1 Offseason Trade for Every NHL Team That Missed the Playoffs
The 16 teams that did not qualify for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs have some big decisions to make this offseason.
Some of them, like Chicago, Montreal, San Jose and Philadelphia, are deep into major rebuilds that are going to take years to get them back to a playoff level.
Others, like Buffalo, Detroit and Ottawa, are on the rise and should be in the market for players who can help them get back into the postseason for the first time in several years.
Then there is a third group of teams, like Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Nashville, that has to pick a direction. Do they try to double down on their veteran teams and keep their window open, try to retool their rosters on the fly or go for an all-out rebuild.
We take a look at all of those situations and try to think up one trade that each of them should make this offseason.
In some cases, we will have two non-playoff teams making deals with each other and will take in-depth looks at both sides of it.
Anaheim Ducks: Trade Adam Henrique for Defensive Help
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The proposed trade: Adam Henrique to the Carolina Hurricanes for Brady Skjei
The Anaheim Ducks might still be at the bottom of the NHL standings, but they have some really intriguing young talent with Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Mason McTavish and Jamie Drysdale leading the way. They also have a strong shot at winning the Connor Bedard lottery this spring.
What they are lacking, though, is defense.
This proposal helps both teams deal from a position of relative strength to fill a position of relative weakness.
It is also almost a dollar-for-dollar salary cap match, as Henrique is entering the final year of a deal that pays him just over $5.8 million next season, while Skjei is on the books for a $5.2 million cap hit.
Henrique would give Carolina a little more finishing touch at forward and still leave it with a strong defense, while Skjei could help solidify an Anaheim defense that has been one of the league's worst. The Ducks finished the 2022-23 season 32nd in the league in expected goals against during 5-on-5 play and 31st in actual goals allowed.
Both teams get something they need, and the money works. It is a pure hockey trade.
Arizona Coyotes: Trade Nick Schmaltz for Jeremy Swayman
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The proposed trade: Nick Schmaltz to the Boston Bruins for Jeremy Swayman
Before Bruins fans throw rotten vegetables at me, allow me to explain.
The Bruins are going to have a need for forward depth with six among their current number being eligible for unrestricted free agency. Somebody is going to have to fill those spots, and it is a lousy market for potential UFAs.
Swayman, a pending restricted free agent who is going to be due a huge raise given his play, will be difficult to fit under the cap as they attempt to restock their forward cupboard. They already have a Vezina-caliber goalie in Linus Ullmark, and they can probably find another goalie to complement him.
Schmaltz is still only 28 years old and has been remarkably consistent the past two years, scoring 23 goals and 59 total points in 63 games a year ago and following it up with 22 goals and 58 total points in 63 games this season.
That level of production is a 30-goal, 76-point pace over 82 games.
That would like mighty nice in Boston's lineup, and Swayman could give Arizona a real long-term solution in goal.
You might be wondering "Why would the Coyotes trade for Swayman when they have Karel Vejmelka already in goal?" Two reasons: Vejmelka can be traded for additional assets the Coyotes desperately need, and Swayman would be coming into his prime around the time Arizona could theoretically return to contention. The Coyotes aren't going to be good overnight, and the slightly younger Swayman can make the net his own while the rest of the team develops.
Buffalo Sabres: Trade for Juuse Saros
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The trade proposal: Two first-round picks and Peyton Krebs to Nashville for Juuse Saros
The Buffalo Sabres did not make the playoffs this season, but they made it very clear they are relevant again.
After their best season in more than a decade, the playoffs should be an expectation next season given their rapid improvement and a young, talented offense that can score with any team in the league.
Their one big issue this season was preventing goals.
Defensively, there are a lot of reasons to like their upside. Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power are recent No. 1 overall picks and took massive leaps forward this season, while Mattias Samuelsson has become quite a difference-maker when he is in the lineup.
The big question is going to be goaltending.
Devon Levi is one of the top goalie prospects in the league, and he played well in his first cup of coffee at the end of the season, but making him the No. 1 guy next season without any help is asking a lot. So the Sabres should give him some help and make a push for Nashville's Juuse Saros (more on their side of this trade later).
Buffalo has more than enough salary-cap space to take on Saros' $5 million hit, and an extremely deep pool of young talent to deal from.
There is a lot of value in having two good goalies (just look at Boston with Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark and Minnesota with Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson), and the Sabres could go from having one of the worst goalie duos in the league to one of the best if they get aggressive.
.png?w=256 "NHL Regular-Season Grades")
.png?w=256 "Playoff Winners and Losers")
Calgary Flames: Trade for Josh Anderson
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Projected trade: 2023 first-round pick and Nikita Zadorov to Montreal for Josh Anderson
The Calgary Flames had one of the most disappointing seasons in the league during the 2022-23 season, but they still seem like a strong contender to rebound next season.
