Just Trade Me: 5 NHL Players Who Could Benefit from Fresh Starts

There was no lack of action when the 2020 NHL offseason officially began, shortly after the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup in October. With an $81.5 million flat salary cap set for next season, teams were scrambling to move all of the pieces necessary to get under the cap for 2021.

Good players who otherwise would not have been moved were traded. Free agents due for big pay days signed short-term deals instead, like Taylor Hall going to the Buffalo Sabres on a one-year pact in order to try to reset his market after a down season. This was always going to be a strange offseason, but it has defied expectations.

There was a flurry of movement initially, and there may be more to come now that the NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to a target start date of January 13 for the new season, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

Trades can be beneficial for both sides. Whether it's a promotion to a higher line, a bigger role on the power play or even just a change of scenery, sometimes it's just time to start again somewhere new. Here's a list of players who might not be the best fit with their current teams but could thrive elsewhere. Some of their teams are cap-crunched, and some are rebuilding with a need to prioritize ice time for younger prospects.

Tyler Johnson

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

The Tampa Bay Lightning are in a bind with the salary cap, and the priority is finding a way to sign restricted free agents Erik Cernak and Anthony Cirelli. Johnson carries a $5 million cap hit through 2023-24, and he's 30.

Johnson's production dropped last season, and he logged the second-fewest minutes per game of his career. He also had just seven points in the postseason (four goals, three assists). Thanks to a no-trade clause in his contract, Johnson does have some control over where he goes after clearing waivers in October. Per Joe Smith of The Athletic, he has given the Lightning a list of eight teams he would accept being traded to, but Tampa Bay will likely have to eat some salary.

Of course, the Lightning could keep Johnson, who has been a key part of one of the most dominant teams in the salary-cap era. He's been a staple on the second line and is only a season removed from scoring 29 goals. However, it would likely create more problems than it would solve.

An undersized forward with exceptional skating skills who plays in all situations, Johnson would be valuable to any team in the Eastern Conference where smaller, speedier lineups are favored.

P.K. Subban

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Former Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban's first season with the New Jersey Devils was a disaster. The Devils needed their $9 million man to be the star and produce as a top-pairing defenseman, and he was unable to do that.

By some advanced metrics, the 31-year-old ranked among the bottom of NHL defensemen to play at least 800 minutes last season. Sportsnet's Andrew Berkshire laid out numbers from SPORTLOGiQ to demonstrate Subban's struggles moving the puck in transition as well as his problems defending the blue line.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Subban had a career-low 43.37 expected goals for percentage, meaning the Devils were not generating a ton of high-quality chances with him on the ice (50 percent is the threshold).

If advanced analytics isn't your thing, consider this: Subban amassed just six power-play points last season after he was expected to jump-start the power play in New Jersey.

He was on the receiving end of some embarrassing on-ice gaffes. He lost the puck trying to dangle at the blue line more than once, and he passed an awful lot more than he shot the puck, especially on the power play.

Subban's production declined during the 2018-19 season with the Nashville Predators, but injuries were mostly to blame. It's possible some were still hindering him last term. Maybe he just needs to go to a team with a better blue-line situation—one that will allow for him to play a more risk-averse game in order to contribute at this point in his career.

Martin Jones

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

Martin Jones was never going to be more than a backup sitting behind Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick in his prime. So when he was traded to the San Jose Sharks in 2015, he finally had the opportunity to show what he was capable of in more than 20 games.

He performed well with an increased workload, backstopping the Sharks to the 2016 Stanley Cup Final in his first season as the starter. But the 30-year-old has declined significantly since then, and it's a huge problem for a Sharks team with an aging core.

San Jose finished with the worst save percentage in the NHL in 2018-19 (.889). The Sharks were able to overcome the goaltending and reach the postseason, but that doesn't happen often. They couldn't repeat the feat last season, when they owned the second-worst save percentage (.895).

Between the goaltending and injuries to key players like Erik Karlsson, they ended up finishing in last place in the Pacific Division. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reported in September the Sharks opted against buying out Jones, and his $5.75 million cap hit through 2023-24 makes him an unattractive trade candidate. But if the Sharks are willing to retain salary, Jones could find himself getting a new start as a backup outside of the Bay Area.

Adam Henrique

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

The Anaheim Ducks forward probably likes his current scenery, which is a house in Orange County's picturesque Newport Beach. But it might be better for Henrique to get that change of scenery since he's in the prime of his career and the Anaheim Ducks are in the early stages of a rebuild.

When the 30-year-old was traded from the New Jersey Devils for Sami Vatanen (among other pieces) in November 2017, it made sense for all involved. Anaheim had reached the Western Conference Final the season prior and needed scoring, while the upstart Devils needed a defenseman. But three seasons and two head coaches later, the Ducks aren't close to contending, and they face an uphill climb in what is likely to be a much tougher division next season.

According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, the NHL is considering regional schedules in an effort to cut down on travel during the coronavirus pandemic, which means they would face a schedule heavy in quality opponents like the Colorado Avalanche and the Western Conference champion Dallas Stars.

General manager Bob Murray likes to have veterans around emerging young players, but the Ducks are set up well with Ryan Getzlaf wearing the C, and Henrique, who scored 26 goals and assisted on 17 last season, could net a strong package of prospects that would help the Ducks in the long run.

Henrique played in the Stanley Cup Final as a rookie with New Jersey in 2012 but was unable to lift the Cup, with the Devils falling to the Kings. He could get a chance to chase it once again if the Ducks trade him to a contender.

Rasmus Ristolainen

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

The Sabres are mired in a nine-year playoff drought. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has been a part of seven of those losing seasons in Buffalo. When the 2019-20 season ended, he told reporters that he expected to be traded. And if he is, he wants to go to a winning team.

The 6'4" blueliner has some shutdown capabilities and plays a physical game. He's played heavy minutes and managed to produce at a decent clip on a bad team, having put up 40 points in four straight seasons. He would have likely made it a fifth had the pandemic not abbreviated last season.

He's been prone to mistakes in the defensive zone, but that's easy to do on a struggling time. With two years left on his contract and an average annual value of $5.4 million, he's a prime candidate to be traded, whether it's before the end of the year in a surprising move or midseason.

Ristolainen has played for five head coaches in his NHL career. The Sabres' 2013 first-round draft pick praised coach Ralph Krueger for changing the culture in the locker room last season, but it wasn't enough.

He lamented the fact that he has never been a part of a winning culture. The Sabres should make strides next season, but they may have to do so without Ristolainen. They need help at forward, so this could be his way out.