8 Teams with Urgent Needs Ahead of the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline
The pickings appear to be slim, one week ahead of the 2024 NHL trade deadline. The best defenseman on the market, Chris Tanev, has already been dealt to the shrewd Dallas Stars.
Between injuries and their already weak-ish right-hand defenseman cupboard, the Stars did a fantastic job of addressing their specific and urgent need right out of the trade deadline gate.
Often, we look back at the trade deadline after the season and see a few camps. There's the team that adds the best available player(s) regardless of needs (Rangers); there's the team that adds depth that outperforms the role and makes management look like geniuses (Lightning); there's the team that does 14 random cheap things (Hurricanes); there's the team everyone thought had the no-brainer deal of the deadline that ended up making a negligible impact (Rick Nash to the Bruins immediately comes to mind).
These are all interesting in their own right, but there's something extra satisfying about a team simply addressing a pressing need in a straightforward, reasonable way. You got that with Mattias Ekholm and the Oilers last season, and there's a good chance the Stars earn that description this time around.
But that's easy to say when they're the only ones to make a major trade near the deadline so far. Let's take a look at some teams with pressing needs and how they could go about their deadline dealings.
Boston Bruins: Center Help, Top-4 Defenseman
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I don't believe the Boston Bruins need to (or can) do anything wild for a price that makes sense (either on ice or financially), but I do agree with president Cam Neely, who told The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa: "Another stiff defender would be good. And you could always use help on offense."
When you're evaluating these Bruins, you have to look at what went wrong during the last playoff run above all else. On the list: uncharacteristically weak goaltending, a surprisingly good opponent, a hurting first-line center, turnovers and maybe some difficulty adjusting to adversity.
What do you do about that? You don't automatically trade the goaltender who has a far bigger sample size of succeeding than the handful of games he did not, but you also acknowledge he (Linus Ullmark) is one of your most helpful assets in acquiring a stiff defender or more offense. Goaltending is the biggest strength for the Bruins because of the Ullmark-Jeremy Swayman tandem, and it's an incredibly tough call because messing that up means trouble—but Swayman might be just fine on his own.
Especially considering what he went for, Tanev would've been a great "stiff" defense acquisition, and unless the Bruins go off the board, it's tough to believe anyone deemed potentially available—Noah Hanifin, Sean Walker, Matt Dumba—really addresses that need.
As for the center position, the Bruins have done surprisingly well after barely replacing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí, but you still see some lapses—especially after the All-Star break.
In any event, the Bruins have less than $1 million in cap space to outsource talent, so they'll have to significantly sweeten the pot with an active part of their roster. As they sit tied for second in the Eastern Conference, I'm just not sure messing with the roster is worth it.
Calgary Flames: Prime Draft Assets for Noah Hanifin
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Y'all, after this deadline I never want to hear another Noah Hanifin trade rumor in my life. It feels like year after year for our entire lives he's been on the trade block. I couldn't be more sick of hearing about it, and I wonder how sick he must be of it.
He's an offensive defenseman who has scored 10 goals three times (including a career-high 11 this season) and has eclipsed 40 points once in his nine-season career, during that full-team career year in Calgary.
He isn't a bad player, and he's an interesting hybrid at 6'3" and physical for someone who can sort of put up points, but I fear we overinflate his impact because he's just constantly on the trading block.
Could you tell I just really needed to get that off my chest? Moving on. At this point with the amount Hanifin is dangled, and where the Flames have shown they're at by trading Tanev, Calgary is looking to sell and looking for leverage with Hanifin. And especially after not getting a first-round pick or one of Dallas' top three prospects for Tanev, you'd think Calgary will be seeking a first and top prospects for Hanifin. Hopefully, for them, no buyers are reading this rant.
Carolina Hurricanes: More Scoring Depth
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Stop me if you've heard this one before: The Hurricanes could certainly use more scoring depth at the deadline.
Don "We like our group" Waddell did say Thursday that goaltender Freddie Andersen should be back and playing with the team next week. His health is the main priority, and it's great to see him fully recovered. That's a great boost for the Canes, especially because they won't solely rely on him with Pyotr Kochetkov's breakout and return from injury.
So for once, it isn't a "meh" goaltending and "meh" depth-scoring situation. There's only one beast to tame. And it's not like the Canes have had significant trouble scoring this regular season, but they are big boys now, and their problems with failing to win one Eastern Conference title in the past few years have largely come from lack of scoring.
They're working with about $1.3 million in projected cap space, and Andrei Svechnikov exists again, so I'm not sure if they need to or can do anything huge. I also will never understand trading Martin Nečas in an attempt to get scoring depth. Like, he is the scoring depth. He has 18 goals and 42 points in 54 games at a $3 million cap hit and you want to trade him? Not smart!