Bounce-back years from Jacob Markstrom and Jonathan Huberdeau would go a long way toward making that happen.
But they could still use a little more scoring punch, and Josh Anderson might be a good fit for the way Darryl Sutter likes to play.
Anderson is a big power forward who—when healthy—can score 20 goals. He has done it twice in his career, but injuries have significantly limited his production at times. Over the past three years, he has played just 190 games with the Canadiens but has scored 57 goals during that time. Average that out to an 82-game pace, and it comes out to around 25 goals.
Combined with his size and physicality, he would fit in nicely on a Sutter-coached team.
Montreal would also probably like to get out from that $5.5 million salary cap hit through the 2027 season and collect another first-round pick in the process. Including Zadorov helps balance out the money for Calgary against the cap.
Chicago Blackhawks: Trade Connor Murphy to New Jersey
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The proposed trade: Connor Murphy traded to the New Jersey Devils for Alexander Holtz and a second-round pick
The Chicago Blackhawks are going through a scorched-earth rebuild that has seen them trade almost everybody with value on the team.
Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, Brandon Hagel and Marc-Andre Fleury are just some of the names who have been moved over the past two years.
Murphy is one of the few remaining players who might still bring them a decent return, and they should explore it.
Chicago is still years away from contending, and the 30-year-old Murphy is not likely to be a part of the next Stanley Cup contender the Blackhawks put on the ice.
He is a strong defensive presence and is still signed for another three years at a very reasonable salary-cap hit of $4.4 million per season. Teams in the market for a defensive upgrade are going to be unlikely to find a better player in free agency for a cheaper price.
As good as New Jersey's season has been, the first two games of their playoff series with the Rangers have exposed some flaws with their defense. Holtz could be expendable given New Jersey's young talent at forward and would give the Blackhawks a nice young piece to add to its rebuild.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Trade for J.T. Miller
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The Proposed trade: 2022 first-round pick (belonging to Los Angeles), Liam Foudy to Vancouver for J.T. Miller. No salary retained.
You never really know what the Columbus Blue Jackets are going to have up their sleeves.
Back in 2019, they were aggressive buyers at the deadline even though they were not currently in a playoff spot, adding Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel to their roster.
This past offseason, they landed the top free agent on the market by signing star winger Johnny Gaudreau to a seven-year contract.
Even though they finished the 2022-23 season as one of the league's worst teams, they still have hopes to compete next season, but they need to address center and goalie.
Finding a capable starting goaltender is going to be problematic, but adding J.T. Miller at center seems like the type of out-of-nowhere blockbuster a desperate Columbus team could take a swing at.
Columbus has an additional first-round pick to trade (from Los Angeles) and could dangle that in front of Vancouver as the centerpiece of the deal while also taking on all of Miller's eight-year contract that is set to begin.
Miller has no trade restrictions on his contract until July 1, and even though he remains a very productive player, the Canucks might want to get out from that contract before the no-trade protections kick in. The Canucks have a salary-cap crunch, and Miller's $8 million cap hit will become a headache before long.
We will dig deeper into the Vancouver aspect of this later.
Detroit Red Wings: Trade for Travis Konecny
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The proposed trade: A 2022 first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick, Jonatan Berggren to Philadelphia Flyers for Travis Konecny
The Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs again during the 2022-23 season and did not really take any sort of significant step forward in year four of Steve Yzerman's rebuild.
They have to make serious progress next year, or we are really going to have to start asking questions about where this is going.
There is a lot of young talent on the roster (led by Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond), and they will have more than $30 million in salary-cap space entering the offseason while also owning five picks in the first two rounds of the draft. They should dip into the salary cap space and their prospect pool to acquire another impact player to bolster the top of the lineup.
Konecny could be a fit. The Flyers are in the middle of what is going to be a lengthy rebuild, and Konecny can bring back a meaningful return. He is still signed for two more years at $5.5 million per year and is coming off a 31-goal season that saw him average a point per game. He would be a strong addition to a Red Wings lineup that lost Tyler Bertuzzi and Jakub Vrana to trades this past season.
Montreal Canadiens: Trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois
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The proposed trade: Montreal trades 2023 first-round pick (belonging to Florida), a 2023 second-round pick, and a 2024 second-round pick to Winnipeg for Pierre-Luc Dubois.
The Montreal Canadiens and Dubois have been linked in trade rumors for more than a year now, and Winnipeg has still been unable to sign him to a long-term deal.
Alex DeBrincat (to Ottawa) and Timo Meier (to New Jersey) were traded with similar production at a similar age and as pending restricted free agents. DeBrincat returned three draft picks (only one of which was in the first round), while Meier was dealt for three draft picks and a collection of mid-level prospects.
