B/R's Ultimate 2024 NHL Trade Deadline Cheat Sheet for Every Team
It is finally almost here. After weeks of trade rumors, speculation and even a handful of deals, the 2024 NHL trade deadline just four days away.
With the deadline being so close, we have put together a handy cheat sheet for you to look at regarding what every NHL team needs before 3 p.m. ET Friday, whether they will be buying or selling, what they have to trade, what they should not trade and what their all-important salary-cap situation looks like.
Come along with us as we take a team-by-team look to get you ready for Friday's deadline day.
Anaheim Ducks
1 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $34 million in projected salary cap space for the remainder of the season.
Best trade assets: Center Adam Henrique (pending UFA), winger Frank Vatrano (signed through 2024-25 at $3.6 million per season), goalie John Gibson (signed through 2026-27 at $6.4 million per season)
The untouchables: Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish and any of their top prospects.
What they need: The Ducks' rebuild is still very much an ongoing process, but they are starting to inch closer to a point where contending for a playoff spot should be expected. They have a really strong young core of talent, especially at forward, led by Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish and the recent addition of Cutter Gauthier from the Philadelphia Flyers.
They have already made a couple of significant trades (Ilya Lyubushkin, Jamie Drysdale) and have a chance to make at least a couple more before Friday. Henrique seems like a given to get traded based on his contract situation, while Vatrano might be able to bring back a significant return given his production and relatively cheap contract through next season.
Arizona Coyotes
2 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $13.9 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Jason Zucker (pending UFA), defenseman Matt Dumba (pending UFA), defenseman Troy Stecher (pending UFA), defenseman Joshua Brown (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Logan Cooley, Clayton Keller
What they need: On one hand, there probably shouldn't be anybody on the NHL roster outside Cooley and Keller who is untouchable, because given the lack of success in Arizona over the past decade, any player could have a price. But this also isn't a situation where a total teardown is needed.
There is at least a promising core of talent here and a chance to start inching their way back toward playoff contention.
The biggest short-term need is probably on defense where the Coyotes do not have a single player under contract for next season at the NHL level. Every player currently on the NHL roster defensively is either an impending restricted free agent or an unrestricted free agent. If they opted to trade somebody like a Nick Schmaltz or Lawson Crouse, getting defensive help back should probably be a priority.
Boston Bruins
3 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $57,500 in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Jake DeBrusk (pending UFA), goalie Linus Ullmark (signed through 2024-25 at $5 million), prospect Fabian Lysell, prospect John Beecher, 2025 first-round pick
The untouchables: David Pastrňák, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman
What they need: The Bruins could use some additional center depth, but that is no longer the priority it seemed to be at the start of the season. What they need is defense. Charlie McAvoy is a stud, but Hampus Lindholm is sidelined due to injury and the depth after those two drops off precipitously.
Based on pretty much every advanced possession and scoring-chance metric, the Bruins are only an average to below-average defensive team that is overly reliant on its goaltenders.
Speaking of which, there might be an argument for making Ullmark available. There are a lot of teams that need goaltending help, the Bruins would still have a No. 1 goalie in Swayman, who can take over the position, and it would help clear some salary-cap space both this season and next season.
The Bruins don't have a lot of great trade assets due to a weak farm system and a depleted draft-pick pool, so they might have to get creative, especially when it comes to finding salary-cap space. Why not deal from a position of strength to fill a position of weakness? It should at least be considered.
Buffalo Sabres
4 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $32 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Defenseman Erik Johnson (pending UFA), forward Kyle Okposo (pending UFA), forward Zemgus Girgensons (pending UFA), forward Casey Mittelstadt (pending RFA)
The untouchables: Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power
What they need: This season has been a massive disappointment for the Sabres. After missing the playoffs by just one point a season ago, they seemed primed to finally end their playoff drought. But as the deadline approaches, the Sabres seem destined to miss the playoffs for a 13th consecutive season and have taken a huge step backward.
So what do they need?
Well, a little bit of everything would help. The offense has taken a major step backward from a year ago, Devon Levi didn't run away with the starting goaltending job, and the entire franchise just seems like it needs a spark.
Mittelstadt would be the intriguing trade option here because it would maybe send a shock wave through the organization and locker room while also having the potential to bring back a meaningful return. They have a handful of pending UFAs to trade, but none of them are going to bring back a return that changes much of the short-term or long-term outlook. They need a bold move.
