NHL Trade Rumors: Latest Trade Buzz for Each Team in the NHL
We are just days away from the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, and speculation will now fly all over the hockey world about a veritable cornucopia of subjects.
Who's going to go No. 1 overall?
What is my team's draft strategy?
What is going to be the big shocker of draft day?
Will Brad Richards waive his no-trade clause and drop a bomb on all of us?
Are there going to be any other big names moved, or even some not-so-big names?
Let's take a quick trip around the league to see what, or whom, teams might be interested in dealing come draft day.
Anaheim Ducks
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The Anaheim Ducks have a lot of goalies to deal with, so it makes the most sense that a trade would stem from that part of their roster.
They started stockpiling goalies after starter Jonas Hiller went out with an injury after the All-Star break.
Dan Ellis wasn't really doing it as a No. 1, so the Ducks reached into the hat of obscure goalies we all used to know and brought out Ray Emery.
Emery actually played quite well for the Ducks, and backstopped them to a playoff berth.
The question the Ducks have to answer is which goalie do they want to back up Hiller when he is healthy again?
Hiller is obviously the No. 1, so there are two schools of thought here.
One, trade Ellis because not only will he not give Hiller a run for his money, Emery outplayed him after a long absence from the NHL.
The other, Emery used the last portion of the season and playoffs to audition for the rest of the NHL, which he did very well, so he actually could have some trade value now.
If you trade Emery, you're more likely to get something decent back than you would if you traded Ellis, and you still have Ellis to serve as your back-up.
Boston Bruins
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The Boston Bruins are probably still celebrating their Stanley Cup victory, and who can blame them? They definitely earned that right!
But the people in the front office have a lot of questions that they need to answer.
If the salary cap does get as high as $62 million for next season, that would leave the Bruins with about $10 million before free agency with some serious names to consider.
Brad Marchand, who was absolutely vital in their run to winning the Cup, is a restricted free agent who could be expecting a nice pay raise after his clutch performances.
Tomas Kaberle was a big deal when he was traded to Boston from Toronto, and while he hasn't played that great since his arrival, he might still be a piece the Bruins want to keep.
Then there is Michael Ryder, who is also an unrestricted free agent and a big part of their line-up.
If the Bruins want to keep these guys, then they may need to move some money in order to keep themselves under the cap.
Buffalo Sabres
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The Buffalo Sabres might surprise a lot of people with how much skill they actually have on their team.
People look at Buffalo and pretty much think of Ryan Miller, and why wouldn't you? He's one of the best goalies in the league who really shined during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Still, with all the skill that Buffalo does have, they still need something at the center position.
Their highest scoring center was Tim Connolly, with 42 points, so something is needed to help take the pressure off of leading scorer Tomas Vanek.
It seems unlikely that Buffalo would land Brad Richards in free agency, so trading for a No. 1 center could their best way out.
Paul Stastny has shown up in a lot of trade rumors around B/R, but I don't see him going anywhere.
Perhaps Buffalo could put a deal together that might have Florida sending Steven Weiss to upstate New York.
Either way, Buffalo will have to be active in the trade market to land that top center.
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Calgary Flames
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I don't know why it is that every time trade discussions come up for the Calgary Flames, Jarome Iginla's name inevitably shows up in the discussions.
The article by B/R Featured Columnist Kyle Nicolas actually does a pretty good job of explaining why the Flames might actually consider this.
The Flames aren't that far from needing to rebuild their franchise, and Jarome Iginla takes up a hefty $7 million of cap space.
If the Flames are going to be able to get the type of young talent that they want in their rebuild, then it might not be terribly outlandish to think that they might, eventually, need to move Iginla in order to make the money work.
The salary cap era has definitely changed the way that franchises have to think when putting together their roster.
It's hard to think of Iginla wearing another jersey, but it isn't impossible anymore.
Carolina Hurricanes
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The Carolina Hurricanes have 10 free agents to worry about signing this year, and shouldn't really have too much to worry about doing so with close to $30 million in cap space this offseason.
As I had mentioned in a previous article, Carolina's biggest need stems from defense, which ranked toward the bottom 10 of the NHL.
The Minnesota Wild seem like they could be a decent trade partner, as they seem to be open to trading almost anybody right now, and a solid defensive forward like Pierre-Marc Bouchard could really help them, especially on the penalty kill.
The Hurricanes might also want to try and find a back-up goalie that can take a bit of the load off of Cam Ward, who started 74 games this year.