In this proposed deal, Montreal would send the second of its two first-round picks (originally belonging to the Florida Panthers), its second-round pick this year (which will be very high in the second round) and a 2024 second-round pick.
Could Winnipeg really expect more than that given that Dubois is an RFA this summer and a potential UFA next summer?
It would give Montreal a bona fide No. 1 center, as well as a potentially dynamic 1-2 punch down the middle with Dubois and Nick Suzuki.
Dubois is a 28-goal, 60-point center with great size, strength and possession-driving ability. That would be a significant piece to add to their rebuild.
Nashville Predators: Start the Rebuild with Big Saros Return
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The trade: Kickstart the rebuild with the aforementioned Juuse Saros trade to Buffalo
We already looked at the Buffalo aspect of this trade proposal, but let's look at it from the Nashville side.
Why does Nashville do this?
Simple. It is time to start retooling the organization. The Predators have a new vision in the front office for the first time ever with Barry Trotz taking over for David Poile in the general manager chair, and the team itself has simply reached a plateau.
The best-case scenario for the Predators? Absolutely every variable falls in their favor and they barely sneak into the playoffs as a wild-card team before serving as cannon fodder for a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
During the 2021-22 season, they needed Saros to put the team on his back and a bunch of career years from veterans just to earn the right to get crushed by Colorado. There was always a chance for regression this season, and it happened.
The retooling already started with the trades of Mattias Ekholm, Mikael Granlund, Tanner Jeannot and Nino Niederreiter.
It should continue with Saros, who might be the most tradable player on the team in terms of bringing back maximum value. If Nashville can get a couple of first-round picks and a really good young prospect, it should make that move.
Ottawa Senators: Trade for John Gibson
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The proposed trade: Artem Zub and 2024 second-round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for John Gibson
The Ottawa Senators are putting together a very solid hockey team, but they have a pretty glaring weakness in goal.
They would probably like a redo on trading Filip Gustavsson for Cam Talbot last offseason, but there are no do-overs here, and now Gibson and the Ducks could come into play.
Gibson was at one time one of the league's best goalies, but his production has plummeted in recent years. Part of that is his own struggles, but he has taken on a heavy workload behind a leaky defense. That is a bad combination.
Ottawa could not only present him with a fresh start, but it would also put him behind a better team that is on the rise.
Zub has become a popular player in Ottawa, but with Thomas Chabot, Jakob Chychrun and Jake Sanderson leading the blue line long-term, he could be expendable. Anaheim would cut $2 million in salary cap with this move and get a good defenseman to help upgrade its blue line.
The Senators would hopefully land a No. 1 goalie who could help get them closer to a playoff spot.
Philadelphia Flyers: Carter Hart to Los Angeles Kings
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The proposed trade: Carter Hart to the Los Angeles Kings for a 2024 first-round pick and Jordan Spence
After years of half-measures and trying to retool on the fly, the Flyers finally need to suck it up and go full-scale rebuild.
It is not only time, it is long overdue.
We already outlined a potential Konecny trade, and it should not stop there. Hart is another potential trade chip who should be aggressively shopped, and the Kings would be a perfect potential landing spot.
Los Angeles has everything going for it as a contender except a potential franchise goalie. Joonas Korpisalo and Pheonix Copley have been fine this season, but they might be the one Achilles heel the team will have, and Korpisalo is set to be a free agent.
Hart could help solve that.
It would probably be a really disappointing development for Flyers fans because Hart was finally supposed to be the guy to solidify the position. Hart is not a superstar by any means, but he is an above-average goalie who might excel if he ever gets to play behind a good defensive team.
The Flyers could pick up another future first-round pick and a really strong defense prospect in this proposed deal.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Trade for Karel Vejmelka
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The proposed trade: Pittsburgh trades 2024 second-round pick, Casey DeSmith and Filip Hallander to the Arizona Coyotes for Karel Vejmelka
Goaltending was not the only issue for the Penguins during the 2022-23 season, but it was a significant issue.
It was also a significant problem during the 2021 and 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when it was arguably the biggest reason they did not win a round in either year.
Despite those struggles, the Penguins ran back the same duo of Tristan Jarry and DeSmith. They can not do that again next season and expect a different result.
Jarry is a pending unrestricted free agent, and his injury history combined with his inconsistent play makes it really difficult to commit long-term money to him. It might be best to move in a different direction.
Vejmelka is intriguing because he has shown flashes of being an average to above-average starter despite playing behind one of the league's worst rosters, had a strong career as a prospect coming up through Arizona's system and is signed long-term at a very manageable salary cap hit of just $2.725 million per season over the next two years.
