B/R's Ultimate 2025 NHL Trade Deadline Cheat Sheet for Every Team
We are into the home stretch for the NHL's trade season with the deadline arriving on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET. While a lot of major moves have already been made, the next few days should be especially hectic. So let's take a look at the situation every team is looking at in terms of buyer or seller status, salary cap space and trade assets to work with.
Anaheim Ducks
1 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $73 million in deadline cap space
Best trade assets: Defenseman Brian Dumolin (pending UFA), goalie John Gibson (two more years at $6.4 million)
Untouchables: Leo Carlsson and any young player
What they need: Just keep looking toward the future. There has been some small progress this season, they still have a good group of young talent and they will have some serious salary cap space to work with this offseason. Trading Dumoulin should be a no-brainer. If they can find a taker for Gibson’s contract, they should do it.
Boston Bruins
2 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $5.79 million in deadline cap space
Best trade assets: Trent Frederic, Brad Marchand
Untouchables: David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman
What they need: The Bruins need to be realistic. The season may have begun with major playoff aspirations, but that seems unlikely. Even if it happens, it is hard to see this team going anywhere other than back home very, very quickly. There are just too many holes on the roster, and the Bruins need a little bit of a reset.
Trent Frederic should be traded, and he might have some value given his size and physical play.
As difficult as it might be for the organization to do, Marchand should also be aggressively shopped to see if there is a place he wants to go. They could probably get a huge haul for him given how much teams would value Marchand’s two-way play and agitating style. Plus, there would be nothing stopping the two sides from reuniting over the summer in free agency.
Buffalo Sabres
3 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $29.2 million in deadline cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Jason Zucker (pending UFA), defenseman Bowen Byram (pending RFA), forward Dylan Cozens (signed through 2030 at $7.1 million per year), forward Jordan Greenway (pending UFA)
Untouchables: Defenseman Rasmus Sandin, forward Tage Thompson, defenseman Owen Power, forward Zach Benson
What they need: It might be easier to just simply list the things the Sabres do not need. Their playoff drought is set to reach 14 consecutive seasons, they have the worst record in the Eastern Conference and they need another rebuild to get out from the mess that has been their past two failed rebuilds.
They need more scoring, more defense, and simply need to keep collecting as many assets as they can get. Forwards like Zucker and Greenway seem like good bets to go given their contract status, but Byram and Cozens could be on the market for the right price. But do the Sabres want to risk one of them excelling elsewhere?
.png?w=256 "Playoff Winners and Losers")
Calgary Flames
4 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Standing pat
Salary cap situation: $81 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Goalie Dan Vladar (pending UFA)
Untouchables: Goalie Dustin Wolf, any young player
What they need: Unless something totally unforeseen pops up for them, or somebody makes them an offer they simply can not refuse for a player under contract long-term, this should be a relatively quiet deadline for the Flames. Outside of veteran goalie Dan Vladar they do not have a lot of obvious rentals to move out, and even though they are still in the playoff race they are not really in a position to aggressively buy. This is a perfect situation to stand pat.
Carolina Hurricanes
5 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $499,000 in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Full allotment of future first-round draft picks, prospects
Untouchables: Forward Sebastian Aho, defenseman Jaccob Slavin, forward Seth Jarvis, forward Andrei Svechnikov
What they need: The Hurricanes already made their big deadline move when they acquired forwards Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall in a three-team trade with the Chicago Blackhawks and Colorado Avalanche. Rantanen’s name has resurfaced in trade speculation given his contract situation as a pending UFA, but that seems to be more outside noise than anything the Hurricanes are actively considering.
Carolina still has all of its future first-round draft picks and a deeper farm system than most contenders, but it does not have much salary cap flexibility to work with. Any additional deal would require retained salary or money moving out the other way.
