Welcome to the home stretch.
With roughly 20 games remaining on the 2023-24 campaign for each of the NHL’s 32 clubs, we’ve reached the most critical point of the regular season. The time for establishing identities and building habits has passed, the All-Star theatrics are done and dusted, and the focus now turns squarely to preparing for the post-season.
As it always does, the NHL’s trade deadline figures to play a key role in shaping the hunt for the Stanley Cup. And there’s plenty of talent to be added for clubs looking to load up before the playoffs arrive, with gems like two-time 40-goal scorer Jake Guentzel, smooth-skating defender Noah Hanifin and Vezina nominee Jacob Markstrom among those who could be on the move.
The long list of names who could be in play is well-established at this point. But as we approach the final days of negotiations before the March 8 deadline, which clubs lead the pack as the most likely to swing some deals and stock up for a shot at the Cup? Let’s take a look at the most motivated buyers heading into the 2024 trade deadline, and one move that might make sense for each of them:
Vegas Golden Knights
Few clubs have been as consistent in their dramatic approach to the deadline over the past decade. In each of the past six seasons — that is, every season they have existed as a franchise — the Golden Knights have swung some type of key deal to bolster their group. Last year, it was Ivan Barbashev, who wound up as one of their most important playoff performers as the club climbed the Stanley Cup summit. The year prior, the move came far earlier, when the team swung big and landed Jack Eichel in November. In the four previous seasons, there were more deadline adds: Mattias Janmark (2021), Alec Martinez (2020), Mark Stone (2019), and Tomas Tatar (2018).
This year figures to be no different. Sitting third in the Pacific, Vegas appears primed to load up once again as they prepare to take a run at going back-to-back. And they’ll have every opportunity to make yet another significant splash, as star forwards Eichel and Stone both find themselves on long-term injured reserve, leaving the Golden Knights with a hefty amount of cap space to direct at beefing up their forward corps.
Given Vegas’ history of stockpiling as many marquee names as possible, veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko seems a potential fit. The former 40-goal-scorer could surely aid the Golden Knights’ ailing top six for the rest of the regular season, and Vegas defender Alex Pietrangelo can attest to the winger’s playoff chops, the pair having lifted the Cup together in 2019.
Colorado Avalanche
Another undeniable contender, and winners of the Cup the season before last, the Avalanche find themselves sitting third in the Central as the deadline approaches, with a fairly clear area of need at the heart of their roster.
Injuries on the wing and questionable depth down the middle have held Colorado back as they’ve looked to ensure they remain among the league’s very best this season. Since losing Nazem Kadri in free agency, after the pivot’s standout performance during the club’s Cup run, the key hole in Denver remains at 2C. Colorado added Ryan Johansen to try and fill the spot in the off-season, but the fit hasn’t been seamless for the 31-year-old, who’s been moved down the lineup over the course of the year.
As they gear up for the post-season with hopes of returning to the Final, shoring up that centre depth seems a clear priority for GM Chris MacFarland. With big-ticket options like Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan off the board, Anaheim Ducks centreman Adam Henrique seems the top option still available at the position. The versatile veteran can hold his own in all situations, and has 18 goals and 42 points on the year so far for the Ducks. However, with more than a few clubs looking at Henrique, prying the veteran out of California won’t come cheap.
Edmonton Oilers
It’s been a rollercoaster of a campaign for Connor McDavid’s club, one that’s seen both a coaching change and a historic win streak. Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, that’s all amounted to the Oilers sitting second in the Pacific, looking like a contender again, but with familiar holes to address.
GM Ken Holland has shown time and time again how comfortable he is adding at the deadline, and with the Oilers’ Cup aspirations alive and well, he’s sure to do so again, with all signs pointing to depth additions up front and on the back end before March 8.
It’s the latter that seems more pressing, with the bottom half of Edmonton’s blue line looking short of championship calibre, and the club already stocked with plenty of firepower up front. A move for a big-name blue-line trade chip likely isn’t in the cards for Edmonton, but a piece like Philadelphia’s Sean Walker, who could slide into Cody Ceci’s spot on the second pairing, seems a realistic option.
The 29-year-old right-shot rearguard has garnered plenty of trade attention across the league since emerging as a steady, reliable leader on Philly’s back end this season. Back in early February, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Oilers were among the clubs interested in Walker, and Edmonton’s been linked to the defender’s blue-line partner, Nick Seeler, too.