The free-agent market for goalies is thin, while other potential trade options are either going to cost too much in terms of assets (Jeremy Swayman) or too much in salary for what they can still do (John Gibson).
Vejmelka has upside, cost certainty and probably would not cost a ton of in terms of assets.
San Jose Sharks: Trade Erik Karlsson to Edmonton
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The proposed trade: Erik Karlsson to Edmonton for two future first-round picks, Kailer Yamamoto and Jack Campbell
There was a lot of smoke surrounding a Karlsson-to-Edmonton trade around the trade deadline, and the two teams should visit that again in the offseason.
Karlsson has accomplished everything a defenseman can possibly accomplish in an NHL career except winning a Stanley Cup.
Given the nature of the Sharks' current rebuild, he is not going to get that opportunity in San Jose. So, a trade is going to be necessary to get him there, and Edmonton would be a fantastic landing spot.
The Oilers already have a really good team but could still use another top-shelf defenseman on their roster. Karlsson would also make an already dangerous power play with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl one of the best units we have ever seen in the NHL.
Edmonton has 2024 and 2025 first-round picks to deal, while Yamamoto and Campbell can help offset Karlsson's counts $11.5 million cap hit. Yamamoto is also a very good young player who could also be a future trade chip for the Sharks in their rebuild.
Karlsson showed this season he is still one of the best players in the world by becoming the first defenseman since 1993 to top 100 points in a season. Put him on that Edmonton team, and he might finally get a shot at his Stanley Cup.
St. Louis Blues: Use a 1st-Round Pick to Get Out from Jordan Binnington's Contract
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The proposed trade: The Blues use one of their three first-round picks as bait to get out from under Jordan Binnington's contract.
Even though the St. Louis Blues missed the playoffs and traded veterans Ryan O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko this season, they are not quite ready to throw in the towel and start rebuilding.
There is still a very good roster here that just needs a few tweaks.
One of those tweaks has to be in goal, where Jordan Binnington has become a major problem. He does not stop enough shots, is a loose cannon and his contract counts for $6 million against the cap for another four years. It is not going to be touched in a pure hockey trade.
So the Blues need to get creative, provided they can work around his no-trade clause.
Offer a first-round pick, retain some salary and move on.
You still have two first-round picks this year, and you have a chance to hit the reset button in goal.
A rebuilding team with salary cap space (Anaheim or Chicago?) could be interested in adding an additional pick. Or maybe there is a team in need of another goalie that thinks it can squeeze something out of Binnington that the Blues can not.
Either way, they have to figure out a way to move on here.
Vancouver Canucks: Dump J.T. Miller's Contract Before it is Too Late
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The trade: Dump J.T. Miller's contract in the aforementioned trade with Columbus
It is a case of good news and bad news with Miller and the Canucks.
The good news is that he is a really productive player. He hit the 99-point mark a year ago and then followed it up this year with an 82-point performance that saw him finish really strong in the second half.
The bad news is he will be starting a new seven-year, $56 million contract on July 1 that comes with extensive no-trade protections.
In the short-term, that is fine in a vacuum. If Miller produces, the money is right for that level of play.
The problem is the Canucks have almost no salary-cap room to work with, a roster that is full of holes and several bad contracts that teams are not going to want to touch. Given that Miller is 30 years old, his contract could very soon become one of those untouchable, albatross deals. That is going to cause problems in the future, and the Canucks should look to get out of that while Miller still has value.
This team is not going to compete for a Stanley Cup next season, or the season after. Especially with a salary cap crunch that already leaves them with zero salary cap room next season and only 19 players under contract.
It was probably a mistake to sign him to that deal to begin with. They still might have a chance to fix it.
Washington Capitals: Trade Tom Wilson to Dallas
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The proposed trade: Tom Wilson to the Dallas Stars for Mavrik Bourque and a conditional 2024 first-round pick
Some Washington fans might find this suggestion to be sacrilegious given Wilson's popularity and role on a Stanley Cup winning team back in 2018.
But the Capitals already showed they are willing to hit the reset button a little bit by trading Dmitry Orlov and a couple of other veterans at the 2022 trade deadline.
Wilson is the type of player NHL general managers would crawl over broken glass to have on their team. He is big, as physical as they come and can score 20 goals in a season. There aren't many players like that left in the league, and that means he could have a lot of trade value.
He is also the type of player you might not want to re-sign, though. He will be 30 when his contract is up after next season, and any new deal could age poorly. Cash in that trade value now while you can.
Dallas has six pending unrestricted free agents coming this offseason and will be a serious contender in the Western Conference. Dipping into its prospect pool to deal Bourque and a lottery-protected conditional pick is the proposed trade here.
.png?w=480 "NHL Regular-Season Grades")
.png?w=480 "Playoff Winners and Losers")
