The halfway point of the NHL season has passed, and some teams are surging, while other teams are failing. This has led to teams already declaring they will be selling at the NHL Trade Deadline. Meanwhile, there are plenty of contending teams that will be buyers, and rumors are swirling about the future location of multiple players.
One of the major driving factors for earlier trades, as seen with the one between the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks, sending Kiefer Sherwood to San Jose, is the upcoming trade freeze. While the trade deadline is on March 6, there is an Olympic break trade freeze. That runs from 3 PM ET on February 4 through 11:59 PM ET on February 22. This trade freeze could lead to some early moves. While some contenders could sit back and wait, making sure none of their current players or a player they are targeting is hurt in the Olympics, some fringe playoff teams that will be buying could be more aggressive.
Two New York Rangers are clearly on the block. The team has announced that the Rangers will not be extending Artemi Panarin, while Vincent Trocheck is likely also to be moved. The Minnesota Wild are believed to be heavily interested in Panarin, according to The Fourth Period. Panarin is also being linked to the Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings, and Dallas Stars, all contending teams.
Meanwhile, the Wild is also interested in Trocheck. The Hurricanes are also interested, as are the Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, and Winnipeg Jets.
There are also the players from the Calgary Flames, who will also be selling this year. The Flames have already traded Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights. Forwards Black Coleman, Nazem Kadri, and Ryan Lomberg are all expected to be on the trade block. The Stars are one of the major teams to watch for each of them.
This could be a busy trade deadline, both before and after the Olympic break freeze. Currently, 14 of the 16 teams in the Eastern Conference are either in a playoff spot or within five points of a spot, while 11 of the 16 Western Conference teams are in that area. With only so many teams selling, there could be some major fights to get the top players.