Tampa Bay Lightning
After three years of annual trips to the Cup Final, and a pair of championship rings won in that span, the veteran Bolts fell back to Earth in 2023 with a first-round loss to Toronto. This season, the perennial contenders are hungry to show they’re still among the league’s elite, and still capable of a deep run.
But the going hasn’t been easy for Tampa Bay so far this season. Despite Nikita Kucherov pacing the league’s scoring race — the veteran is already past the century mark with 20 games to go — the Lightning are currently mired in a wild-card spot, six points behind Toronto for third place in the Atlantic. Making matters worse, they’re without key defender Mikhail Sergachev for the rest of the regular season, an injury to the 25-year-old leaving the Bolts’ blue line thinner than expected.
It’s that area that GM Julien BriseBois will likely address before deadline day arrives — the name his club has been most often linked to is Flames defender Noah Hanifin, who could slide in as a fairly seamless Sergachev replacement. For Hanifin’s part, the fit seems right, as, per Friedman, Tampa Bay appears to be the UFA-to-be’s preferred destination for a long-term extension.
Working against BriseBois, though, is the fact that his club’s pool of tradable assets has been depleted by years of similar roster-altering deadline deals. The asking price from Flames GM Craig Conroy is understandably high, and the Lightning are far from the only club interested in Hanifin’s services — whether they have the pieces to get a deal over the line before Friday remains to be seen.
Vancouver Canucks
Amid a breakout campaign for their young core, the Canucks already handled much of their business in the lead-up to March 8, swinging big to land one of the most sought-after names on the market — two-way pivot Elias Lindholm — before signing their own marquee talent — Elias Pettersson — to a long-term extension. Still, in a season that’s giving the Canucks faithful Cup dreams, there’s little doubt the team’s brass will keep adding if there’s a deal that can help them come playoff time.
There’s been plenty of chatter linking Vancouver to Penguins winger Jake Guentzel, who Canucks president Jim Rutherford, GM Patrik Allvin, and head coach Rick Tocchet know well from their time in Pittsburgh, where they watched Guentzel play a key role in the Pens’ 2017 Cup run. In the years since, the 29-year-old’s become a bona fide 40-goal threat, and arguably one of the most underrated goal-scorers in the game — the type of piece that could surely bolster Vancouver’s attack.
It’s far from a given that the Penguins will move Guentzel, given the club’s already-troubling offensive woes and the forward’s well-established chemistry with Sidney Crosby, whose wing he’s long manned. Per Friedman, if Penguins president and GM Kyle Dubas does opt to move Guentzel, the preference will be to bring in multiple young players who could help Pittsburgh now, rather than picks alone — an arrangement that could work in Vancouver’s favour given the team’s reported desire to avoid moving another first-round pick after already having shipped one out to acquire Lindholm.
As the Pens continue to slide — they’re fresh off two disappointing losses in Alberta, and on a three-game slide overall — a Guentzel deal becomes more and more likely.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The first season of the Brad Treliving Era in Toronto hasn’t gone exactly to plan. Heading into the home stretch of the 2023-24 campaign, it’s a familiar scene. Toronto’s core has continued to do what it’s long done — particularly Auston Matthews, who’s resumed his quest to score goals in historic bunches. But around that core group, many of the adds Treliving made in the off-season — John Klingberg and Tyler Bertuzzi tops among them — have underwhelmed.
The new GM’s recent moves on the trade market have been much the same. Toronto’s need on the back end has been clear for some time, particularly as injuries have continued to mount. But after missing out on veteran Chris Tanev, who was dealt to Dallas by Treliving’s former club last week, the Maple Leafs faithful now find themselves divided on whether the club’s fallback option, Ilya Lyubushkin, truly moves the needle for this group.
There’s no question these Leafs are in win-now mode — they have been for the past few years, veering more toward seeing the band broken up if they can’t make some real post-season noise and stitch together a meaningful run soon. Sitting third in the Atlantic ahead of the deadline — right where they’ve been the past few seasons — all eyes are on Treliving to find a deal that meaningfully alters his roster before the playoffs arrive.