Jose Theodore might be a good candidate to do so, or even Anterro Nittymaki from the San Jose Sharks.
Jay McClement of the Colorado Avalanche could also be a solid defensive forward.
Chicago Blackhawks
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After winning the Stanley Cup, the Chicago Blackhawks basically had to dismantle the line-up that got them there because there was no way they could stay beneath the salary cap.
One of the issues that forced them that direction came from an unlikely source.
Chicago Blackhawks Correspondent, Jon Fromi, gives a great write-up about why defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson could find himself as trade bait this summer.
The fact that the Blackhawks chose to match the offer sheet sent his way from the San Jose Sharks last summer, actually caused the Hawks to trade goalie Antti Niemi after his contract arbitration. They just couldn't afford both guys.
Hjalmarsson's contract is currently costing the Blackhawks $3.5 million in cap space every year for the next three seasons.
Trading Hjalmarsson's is an easy solution to free up some much needed cap space so that the Blackhawks can reload their team for another run at the playoffs, rather than have to dump more salary.
Colorado Avalanche
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The Colorado Avalanche were involved in what was easily the biggest trade of the deadline, when they sent Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk to St. Louis in exchange for Erik Johnson and Jay McClement.
Though just because they made that big trade, doesn't mean that they'll go sending other big names out of town.
It seems that many people believe that just because Paul Stastny's dad popped off at the mouth, that it means Paul is on his way out of town as well.
What people forget is that Papa Stastny made these comments before the deadline actually came to pass, so if the Avalanche wanted to move Paul Stastny as a result of those comments, they could have done it.
John-Michael Liles also seems to find his name in trade talk a lot, but I don't see either of those guys moving.
If the Avalanche are going to send somebody packing, via trade, it would be one of the excess centers in the line-up.
My best guess would be Jay McClement, who provides teams with a very solid defensive forward that is excellent at face-offs.
The Avalanche might look to the trade market to acquire a goalie, though free agency is still probably the best route for the Avalanche.
Columbus Blue Jackets
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The Blue Jackets are always pretty close to being relevant, but just can't get over the hump to actually be relevant.
Adding another big-name player to help out Rick Nash might do a lot to help that, and the Columbus Blue Jackets page on Bleacher Report has one guy in mind for that, Jeff Carter.
Patrick Drottar, Contributor for the Columbus Blue Jackets, lays out the speculation surrounding Carter's potential trade to Columbus very well in this article.
It's true that Bryzgalov expects to be among the top-paid players in the NHL, not just among goalies, and the Flyers would have to part with some cash to make that happen.
Carter's 11-year contract carries a $5.27 million cap hit with it, which would definitely allow Philly to show Bryzgalov the money.
Columbus will also have approximately $24 million in cap space, should the salary cap go as high at the $62 million that it has predicted.
Blue Jackets GM, Scott Howson, has also said that they are looking for some impact defensemen via trade or free agency as well.
Dallas Stars
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While Dallas still has the time and the ability, they should absolutely be focused on doing one thing: trading the negotiating rights for Brad Richards to anybody.
While it is true that it would be very unlikely for Dallas to receive somebody to fill the void left by Richards, at least they could get something in return.
Otherwise, it might not be crazy to think that Dallas would be interested in packaging some of this year's draft picks, or even some of next year's as well, to try and obtain a player that could be able to fill his role.
Either a top-line center or a player who is capable of quarterbacking their power play.
Whatever happens, Dallas needs to look into the trade market to get something in return for Brad Richards.
Detroit Red Wings
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Detroit has always had a unique ability to find future elite players out of relative obscurity, and I don't expect that that would change any time soon.
No matter how many players leave the team, they always seem to have somebody to fill their roles.
The retirement of Brian Rafalski seemed to catch a lot of people off guard, so perhaps the Red Wings should look to fill his role through trade or free agency.
Another area they might want to look, depending on what happens with the negotiations with Chris Osgood, is a back-up goalie for Jimmy Howard.
The plus for trading for a back-up is that the Red Wings wouldn't really have to give up that much in return for a guy who will only play about 15 to 20 games a year.
Edmonton Oilers
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According to The Globe and Mail, the Edmonton Oilers are apparently open to trading away this year's first overall draft pick.
Obviously, in order to move the No. 1 overall pick, it would have to be something pretty amazing that you literally can't say no to.
Other than the No. 1 overall pick, the Oilers have been looking to try and trade Sheldon Souray for a long time.