Chicago Blackhawks
6 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $23.6 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Nick Foligno (signed through 2026 at $4.5 million), forward Andreas Athanasiou (pending UFA), defenseman Connor Murphy (signed through 2026 at $4.4 million)
Untouchables: Forward Connor Bedard, forward Frank Nazar, defenseman Alex Vlasic
What they need: They need pretty much everything long-term.
There are a few long-term building blocks here in Bedard, Nazar and Vlasic, and they have a big collection of first-round picks and prospects on the way, but this team is still years away from contending. Even with Bedard in the mix this remains a pretty bleak outlook in the coming seasons.
They already made two big moves prior to the deadline by trading Taylor Hall (to Carolina) and Seth Jones (to Florida), but they should not stop there. Outside of the aforementioned core of young players, anybody here should be available for the right price.
Colorado Avalanche
7 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $3.2 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: 2026 and 2027 first-round draft picks, 2025 second-round pick, prospects, forward Casey Mittelstadt (signed through 2027 at $5.7 million)
Untouchables: Forward Nathan MacKinnon, defenseman Cale Makar, defenseman Devon Toews
What they need: The top of the Avalanche lineup remains strong with MacKinnon and Makar playing like superstars, but depth has continued to be an issue for the past couple of seasons.
Colorado has been extremely aggressive when it comes to in-season trades, completely overhauling its goalie depth chart, making the blockbuster trade to send Rantanen to Carolina (for Martin Necas) and then adding Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey from the New York Rangers.
Is all of that enough to make a difference in a top-heavy Western Conference? They still have some salary cap flexibility and some trade assets to dangle.
The intriguing player to watch will be Mittelstadt. He has not panned out the way Colorado hoped when it acquired him at the deadline a year ago but could still have some value.
Columbus Blue Jackets
8 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $86 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Minnesota’s 2025 first-round pick, prospects
Untouchables: Defenseman Zach Werenski, forward Adam Fantilli, forward Kirill Marchenko
What they need: There might not be a more fascinating team in the NHL over the next week than Columbus.
When the season began nobody could have envisioned them to be in a situation to be buyers at this point, but here they are. The playoffs are within reach, they have more salary cap space at their disposal than any team in the league, and they have plenty of trade assets with a deep farm system and a second first-round pick (Minnesota’s) to dangle. They need more scoring depth, and could really be major players if they wanted to be.
Dallas Stars
9 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $4.5 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Future first-round draft picks, prospects
Untouchables: Forward Jason Robertson, forward Roope Hintz, forward Wyatt Johnston, defenseman Miro Heiskanen, defenseman Thomas Harley, goalie Jake Oettinger
What they need: The Stars already made a big move when they sent first-and third-round picks to the San Jose Sharks for pending UFAs Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci. The question is whether or not those two additions were enough to help put them over the top, or if they were a good use of the Stars’ first-round pick this season.
The top of the lineup is as good as any team in the NHL, and the depth is legit. They could still use a little tinkering around the edges, and given their salary cap flexibility they should not be afraid to trade another future pick or prospect to try and get over the top. They have reached the Western Conference Final two years in a row but are still searching for a championship with this core. Draft picks and prospects should not get in the way of that. Banners hang forever.
Detroit Red Wings
10 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $13 million in salary deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: All future first-round picks, multiple 2025 third-round picks
Untouchables: Forward Lucas Raymond, defenseman Moritz Seider, defenseman Simon Edvinsson, forward Dylan Larkin
What they need: The Red Wings power play has driven them back into a playoff position, but there is definitely a smoke and mirror element to their recent success. Their 5-on-5 play remains poor and their defense after Seider and Edvinsson is full of holes. That is the area to address ahead of the deadline if the Red Wings are going to make a serious push to end their eight-year playoff drought. It is within reach, but they still need a little bit of help to make the playoffs. They need a lot of help to contend for the Stanley Cup.
