Which Eastern Conference seller teams should blow it up at the 2024 Trade Deadline?
We’re bringing you at least one NHL Trade Deadline story every day at Daily Faceoff between now and March 8. Today, we look at the projected seller teams in the East and whether they should commit to full rebuilds.
2024 Trade Deadline Countdown: 55 days
When you hear about a team going all in at the Trade Deadline, you think of a team that’s a piece or two away from winning the Stanley Cup and willing to sell the farm to make a big swing and bring in one of the top names on the market. Whether that’s the 2015 Chicago Blackhawks trading a first-round pick for Antoine Vermette or the 2019 Columbus Blue Jackets giving up basically all their draft picks for Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, and Adam McQuaid among others, it comes in many different forms and it doesn’t always work out.
What you don’t think about with the term “all in” are the sellers. After all, what are they going all in for? They aren’t close to a championship, so there’s nothing to go all in for.
But, we forget that there is a gamble that you take with selling at the deadline, and more importantly tanking, as well. Sure, you want to get as many assets as possible, but if you sell off too much of the team, you won’t have anyone to teach the new guys how to win in the NHL, or you’ll struggle to turn over the roster to a competitive team with a lack of depth. Some teams do need a full cultural reset, but for the rest, it’s what separates the 2015 Buffalo Sabres and 2015 Arizona Coyotes tank jobs, – both clubs are still struggling to make the playoffs – from the 2016 Toronto Maple Leafs, 2017 Colorado Avalanche, and 2018 New York Rangers, who kept players like Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner, Erik Johnson, and Chris Kreider around to avoid a stripped-down losing culture.
Last year I took a look at all of the teams that could have potentially been sellers at the 2023 Trade Deadline and determined whether they should strip it all down at the deadline, and if not there, what their plan probably should have been, and I’ve brought it back this season, starting with the Eastern Conference.
Buffalo Sabres
Trade Target(s): Jordan Greenway (LW)
What’s the Game Plan?: Sell off some expiring contracts and keep rebuilding
Man, I was so excited for this Sabres team to finally do the thing. Unfortunately, it’s looking more and more like that NHL-record playoff drought will add another year to it, and they seem to be in a bit of a worse spot than last season. It’s not necessarily unsalvageable like it is some teams we’ll get to, but it’s far from ideal.
The good news is that some of their supposed problem areas right now still look promising for the future. Both their defense and goaltending have been inconsistent this season, but their biggest pieces are all still very young and poised to be good when this core is ready to contend. Zach Benson has already shown he can hang at the NHL level, and they have another addition in the “player that was thought to be a bust but has surprisingly broken out” club in Casey Mittelstadt this year. Unfortunately, the other members of that club in Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens have taken steps back in the process.
But as I pointed out earlier this season, a lot of the Sabres’ issues can be tied to their veterans, so selling a bunch of them at the deadline may actually help them. Yes, that creates the same issue of not having as much depth and in theory keeps them stuck in mediocrity, but most of the vets this season were signed this season, so they’ll be easy to replace in free agency – if they’re smart this time. Plus you add more prospects to the fold. It’s far from perfect, but there’s still an easy way to approach this deadline that can help the team.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Trade Target(s): Jack Roslovic (C/RW), Alexandre Texier (LW), Andrew Peeke (RD), Adam Boqvist (RD)
What’s the Game Plan?: Maybe fire your GM first
There’s no way Jarmo Kekalainen survives this season, right? A lot of his offseason moves screamed “trying my best to make this team competitive quickly so that we can make the playoffs and I can save my job,” and the Mike Babcock hiring was a risky move that somehow went worse than anyone expected. Pascal Vincent hasn’t exactly done a solid job saving face either, as he’s been hindering the development of a lot of their top prospects with his coaching shenanigans this year.
The good news in Columbus is that there’s still some semblance of a core here, especially with the young talent, and another low finish will give them another big piece or two, but their issues far exceed the roster. Kekalainen’s expiration date was long due and that curdled milk has left a rotten stench on this organization that won’t be resolved until you toss it in the garbage. That should be their top priority right now, not focusing on if they should buy or sell first.
A quick glance at the names on the block, and I wouldn’t say there are any pieces that jump off the page as a trade that could be franchise-altering if Kekalainen messes it up, so that’s at least a good sign for this deadline. With that in mind, definitely sell and get more good players to add to this roster, and maybe you can be competitive in a couple seasons. They are close, but they’re just also misguided.
Montreal Canadiens
Trade Target(s): Sean Monahan (C), Jake Allen (G)
What’s the Game Plan?: Sell off some expiring contracts and keep rebuilding
It’s been three seasons since the Canadiens made it to the Stanley Cup Final, and it’s been their third straight season near the bottom of the standings. They’re already eight points out of a playoff spot, and they’re below NHL .500. If you can’t even give off the impression that you’re above that mark with OT losses, you’re probably best off selling off pieces.
And the Habs have been smart enough to recognize that, as it’s been the status quo for a couple of seasons now. 2022 saw them ship out Toffoli, Ben Chiarot, Artturi Lehkonen, and Brett Kulak, while they only did that with Evgenii Dadonov in 2023, but they should have a few more options this season. Monahan and Allen are already on the block, with Monahan coming in at a much more moveable cap hit than he did last season as a pending UFA. They could also try to explore moving Tanner Pearson or Chris Wideman as well, but both have been dealing with injuries this season so that could scare away some suitors. Regardless, the Habs are very much on the path that they need to be right now. All that matters is how well they draft and develop.
