NHL Trade Rumors: Examining Latest Reports as 2016 Deadline Approaches

The days and hours are ticking down as the NHL prepares for its trade deadline.

That deadline will hit Feb. 29 at 3 p.m. ET, and the 30 teams in the NHL have to figure out if they are buyers or sellers, contenders or waiting for next year.

Those determinations will impact whether players are traded or held onto prior to the deadline, and it's never an easy decision.

Contenders may be willing to give up draft choices and top minor league prospects for veteran talent. But even if they are willing, they don't know if it's the right decision.

A veteran like Antoine Vermette helped the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup last year, and they gave up a first-round draft pick and a minor league prospect to the Arizona Coyotes to make the acquisition at last year's trade deadline.

Vermette helped the Blackhawks with four goals and three assists in 20 postseason games, and three of his goals proved to be game-winners. His acquisition may have been worthwhile since the Blackhawks hoisted the Stanley Cup, but what about the other so-called rental players who were not acquired by Chicago? Those moves did not appear to work out.

Veteran players who are scheduled to become free agents in the offseason may seem the most likely players to be moved. Players like Boston's Loui Eriksson and Winnipeg's Andrew Ladd fit that description. However, trade talk by pundits and fans is just speculation at this point.

There are several players who may be moved by the trade deadline because their names have come up in trade rumors.

The biggest name is Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban, a former Norris Trophy winner and clearly one of the most explosive offensive defensemen in the league.

Subban is under contract through the 2021-22 season, but the Canadiens' slump that has seen them go from first place in the Eastern Conference to a position well outside the playoffs has fueled trade talk regarding Subban.

Louis Jean, a hockey analyst who works for the Canadian television network TVA, tweeted he had received information from one team that the Canadiens are trying to find out how much interest there is in Subban and what they could get for him:

"

Not suggesting #Canadiens will trade Subban. Just saying one team confirmed #Habs are "gauging the market".

— Louis Jean (@LouisJean_TVA) February 19, 2016"

Subban has not endeared himself to embattled head coach Michel Therrien with some of the mistakes he has made on the ice, and that fuels the speculation further. Therrien blamed Subban for a late-game mistake in a recent road loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Since the Canadiens would have to turn their season around dramatically to get back to a playoff position, it seems likely that they would be willing to trade veteran players who will be unrestricted free agents after the season.

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

ESPN.com hockey writer Pierre LeBrun wrote that his sources around the league indicated the Canadiens would be willing to part with veterans Dale Weise, Tom Gilbert and Tomas Fleischmann by the deadline.

Eric Staal has been a mainstay for the Carolina Hurricanes since his rookie season in 2003-04. The 31-year-old Staal was part of the Carolina team that won the 2006 Stanley Cup, and he has scored 30 goals or more five times in his career.

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

However, the Hurricanes have not been to the Stanley Cup playoffs since the 2008-09 season. Staal has said that leaving Carolina in a trade would not be upsetting to him, according to TSN 1200 reporter Ian Mendes:

"

Eric Staal on future in Carolina: "I'm not going to be crushed if a decision is made and I'm moving on."

— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) February 18, 2016"

Staal has been one of Carolina's best players for several years, and it would not be a surprise if any contending team made the Hurricanes a notable offer for him.

It sounds like Staal would welcome such a move at this point in his career.