The NHL\u2019s Olympic roster freeze is Feb. 4 at 3:00 p.m. ET, but don\u2019t be surprised if we see some trades before then.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re at the point of the season where teams realistically know where they stand. Even though both playoff races are still totally in the air, smart general managers will already know if they stand realistic chances of challenging for glory this spring or not. For those completely out of the hunt, it\u2019s a good time to start looking to the future and offloading some of your more desirable assets this spring.<\/p>\n
These five teams listed below have substantial assets available. Most of the players are pending UFAs \u2013 potential rentals or others just needing changes of scenery. Others are players on deals past this season that could provide the missing piece for contenders looking to solidify their cores.<\/p>\n
So, let\u2019s get to it, with help from\u00a0<\/a>Matt Larkin\u2019s most recent trade board<\/a>:<\/p>\n Potential Trade Chips: Logan Stanley, Luke Schenn, Jonathan Toews, Gustav Nyquist\u00a0 The Jets went from being the NHL\u2019s top team during the 2024-25 regular season to sitting second last a year later. So to say the season has been a disappointment has been an understatement. But it\u2019s not all doom and gloom for the Jets \u2013 they seem destined to retool more than fully rebuild. Beyond Stanley \u2013 one of the top shutdown defenders on the market this year \u2013 the team\u2019s top trade chips are all older veterans. Toews\u2019 best days are absolutely behind him, but he can still win faceoffs and bring leadership to the table. Nyquist\u2019s offense dropped off a cliff the past two years after he registered 75 points in 2023-24, but he\u2019ll give you a solid effort defensively, at the very least. Schenn can still hit everyone in sight, and he\u2019s a solid shot blocker with plenty of playoff experience.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s Stanley. At 27, he\u2019s young enough to be an attractive trade chip for just about any team. He\u2019s big, mean and loves to get in the way. A team looking to get tougher for the playoffs could do much worse than throwing a pick Winnipeg\u2019s way for Stanley\u2019s troubles. Sure, none of the potential trade chips here will bring in a massive return compared to someone like Artemi Panarin or Elias Pettersson, but given the Jets aren\u2019t tearing everything down, snagging a few assets for some of their pending UFA veterans would still be a win.<\/p>\n Potential Trade Chips: Jonathan Marchessault, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O\u2019Reilly, Michael Bunting, Erik Haula The Predators went all in back during the summer of 2024, only to fail miserably under new GM Barry Trotz. Nashville is still in the playoff hunt, but they need a mega run over the next few weeks to make not selling at the deadline the clear path. For now, they\u2019re winning games and forcing management to make tough decisions. But selling absolutely needs to be an option for this team if they\u2019re going to figure things out in the long run.<\/p>\n Stamkos has really caught fire the past few weeks, which could make him an attractive trade chip. He currently boasts an $8-million cap hit and a no-movement clause until 2028, but at 35, would he be willing to waive to play for a contender? His Stanley Cup experience doesn\u2019t hurt. The same goes for O\u2019Reilly, who captained St. Louis to a championship back in 2019. O\u2019Reilly is scoring at a career-best pace, believe it or not, and can still play a solid shutdown game in a team\u2019s middle-six (and at a reasonable $4.5-million cap hit). And then there\u2019s Marchessault, who took home the Conn Smythe back in 2023. He\u2019s currently in the midst of his worst season to date and desperately needs a change of scenery. At his best, you won\u2019t find many better goal-scorers on the market \u2013 he\u2019s just not anywhere near his peak right now.<\/p>\n Potential Trade Chips: Evander Kane, Elias Pettersson, Lukas Reichel, Teddy Blueger, Jake DeBrusk, Conor Garland The good news, Canucks fans? Vancouver is destined to land a top prospect this year.<\/a> The bad news? You\u2019ve got wayyyyyy too many games left to watch this year. This season has been an absolute catastrophe on all fronts, and after trading Quinn Hughes and Kiefer Sherwood, it doesn\u2019t look like the squad is going to finish moving out assets anytime soon.<\/p>\n Elias Pettersson \u2013 the forward \u2013 seems to be a perennial trade chip. Will this finally be the time the Canucks move on from him? Or will they truly keep him until 2032, as originally planned? Anything can happen, but it\u2019s not going to be easy to find a suitor for his $11.6-million cap hit. Kane, meanwhile, hasn\u2019t gelled well back in his native Vancouver, and he\u2019s a pending UFA. He could still be a nuisance in the playoffs for a contender willing to take a chance on someone who can still score every now and then. Garland is maybe the most interesting possibility \u2013 his new deal doesn\u2019t kick in until next year, so a team has to be really committed to take him on.