Calgary Flames
5 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $4,500,205 in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Defenseman Noah Hanifin (pending UFA), goalie Jacob Markstrom (signed through 2025-26 at $6 million per season)
The untouchables: Nobody
What they need: The Flames have already been extremely active at the trade deadline, having dealt forward Elias Lindholm and defenseman Chris Tanev.
Hanifin figures to be next in line to leave.
If the Flames get a good offer for pretty much anybody on the roster, they should be willing to at least consider it. This is a stagnant, middle-of-the-pack franchise that has some bad contracts and is lacking young, impact players. It seems like a team that is on the verge of needing a full-scale rebuild.
Ask yourself this question if you are a Flames fan: What is your team's identity? Who on this roster do you think is a key contributor to a Stanley Cup contender a couple of years down the line? What is the ceiling of this team in the coming years?
Those answers probably are not very encouraging. So if you can start turning the page now and beginning a new chapter, it might be worth it. If you can find a way to dump some of those awful contracts (Jonathan Huberdeau), you need to do it. Nobody should be off the table here.
Carolina Hurricanes
6 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $5.2 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: 2024 first-round pick, defenseman Tony DeAngelo (pending UFA), prospect Scott Morrow
The untouchables: Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho
What they need: This is a very typical Hurricanes team in that it does everything well but might still have a small handful of flaws that could hold them back in the playoffs against an upper-level Stanley Cup contender.
They could always use another top-line goal-scoring option to help turn some of their territorial and scoring-chance dominance into more of a goal-advantage dominance. Jake Guentzel or Pavel Buchnevich would be intriguing options, and they have the salary-cap space to work with.
It also might not hurt to find some more goaltending depth.
While they have a lot of options at the position, Pyotr Kochetkov is the only one who has given them an above-league-average performance this season. That could be a concern going into the playoffs.
Chicago Blackhawks
7 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $37 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Tyler Johnson (pending UFA), forward Anthony Beauvillier (pending UFA), forward Colin Blackwell (pending UFA), defenseman Jarred Tinordi (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Connor Bedard, Kevin Korchinski
What they need: The Blackhawks are still at a stage in their rebuild where they need anything and everything. Talent at every position, more draft picks and long-term answers.
They have their cornerstone player in Bedard, and now comes the difficult part of building a team around him.
The Blackhawks are loaded with draft picks over the next three years, and they need to keep stockpiling more of them. That helps do one of two things. The first is those excess draft picks could be used as trade bait this offseason, especially when teams need to dump productive players to become salary-cap compliant.
And second, the best way to find players in the draft is to simply give yourself as many swings as possible.
The only problem is the Blackhawks don't have a lot of trade options. Taylor Hall is out for the year, and they re-signed several veteran players who could have been trade chips at the deadline that will now be in the mix for next season.
Colorado Avalanche
8 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary-cap situation: $2.2 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Defenseman Bowen Byram (signed through 2024-25 at $3.85 million), 2024 and 2025 first-round draft picks
The untouchables: Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, Devon Toews
What they need: The Avalanche have a surprisingly large number of potential needs for a team that is one of the best in the NHL.
It is a testament to the brilliance of MacKinnon, Rantanen, Makar, Toews and the rest of their top-tier players that they have been able to overcome the number of flaws they have. Even if they stand pat at the deadline, they will still be a formidable opponent, but they could still use some help.
They have needed a second-line center for the past two years and have never really been able to replace Nazem Kadri.
Additional goal-scoring depth on the wing would also be a worthwhile addition.
Perhaps more important than all of that is the potential need for a goalie. Alexandar Georgiev has taken a big step backward in his second season with the team, and Avs do not have a solid safety-net option behind him. That is the one position that can sink a contender, and the Avalanche can not be optimistic about their options right now.
Columbus Blue Jackets
9 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers, with a lean toward standing pat
Salary-cap situation: $16.7 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Jack Roslovic (pending UFA), goalie Elvis Merzļikins (signed through 2026-27 at $5.4 million per season), forward Boone Jenner (signed through 2025-26 at $3.75 million per season), defenseman Andrew Peeke (signed through 2025-26 at $2.75 million per season).