Unless...a Jake Guentzel trade is in the works. I could see Nečas moving to his natural center position amid a Penguins quasi-rebuild if the Hurricanes are willing to send a hefty haul. But they usually aren't willing to do that, so I'm not seeing this in-division trade happening.
Reilly Smith also seems like someone who could make an impact in the Hurricanes lineup, but the $5 million cap hit is kinda egregious and not particularly doable for the Canes.
Perhaps an Anthony Duclair acquisition could work if the Canes surrender one of their many prospects, who are currently roaming around the world with no AHL affiliate, might I add.
Edmonton Oilers: Another Forward
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Connor McDavid is in his assist era, and who are we to deny him another winger to dish to? The Edmonton Oilers will have around $2 million in cap space at the deadline, so they've got a few options—especially if they get a deal like Tanev going at 75 percent retained.
Could Jake Guentzel at 50 or so percent retained be on the table? The Oilers immediately have to give up a first-round pick just to get Guentzel, and it'll only get steeper with retention.
It depends on where the Penguins want to go with all of this. It would be pretty evil to trade Guentzel to a non-contender, but I guess that's showbiz, baby. And if you're trading one of your best assets, you're going to demand a wide array of picks and prospects, right?
Anyway, I would love for the Oilers to trade for Guentzel, and how fun would it be for him to spend his whole career alongside Crosby, and then to play alongside either McDavid or Leon Draisaitl?
Somehow, Pavel Buchnevich costs only $200,000 less than Guentzel, so he's not exactly your next-best value deal. But perhaps they could get more retention and less drama out of a Buchnevich deal.
New Jersey Devils: Goalie, Goalie and Goalie
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Do we think they're gonna do it? Do we think the Devils are going to go for a Jacob Markstrom or a Juuse Saros at the deadline?
As it stands, New Jersey is one spot and six points behind Tampa with three games in hand for the second wild card spot in the East. This is going to be fascinating because I genuinely wouldn't blame management for going either way. Then you've got the added wild card of Barry Trotz being the GM of the Predators—how is he going to approach the Saros situation?
The problem with looking to acquire a goaltender at the deadline is neither of the teams that are selling the top two potentially available netminders can use a Tyler Toffoli type. The Bruins budging on Linus Ullmark might be the only hope for the Devils to acquire the goalie they've been seeking for quite some time.
New York Rangers: Winger Whose Name Rhymes with Bank Ratano
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Doesn't "Frank Vatrano" just feel like a person who plays for the Rangers? Don't people need an "Adventures of Vatrano and Vincent Trocheck" social media series in which they find the best Italian food in New York City?
Adding Vatrano to the Rangers is an old habit for general manager Chris Drury. He traded for him two years ago, and the 29-year-old slotted in well on a line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.
A Vatrano-type fits in on the Rangers, but you want to make sure not to expect the career numbers he's putting up right now. He's getting more minutes and freedom than ever on the Ducks, and the Rangers are just too stacked to give him that amount of ice time. I'd still like it for the vibes.
Toronto Maple Leafs: (More) Defensive Help
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Look, how many times have we all immediately exaggerated about the first (or any, really) big trade deadline move? I don't want to herald Tanev as the best defensive defenseman who ever lived, but he's great, inexpensive and was the best of the slim pickings as far as we know this deadline.
Let's give Leafs general manager Brad Treliving some credit for addressing the situation by landing Ilya Lyubushkin from the Ducks as defensive cover in a pinch. The structure of the deal also gives Treliving some flexibility to add defensive depth. But the numbers aren't promising if you take a look at the Boosh's underlying stats.
So it's tough to see the Leafs miss out on Tanev if you're a Toronto fan.
As much as I don't like the Hanifin exaggerations, his specific skill set as a hybrid big body and scoring defenseman could fit into the Leafs' system well. I like Sean Walker and Alexandre Carrier a lot as players, but I fear they're both a little too small for the sensible grit the Leafs aim to acquire.
It's a moot point, and of course, you can't blame them for the John Klingberg injury, but maybe the Leafs should've allocated their new grit on the back end more than the front end when they made their statement last offseason.
Vegas Golden Knights: Winger to Replace Mark Stone
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I do want to live in a world where Jake Guentzel becomes the villain. He is notoriously Minnesota nice, did nothing to the Penguins other than score goals and be good, and to the untrained eye, he lives in Sidney Crosby's shadow.
Imagine what a chip on the shoulder could do for him. Jake, do I have the team and the coach for you...
The Golden Knights have the cap space to get Guentzel with Mark Stone on long-term injured reserve because of a lacerated spleen. It's Vegas. Why not go all-in?
Salary-cap info via CapFriendly.
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