Might this finally be the year?
Florida Panthers
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The Panthers need offense, in a big way.
Even with players like Steven Weiss and David Booth, who are good young players with a lot of offensive skill, they still need a lot.
Plus, the Panthers may very well lose starting goalie Tomas Vokoun to free agency, which means they'll need to replace him with somebody.
They might decide Scott Clemmensen is the way to go, but trying to go with somebody like Corey Schneider or Jonathan Bernier might have better long-term promise.
Los Angeles Kings
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The L.A. Kings may have to deal with the possibility of trading their back-up goalie, Jonathan Bernier, to a team looking for a No. 1.
They also need to look for some kind of secondary scoring.
Minnesota seems to have the trade doors wide open for discussion, so the addition of a player like Martin Havlat could really help boost their second-line numbers.
L.A. doesn't really need to worry about defense too much; that is probably where they are strongest.
Depending on what happens with Parise's arbitration, they might even be able to get in trade talks with New Jersey as well.
Minnesota Wild
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According to a story in the Star Tribune, the Minnesota Wild appear open to trading anybody on their roster except for Mikko Koivu.
This certainly leaves the door open for lots of possibilities, as the Minnesota Wild do have a lot of players that other teams might be interested in.
Martin Havlat provides great scoring depth and a certain mean streak that can show itself in many different ways.
Jose Theodore might not be the No. 1 goalie that he used to be, but he could be a decent option for a team that needs a solid, veteran back-up.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard could be appealing to teams as a speedy center who is effective on face-offs and on the penalty kill.
Really, the Wild could be a lot of teams' trade partners this summer.
Montreal Canadiens
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Montreal is definitely a team on the rise and, with the right acquisitions, they could be a cup contender very soon.
One of the biggest issues for them to try and solve at the moment revolves around Scott Gomez.
Gomez's current contract carries a very hefty $7.3 million cap hit with it, and he has not lived up to that number with his production.
Seven goals and 31 assists is not going to make anybody want to keep you around.
Gomez is probably on a list of people that the Canadiens wouldn't mind trading, but also a list of people who will be tough to trade because the trade value doesn't equal the large contract they have.
Canadiens Featured Columnist Mark Della Posta, also provides us with a list of five other players he believes shouldn't be a part of the roster for next year's Montreal team.
Alex Picard, Benoit Pouliot, Paul Mara, Brent Sopel, and Jeff Halpern. So there are a few other names to add to the list of players Montreal could jettison via trade.
Nashville Predators
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One thing is for certain about Nashville, they don't need to worry about solidifying their goalie situation, or their blue line.
Another thing that is certain for Nashville, is that they are in serious need of more offense.
Nashville could benefit from finding a first-line forward who can put the puck in the net.
They made some progress with that during last season, acquiring Mike Fisher from the Ottawa Senators, but more is still needed.
If the Predators still want to deal with Ottawa, perhaps a deal could be reached for Jason Spezza, or they could also be part of dealing with Toronto, who loves to wheel and deal.
With their only downfall being their ability to score, they might be able to address this issue primarily through free agency.
New Jersey Devils
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The biggest news with the New Jersey Devils revolves around star winger Zach Parise, whom the Devils have just retained via arbitration.
This is a smart move by the Devils, but it could also come back to bite them as well.
Depending on what the arbitrator awards Parise, this may force them to trade him away, since they are already pretty severely handicapped with the salary cap to being with, thanks to Ilya Kovalchuk.
If the cap goes to $62 million next season, then the Devils will have close to $10 million before whatever the arbitrator awards Parise.
If they give him something comparable to what he earned this past season, $5 million, that will seriously constrain the Devils in signing their other nine free agents.
They might not move Parise, but they might have to move somebody in order to free up some money.
Maybe even somebody like Patrik Elias, who has been a staple of the Devils for years, but who also carries a $6 million cap hit.
It should be very interesting to see what happens with the arbitration hearing.
New York Islanders
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It might be time for the Islanders to consider saying goodbye to Rick DiPietro.
DiPietro is about to start the sixth year of a 15-year deal worth $67.5 million.
A large amount of his time has been spent on the injured reserve ever since he signed that contract.
Other moments have been incredibly embarrassing for him, and probably for the rest of the Islanders as well.
The Islanders aren't exactly hurting for cap space, but getting rid of his contract might be worth it since the only thing he seems to be able to do well consistently, is get injured.