Ottawa Senators
Trade Target(s): Jakob Chychrun (LD)
What’s the Game Plan?: Who even knows anymore?
It’s actually very hard to get a read on what the Senators should do. They have this young core that they’ve committed to, and yet year after year they start slowly, put themselves behind the eight-ball early, and then go on a hot run to end the year to keep themselves convinced that next year will be the year. They’ve even been buyers the past couple years by getting Alex DeBrincat and Jakob Chychrun, but even then, one already wanted out, and they seem to be shopping the other one.
And it’s not like they can convert to full sellers to drastically improve. After all, their best players are entering their primes, so the club doesn’t want to waste those years, and their biggest issue is depth, so selling off pieces just puts them back in the same position as they are every offseason where they have to spend to the cap just to have a passable group. The cap is another big issue, because they just don’t really have an easy solution to free up the space they need to add depth. It doesn’t help that they’re spending almost $7 million in goaltending that can’t stay healthy and can’t keep the puck out of the net.
Maybe you try and see which UFAs you can re-sign to keep some depth around next year. Move on from one of Chychrun or Chabot and see what you can get for either the right side or for forward depth. Definitely try and shop Travis Hamonic and Joonas Korpisalo, although I wouldn’t hold my breath on getting that done. Maybe you move on from a Josh Norris as well to get depth since he isn’t exactly living up to an almost $8 million cap hit. Heck, if you really think it’s a negative value, you can buy it out and actually get an extra $100,000 in salary cap for three seasons, but that’s a bit extreme. Maybe you just burn this whole franchise to the ground, I don’t know. Whatever it is, this problem needs more than one good trade deadline to solve.
My head hurts…
Philadelphia Flyers
Trade Target(s): Sean Walker (RD), Nick Seeler (LD), Morgan Frost (C)
What’s the Game Plan?: Keep to the plan and wait a year to see if this core is truly legit
Like the Sens, the Flyers are also tough to figure out in terms of what to do with this team, but this is actually a really good thing for them. On one hand, they’ve finally committed to a rebuild, moved on from the likes of Kevin Hayes, Ivan Provorov, and Tony DeAngelo in the summer, and started to add to their prospect pool with the likes of Matvei Michkov. That pool took a bit of a blow with Gauthier refusing to sign with the team, but at least they salvaged it with Drysdale and a second.
On the other hand, though, the Flyers have been pretty good this season. They sit in third in the Metropolitan Division and it’s not through some PDO-bending season, either. They’ve been driving play like the best of them this year. Suddenly they run into an issue of wanting to keep on with the rebuild, but also realize that if they move on from some pieces, it may send the wrong message to a team that has earned it.
If I were Danny Briere, I’d probably make the tough choice and still stick with the rebuild, at the very least by moving on from the trade pieces above. It’s not like any of them are core parts of the franchise, either right now (Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, etc.) or in the future (Michkov) outside of maybe Frost, but that’s a different situation. And besides, teams the St. Louis Blues have established in the past that you can move pending UFAs that you don’t see a future with like Kevin Shattenkirk and Paul Stastny without disrupting you Cup window. Obviously it’s easy for me to say from afar, but it might be the best approach to take, and if they find themselves competing again next season, maybe then that’s when you decide to buy at the deadline.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Trade Target(s): Jake Guentzel (LW)
What’s the Game Plan?: See what’s out there but keep competing
Should the Pens do their due diligence and see what the market for someone like Jake Guentzel is amidst another middling season? Sure. But this is a Pens team trying to get every last drop of Cup competitiveness out of this core, and Kyle Dubas has never been one to sell off important pending UFAs when he thinks his team is a playoff team. It’d be the smart thing to do for the future, but I get why they wouldn’t with Sidney Crosby still on the team.
Washington Capitals
Trade Target(s): Anthony Mantha (RW)
What’s the Game Plan?: Do whatever gets Ovechkin to the all-time goal record
Like the Pens, the Caps seem to be reluctant to commit to a full rebuild because they want to appease their historically elite superstar, but that’s where the similarities end. The Pens are doing so to stay competitive, but the Caps are just trying to get Ovechkin to 895 goals, a mark that seemed like an inevitability up until this season. Now Ovechkin seems mortal, another example of how time will always be undefeated. Should he continue on his current pace, he’ll not only have his lowest goal total in his career at 16, it will be exactly half of his next lowest total in a full season at 32.
It’s not exactly like Ovi has help either. Nicklas Backstrom is likely done after his injury trouble, Evgeny Kuznetsov has fallen off, and John Carlson just seems to be trying his best to hold everything else together. The gang just isn’t what it used to be, and even one of Dylan Strome’s better seasons isn’t enough to get Ovechkin to the finish line. Hopefully a healthy Max Pacioretty can help out that top six and first power play unit, but it still doesn’t look overly promising.
So yeah, screw the future. The Caps have their Cup with this group. No one will care if they didn’t make the playoffs this year or that they required another three to five years of rebuilding down the road to make it happen, history is forever. Do whatever you can to get Ovechkin to 895, whether that means tanking this season to get a great player to help Ovi get there (Celebrini would certainly do the trick if they could really commit) or trade a bunch of futures to get the best playmaker possible to help Ovi on the power play. Whatever possible options there are, make them happen. We all need this.
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