Which NHL team needs to make a trade ASAP?
We’re deep enough into the 2025-26 NHL season that it is indeed time to panic for several teams falling short of expectations. We’ve reached the beginning of “shakeup trade” season. Which NHL team needs to make a trade ASAP to try and turn its fate around?
MATT LARKIN: I’ll kick it off with the low-hanging fruit. The Edmonton Oilers are so far beyond needing to trade for goaltending help that I’ve already outlined a full shopping list for them. And I did that when Stuart Skinner was at least alternating good starts with his bad ones. He’s been sub-.900 in nine of his 13 appearances. No more excuses; the Oilers have to shake every tree in hopes a goaltending upgrade falls to them.
PAUL PIDUTTI: Panic has been a 58-years-and-counting state of existence for Toronto Maple Leafs fans. But there a lot of reasons to be legitimately concerned about The Buds right now. Despite an early home-heavy schedule loaded with soft opponents, the Leafs have been mostly lousy. Excluding empty netters, they have won ONE game by more than a goal. They’ve looked disorganized and lacking identity. Their underlying numbers are poor. Their power play is lost. Their defensive zone play and goaltending have regularly been ghastly. And yes, Mitch Marner’s presence has been missed even more than most imagined. I’m rarely an alarmist — and never so with the Leafs given the panicky nature of their market — but it’s getting late early for Toronto to show some urgency. There’s still time to turn things around, but both the eye test and the numbers have been scary so far for the defending Atlantic Division champs.
SCOTT MAXWELL: I’ve been on my soapbox all season saying that the missing piece for the Tampa Bay Lightning right now is another puck-moving defenseman, particularly with some mobility. Victor Hedman is on an island in that regard, and considering he’s going to be 35 in a month, he can’t be relied on for mobility at this stage of his career. It’s been an issue ever since they dealt Mikhail Sergachev, and it played a big role in their premature exit from the playoffs last season, as they were easy to expose on the rush. This season it’s particularly taken its toll on the forwards, as quite a few of them are having down seasons due to the team’s inability to move the puck up the ice on a consistent basis. Jon Cooper, the mastermind that he is, has adjusted by keeping a forward back to help move the puck, but they need an upgrade on defense if they truly want to solve this problem. The market is slim right now (Rasmus Andersson, anybody?), but if Tampa wants to round out their team, that’s the way to go.
STEVEN ELLIS: The Los Angeles Kings are in a good spot right now in the Pacific Division, looking way better than pretty much anyone could have possibly expected. But they’ve done it despite having a lackluster defense corps – and that’s going to hurt them as the season wears on. This is Anze Kopitar’s last NHL season and it would be a shame to see things fall apart because they can’t defend in their zone. They’ve got some talent, but clearly Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci aren’t going to get the job done.
ANTHONY TRUDEAU: The Washington Capitals were always a candidate for regression after finishing with the best record in the Eastern Conference behind career-best shooting seasons from virtually their entire roster. Yes, even Alex Ovechkin, who poured in an absurd 18.6% of those left-circle missiles. The .500 Caps haven’t been able to recreate their league-best finishing early in 2025-26, but they still boast a top-five scoring defense (2.59 GAA). With Pierre-Luc DuBois on the IR and Connor McMichael (4 P in 17 GP) floundering in the top six, some scoring reinforcements could help Washington shore up its playoff chances during what is likely Ovi’s last season. Unlike most Cup hopefuls, the Capitals actually have some assets to dangle; competent veteran Trevor van Riemsdyk is surplus to requirements on a loaded blueline, Hendrix Lapierre has some appeal as a reclamation project, and GM Chris Patrick still owns all his first-rounders.
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