New York Rangers
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The New York Rangers are thought to be one of the teams that will push the hardest to sign prized free agent Brad Richards.
Success in this will be determined by their ability to free up the necessary cap space.
They had hoped to do part of this by buying out captain Chris Drury.
As reported on Bleacher Reprt by Tom Urtz Jr., it doesn't really seem like that is going to be able to happen anymore because of Drury's health.
That means they can't get rid of the $7 million cap hit that comes with his contract, at least not entirely.
Plus, they need to make certain that they can still re-sign some of their important free agents, like Ryan Callahan, to keep the team's nucleus together.
One player who seems to have a hard time fitting in anywhere he goes, Sean Avery, might finally be on the outs in New York.
Sean Avery carries nearly a $2 million cap hit, which might help put the Rangers over the top in their pursuit of Brad Richards.
Granted, $2 million isn't a ton of money, but it might help provide the room for some of the more secondary names who might have been sent packing if the Rangers really wanted to pull Brad Richards in with a big deal.
Ottawa Senators
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Ottawa seems to have solved their goalie issues, at least as long as they manage to keep Craig Anderson happy, with the trade that sent Brian Elliott to the Avalanche for Anderson.
In other parts, the Senators are pretty much a mess and are in the process of rebuilding.
Something that definitely will come with rebuilding is trading some of the older names who just haven't worked out.
One of those names is Jason Spezza.
Bleacher Report Correspondent Imtiaz Ferdous believes that Columbus would be an ideal trade partner for the Senators in order to pair Rick Nash with a top play making center.
This does make sense to me, but the only thing that none of us can really predict, is who would be sent back in return.
Ottawa might also have an interest in attempting to trade up in order to draft Gabriel Landeskog, but would have to find a way to get to the No. 2 or possibly No. 3 position in order for this to happen.
Philadelphia Flyers
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If the Flyers are actually able to sign Ilya Bryzgalov to a contract, that means that they will have four goalies to choose from next playoff year.
Just kidding, they would definitely have to be trading.
Michael Leighton will probably stay in the AHL, meaning that the Flyers would have to chose to trade either Brian Boucher or Sergei Babrovsky.
Boucher is an NHL journeyman, and could garner interest in certain locations.
Babrovsky is still quite young, and a team might want to give him a chance to come in and compete for a starting job, so there are possibilities either way.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, they have the least cap space of all the teams in the NHL coming into free agency, so if they want to sign Bryzgalov to the type of big deal that he wants, they are going to have to lose some salary, and fast.
Jeff Carter has a big contract that could free up some space, but also has a no trade clause, which means that he could at least have some say in where he goes.
Kris Versteeg or Claude Giroux also have decent-sized contracts that, if moved together, could free up some more space for Bryz.
Phoenix Coyotes
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The Coyotes no longer have to worry about the biggest trade story that seems to come up with them each year, because we know that they won't be trading cities for at least one more season.
With the departure of Ilya Bryzgalov, the Coyotes find themselves in desperate need of a No. 1 goalie.
There are a few teams that could assist them with that.
Both the L.A. Kings and Vancouver Canucks have very solid back-up goalies who could very well start for another team.
Jonathan Bernier and Corey Schneider have been overshadowed by their counterparts, but could still prove very valuable to a team like Phoenix.
San Jose back-up, Anterro Nittymaki, could also prove to be a trade target for the Coyotes.
Pittsburgh Penguins
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The Penguins have some salary cap issues that they are going to have to deal with this year.
If the cap does jump up to $62 million, that gives the Penguins about $6 million in cap space to deal with, but a lot of free agents to try and sort out.
Players like Max Talbot, Pascal Dupuis and Tyler Kennedy to name a few, are all free agents this year, and all fill very big roles in the line-up.
The interesting thing about the Penguins free agent crisis is that they are all forwards, the Penguins do not have a single free agent defenseman this year.
Does that mean they can use that to their advantage and possibly trade a defenseman to open the gates to re-signing one of their forwards? Possibly.
Hard to say what the Penguins will do trade-wise, since it would seem prudent to keep their nucleus together with team leaders Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin returning to the line-up in the fall.
San Jose Sharks
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San Jose needs to free up some money if they want to be able to keep clutch goal-scorer Devin Setoguchi.
San Jose's most likely trade scenario to accomplish this is spelled out very well in an article by B/R Senior Writer, MJ Kasprzak.
