The NHL trade deadline is under a week away and there are some teams that need to wave the white flag and sell assets to prepare for next year.
Taking a look at the bottom of the NHL standings shed some light on teams that should be sellers at the trade deadline. There is actually a plethora of teams that need to consider making deals that will benefit them for the future.
This could make for a very interesting deadline but it could also wind up being a dud. There are some very high asking prices being reported, starting with what the Ottawa Senators want for Derrick Brassard. They are asking for a first round pick, high end prospect, and another piece. That’s a fairly exorbitant price for a bottom six forward.
Now, all reports should be taken with a grain of salt at this time of the season. Every team is going to be asking for the moon at this point. If they weren’t they wouldn’t be doing their job. This deadline could fall a bit flat since there are so many teams out of the playoff race. The teams that are looking to add to their roster will have choices and may not feel the need to meet particular asking prices.
There are five teams that should be selling almost anything that isn’t tied down. A team like the Buffalo Sabres just missed this list since they are still in the middle of a rebuild. The same goes for the Arizona Coyotes. The other five teams should be looking for quicker fixes. Whether they add picks or younger players, it’s time to get ready for the 2018-19 season.
5. Chicago Blackhawks
Why they need to deal – After years of being Stanley Cup contenders, the bottom has somewhat fallen out from the Blackhawks this season. For various reasons, Chicago finds themselves at the bottom of their division by a whopping 10 points and with no hope of clawing back into the race. This is very unfamiliar territory for the Hawks and they should be trying to sell any complementary piece they can.
Their core group is basically locked up for quite awhile. There is some debate about whether that’s a good thing or not as many of their stars are on bloated contracts and haven’t fully lived up to them. That really isn’t something that Chicago can fix at the deadline, so they won’t be looking at a full tear down of the roster like some of the other teams on this list.
Who they can offer – The real problem is the Hawks don’t have a ton to offer. Sure, they can float guys like winger Tommy Wingels out there. His contract is reasonable and teams headed towards the playoffs love add grit and toughness to their bottom six. Still, the return won’t be anything more than a later draft pick. Forward Artem Anisimov has been in the rumor mill but Chicago reportedly plans to keep him.
Chicago could float forward Brandon Saad out there but his play has not been very good this season and he’s getting paid $6 million a season. Contracts that big are harder to move at the deadline. Perhaps the player that would net them the greatest return is 24-year-old defenseman Connor Murphy. Young D is coveted by all NHL teams and Murphy hasn’t found his way into the lineup consistently. Another team could pounce, thinking they could fix any issues Murphy has.