10 Teams at Serious Risk of Blowing the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline
If there's a ticking sound that's growing louder by the day in some cities, it's the time winding down until the NHL trade deadline strikes on Friday afternoon and your favorite team needs to make something happen...or else.
While it's true that not every team needs to make a blockbuster deal by 3 p.m. ET, there are more than a few teams that need to do something, anything, before then to help right the course that they're on. Although some teams have come back from the Olympic break eager to get out ahead of things, the number of rumors greatly outweighs the number of trades that have happened or are reportedly close to happening.
Even though there are a lot of teams in the playoff picture and a handful of definitive sellers, everyone is trying to play their hands close to their vests. As much as we enjoy the strategic games played in making a trade, some teams are in danger of outwitting themselves, getting meme'd by DJ Khaled, and potentially damaging their teams for years to come.
We've picked out a few of them to break down and dish out the warnings they need to snap into action. At least, that's what we like to think anyway.
Colorado Avalanche
1 of 10
The Avalanche don't have to worry about making the playoffs; they're going to do that with ease, but their goal isn't just to make it there anyway. They're meant to be a Stanley Cup winner, and after the massive lead they got out to start the season, they seemed like shoe-ins to do that. It doesn't look so easy now, however.
The Avs got ice cold before the Olympics, and their lead in the Central Division is down to six points on the Dallas Stars and seven on the Minnesota Wild. Colorado put itself into position to make a bold move after it traded Samuel Girard and a second-round pick to Pittsburgh for Brett Kulak. You have to believe they're going to use that added cap space to do just that and reassert their dominance in the West.
Colorado's expectations to win skyrocketed because of their incredible first half, but now they have to live up to that or risk being known for letting that momentum slip away. If they can add more depth up front or on defense, that'll help, but they have to know there's no way the teams around them will play it cool at the deadline, especially when some (like the Wild with Quinn Hughes) have already made massive plays.
Detroit Red Wings
2 of 10
The Eastern Conference playoff race, and more specifically the race in the Atlantic Division, is a total buzzsaw and the Detroit Red Wings are playing great. Unfortunately for them so are the Montréal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Wings have definitive needs on the blue line now that their forwards are scoring and John Gibson is playing at an elite level in goal. They're rumored to be hot after Vancouver's Tyler Myers, and while he'd give them the kind of veteran grit on the third pairing that can go a long way, they could stand to add a little more, too.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman knows this is the best opportunity they've had to end their playoff drought that's currently nine years long, and sitting tight at the deadline might be the kind of thing that makes the fan base blow a gasket if they somehow got lost in the East's battle royale for the playoffs.
It would take a dramatic fall for them to miss the playoffs, but making a move or two can help ensure their spot in the postseason and even get them home ice in the first round if they're bold enough.
Edmonton Oilers
3 of 10
What we know about the Oilers is that they're going to make some moves at the deadline because they have to (see: Andrew Mangiapane). What we don't know is if they're going to be able to make a dent in the areas where they need help the most.
Edmonton could stand to use help up the middle behind Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and now that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is on the wing, that's even more apparent. There are centers to be had out there, but with the number of other teams that could use pivot help, the price will be stiff. The Oilers are in their Stanley Cup window right now, so no price should be too high, right?
The Oilers could also stand to improve their blue-line depth, especially if it helps Tristan Jarry stop more pucks. You could argue they should add a goalie, but they already did by signing Jarry instead of Stuart Skinner. That it's not working as planned should have them zeroing in on defense to balance things out, but making the money work right will only add to the difficulty. It won't be easy for GM Stan Bowman to make it work, but they hired him for his experience in doing this with Chicago in the past. It's time to shine.
Los Angeles Kings
4 of 10
The Kings are in a bind and they may be running out of time to fix it.
As bold and as exciting as their acquisition of Artemi Panarin was, the loss of Kevin Fiala at the Olympics to a gnarly leg injury virtually nullified it. Los Angeles was fighting it before the Olympic break and things only got exponentially worse after it that they fired coach Jim Hiller and had assistant coach D.J. Smith take over on an interim basis.
If the Kings are going to give Anže Kopitar a playoff run to retire on, they're going to need to find a way to make more goals happen. Panarin was a good start and replacing Fiala will be supremely difficult, so finding a way to make yet another big trade might be needed. Fortunately, the cost to get Panarin from the Rangers wasn't a backbreaker for the Kings (although Liam Greentree is a good prospect).
With how veteran the roster is, they have to get to the playoffs again and (ideally) find a way to avoid playing Edmonton in the first round. With Ken Holland in charge as the GM, they've got someone with experience enough to make bold moves, the only question is if he has another one or two up his sleeves.
Nashville Predators
5 of 10
Nashville is in an awkward position at the deadline for a few reasons. The biggest one is the limbo they're in while they look for a new GM after Barry Trotz announced he would be leaving as soon as they found someone to replace him.