Edmonton Oilers
11 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $5.16 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: 2026 and 2027 first-round picks, prospects
Untouchables: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard
What they need: Depth is always a concern for the Oilers, but so is goaltending. Again. Every year that McDavid and Draisaitl are in the prime of their careers is a year where the Oilers have to try and go all in, and every year they do not make an effort to fix their weaknesses is a potentially wasted opportunity. Stuart Skinner put it together for the Oilers in the playoffs a year ago, but they should not bank on that happening again. If they can find an upgrade, they have to go for it.
Florida Panthers
12 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $8.7 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Prospects, remaining draft picks
Untouchables: Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart
What they need: Honestly, the Panthers do not need much. Especially after landing Seth Jones in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago Blackhawks over the weekend. This is one of the deepest and best teams in the league, and outside of some additional help and depth on the fringes there is not a lot of need here. The wild card is that with Matthew Tkachuk going on LTIR they still have some salary cap flexibility to make another splash move. The only problem is they have depleted their draft pick resources and do not have a particularly deep farm system to deal from.
Los Angeles Kings
13 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $4.4 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: All of their first-round draft picks, prospects
Untouchables: Anze Kopitar, Quinton Byfield,
What they need: The Kings do pretty much everything well and have a rock solid team from top-to-bottom. But if they are going to break through the first round, and if they are going to beat teams like Edmonton in a best-of-seven series, they are going to need to score more goals in crunch time in the playoffs. They need at least one more finisher that can consistently put the puck in the net. They defend well, they control possession, and they push play in their favor. Another goal-scorer would really help bring all of that together.
Minnesota Wild
14 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $7.5 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Prospects, draft picks
Untouchables: Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Brock Faber
What they need: Minnesota has made a couple of deals this season, acquiring David Jiricek from Columbus and then this weekend getting Gustav Nyquist from Nashville. They actually have some salary cap flexibility due to their injury situation, but that is honestly what they need more than anything else. They need their injured players – specifically Kirill Kaprizov – back in the lineup. A healthy Kaprizov will do more for them than any trade deadline acquisition might.
Montreal Canadiens
15 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $6.6 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Christian Dvorak (UFA), forward Jake Evans (UFA), forward Joel Armia (UFA)
Untouchables: Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson
What they need: The Canadiens are slowly making progress and inching their way back toward the playoffs, and they have an excellent young core in place with Caufield, Suzuki, Slafkovsky and Hutson that will be the foundation of that team for years. They should still be sellers, but it shouldn’t be a total sell-off. They have a handful of pending UFAs that might be able to bring them back some additional draft pick capital or prospects.
Nashville Predators
16 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $30.8 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Ryan O’Reilly (signed through 2027 at $4.5 million per season), defenseman Luke Schenn (signed through 2026 at $2.7 million per season), 2025 first-round picks (Tampa Bay and Vegas)
Untouchables: Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi
What they need: This season has been a bitter disappointment for the Predators, but expectations for next season should still be relatively high. That makes it difficult to figure out what their plans might be. Especially without many clear rental options to sell. They traded Gustav Nyquist to Minnesota for a second-round pick, and they could probably get a nice return for Ryan O’Reilly if they decided to shop him. They have two additional first-round draft picks in 2025. Could they flip one for some short-term help in the form of a player with term on their contract beyond this season?
New Jersey Devils
17 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $2.5 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Three 2025 second-round picks
Untouchables: Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Luke Hughes, Dougie Hamilton
What they need: The Devils have bounced back from a disappointing 2023-24 season and are on their way back into the playoffs. The core players are healthy and producing, but they still need a little help on the edges. They have just enough salary cap space and three second-round draft picks that they should be able to easily get some secondary scoring help.
New York Islanders
18 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $7.8 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Brock Nelson (UFA), forward Kyle Palmieri (UFA)
Untouchables: Ilya Sorokin
What they need: Mostly what they need is for general manager Lou Lamoriello to have an awakening that this team is not a contender. He seems reluctant to trade Nelson and Palmieri and does not want to give up on staying in playoff contention. That is not unexpected given the way Lamoriello has always run his teams. But this is not a particularly good team, they can not risk losing Nelson and Palmieri for nothing, and they may not be at an age where it makes sense to try and re-sign them long-term. They need to sell and collect as many young assets and future assets as they can.
