6 NHL Gamechanging Trades We'd Love to See Before the Trade Deadline

Adding the right player at the NHL trade deadline can make all the difference for teams looking to win the Stanley Cup. Sometimes moves don't pan out—Jarome Iginla to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013 comes to mind. 

But other times, they propel contenders to another level. We're talking Mark Recchi to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. Ray Bourque to the Colorado Avalanche in 2000.

What the Tampa Bay Lightning did over the last two deadlines was a more recent masterclass in how to add the right pieces to an already outstanding group of players.

Acquiring Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow in 2020 was risky for Tampa Bay but worked out pretty well, propelling them to a championship. Adding David Savard at the 2021 deadline gave the Lightning more defensive depth, and the former Columbus Blue Jacket helped his new team win its second consecutive Stanley Cup.

It's tough to know exactly how a player will fit and factor in whenever a trade is made, but it's possible to make educated guesses based on whom they've worked out with prior and by taking a peek at some underlying numbers.

That's what the goal is here: to find players who are part of the rumor mill and not only figure out where they could land but on what line they could play. As always, sound off in the comments and let us know what you think we got right and got wrong.

What creative trades do you want to see created ahead of the March 21 trade deadline?

Hampus Lindholm to the St. Louis Blues

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The St. Louis Blues are in the market for a veteran left-shot defenseman, per The Fourth Period, with an eye on Montreal Canadiens blueliner Ben Chiarot.

That doesn't seem like a great fit for St. Louis, however. When the Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019, it was on the back of a possession-heavy style of play. Dump-ins were few and far between, so the defensemen on that squad needed to be proficient at getting the puck up ice.

That is not what Chariot brings to the table. He's a demonstrably declining defenseman in all three zones, and that has been the case for a few seasons now. St. Louis could do worse than him, but they could certainly do better.

Enter Hampus Lindholm.

The 6'4", 216-pound blueliner would be a stronger fit for the Blues and how they prefer to play. He's an offensive-minded defenseman who could play on either the first or second pairing in St. Louis. Lindholm won't blow the doors off on the scoresheet, but he's on pace to score more than 30 points and could score 10 goals on the year.

His 19 points would tie him for second among Blues defensemen in production, and he's a staple on Anaheim's seventh-ranked penalty-killing unit. St. Louis, who is trying to hang onto a wild-card spot in the Western Conference, already has a fantastic ranked PK (fifth), but adding Lindholm would further bolster the group.

All told, Lindholm, who is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, would likely be the most cost-effective blueliner St. Louis could add ahead of the trade deadline.

Tomas Hertl to the Minnesota Wild

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Tomas Hertl has a no-trade clause that allows him to limit potential destinations to just three. There probably won't be any bidding war on the center, mostly because the veteran pivot holds almost all of the power.

It's also not entirely clear whether or not he wants out of San Jose at all. And as Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now points out, the Sharks have given Hertl a lot to consider with their play to this point in 2021-22. They probably aren't a playoff team, but they also aren't the bottom feeders most pundits assumed they would be this year.

If Hertl wants to take a run at his first Stanley Cup championship with a different team, however, the Minnesota Wild would be a perfect fit. 

Ryan Hartman has been as shockingly good as pickles on top of pizza this season, forming incredible chemistry with Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello. Now imagine what Hertl would look like skating with those two on his wings.

Even if he slotted onto the second line, suddenly the Wild would sport a one-two-three punch down the middle that featured Hartman, Hertl and pain-in-the-neck Joel Eriksson Ek. 

Minnesota will be in salary cap hell next year after buying out Ryan Suter and Zach Parise this past offseason. They'll have almost $13 million in dead cap space in 2022-23 before it jumps to nearly $15 million the next two campaigns.

So this will be Minnesota's last chance to make a splash at the deadline for a while, especially when you consider that the NHL will be a flat-cap league for the foreseeable future.

Hertl could play center or wing for Minnesota while helping boost their even-strength scoring numbers. That's where he does a majority of his damage, and he would be a stellar add as the Wild try to push for their first-ever championship. 

John Klingberg to the Los Angeles Kings

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John Klingberg is slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and it doesn't look like the Dallas Stars have any interest in paying his asking price to keep him in Texas. 

The Stars seem to realize what Klingberg does not, and that's that almost strictly offensive defensemen just don't have the same value as two-way standouts such as teammate Miro Heiskanen.

He'll probably have a rude awakening this summer, but that doesn't mean that Klingberg can't help a team do some damage come playoff time. The Los Angeles Kings have made it clear that they want to be aggressive in their rebuild after signing Phillip Danault as a free agent and trading for Viktor Arvidsson this past offseason.

General manager Rob Blake could continue to upgrade his probably-playoff-bound Kings by acquiring Klingberg. In Los Angeles, he could take on more sheltered minutes since Drew Doughty has the right side locked down on the first pairing.

