Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a>, an injury-riddled Cup contender who couldn\u2019t sneak into the playoffs and sold off pending UFAs like Brian Boyle, Valtteri Filppula and Ben Bishop. That\u2019s not to say the Panthers should do the same with Sergei Bobrovsky, but if teams are offering good prices for other soon-to-be free agents, why not move them in a potentially lost season? Florida could also make some small buys but shouldn\u2019t give up major assets to improve the team. They\u2019re coming off three straight Finals, won two Cups and have dealt with injuries to key pieces of their lineup this season. At worst, this is a year off, and they can bounce back next season with better health.<\/p>\nPotential Assets to Move:\u00a0Dougie Hamilton (D), Evgenii Dadonov (RW).
What\u2019s the Game Plan?:\u00a0Punt the season, retool for next season.<\/p>\n
The Devils began the season on a promising note. But after a 13-4-1 record to start, they\u2019ve nosedived down the standings. With a core of Jack & Luke Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Simon Nemec, New Jersey can\u2019t go scorched Earth on this group. But they can sell off some pieces, accumulate some assets for the future and try again next year. Hamilton\u2019s recent hot run might salvage some trade value, but he\u2019s still good enough that the Devils shouldn\u2019t rush to sell low on him either.<\/p>\n
Potential Assets to Move:\u00a0Jean-Gabriel Pageau (C), Anders Lee (LW).
What\u2019s the Game Plan?: Operate for the long-term.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve already seen the beginning of the Islanders\u2019 deadline plans this week. First, they flipped a third-round pick to shore up their blueline with Carson Soucy. Then, they got a third-round pick back plus a sixth by taking on some cap space in Ondrej Palat. The Isles are in a playoff spot, but they\u2019re also in a retool. There\u2019s no reason to sell the farm when the future is even brighter, and Kashawn Aitcheson, Cole Eiserman and Victor Eklund are set to join Matthew Schaefer and Cal Ritchie. If the Islanders keep picking their spots and prioritizing the long term in their decisions, they\u2019ll be in a good spot.<\/p>\n
Potential Assets to Move:\u00a0Artemi Panarin (LW), Vincent Trocheck (C), Jonathan Quick (G), Alexis Lafreniere (LW).
What\u2019s the Game Plan?:\u00a0Take advantage of a seller\u2019s market where you can.<\/p>\n
The Rangers are the only team in the Eastern Conference committed to selling at the trade deadline, so why not take advantage of it? Few teams can offer players like Panarin, Trocheck and Lafreniere in this market. With up to 28 teams still in playoff contention, there\u2019s strong potential for a bidding war for these players. General manager Chris Drury made sure to specify the Rangers were retooling, not rebuilding, so they don\u2019t need to commit to a fire sale, especially with the long-term options like Trocheck and Lafreniere. As for pending UFAs like Panarin and Quick, the Rangers shouldn\u2019t hesitate to move them, albeit Quick has a 20-team no-trade list and isn\u2019t a lock to leave his hometown team.<\/p>\n
Potential Assets to Move:\u00a0Brady Tkachuk (LW), Claude Giroux (RW), Nick Jensen (D).
What\u2019s the Game Plan?:\u00a0Depends on Brady.<\/p>\n
The Senators were poised to become a consistent playoff team after their 2024-25 season, but 2025-26 has gone as poorly as possible. However, bad goaltending is the driving force of this season, which means a return to form next year (or maybe even this year) wouldn\u2019t be a surprise. If that\u2019s the case, punt the season and try again next year. But if Tkachuk is getting tired of losing in Ottawa and wants out, how that move pans out will alter their trajectory. There\u2019s no sign that\u2019s the case though, so the Senators should assume they\u2019re building around this core and retooling for next season.<\/p>\n
Potential Assets to Move:\u00a0Rasmus Ristolainen (D), Emil Andrae (D), Owen Tippett (RW).
What\u2019s the Game Plan?:\u00a0Operate for the long term.<\/p>\n
The Flyers are in a tricky place, sitting six points out of a playoff spot. It isn\u2019t too far out of reach, but they\u2019re also another slump away from being out of contention. They\u2019ve been competitive all season, but after a recent skid, selling may be the best option. This is a young team in the early stages of their rebuild, so they don\u2019t have to sell off everything. But if they can get some value out of veterans like Ristolainen or players who aren\u2019t fits like Tippett, the Flyers can get some more future assets to build around their core.<\/p>\n
Potential Assets to Move:\u00a0Erik Karlsson (D), Rickard Rakell (LW), Bryan Rust (RW), Anthony Mantha (LW).
What\u2019s the Game Plan?:\u00a0Give Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang one more playoff run.<\/p>\n
The Penguins are in a very weird spot in terms of their development. They\u2019re still led by the franchise legends in Crosby, Malkin and Letang, and you want to give them one last chance in the playoffs before they retire (especially with Malkin\u2019s pending UFA status). But GM Kyle Dubas has done a good job of rejuvenating Pittsburgh\u2019s depth to make them a stronger team when the legends leave. They shouldn\u2019t sell the farm on a fringe Cup chance, but they also shouldn\u2019t neglect improving the team either. They should either go for younger players with long-term upside or less expensive options on the market.<\/p>\n
Potential Assets to Move:\u00a0Nick Robertson (RW), Brandon Carlo (D), Matias Maccelli (LW), Simon Benoit (D), Morgan Rielly (D), Scott Laughton (C), Bobby McMann (LW), Calle Jarnkrok (RW), Troy Stecher (D).
What\u2019s the Game Plan?:\u00a0Sell, but they\u2019ll probably wait until the last minute.<\/p>\n
The next 10 games heading into the trade deadline will decide the Leafs\u2019 approach<\/a>, but let\u2019s be realistic. They\u2019re eight points out of a playoff spot and they\u2019re outplayed most nights. Even if they do make the playoffs, they aren\u2019t putting up much of a fight. Selling is the smart option, especially when there are a decent number of players Toronto could move. The only problem is most players will be sold at their lowest value, save for McMann and Stecher. Some pending UFAs like Laughton may have to be moved anyways to recoup some value. But for others, it might be best to wait until they return to form.<\/p>\nPotential Assets to Move:\u00a0N\/A.
What\u2019s the Game Plan?:\u00a0Cautiously buy or punt the season.<\/p>\n
A regression felt inevitable for the Capitals after how well last season went, but no one expected them to be six points out of a playoff spot with an extra game played heading into February. It\u2019s hard to gauge how they should approach this trade deadline. Like Pittsburgh, Washington has an older core and probably would like one more push or two before Alex Ovechkin leaves. But they also have a lot of younger players ready to maintain success past the old regime, so it\u2019s not the worst idea to punt and try again next season. Right now, there\u2019s no sign they\u2019re sellers, but we\u2019ll see what the coming weeks bring if their performance continues to slip.<\/p>\n
_____<\/p>\n
SPONSORED BY bet365<\/p>\n
Recently by Scott Maxwell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For NHL teams, it seems easier to sell at the Trade Deadline than to buy. Sellers just have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-441750","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\/441750","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=441750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}