The untouchables: Adam Fantilli
What they need: Everything. The Blue Jackets are 23rd in the NHL in goals scored, 31st in goals against and have a sub-.900 save percentage as a team.
They have a promising group of young prospects, led by 2023 first-round pick Adam Fantilli, but the NHL roster is full of holes and bad contracts. They also do not have a full-time general manager, which might limit the number of major changes they make at the trade deadline.
Their list of potential trade candidates is slim anyway.
Roslovic is the only major pending UFA on the team, while Merzļikins wouldn't bring back a major return even with a large number of goalie-needy teams in the league.
This seems like a good situation to just play out the season and start fresh in the offseason when they can start addressing their many flaws.
Dallas Stars
10 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers, with a lean toward holding
Salary-cap situation: $1.17 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: 2024 first-round pick, prospect Mavrik Bourque
The untouchables: Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen, Jake Oettinger, Thomas Harley, Wyatt Johnston
What they need: The Stars already addressed their biggest need at the trade deadline this past week by landing veteran defenseman Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames, and they did not even have to give up a first-round pick to do it.
Tanev gives them a much-needed shutdown defensive presence for the right side of their second pairing and helps round out their lineup.
The Stars already have an outstanding duo with Heiskanen and Harley and also boast one of the league's best, deepest offenses. It is as solid of a roster as you will find in the NHL at this point. If they did decide to add, they still have their first-round pick as trade bait and some salary-cap flexibility to work with. But right now they don't need anything else major.
Detroit Red Wings
11 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary-cap situation: $12.25 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: 2024 and 2025 first-round picks, prospect Jonatan Berggren, prospect Marco Kasper
The untouchables: Dylan Larkin, Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat
What they need: The Red Wings are on the verge of ending the longest playoff drought in franchise history (seven seasons), and they might need just a little more help to get over the hump.
The Red Wings have a top-level offense that is capable of beating any team in the league on any given night. Larkin, Raymond and DeBrincat are leading that charge and producing goals at a Stanley Cup-contending level.
The problem is the Red Wings surrender goals at a rate that makes them capable of losing to any team on any given night.
That is what they need to address, both in the short term and the long term.
Seider needs help on the blue line so he does not have to keep taking on such a daunting defensive role, while some goaltending depth could also be useful. If they can get a top-pairing defenseman, one who ideally has term remaining on their contract, they should be willing to pay a steep price to get it. They are close. They have the offense. They just need some help defensively.
Edmonton Oilers
12 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $2.10 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Defenseman Philip Broberg, 2024 and 2025 first-round picks, 2024 second-round pick, forward Warren Foegele (pending UFA), defenseman Cody Ceci (signed through 2024-25 at $3.25 million per season), defenseman Brett Kulak (signed through 2025-26 at $2.75 million per season)
The untouchables: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evan Bouchard
What they need: Goaltending has to be at the absolute top of the list, and there is nothing that is even a close second. They tried to fix the position a year ago by signing Jack Campbell in free agency, but he was so bad that he ended up getting relegated to the minor leagues a month into this season.
Stuart Skinner has been wildly inconsistent, and there is no way the Oilers can be confident in him or their backup situation going into the playoffs.
Evan Bouchard has emerged as a Norris Trophy contender on defense and Ken Holland made a huge move to land Mattias Ekholm a year ago. Now he needs to find a way to swing another big deal to solve his goaltending issue so he doesn't risk wasting another year of McDavid and Draisaitl's prime.
They have a potential championship team, but the goaltending situation could undo all of that.
Florida Panthers
13 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers, with a lean toward holding
Salary-cap situation: $5.1 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: 2025 second-round pick, center Anton Lundell (pending RFA), prospect Mackie Samoskevich, forward Nick Cousins (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart
What they need: Not much. Maybe even nothing at all. The Panthers are one of the league's top defensive teams, they are getting outstanding goaltending and their offense has been elite over the past four months after a slow start to the season. They do everything well and are one of the best teams in the NHL. They should be one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference.
This is the type of situation where it could be dangerous to try to do too much.
That happened to the Panthers at the deadline two years ago when they had the league's best record and overhauled a significant portion of their roster. It made them worse.
The Panthers can play any style of game and beat any team in any number of ways. Maybe a minor tweak to the fourth line or the bottom defense pair is on the table. But they don't need much else. They also have depleted a large portion of their draft pick capital and have limited trade resources.