In this article, Kasprzak makes note of how San Jose has two goalies that are both making a decent amount of money, but only one that they have committed to long term.
That goalie is Antti Niemi, but they still have a back-up in Anterro Nittymaki that could compete for a starting job on other teams.
Trading Nittymaki would be a win-win situation for all the people involved.
San Jose frees up some much-needed cap space.
Nittymaki gets to compete for a starting job in another location.
Another team gets a goalie that has some serious skills, and could help them win more games.
Trading Nittymaki is a very likely scenario in San Jose.
St. Louis Blues
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The St. Louis Blues showed that they weren't afraid to make a serious splash in the trade market when the sent former No. 1 overall draft pick Erik Johnson to the Colorado Avalanche last season.
So it seems possible that they might at least consider sending another big name out, especially if the price was right.
The specific name I'm thinking about is T.J. Oshie.
The pluses to trading Oshie is that your team is likely to get a lot in return for him as he is both very talented, and still very young.
Plus, trading Oshie would get rid of any off-ice drama that he is prone to.
Negatives to trading Oshie is that he is very talented, and it's hard to replace that in your roster.
Also, he's a fan favorite, although I'm not certain if his random no-shows made him fall out of favor with the St. Louis faithful.
Tampa Bay Lightning
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The Tampa Bay Lightning are probably more concerned with re-signing players like Steven Stamkos and Eric Brewer to longer term contracts to be worried about trading.
On the other hand, they may need to find a goalie in the near future depending on what happens with Dwayne Roloson.
If Roloson decides to retire, then the lighting could be looking at finding either a clear cut number one goalie in front of Mike Smith, or a goalie comparable to Smith to compete with him for the starting job in camp.
Other than that, Tampa is far more concerned with their free agents.
Toronto Maple Leafs
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Brian Burke has made it known that he is interested in packaging his two first-round draft picks in order to trade up in the upcoming NHL Draft.
This should come as a surprise to nobody after Burke managed to pull of a huge trade that allowed him to draft both of the Sedins during his time in Vancouver.
The only thing that you can really be certain about with Burke, is that you can never be certain about what he is thinking.
He has shown that he will pull the trigger on almost any deal if he thinks it will benefit his team.
There have also been lots of rumblings in the Toronto section on B/R regarding potential trades.
Some of the names I have seen listed in these include: Mike Komisarek, Nazem Kadri, Luke Schenn and Tyler Bozak in various combinations.
Will any of these guys move? Hard to tell, but with Brian Burke as your GM, anything is possible.
Vancouver Canucks
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The Vancouver Canucks are still the most complete team in hockey, in my opinion.
They need to work on staying that way, and free agency will be tough for them as several of their more important players are free agents this year.
Kevin Bieksa, Christian Ehrhoff and Sami Salo are all unrestricted free agents this year, and are all very important to the success of the team.
Vancouver seemed to have lost faith in Keith Ballard during the playoffs, so moving him would not only make way for somebody else, it would also free up a hefty chunk of cash as Ballard makes $4.2 million a year.
Plus, Corey Schneider could be trade bait for teams looking for a solid No. 1.
Schneider put up great numbers behind Luongo this year, and even earned a starting nod over him in the first round of the playoffs.
Washington Capitals
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The Washington Capitals just can't ever get things done in the playoffs, and only the great powers of the hockey gods know why.
I have seen some very interesting things on Bleacher Report about potential moves that the Capitals might make, so here are some of the names I've heard suggested for movement from the Caps.
Mike Green, Alexander Semin and Michael Neuvirth to name a few.
I doubt Neuvirth will be moved as he looked darn good for the Capitals all year long.
Semin could get some interest and provide the Capitals with a decent return as well.
Mike Green is one of the top offensive defensemen in the league right now, so moving him seems silly.
The great thing about hockey, though, you just never know.
Winnipeg Franchise
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One positive thing to note from the Winnipeg "possibly Jets but who knows what they'll be called" is that nobody has pulled a Bryzgalov and refused to play in Winnipeg, yet.
That being said, it's possible a player might want to remain in a place that is closer to the home that they made for themselves in Atlanta.
If that occurs, some players could be moved from this team.
Otherwise, it's very hard to tell what is going to happen with this team until we know what the vision from the front office is.
A player like Nik Antropov might be traded to a team looking for some good size, for instance, if he didn't fit in with the vision of the new team.
Honestly, at this point it is far too early to tell what is going to happen with anybody in Winnipeg.
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