New York Rangers
19 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $15.1 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Reilly Smith (UFA), defenseman K’Andre Miller (RFA)
Untouchables: Igor Shesterkin, Alexis Lafreniere
What they need: They need to get younger, they need to get more future draft capital and they need to improve their mobility on defense.
The Rangers have been in a weird spot all season, clearly underachieving, trading several players off the roster, but also adding another big-money player in J.T. Miller. They already dealt Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey, while also holding Smith out of the lineup on Sunday for trade related protections. They are clearly sellers at this point. It is now just a matter of how much they sell.
Ottawa Senators
20 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $850,000 in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Draft picks
Untouchables: Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Brady Tkachuk
What they need: The Senators have not been in the playoffs since their surprising run to the 2016-17 Eastern Conference Final, and a playoff spot is right there for the taking. They have a chance to buy, but they should be careful about it. They do not have a ton of salary cap space, and this might not be the season to go all-in in terms of trading top prospects. Selectively buy to try and add some scoring and defensive depth and see where that can take them.
Philadelphia Flyers
21 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $8.4 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Scott Laughtnon (signed through 2026 at $3 million per season), defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (signed through 2027 at $5.1 million), Andrei Kuzmenko (UFA)
Untouchables: Matvei Michkov, Travis Konecny
What they need: They need to just keep collecting young assets and creating salary cap space. The trade that sent Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost to Calgary helped accomplish both things, and they have some other opportunities to do that again. There is no pressure to move players like Laughton or Ristolainen, but they might have some real value given the term remaining on their contracts
Pittsburgh Penguins
22 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $11.4 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Anthony Beauvillier (UFA), defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (UFA), forward Rickard Rakell (signed through 2028 at $5 million per year), defenseman Erik Karlsson (signed through 2027 at $10 million per year)
Untouchables: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
What they need: Youth. Prospects. Draft picks. Anything that can aid their rebuild. It is also very much a rebuild, whether they admit it or not. Crosby and Malkin are not getting traded, but they do have a few pending UFAs who could be dealt as rentals.
The interesting names to watch will be Rakell and Karlsson. Rakell is having a career year and could be at peak value, but they are under no pressure to move him. Moving Karlsson would be difficult given his contract and no-trade protections. That might be more of an offseason move.
San Jose Sharks
23 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $32.8 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Luke Kunin (UFA), goalie Vitek Vanecek (UFA), goalie Alexandar Georgiev (UFA)
Untouchables: Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund
What they need: What every rebuilding team needs. More young talent and draft picks. The bad news for the Sharks is this rebuild is still in the very early stages and is going to take a lot of time. The good news is they have some of the hardest pieces to acquire already in place – young top-line talent. That includes Celebrini who already looks like he has a chance to be a franchise-altering player. Now they just have to build around him.
Seattle Kraken
24 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $4.6 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Brandon Tanev (UFA), forward Yanni Gourde (UFA), forward Jared McCann (signed through 2027 at $5 million per season)
Untouchables: Matty Beniers, Shane Wright
What they need: They just need more potential impact talent. What is the identity of this team? It is not overly strong defensively, not overly skilled, and it has just kind of been a mid-level, sub-par team in three of the first four years of its existence. There are a couple of pending free agents here that would be attractive to contenders, but McCann is the player that could bring back the most meaningful return. But if Seattle goes in that direction it has to make sure it gets a big haul back given how affordable his contract is.