Los Angeles Kings
14 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary-cap situation: $2.58 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: 2024 and 2025 first-round picks, prospect Alex Turcotte, forward Arthur Kaliyev (pending RFA)
The untouchables: Anže Kopitar Drew Doughty, Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala, Philip Danault
What they need: Goaltending looked like it would be the biggest question mark at the start of the season, but Cam Talbot and David Rittich have not only exceeded all expectations, but they have also given the Kings well above-league-average goaltending. The question becomes how much do you trust them to continue that through an extended playoff run?
If you don't, then goaltending is a big need.
But if you want to roll the dice on that, the Kings' next biggest need is goal-scoring. They do just about everything well as a team, especially as it relates to their defensive play and their ability to control the pace of games and dominate territorially.
They just do not turn that territorial dominance into goals. That has to change. Just one more top-line finisher could make them a bona fide Stanley Cup contender in the Western Conference given how well the rest of the team plays and their depth down the middle.
Minnesota Wild
15 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers, but probably hold
Salary-cap situation: $3.2 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Brandon Duhaime (pending UFA), goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Kirill Kaprizov, Brock Faber, Marco Rossi, Filip Gustavsson
What they need: The biggest need they have is additional salary-cap flexibility next season and some patience. The 2024-25 season will be the last year that their salary-cap situation is ruined by the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, and when those clear up, it should allow the Wild to finally start building a complete hockey team again.
Given their spot in the standings and their short-term salary-cap outlook, this is not a time to be adding.
But they also don't have a lot to sell.
Fleury could be an intriguing goalie option for a contender, but he has full control over where he goes (and if he goes), and he seems to have little interest in being traded again.
That leaves Duhaime as a potential rental, but he is not likely to bring much of a return.
Montreal Canadiens
16 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $5.6 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Tanner Pearson, goalie Jake Allen (signed through 2024-25 at $3.85 million per season, defenseman David Savard (signed through 2024-25 at $3.5 million per season)
The untouchables: Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovský, Kaiden Guhle
What they need: The Canadiens should be willing to listen on anybody on the NHL roster over the age of 25, no matter how good or productive they are. There are some intriguing young players here—like the four untouchables mentioned above—but there are still a ton of holes on the roster. Scoring depth is thin and they are lacking a true No. 1 defenseman who can play big minutes and help control all phases of the game.
Allen is probably their best trade chip, but it would not be a surprise if Savard had a strong market as well.
Nashville Predators
17 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers, with a lean toward holding
Salary-cap situation: $33.2 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Goalie Juuse Saros (signed through 2024-25 at $5 million per season), defenseman Alexandre Carrier (pending UFA), forward Thomas Novak (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg
What they need: The Predators are in the driver's seat for a playoff spot, so it might be strange to consider the idea of them selling. But they have to be realistic about their chances and what their team actually is. It is simply not a Stanley Cup contender and has a very clear ceiling as a middle-of-the-pack team that needs everything to go perfectly just to give it a chance to be a second wild-card team.
Trading Saros at the deadline seems like a long shot given the playoff position, but given that they have one of the league's best goalie prospects (Yaroslav Askarov) in the minors, the idea of trading him before next season seems possible. Especially if they can not get Saros re-signed beyond next season.
Novak and Carrier would have nice value as rentals and help give Nashville even more draft pick capital for the offseason.
The Predators have a lot of salary-cap flexibility for the offseason, and that is when they should take their chances on adding.
Not now. Not when a first-round exit seems likely no matter what they do (or do not do) at the trade deadline.
New Jersey Devils
18 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers, with a lean toward holding
Salary-cap situation: $8.3 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: 2024 and 2025 first-round draft picks, forward Tyler Toffoli (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Luke Hughes, Šimon Nemec
What they need: The Devils needed a goalie at the start of the season and inexplicably ignored that need.
It has been a season-long problem with no internal solution in sight.
It is, unfortunately, not their only problem. Injuries have played a role in their disappointing season, but they have also simply badly underachieved and are very close to completely wasting what should have been an extremely promising season.
Their window for contention long-term is still wide open, but this season may have slipped away. Their top young players are all signed long-term to team-friendly deals, and they have a couple of outstanding young defensemen starting to make an impact.
