The 20 Best Trade Chips in the NHL Right Now
You love them, we love them, players...probably don't usually like them unless they asked for them—but the fact is, trades make the sports world move, and the NHL is no different.
Now that the season is underway, we can take a look around the league and get a good idea of who's got the juice to get a deal done. Whether it's players, picks or cap space, some teams have a lot more to work with than others, and it's not always the usual suspects that have the best assets potentially available. Some teams have a sneaky supply, which, should they decide to make use of, could make a lot of noise.
We're going to take a look at who's got the goods and if the goods are worth getting to meet the needs of buyers around the NHL. Remember, a trade chip can come in many different forms. Think of it like Halloween candy around the neighborhood, except these are the houses that might be giving out full-size candy bars.
We'll break these down by category because some of these trade chips can get a little similar in comparison.
Goalies
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John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
It's become a summer rite of passage to have speculation about Ducks goalie John Gibson and whether he'll be traded. This summer saw chatter pick up a bit more than usual, but Gibson remains in Anaheim. That may have more to do with the four years remaining on his contract and $6.4 million cap hit than his stats.
Gibson has seen more rubber the past few years than about 99 percent of the rest of the goalies in the league, but with the Ducks getting even younger and him being in what should be closer to his prime years at 30 years old, it might be the best time to move him.
The Ducks aren't likely to do well this season even with some exciting young players in tow, and they're very high on 23-year-old goalie Lukas Dostal as well. The contract is a tough sell, but with a rising cap in the coming seasons and teams desperate for goalie help, the market is never actually dry.
Carter Hart, Philadelphia Flyers
At 25 years old, Carter Hart is one of the younger starting goalies in the NHL, and last season, despite the Flyers not being so great, he had a very solid year under duress. We've kicked around the idea of Hart finding a new home this summer, but if the Flyers were to look in a different direction with Samuel Ersson or to cash in on a desperate team, there would be plenty of suitors for the impending restricted free agent.
Hart's performance was strong last season (.907 save percentage, 2.94 GAA), and with his pedigree as a second-round pick in 2016 and a gold-medal winner for Canada in World Juniors in 2018, he's a tough player to ignore. There's no doubt the Flyers need help for their rebuild, but the question is whether Hart's timeline works well with what Philly is doing to get back to glory.
Linus Ullmark/Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins
The Bruins losing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí in the offseason to retirement coupled with their salary-cap woes got a lot of us thinking about how the heck they're going to make up for losing guys of that caliber.
Unfortunately for Boston, the team is lacking in draft picks, as it doesn't have a first-, second- or third-round pick in the 2024 draft. The Bruins are going to need help down the road, and if they're going to keep their Stanley Cup dreams alive, they're going to need a little more help now.
Fortunately for them, they have two star-quality goaltenders in Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. While that gives them a major advantage in that they should have a great goalie available to play in all 82 games, it also highlights the areas of weakness elsewhere in the roster.
Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy last season, but it's not as if Swayman was some kind of slouch. Both guys are capable of being No. 1 goalies, and for the right (and very tall) price, another team might be able to get one of them away from the Bruins. If Boston is eager to recoup its draft-pick or forward losses, it wouldn't take too many phone calls by general manager Don Sweeney to fix it up.
First-Round Draft Picks
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Ottawa Senators' First-Round Picks
When the Senators traded Alex DeBrincat to Detroit, the big prize in return was the Red Wings' 2024 first-round pick. Even though Ottawa gave a division rival a top goal scorer, they were able to extract the iron price to make it happen.
While the Senators have declared their rebuild over for a few years, trading first-round picks is never a comfortable thing to do. But, if Ottawa thinks it's lacking in an area—be it forward, defense or goal—using a first-round pick to acquire the piece it feels it needs should help get the job done.
Of course, things are never that easy for the Sens. They're likely going to have to trade someone with salary (Mathieu Joseph and his $2.9 million hit?) in order to re-sign RFA Shane Pinto because they're right up against the cap. They also might still need to look for help if Josh Norris' shoulder continues to cause him problems.
It's never not interesting with Ottawa.
Philadelphia Flyers' First-Round Picks
The Senators aren't the only team with a pair of first-round picks in the 2024 draft, as the Flyers do as well. The catch here is that they're in a much different position than Ottawa.
The Flyers are very much into the start of their rebuild, and draft picks are vastly more important to them than using the pick in a trade to add a player. But if that player is younger and could be part of the long-term plans in Philadelphia, then maybe the Flyers could move a first-round pick.
But! With GM Danny Brière in charge, the likelihood of that happening seems so small you'd need an electron microscope to see it.
Teams with Salary-Cap Space
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If ever there was a commodity that could be weaponized the most in the NHL right now, it's salary-cap space.
Oodles of teams are either spending heavily into the LTIR allotment or are right up against the cap ceiling naturally. Teams that have budgeted well or refused to spend lavishly have a true ace up their sleeve in the ability to use that cap space to either acquire a player competing teams wouldn't be able to get, or to give a big spender relief while also getting more in a deal (usually draft picks) than they normally would.