<\/a> DeBrusk\u2019s deal will be tricky given he\u2019s a bit streaky (and signed until 2031), but he has proven he can perform in the playoffs.<\/p>\n The Canucks are all-in on the future,<\/a> and selling for assets should absolutely be the No. 1 goal moving forward. But with a bunch of expensive deals to move (and some contract extensions, to boot), it\u2019s going to be interesting to see how GM Patrik Allvin navigates this mess.<\/p>\n 2. St. Louis Blues<\/p>\n Potential Trade Chips: Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Brayden Schenn, Justin Faulk, Mathieu Joseph, Oskar Sundqvist, Jordan Binnington The Blues are definitely an interesting team. They\u2019re terrible, and they\u2019re not playoff-bound. But will they sell off all their veterans, or stand pat? Thomas\u2019 name has been all over the rumor mill this year, but trading him away simply wouldn\u2019t make sense. When he\u2019s healthy, he\u2019s St. Louis\u2019 No. 1 center and has been extremely productive. He\u2019s also only 26 \u2013 just keep him. Kyrou is an interesting one because he\u2019s expensive but running a truly ugly campaign. A reset might be good for him, but he has a no-trade clause and costs $8.125 million until 2031. Perhaps getting scratched earlier this season makes it easier for Kyrou to want to move on.<\/p>\n Then you\u2019ve got the more obvious veterans: Schenn, Faulk, Joseph and Sundqvist. Schenn simply isn\u2019t worth the $6.5 million he makes anymore \u2013 but if the Blues retained some salary, he could be an interesting pickup for a team looking for bottom-six depth. Faulk, meanwhile, still eats a ton of minutes and blocks a ton of shots \u2013 something teams will absolutely love in the playoffs. Joseph won\u2019t cost a ton on the trade market, and you can do much worse than him in a fourth-line role. Sundqvist is good for about 20 points a year, and only costs $1.5 million \u2013 if you need center depth, he won\u2019t cost you much.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s Binnington, one of Canada\u2019s goaltenders for the upcoming Winter Olympics. His season has been absolutely brutal, but he has proven he can steal the spotlight when a big game is on the line. Could a strong showing in Italy boost his stock?<\/p>\n Potential Trade Chips: Vincent Trocheck, Artemi Panarin, Alexis Lafreni\u00e8re, Jonathan Quick This is the big one. The Rangers have two of the best forwards on the market in Trocheck and Panarin; a young forward needing a change of scenery in Lafreni\u00e8re; and a veteran backup with the ability to steal games in Quick.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with the big gones. Trocheck is signed until 2029, so there\u2019s no rush for the Rangers to trade him. He can score, hit, win faceoffs and contribute defensively, making him a great No. 2 center if teams want to take a run at landing him. Trocheck has a 12-team no-trade list, which gives the Rangers some flexibility. His value is high, but it wouldn\u2019t be a bad thing to keep him around if the price simply isn\u2019t right. <\/p>\n Panarin, though, is not expected back in 2026-27, so the Rangers might as well try and recoup some assets while they still can. Panarin is expected to be the top UFA on the market this summer, so there\u2019s a real chance he\u2019ll be just a rental this spring. For the right suitor, that\u2019s fine \u2013 you won\u2019t find a more impactful forward, and there\u2019s no shortage of teams who could use him.<\/a><\/p>\n Lafreni\u00e8re was New York\u2019s first overall pick in 2020, but the results simply haven\u2019t panned out. He\u2019s tracking for 45 points this year, which would tie his second-best outout (he had 57 points in 2023-24). He\u2019s set to make $7.45 million until 2032, so these numbers won\u2019t cut it. Would a fresh start help him spark the renaissance he desperately needs to justify the cost?<\/p>\n In Quick\u2019s case, the 40-year-old is a pending UFA this summer, with this season likely being his last kick at the can. He hasn\u2019t won many games this year, but he can still provide a team with some decent depth at the right price. Given his three Stanley Cup rings, Quick knows a thing or two about big-time hockey.<\/p>\n Also considered: Calgary Flames<\/a>, Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a>, Seattle Kraken<\/a><\/p>\n SPONSORED BY bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHL\u2019s Olympic roster freeze is Feb. 4 at 3:00 p.m. ET, but don\u2019t be surprised if we…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-437050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Other Pending UFAs: Tanner Pearson, Cole Koepke, Colin Miller (IR)
Deadline Cap Space<\/a>: $13 million<\/p>\n
Other Pending UFAs: Cole Smith, Michael McCarron, Tyson Jost, Nick Blankenburg
Deadline Cap Space<\/a>: $29.32 million<\/p>\n
Other Pending UFAs: David Kampf, Derek Forbort (LTIR), Jiri Patera
Deadline Cap Space<\/a>: $7.246 million<\/p>\n
Other Pending UFAs: Robby Fabbri
Deadline Cap Space: <\/a>$3.442 million<\/p>\n
Other Pending UFAs: Jonny Brodzinski, Conor Sheary
Deadline Cap Space<\/a>: $2.255 million<\/p>\n