But if they are going to take a serious leap forward this season, next season, or at any point in the short-term or mid-term future they are going to have to meaningfully address their goaltending situation.
Do they want to trade significant assets to address that in a lost season?
Or do they want to play this season out and take a run at somebody in the offseason?
That might be the big question Devils management has to answer over the next week.
New York Islanders
19 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $0
Best trade assets: Forward Brock Nelson (signed through 2024-25 at $6 million per season), forward Cal Clutterbuck (pending UFA), forward Matt Martin (pending UFA).
The untouchables: Mathew Barzal, Noah Dobson, Ilya Sorokin
What they need: The Islanders are on the fringes of playoff contention in the Eastern Conference, but they don't do anything particularly well. They don't have enough difference-makers offensively, they're not good defensively and almost all of their success comes from their power play, goaltending and the fact that they keep collecting loser points by losing in overtime and the shootout.
What they might need more than anything is a new vision in the front office. But until then—and even if that happens—they simply need more scoring depth and more impact players offensively.
Trading Nelson would be a tough move given how productive he has been the past couple of seasons, but there is not a reasonable trade candidate in the organization who would bring them back a bigger return without dealing one of the core players (Barzal, Dobson, Sorokin).
The Islanders also need to consider whether he is the type of player they want to re-sign to a long-term deal. They are already one of the oldest teams in the league, and Nelson, who will be 34 when his next contract begins, may not be the wisest long-term investment.
New York Rangers
20 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $4.3 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: 2024 and 2025 first-round draft picks, 2024 second-round draft pick, defenseman K'Andre Miller (signed through 2024-25 at $3.8 million per season), any prospect
The untouchables: Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, Igor Shesterkin, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad
What they need: The Rangers are the type of team that should be willing to part with any draft pick or prospect in their possession if it can help them get the missing pieces that will put them over the top.
They have one of the best teams in the NHL with truly elite superstars (Panarin, Fox, Shesterkin) at the top of the lineup.
But they also have a small handful of weaknesses that might hold them back.
Specifically, as it relates to their five-on-five scoring depth.
They need another winger and a third-line center to round out their roster, and there are a couple of intriguing options available to them that could help put them over the top. Specifically Anaheim's Adam Henrique and Frank Vatrano.
The Rangers have been aggressive buyers at the trade deadline the past two seasons and should not stop with that approach this season. Banners hang forever, and if the Rangers can make the right moves to add another one to the Madison Square Garden rafters, nobody will give a second thought to the draft picks or prospects they move to get there.
Ottawa Senators
21 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $6.1 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Defenseman Jakob Chychrun (signed through 2024-25 at $4.6 million per season), forward Vladimir Tarasenko (pending UFA), forward Dominik Kubalik (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Tim Stützle, Brady Tkachuk
What they need: This season started with such promise, especially given the level of talent the Ottawa Senators had in their top-six forward group and at the top of their defense.
But everything went south almost immediately, and it has left the Senators stuck in neutral during their ongoing rebuild. They have played better leading up to the trade deadline, but it is a case of too little, too late.
They need to sell.
Their biggest needs are the same needs they had at the start of the season—depth scoring, defense and goaltending.
Tarasenko and Kubalik seem like strong trade candidates as pending UFAs, while Chychrun is the potential wild card. His name has surfaced in trade rumors as there is some doubt as to whether he will be a fit in Ottawa long-term or if he will want to re-sign there.
He is a productive player and has an extremely team-friendly contract through next season. They could get a solid return for him in terms of draft picks or prospects if they made him available.
Philadelphia Flyers
22 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $5.5 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Defenseman Sean Walker (pending UFA), defenseman Nick Seeler (pending UFA), forward Scott Laughton (signed through 2025-26 at $3 million per season)
The untouchables: Owen Tippett, any of their top prospects
What they need: The Flyers are the Eastern Conference version of the Predators—a playoff team that should probably lean toward selling.
Their biggest need is patience.
While this season has been an incredible success and a huge surprise, the Flyers can not lose sight of their long-term plan. Their true Stanley Cup window begins when 2023 first-round pick Matvei Michkov arrives and proves he can be a star. Until then, they need to keep their eyes on the long-term prize.