The Predators also entered the season with bare-bones expectations that they're now well exceeding, and the thought that they'd be sellers at the deadline has morphed into wondering if they'll actually be buyers to get back to the playoffs. They're three points out of the wild card in the Western Conference, and although some teams were thinking they could snag Steven Stamkos or Ryan O'Reilly away, both of those players said they don't want to go anywhere and want to win in Music City.
If the deadline were in a couple more weeks, the Predators would probably be able to better decide if they're going for it or selling, but that kind of time isn't on their side, and being frozen in the moment won't do them any good. Whether it's a bargain buy or a big splash, they've got to buy.
...Right?
New York Rangers
6 of 10
The Rangers have the worst record in the Eastern Conference. They've already been waving the white flag on the season, both with a letter from GM Chris Drury to the fans and by trading Artemi Panarin to Los Angeles. While those moves are usually enough to say they've handled their business, they should not be anywhere close to done.
New York has players that teams want. Vincent Trocheck is on everyone's radar as a high-end two-way center, and while his modified no-trade clause could make moving him more difficult, it's up to Drury to max out what he can acquire for moving him. For as much as they couldn't get for Panarin given his trade protection and impending UFA status, that's not the case with Trocheck, at least not to the same degree.
There's also the massive elephant in the room with defenseman Adam Fox. Both Drury and coach Mike Sullivan like having him on the Rangers, but didn't like him enough to bring him to the Olympics despite him being on the Four Nations roster.
Teams around the league would fall all over each other to get Fox on their teams, and the Rangers would be legitimately bonkers to move him, but with how ugly everything is around the team this season and how crushingly awkward the Olympic situation is/was, it's something that might have to be resolved in the future.
If the Rangers ride all of this out without making any moves and figure they can regroup with everyone again next season, they could be in for a very rude awakening.
St. Louis Blues
7 of 10
If it feels like all eyes will be on the St. Louis Blues at the deadline, you'd be right.
The Blues are reportedly open to moving star center Robert Thomas, and many of their other veteran players are also rumored to be on the move. Forwards Brayden Schenn and Oskar Sundqvist, defenseman Justin Faulk, and goalie Jordan Binnington have been talked about, but with Thomas's name out there at the top of the list, it's hard to focus on everyone else that could be had.
It's almost harder to find a player that's untouchable on the roster, and given where the Blues are in the standings, it's tough to see, especially after how hot they were late last season and nearly upset the Presidents' Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets in the first round.
With all of those names swirling around, however, the Blues and GM Doug Armstrong can't sit tight on all of this, can they? St. Louis has some young players on the way up, but they may not feel like they're in a position to go for a full rebuild either. With so many teams out there eager to buy, they could be in a great position to clean up in trades, particularly if they're comfortable with dealing Thomas.
Toronto Maple Leafs
8 of 10
You never want to count out the Toronto Maple Leafs (at least in the regular season), but with the way they've played all season long and how they've looked since returning from the Olympics, they're looking like toast and a team that should be selling at the deadline.
The problem for the Leafs is that they weren't built to be in this position, and now they're staring reality in the face, and there's a strong possibility they'll be frozen in time trying to figure out how best to approach it. They have players other teams would like (Bobby McMann, Brandon Carlo), among others, and, as Elliotte Friedman shared on Hockey Night in Canada, they're discussing internally how to potentially broaden the scope of who they'd be comfortable dealing with.
They're not going to rebuild, not as long as they've got Auston Matthews and William Nylander, and not when they don't have their own first-round picks the next two years. But if they're going to make the most of their time with Matthews and Nylander, they're going to have to figure out who to move now to gear up for next season to get back to the playoffs, or else we'll be talking about yet another house cleaning in the executive and coaching offices in Toronto.
Vancouver Canucks
9 of 10
We've said for a few years now that the Canucks are never not dramatic, but while this season has been seemingly low on drama, that could all change if they don't figure out what they're doing with the team at the deadline.
Vancouver has a handful of players they can move seemingly easily (Evander Kane, Teddy Blueger), another they're ready to move pending approval (Tyler Myers) and others who would be much more painful to trade and signal it was time for a major rebuild (Elias Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk) but they have the worst record in the league and more moves have to be on the way.
With GM Patrik Allvin and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford running things, they're never shy about making moves. But it's been almost too quiet, and with the deadline rapidly approaching, a quiet deadline would be a doomed one for the Canucks.
Washington Capitals
10 of 10
It can't be comfortable for the Capitals to see how they've gone from the best record in the East a year ago to being on the outside looking in at the playoffs right now. While they're just a couple points behind the Bruins for the wild card and six back of the New York Islanders in the Metropolitan, they'd like nothing more than to get back to the postseason, and to do that, they'll need to add.
Washington could stand to use a little more offensive punch from the blue line and perhaps another scorer up front, too. They'll hope that Pierre-Luc Dubois's return will be a big part of that, but they've leaned heavily on Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, Tom Wilson, and Aliaksei Protas to provide goal scoring this season. They need more help, though, and more depth.
On defense, Jakob Chychrun has been outstanding, and John Carlson is playing younger than his age. The rest of the defense corps plays tough defensively, but another consistent puck mover/point scorer would go a long way toward boosting the offense.
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