Tampa Bay Lightning (16 47 4 3) – Sell, sell, sell! IF TB is looking to sell there will be some interest. They have a number of cheap vets that could score them a few good rebuilding assets. The team has been unable to impress in the CPHL over the past few years. Will this be the trade deadline that puts them in a position to contend next year? We will see. Sellable: Curtis Brown, Greg Johnson, Robert Reichel, Erik Rasmussen, Cory Cross, Lubomir Sekeras, Pierre Turgeon.
Florida Panthers (38 24 3 3) – Buyers for sure. The Panthers never shy away from any trade and I expect them to be very active up to the deadline. They have been in a bit of a slump lately and this could force the team to make some big moves sooner rather then later. There isn’t much youth to be had and no draft picks for the next two years so the Panthers will have to look at using to big talent to acquire the players they seek. Sellable: Steve Begin, Jarome Iginla, Pavel Kubina.
Washington Capitals (21 37 8 1) – With the sale of Joe Thornton the Capitals become one of the first sellers to make their move. The Thornton trade will serve to set the bar for other teams looking to make similar moves. With the playoffs far out of reach the Caps aren’t done. They still have a couple of good tradable assets that will garner some interest from the buyers. Sellable: Andy McDonald, Chris Clark, John LeClair, Tie Domi, Bob Boughner, Steve Poapst, Manny Legace.
Boston Bruins (40 20 5 20) – I have it on good authority that you can consider the Bruins tinkerers and not buyers. The GM is very happy with the team and has waited all year to get this group of players together. There are few young assets on the team and no cap room. Young depth guys are all that will be explored before the deadline. Sellable: Reinhard Divis
Buffalo Sabres (31 29 5 4) – Buffalo was struck a major blow when all-star forward Ziggy Palffy announced his surprise retirement from the game. Since then the Sabres have been in damage control mode trying to hang onto the last playoff spot in the Gretzky Conference. They are currently tied for that spot with the Islanders. There is plenty of youth that can be dealt but maintaining depth could be a problem. Consider them buyers at this point. Sellable: Matt Lombardi, Riku Hahl, Jeff Jillson, Jakub Kindl, Alexei Semenov, Dmitri Kalinin, 2 2nd round picks, Drew Stafford, Peter Budaj, Tuuka Raska.
Montreal Canadiens (29 28 8 3) – The Habs have been suspiciously quiet recently. The team has run into injury trouble on the blueline and are going to be forced to make some moves. They are just outside of a playoffs spot and will have to get into buying gear if they are to make the dance this spring. Luckily for the GM they do have some very attractive assets. Sellable: Mike Richards, Martin Erat, Jonathan Cheechoo, Chuck Kobasew, cap space, Maxime Ouellet, Jamie Lundmark.
|