Assuming the club feels its done retooling the blue line, a move to shore up their centre depth could be next on the list. Seattle’s Alex Wennberg could be a potential option — the 29-year-old plays important minutes, in all situations, and could grant Sheldon Keefe some flexibility in terms of how he arranges his top-six pieces. But as with any centreman on the market, the Kraken pivot won’t come cheap.
New York Rangers
After an up-and-down couple seasons for the Rangers — a Conference Final run in 2022, a seven-game first-round loss to the rival Devils last year — New York is once again looking to prove it’s among the league’s true elite in 2024. They’ve flirted with that distinction at times, but despite having marquee talent up front, on the back end, and in the cage, the Rangers still seem a step behind the undeniable contenders.
Sitting atop the Metropolitan Division, and second in the East overall, the Rangers are in prime position to load up for a run at the deadline once again. Last year, it was GM Chris Drury who arguably took the biggest swing ahead of the home stretch, bringing in Tarasenko, Patrick Kane, and Tyler Motte, only to see his club’s post-season cut short by the upstart Devils. A more cautious approach this time around seems likely, but that slew of deals made Drury’s opinion of this Rangers squad clear.
He’ll have some cap space to work with ahead of March 8, as forward Blake Wheeler and Filip Chytil both find themselves on long-term injured reserve. And it’s up front that Drury seems most likely to add given the pair’s absence. A fairly painless addition might be Anaheim forward Frank Vatrano, who the Rangers already acquired once at the deadline, back in 2022, before losing him to free agency the following off-season.
While Vatrano only spent 22 games with the club, he was a hit during that brief stint, potting 13 points over the home stretch of the regular season and adding another 13 in 20 playoff games during that Conference Final run. The chemistry with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider is already established, and with a career-high 29 goals and 48 points already this season, it appears the former Ranger has found a new level in 2024.
New Jersey Devils
Speaking of the Devils squad that upended the Rangers’ hopes last year, the 2023-24 campaign has been a messy one for New Jersey. After dominating 2022-23 — finishing with the third-most points in the league, and making it to the second round after missing the playoffs in nine of the previous 10 seasons — the Devils currently sit well outside the playoff picture this time around.
Sitting nearly in line with the disappointing Penguins, Jersey’s eight points back of a wild-card spot, with two clubs ahead of them in that hunt. That in mind, the Devils brass appear set on bringing in reinforcements with hopes of getting this season back on track while there’s still time, before this campaign finishes as a significant step back after last year’s leap forward.
Goaltending appears to be a key area of need for the Devils, the club having allowed the sixth-most goals in the league to this point. In early February, Friedman reported that the Devils and Flames had “legitimate conversations” about a deal for former Vezina nominee Jacob Markstrom. That deal, of course, never came to be, the issues being the package that would be required to pry Markstrom out of Calgary, and the question of salary retention, according to Friedman.
Getting such a deal over the line will be a complex process, but the interest seems to be there. And after Markstrom took the step this week to publicly call out his front office’s handling of trade talks of late, some in Calgary have questioned whether the veteran netminder is angling for a move, too.
Boston Bruins
Much like the Lightning, the Bruins find themselves in the difficult spot of wanting to add, but having to operate with a limited pool of assets given their recent history of deadline activity. Like the Rangers, the Bruins swung big last year, adding Bertuzzi and Garnet Hathaway up front and Dmitry Orlov on the back end. And like New York, all they had to show for those moves in the end was a first-round exit.
They’re in a position to add once again as the post-season approaches, Boston sitting second in the Atlantic and third overall in the East, looking like a fairly convincing contender even after losing their top two centremen, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, in the off-season.
While they’ve managed to this point, there’s little doubt the club would like to bolster that centre depth before the grind of the playoffs arrive, and there’s room to add on the blue line too. Bruins president Cam Neely said as much late last month, putting “another stiff defender” and “some help on offence” atop his club’s deadline wish list. But he acknowledged the team’s thin cupboards too, after last year’s moves and others the year prior, when Boston brought in defender Hampus Lindholm.
The Bruins have already found themselves outbid on recent targets like centreman Elias Lindholm, and they figure to run into the same issue should they go after a big fish like Hanifin. A lower-tier target like Capitals blue-liner Joel Edmundson could be more attainable, though, with the towering veteran an option to bring some hard-nosed defending and some Cup pedigree to the B’s blue-line group.
from Sportsnet.ca
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