More importantly, Klingberg would add a new dimension to the Kings' power play. They are 25th in power-play conversion percentage—a rate that simply won't cut it in the playoffs—using forwards at the right defense position in both configurations.

Meanwhile, Klingberg helps run the sixth-ranked power-play unit in Dallas. Their power play was fifth overall last year too, so it's not like this is a flash in the pan. Having Doughty on one power play and Klingberg on the other would make the Kings much more difficult to deal with on a man advantage, and he could even be a longer-term fit in L.A.

The Kings also have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, so they'd have no issue meeting Dallas' presumed asking price of a first-round pick, a prospect and maybe an additional pick.

Claude Giroux to the New York Rangers

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The idea of Claude Giroux in a New York Rangers sweater is strange, to say the least. It wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen in the NHL during the salary cap era, but it'd definitely make a top-10 list on the matter.

Odd as it may sound, the Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers—divisional rivals or not—may actually be able to help each other out. Here's the deal: The Blueshirts are better than most pundits assumed they'd be and are pushing to win the Metropolitan Division.

Meanwhile, the Flyers appear set for a retooling of sorts, with their 2021-22 season in the gutter. Trading Giroux to New York would net them some nice futures to build around, while the veteran would plug a major top-six hole that the Rangers have been trying to fill since Sammy Blais went down with an injury back in mid-November.

New York is pretty set at center, with Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome and Barclay Goodrow holding down the middle of the ice for the first three lines. Giroux could fit on the second line wonderfully with Strome and Artemi Panarin, though.

That's the kind of second line that can win Stanley Cups, especially if Chris Kreider continues to score at his torrid pace. Giroux would be a rental in every sense of the word here, so Flyers fans likely wouldn't have to live with seeing their longtime captain wearing the Blueshirt for very long.

He's also one of the league's best in the faceoff circle and would be able to take important draws whenever needed. That's an excellent tool for any top-six forward to have in the toolbox. 

This is a player who deserves a few shots at winning a championship. After everything he's meant to the Flyers throughout his career, that's true even if that opportunity comes in New York. 

Marc-Andre Fleury to the Washington Capitals

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Might as well stick with the odd-to-think-of-that-player-there trade scenario. Marc-Andre Fleury joining the Washington Capitals for a potential Stanley Cup run would be anomalous, but he'd be a pretty big boost to this talented group.

The Capitals' core group—led by Alex Ovechkin—is aging, and the championship window might be open for just another season or two. Even if "The Great 8" doesn't slow down, players like T.J. Oshie, John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom will all begin to hit walls over the next few campaigns.

That's the reality of age curves in pro sports, so it shouldn't be too surprising to hear that the Capitals are actively seeking out help in goal. As Elliotte Friedman wrote in his 32 thoughts column back in late January: "We should prepare ourselves for the possibility of Marc-Andre Fleury, Washington Capital. At the very least, the Capitals are looking into it."

There are no two ways about it—Washington's goaltending hasn't been good enough this year. The hope entering 2021-22 was that one of Ilya Samsonov or Vitek Vanecek would be able to establish themselves as a legit No. 1 on a contending team, but that just hasn't materialized.

They are both young and have some runway to work with, but the Capitals shouldn't be comfortable entering the playoffs with this duo. Fleury proved during his Vezina Trophy campaign with the Vegas Golden Knights last year that he could perform well with a strong team in front of him. That's what Washington is, at least compared to Chicago.

It's unclear if "Flower" would be interested in heading to D.C. to chase another championship ring, but it's still an interesting thought to consider. 

Jakob Chychrun to the Boston Bruins

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The biggest trade chip in play as the NHL trade deadline approaches is Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun. It's likely that nearly every team in the league has at least kicked tires on the blueliner for reasons that ought to be quite clear.

He's just 23 years old and is one season removed from an 18-goal, 41-point campaign. Chychrun isn't producing at nearly the same clip in 2021-22, which may have some organizations spooked, but the Boston Bruins shouldn't be among them.

The B's are sort of in the same boat as the Capitals. A decent chunk of their core players are getting older, and they may only have one or two more cracks at a title with this group. Acquiring Chychrun wouldn't throw said window back open, but it would certainly buy them more time and give them another tremendous young defender to build around.

They already have Charlie McAvoy, but he's more of a do-it-all defender. Chychrun wouldn't be asked to do nearly as much for the Bruins as the Coyotes have asked him over the last few years, and a slightly reduced role might actually be better for him as he continues to grow his game.

The Bruins have a glaring need for a top-four defender, and even if the cost is high, general manager Don Sweeney should take a long, hard look at adding Chychrun. He could slot directly onto the top pair, play 20-plus minutes a night and provide the club even more offensive pop from the back end.

It'd be interesting to see what kind of player Chychrun could evolve into in a hockey city like Boston, and his development could see a real spike while skating with this kind of talent.