6-foot-5 goalie from the Bruins in 2022.

Sean Walker, D, Philadelphia Flyers
Contract: $2.65M through 2023-24 (pending UFA)

Walker was acquired by Philadelphia (along with Cal Petersen) just last summer in what was a salary-dumping move for the Kings. In Los Angeles, Walker averaged just over 14 minutes a game in the regular season, then made just two playoff starts and was scratched for the others. He’s been a great find for the Flyers, however, who had elevated him to the second pair and used him, on average, for just under 20 minutes a game. Walker, 29, is having a career-best season in goals and points, but the addition of young Jamie Drysdale is perhaps what makes him expendable to the still-building Flyers if they can recoup a valued asset for him.

Trevor Zegras, C, Anaheim Ducks
Contract: $5.75M through 2025-26

Voted the NHL’s most overrated player by his peers, Zegras is a buy-low trade candidate whose name has been floated out there as available. The Anaheim Ducks’ showman only put up seven points through his first 20 games before suffering a broken ankle in January, but he’s a two-time 60-point guy with skill to spare. A difficult contract negotiation resulted in a prickly player-management relationship and a three-year bridge deal that carries a $5.75-million cap hit through 2025-26. So far, the 22-year-old hasn’t delivered on that value. GM Pat Verbeek is under no pressure to deal Zegras by March 8, but if a rival organization believes Zegras’s best games lie ahead, a change of scenery could be the answer.

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