Which NHL team is the one to watch on the trade market in 2026?

As we all scramble to figure out or New Year’s resolutions for 2026, NHL general managers should have no problem identifying theirs; make their teams better, either for right now or the future.

Everyone can make a New Year’s resolution, but not everyone is equally committed to seeing it through, as we know from the annual drop in gym attendance numbers come February and March. For NHL GMs, those with contending teams and those with bottom-dwelling teams should be plenty motivated to make some moves in the New Year, either to improve their team for a playoff run, or sell off parts and look to next season. GMs with teams in the murky middle, however, might end up being content to just kick their feet up and watch the trade deadline roll by.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by The Fourth Period‘s David Pagnotta to discuss which teams will be most active in the trade market in 2026.

Carter Hutton: What GM or team are you watching in the new year to really kind of make some magic happen?

David Pagnotta: A few. I’m looking at Jason Botterill in Seattle. Very curious to see what he’s going to end up doing with some of his guys, some of his pending UFAs. Jamie Oleksiak, Jordan Eberle, Jaden Schwartz, I think (Eeli) Tolvanen is also a pending UFA. They’ve been listening on those guys, willing to listen on them, willing to listen on Jared McCann as well, going back to last season. I’m curious, I’m definitely looking at Seattle.

(Barry) Trotz and (Doug) Armstrong in Nashville and St. Louis, respectively. They have not taken off the for-sale sign. They’re still willing to listen on a number their guys. I’m looking in that direction in terms of the sellers market. That’s where my interest has peaked the most. Obviously you look at Buffalo, and what Jarmo (Kekalainen) is going to potentially do here. He talked about being aggressive out of the gate. Winning eight in a row is great, but I want to see what type of movement he’s going to end up doing. He wants to improve this team’s chances immediately. He said when he took over that he feels they’re a playoff team, they’ve got the assets to do it, it’s just a matter of all motoring in the right direction. It’s working now, but I want to see what Jarmo ends up doing and how aggressive he’s going to be moving forward.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…