They have some extremely valuable trade assets in Walker, Seeler and Laughton and could probably give themselves some additional draft pick capital to work with. It is not out of the question that they could land another first-round pick (or two) in deals involving Walker and Laughton. Or at least comparable prospects.
The beauty of that is the Flyers could spend the offseason flipping those picks or prospects for more immediate help as their Stanley Cup window continues to inch open.
Pittsburgh Penguins
23 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $3.75 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Jake Guentzel (pending UFA), forward Lars Eller (signed through 2024-25 at $2.45 million per season), forward Reilly Smith (signed through 2024-25 at $5 million per season), forward Rickard Rakell (signed through 2027-28 at $6 million per season), goalie Alex Nedeljkovic (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang
What they need: As recently as a week ago, you probably could have made the argument that the Penguins could have tried to hold on, take advantage of their games-in-hand advantage and try to play their way back into playoff contention.
That thought probably went away on a four-game West Coast road trip where they won one game and humiliated themselves in Calgary and Edmonton. It is time to sell.
Guentzel is the most likely candidate and has the most value of any of their trade options.
Maybe a team takes a chance on Smith bouncing back.
Eller could also have a role as a fourth-line center on a contender.
The Penguins' biggest need at this point is simply getting younger and deeper at forward. Two things they needed to do over the offseason and simply did not address.
Crosby, Malkin, Letang and even Erik Karlsson all have no-trade protections in their contracts, and it is almost a certainty that none of Crosby, Malkin or Letang are looking to waive them.
San Jose Sharks
24 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $9.2 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Anthony Duclair (pending UFA), forward Kevin Labanc (pending UFA), forward Mike Hoffman (pending UFA), goalie Kaapo Kahkonen (pending UFA)
The untouchables: William Eklund, any of their top prospects, all of their draft picks
What they need: The Sharks are in the very early stages of what is going to be a massive rebuild.
They need everything long-term.
Literally, everything.
The goal right now should be simply adding as much young talent and as many draft resources as possible. If any pending UFA has a trade market, trade them. If they can find a way to dump any of their remaining big contracts, it should be done. Other than Eklund, their top prospects and draft picks, everybody in the organization should have a for sale sign next to them.
Seattle Kraken
25 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $4.4 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Jordan Eberle (pending UFA), defenseman Justin Schultz (pending UFA), forward Alexander Wennberg (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Matty Beniers, Jared McCann, Vince Dunn
What they need: Even with their strong second year that saw them make the playoffs and win a playoff round, the Kraken should have been viewed as potential regression candidates at the start of this season. Mainly because so much of their success a year ago was driven by a wildly unsustainable teamwide shooting-percentage binge.
It was not sustainable, and they are seeing the effects of that this season.
The Kraken are still in the very early stages of building a franchise and still need to add talent wherever possible.
Forward depth is needed, and addressing the goaltending situation should be considered a must. That has been a problem in each of the first three years of their existence, even after they traded making a heavy initial investment in the position.
St. Louis Blues
26 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $2.02 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Pavel Buchnevich (signed through 2024-25 at $5.8 million per season), forward Kasperi Kapanen (pending UFA), defenseman Marco Scandella (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou
What they need: The Blues have had major needs on defense for a couple of years now and have not done anything to meaningfully address it. Compounding that problem is the fact that the players they do have on defense have mostly terrible contracts, with Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Torey Krug and Nick Leddy taking up more than $22 million in salary-cap space for the next three seasons.
Buchnevich is clearly their best trade option, and given his production and contract they should be able to get a huge haul for him. Any team that adds him would be getting a point-per-game player for two playoff runs.
This is the time to sell high on him, especially as the playoffs start to slip away from them this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning
27 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary-cap situation: $7.3 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Any prospect, 2025 second-round draft pick
The untouchables: Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy
What they need: Defense is a huge issue for the Tampa Bay Lightning, especially with Mikhail Sergachev done for the season. Even before his injury, they had a need for defensive help, and the injury to Sergachev only added to that.
It also gave them the salary-cap space necessary to address it by placing him on LTIR.
The problem the Lightning are going to have is piecing together enough trade assets to find that help.
They do not have a first-round draft pick until 2026, and their farm system is relatively thin on potential impact players. Calgary's Noah Hanifin would be an ideal fit, but it comes down to finding enough trade assets to get him.
