Western Canada – in particular Vancouver and Calgary – remains the epicentre of trade speculation some seven weeks before the NHL trade deadline on March 6.

Eight of the first 15 players on TSN’s first edition of the 2026 Trade Bait list are members of the Canucks, Flames, Edmonton Oilers, or Winnipeg Jets – starting with 30-year-old Vancouver right winger Kiefer Sherwood at No. 1.

There is a lot of buzz around the 6-foot, 194-pounder who is scoring at a career-high 30-goal pace with 17 goals in 44 games and is far and away the league leader among forwards with 210 hits.

Sherwood, 30, carries an easy-to-absorb $1.5-million cap hit (on a contract that expires at the end of this season), further inflating his worth.

Joining Sherwood on the top shelf of our list are No. 2 Calgary right defenceman Rasmus Andersson, No. 3 Rangers’ left winger Artemi Panarin, No. 4 Calgary centre Nazem Kadri and No. 5 Nashville centre Steven Stamkos.

Next up are No. 6 Calgary left winger Blake Coleman, No. 7 Carolina right defenceman Dougie Hamilton, No. 8 Buffalo right winger Alex Tuch, and No. 9 Vancouver centre Elias Pettersson, who is in the second season of an eight-year, $11.6-million AAV contract.

Completing the red and white wave – at least in terms of teams – are No. 12 Edmonton left winger Andrew Mangiapane, No. 14 Vancouver left winger Connor Garland and No. 15 Winnipeg right defenceman Luke Schenn.

Vancouver and St. Louis are the most highly represented teams on the Trade Bait list with five players each.

Teams to keep track of on a long, long list of motivated buyers include Toronto, Montreal, Dallas, Colorado, Minnesota, Vegas, Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay and New Jersey.

NHL teams have until 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 4, to complete trades before the Olympic freeze takes effect. Trading can resume on Feb. 23.

Trade Bait – January 15

(Players’ ages as of March 6)

No.PlayerPosAgeGP
 GPCap Hit2026-271Kiefer Sherwood, VanRW30441723$1.5MUFA2Rasmus Andersson, CgyRD29461029$4.5MUFA3Artemi Panarin, NYRLW34471651$11.6MUFA4Nazem Kadri, CgyC3546832$7M3 Years5Steven Stamkos, NshC36462031$8M2 Years6Blake Coleman, CgyLW34441321$4.9M1 Year7Dougie Hamilton, NJRD3242513$9M2 Years8Alex Tuch, BufRW29441538$4.75MUFA9Elias Pettersson, VanC27381328$11.6M6 Years10Jesperi Kotkaniemi, CarC252626$4.82M4 Years
11Robert Thomas, StLC26421133$8.125M5 Years12Andrew Mangiapane, EdmLW2941511$3.6M1 Year13Ondrej Palat, NJLW3447410$6M1 Year14Conor Garland, VanRW2935722$4.95M5 Years15Luke Schenn, WpgRD363115$2.75MUFA16Justin Faulk, StLRD33471122$6.5M1 Year17Connor Murphy, ChiRD324618$4.4MUFA28Michael Bunting, NshLW30461126$4.5MUFA19Boone Jenner, CBJC3232822$3.75MUFA20Jake DeBrusk, VanLW29451222$5.5M5 Years
21Logan Stanley, WpgLD2744714$1.25MUFA22Brayden Schenn, StLC3447919$6.5M2 Years23Jordan Binnington, StLG32273.53.871$6M1 Year24Mario Ferraro, SJLD2745311$3.25MUFA25Evander Kane, VanLW3445721$5.125MUFA26Nick Leddy, SJLD341803$4MUFA27Ryan O’Reilly, NshC35461339$4.5M1 Year28Jonathan Marchessault, NshC3528710$5.5M3 Years29Jordan Kyrou, StLRW2737819$8.125M5 Years30Philippe Myers, TorRD292302$850K1 Year