St. Louis Blues
25 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $6 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Radek Faksa (UFA)
Untouchables: Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas
What they need: The Blues do not have a second round pick until 2028 and only have three draft picks in the entire 2025 class. That is a shocking lack of draft resources for a team that is headed toward another non-playoff season. They need to replenish that draft pick cupboard. They also need to keep overhauling their defense which has been a problem for several years. There are not a lot of obvious rentals to trade here, so they might have to consider moving some players with term remaining on their contracts.
Tampa Bay Lightning
26 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $6 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Two 2025 second-round picks, 2026 first-round pick
Untouchables: Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy
What they need: The Lightning never really go away and are still a fringe Stanley Cup contender. The top half of the roster remains as talented as any other team in the league, but the depth has lost a lot over the years.
They do not have a deep farm system to trade from, but they have multiple second-round picks this season and their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks to dangle as trade bait.
Toronto Maple Leafs
27 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $2.9 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Draft picks, prospects, forward Nick Robertson
Untouchables: Auston Matthews, William Nylander
What they need: They could really use a third-line center to really round out their depth down the middle. Along with that, any sort of secondary scoring should be high on the wish list for the Maple Leafs. This is almost certainly the last chance this core is going to have together given the pending free agencies of Mitch Marner and John Tavares, and no stone should be left unturned in trying to get this group to finally have some real playoff success.
Utah Hockey Club
28 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Sellers
Salary cap situation: $28.5 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Alexander Kerfoot (UFA), Nick Bjugstad (UFA)
Untouchables: Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley
What they need: Utah is in a good position for the offseason with plenty of salary cap space, stable ownership and a fan base they need to impress. They made a couple of big blockbuster moves to upgrade the defense over the offseason (Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino), and now they should turn their attention to adding some more upside at forward to complement Keller, Guenther and Cooley. They should still be sellers to add more future assets, with Kerfoot and Bjugstad being the obvious candidates.
Vancouver Canucks
29 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $10.4 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Forward Elias Pettersson (signed through 2028 at $11.6 million per season), draft picks
Untouchables: Quinn Hughes
What they need: What they need more than anything is for Pettersson to get back to the form he showed in recent seasons. He has been the subject of trade speculation all season, but that’s a deal that would be almost impossible for the Canucks to win. His value is at an all-time low, and he still has top-line talent and ability. The Canucks have been busy this season having traded J.T. Miller and acquiring Marcus Pettersson in separate deals. They are on the fringes of playoff contention and are likely looking to add. It is just a matter of how bold they want to be.
Vegas Golden Knights
30 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $2.4 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: 2025 second-and third-round draft picks, 2026 first-round pick
Untouchables: Jack Eichel
What they need: It would not be the trade deadline without the Golden Knights being active. They always find a way. They always get what they need. Lack of salary cap space? Lack of prime trade assets? None of that matters. They make it happen and it would be a mild upset if they did not do it again. The biggest thing the Golden Knights need is another middle-six scoring winger option, ideally somebody that could play on their second line.
Washington Capitals
31 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $3.6 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Prospects, 2025 first-round pick, two 2025 second-round picks
Untouchables: Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson
What they need: After barely sneaking into the playoffs a year ago, the Capitals overhauled their roster this offseason and now have one of the best records in the NHL and are running away with the Eastern Conference. It is a tremendous story, and an excellent team. The Capitals do not need a lot, but a third-line center upgrade and some secondary scoring would be nice additions if they can get them.
Winnipeg Jets
32 of 32
Buyers or sellers: Buyers
Salary cap situation: $12.4 million in deadline salary cap space
Best trade assets: Draft picks including 2025 first-round pick
Untouchables: Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey, Kyle Connor
What they need: Thanks to one of the best starts in NHL history, Winnipeg has been able to secure one of the top records in the NHL. Its top of the lineup has the star power to contend, especially when Hellebuyck is on his game in goal. Which he usually is. What they need is more secondary scoring, especially in the form of a second-line center. They have draft pick capital to move and should be aggressively seeking more help for the second line.
.png?w=480 "Playoff Winners and Losers")