Toronto Maple Leafs
28 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $144,000 in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: 2024 first-round pick. Nicholas Robertson (pending RFA), Max Domi (pending UFA), Tyler Bertuzzi (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, Morgan Rielly
What they need: The Maple Leafs could use scoring depth and defense. They attempted to address the latter already by acquiring Ilya Lyubushkin from the Anaheim Ducks, spending two draft picks in the process. That might not solve the problem or fix the concern. Yeah, Lyubushkin is cheap against the salary cap, but he is not particularly good, and it cost them two draft picks they could have used in another trade.
They are also incredibly short on salary-cap space.
The Maple Leafs' top players are good enough to give them a chance, but they can not do it alone. Scoring depth, defensive depth and even goaltending depth are all potential factors that could hold them back, and they may not have the resources to address them all before Friday.
Vancouver Canucks
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Buyers or sellers: Buyers, with a lean toward holding
Salary-cap situation: $2.6 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: 2025 first-round pick, forward Conor Garland (signed through 2025-26 at $4.9 million per season)
The untouchables: Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller
What they need: The Vancouver Canucks probably already made their big move by getting Elias Lindholm from the Flames, but they look like a team that still needs another spark or some tweaks to its depth at all three levels—forward, defense and goaltending.
As long as Jim Rutherford is involved in the decision-making of an NHL team, you can never rule out an unexpected blockbuster or a major trade to shake things up. It is just a matter of how much the Canucks want to do and how much they want to risk.
Elias Pettersson getting a new contract extension this week removes one big distraction—and a potential trade chip—but it does not do much to change the on-ice roster in the short term.
Vegas Golden Knights
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Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary-cap situation: $6.8 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Any draft pick, any prospect, forward Chandler Stephenson (pending UFA)
The untouchables: Jack Eichel, Mark Stone
What they need: The Golden Knights are always in the market for a blockbuster trade, and they might need one this season.
They have had a huge hole on the left side of their lineup all year and should be doing whatever they can to add another top-six finisher.
Pittsburgh has a couple of potential options in Jake Guentzel and Reilly Smith, while the Blues' Pavel Buchnevich would be an intriguing option.
In typical Golden Knights fashion, they have been able to massage the salary cap in their favor, while injuries have helped them bank enough cap space to be factors at the deadline.
They are going for a second straight Stanley Cup and have almost a full complement of draft picks over the next three years, including all of their first-rounders. They have a chance to be big-time buyers, and if history is any guide, they probably will be.
Washington Capitals
31 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary-cap situation: $2.8 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Anthony Mantha (pending UFA), forward Max Pacioretty (pending UFA), defenseman Joel Edmundson (pending UFA), forward Nic Dowd (signed through 2024-25 at $1.3 million per season)
The untouchables: Alex Ovechkin, first-round pick
What they need: The Capitals are not going to completely tear it down, not as long as Ovechkin is on the roster and trying to catch Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record. But the playoffs are not a realistic option, and they have several players who are going to have some value at the deadline.
Mantha has rediscovered some of his goal-scoring touch this season, while Dowd's contract would make him an extremely attractive option for a contender.
The Capitals simply need to get younger, faster and do whatever they can to keep an eye on the future.
Winnipeg Jets
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Buyers or sellers: Buyer, with a lean toward holding
Salary-cap situation: $5.3 million in salary-cap space
Best trade assets: 2025 first-round pick, Montreal's 2024 second-round pick, defenseman Logan Stanley (pending RFA)
The untouchables: Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Connor Hellebuyck, Cole Perfetti
What they need: The Jets made a trade a month ago to get Sean Monahan from the Montreal Canadiens, filling a big need for scoring depth.
If the Jets do anything else the rest of the way, depth should be it. Especially when it comes to their offense.
Their top-line players have always been good enough to win with, but they have simply lacked depth around them.
Hellebuyck's huge year in net has masked some of their offensive shortcomings, but if they are going to be a serious contender in the Western Conference, they still might need more scoring.
The Jets have some intriguing draft pick capital to dangle as trade bait, including their 2025 first-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick that originally belonged to Montreal. That pick could end up being in the top 40 of the 2024 NHL draft class and be of serious interest to a rebuilding team.
Salary-cap info via CapFriendly.
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