One quick look at CapFriendly shows us seven teams with $3 million or more in cap space, while 19 franchises have under $1 million or are spending their LTIR bucks. The magnificent seven with the real capability to take advantage of the heavy spenders are:
Chicago (more than $11 million in cap space), Buffalo ($8.8 million), Anaheim (nearly $8.2 million), Nashville ($7.8 million), Arizona ($5.6 million), Detroit (nearly $5.2 million) and Columbus (nearly $3.1 million). That kind of space can allow for signing someone significant later on (Patrick Kane?) or to entice juicy picks from a team to take on their cap headache.
Seattle ($2.8 million) and Carolina ($2.7 million) are close to the mark as well, although that amount of cap space isn't really the heaping amount that can help make a big splash. It can be enough to provide some flexibility to make a move, especially when there are teams that have LTIR figured out well enough to get it down to a dollar (Vegas) or two (Tampa Bay) of their allowed thresholds.
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Impending Free Agents
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The easiest targets for a trade are players who are in the final year of their contracts, and every year, soon-to-be UFAs find new, and often temporary, places to play. There is a boatload of candidates for that this season should they not land contract extensions.
Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm, Christopher Tanev, Calgary Flames
Truth is the Flames have a few more players aside from these three, but it's Hanifin, Lindholm and Tanev who will garner the most attention.
During the offseason, Hanifin said he didn't have an interest in signing long-term, and there was question as to whether Lindholm felt the same way. And if those two players were looking to leave, it would be hard for Tanev and the other future UFAs to want to commit themselves.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman wrote Tuesday that Lindholm may want $9 million a year on a new deal and that the team will circle back to Hanifin and Tanev to see how they feel about things.
The easiest way to sell the situation to the players is to win and have fun while doing it, something they did neither of last season under Darryl Sutter. With a new coach in place, a quick turnaround could save the situation for all of those players. If not, all eyes will be on Calgary to see how its season unfolds and if/when it starts making deals.
Brett Pesce, Carolina Hurricanes
As much as Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev will get attention in trade rumors, Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce has firmly been in the sights of everyone to see if he signs an extension.
Pesce has been a top shutdown defender on an exceptional team and has superb advanced numbers. That Carolina hasn't locked him up to a new deal already is fascinating, and if it's not going to pay him big for many years, there are plenty of teams that would be happy to do so across the league.
Should that contract not materialize, teams will be ringing Carolina GM Don Waddell's phone off the hook to get in his ear about trying to acquire him. Pesce offers Carolina two great possibilities: Either he stays long-term and solidifies the Hurricanes' already incredible defense corps for years to come or he nets them picks and players in a trade that could also help them get back to the Stanley Cup Final.
Victor Olofsson, Buffalo Sabres
With the number of goals the Sabres scored last year and are expected to score again this season, it's last year's 28-goal scorer and power-play super threat Olofsson who could wind up elsewhere before or by the trade deadline.
Olofsson is on the final year of his deal and will count $4.75 million against the cap. Even though he was being floated in deals early on in the offseason, once Jack Quinn's ruptured Achilles came to light and ruled him out until December or January, an opportunity to prove himself opened for Olofsson.
A guy who can shoot the puck like him and can fill the net regularly would be attractive for any team looking for offense. The Sabres have multiple young players lining up to force their way into the NHL on a regular basis, so Olofsson's time in Buffalo is likely waning. The chance to bring in more picks or a player to help get Buffalo back to the playoffs would be the most likely return.
Conor Garland
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The Vancouver Canucks have been in an awkward place the past few seasons, and sometimes that has ill effects on the roster. Case in point, forward Conor Garland.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported recently the Canucks granted Garland permission to seek a trade. Garland has three years left on his contract with a $4.95 million cap hit. Moving him won't be easy, but it offers interested teams the opportunity to add a player who can score and produce offense.
At 27 years old, Garland is still in the prime of his career, although he's years removed from his best goal-scoring season when he had 22 for Arizona in 2019-2020. He is, however, coming off his two best point-scoring seasons in which he had 52 two seasons ago and 46 last year.
The numbers might not pop when considering the price, but also keep in mind the situation and how gnarly it'd been the past couple of years. Garland could be a sneaky-solid pickup for one of the small handful of teams with cap space, or he could be the impetus for a more involved trade to help move money around since the Canucks are dipping into their LTIR spending to start the season.
William Nylander
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Let's wrap this up with potentially the biggest player who could be had.
Maple Leafs forward William Nylander can become an unrestricted free agent in July, and contract discussions haven't gone too far, although Toronto GM Brad Treliving told reporters he's hopeful Nylander will be a Leaf "for a long time."
It'll be difficult for Toronto to make it work considering it just signed Auston Matthews to a very pricey four-year extension that begins next season, and the team will have to consider what to do with Mitch Marner and John Tavares, whose contracts both expire after next season.
The Leafs could pull in a sizable trade package if they moved him, however, and dealing him to a team that would sign him to an extension would also help sweeten the pot for a trade.
Nylander is coming off a career year in which he scored 40 goals and had 87 points and was arguably the Leafs' most dangerous player and scorer in the playoffs. Think about that while you also ponder how well players usually perform in a contract season and think about how much he could command on the open market. Pretty juicy, for sure.
How this plays out for Toronto and Nylander will be fascinating because the Leafs are clearly better with him than without him, but whether they can (or want to) afford his asking price is another thing entirely.
Salary-cap information via CapFriendly unless otherwise noted.
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