The NHL trade deadline is less than a month away, it is actually 20 days away to be exact. The deadline should be a national holiday, at least in Canada. This is the time a year when champions are born, and rebuilds are grown. After the Blackhawks brought in Antoine Vermette in 2015, they pushed their team to a championship caliber team, after the New York Rangers trade Ryan McDonagh they sped up their rebuild to the point that they are now getting ready to compete again. For this article we will look at 5 teams that should buy and 5 teams that should sell.
One team I will not mention on this list that I did mention when I drafted this article is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto needed to bring in a defensemen to really push their team, and they did just that when they traded for Jake Muzzin from the struggling LA Kings. Muzzin is a two time Stanley Cup champion who is a great addition to the Leafs that were in desperate need of a top defenseman to play with Morgan Rielly. To me, Toronto became a legitimate Stanley Cup contender after this trade, more on that in my playoff preview.
For now here is our list of teams that should be buying and selling at the trade deadline….
Buyers:
1 New York Islanders
Where did this team come from? When John Tavares walked away from the New York Islanders last summer, everyone had imagined that this team was going to be sitting at the bottom of the standings. But after bringing Barry Trotz in as head coach and improving on their defensive play, the Islanders now sit atop the Metropolitan Division with 66 points. The Islanders have been lead by their young star Mathew Brazil, who currently has 47 points. However, that point total only includes 15 goals. The Islanders have been sporting pretty great parity amongst scorers all season, the highest point total is 18 by Anders Lee. If the Islanders want to be successful this postseason they need to buy in for a scoring winger.
The Islanders have the best defense in the NHL, with the lowest goals against at 128, great goaltending by Robin Lehner has allowed the team to win some very close contest. The Islanders need to be able to score more easily and more consistently, bringing in a scoring winger is just the thing they need come May.
2 Washington Capitals
With the Capitals core group of guys all over the age of 30, or approaching 30, there is with no doubt they have a win now mentality. Washington is coming off their first ever Stanley Cup in franchise history. Their next biggest question is what does that hold for this year? The Capitals will be considered Stanley Cup Champions until they are beaten in the playoffs, the team needs to bring in some new blood for another push to the playoffs.
Many, and I do mean a very large amount of the players on this team are returning from their cup last year. Usually a team sees a lot of turnover during the offseason. I do not believe that they can do it again without bringing in more fresh blood.
The Caps in my opinion, need to bring in some fresh scoring to the bottom six. Someone that can play the role of an igniter and can help push the team back into the groove when they are down and out. Having a “Ryan Reaves” could be very beneficial to the Caps.
3 Buffalo Sabres
You can not win a Stanley Cup on experience alone, but it certainly does not hurt. The Buffalo Sabres currently have an average age under the league average, something that is not that big of a deal, but should be addressed. The Sabres have very little Stanley cup experience, and could benefit from adding a veteran player, like Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks. Keith is Conn Smythe winner and 2 time Norris Trophy winner. His play with the Hawks has dipped the last 2 years ,but arguably that has something to do with the lack of strength in the overall team. He could arguably be a legitimate top 4 guy in Buffalo’s blue line.
4 Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars should be better than they currently are, that being said, they are currently in the hunt for the playoffs, and haven’t peaked yet. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin could be better according to the owner of the Stars, but they will totally turn themselves around come playoff time. The Stars sit 29th in the NHL for goals, something that is not really that great. Dallas could use more scoring depth if they want to win a Stanley Cup. Between Seguin Radulov, and Benn, the Stars have a combined 130 points. After those 3 forwards, the Stars forward scoring drops down to 22 points and lower.
When Jim Lites ripped Benn and Seguin one thing he failed to look at was the lack of depth scoring from the other lines. Dallas needs to bring in a legitimate second or third line winger and center in order to really push past the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Maybe bringing in Matt Duchene of the Ottawa Senators, who currently is on the final year of his contract with Ottawa, would be beneficial for the Stars.
5 Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks look like the Toronto Maple Leafs from a few years ago. They have young guns scoring and have a lot of offensive production coming in to the team. All Vancouver needs now is a legitimate Defensive stud to back from the team. The highest point total for a defender on the Canucks is Alexander Edler, the 32 year old has 20 points in 38 games played with the Canucks.
Vancouver is not far out from pushing for the playoffs. If they really want to grow their team now they would push this year, I do not necessarily think they will, that is why they are fifth on this list.
Sellers:
1 Ottawa Senators
Your time will come Ottawa, just not for another few years. One great thing about Ottawa is that they sit with the best chance to land Jack Hughes, currently at the bottom of the standings. Oh wait! They traded their draft pick to the Avalanche a few years back. Well Senators, you are not going to be running in the advantage of having a losing season due to your lack of your own first round pick. So it might be beneficial to trade your star players. You already lost Erik Karlsson this last offseason, why not trade Duchene a scoring matching on your team right now for a prospect and draft picks? Teams will buy high on Duchene due to the fact that his contract is up this year and teams are desperate for a cup. Duchene’s contract is up this year, and he is not going to resign with the Senators, might as well trade him now.
2 Detroit Red Wings
I do not mind seeing Detroit at the bottom of the standings. The once 25 year playoff streak has ended and is now placed at the bottom of the NHL franchise. A rebuild usually involves having the average age of your players go down, not in the case of the Red Wings. The average age on the Wings is 29.3 which is above the league average. Detroit will want to trade away some of their older guys for any pick they can get. Guys like Gustav Nyquist, Thomas Vanek, and Mike Green should all be ready to move from the team.
3 Columbus Blue Jackets
Don’t get me wrong, Columbus could and probably should make the playoffs. However doing so will result in the team taking a major step back in the offseason with Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin both reportedly not willing to sign with the team. Bobrovsky is the teams starting goalie and Panarin is the team's leading scorer. If neither of these guys want to stay in the franchise moving forward they might as well trade them for something rather than lose them for nothing, even if trading them loses their postseason hopes. Sometimes you need to lose a battle to win a war.
4 Chicago Blackhawks
Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Erik Gustafsson, or Gustav Forsling one of these defenders will not be here next season, or multiple. Chicago needs to make room for the influx of hope they have coming up in the future. There is a market for Keith and Gustafsson, Gustafsson has a major power play role and is a offensive power that could help any team, the question is do the Hawks find him expendable.
5 New York Rangers
New York started a rebuild last year and it has been going pretty good. The team could still drop a few more players like Mats Zuccarello, and Kevin Shattenkirk in particular. Shattenkirk could probably grow a crowd for a team in interest of a top 4 defenseman to help push the team to the cup, and he is hungry due to his lack of a Stanley cup at the age of 30. New York is in rebuild mode and should only make a move that is worthwhile to them.
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