Buyers And Sellers Guide For The NHL Trade Deadline – Central Division – Pt II

The trade that sent winger Tyler Toffoli from Montreal to Calgary earlier this month is the first of what is expected to be many deals in the NHL leading up to the March 21st trade deadline. The race for playoff spots in the Eastern Conference is virtually non-existent with half of the regular season remaining, while only three clubs are realistically out of the race in the West.

The market leading up to the deadline will mostly be made up of rentals; players with expiring contracts that teams not battling for the postseason will want to get something in return for before they become free agents this summer. With most of the contenders right up against the $81.5 million salary cap, teams with available cap space and the ability to retain salary will also be in a position to acquire assets for the future.

Here is a look at teams from the Central Division and how they are situated leading up to the deadline:

Minnesota Wild

Buyer/Seller – Buyer

Cap Space – $6.91 million

Need – Goaltending, depth defenseman

Assets to trade

D Calen Addison
D Carson Lambos
G Jesper Wallstedt
2022 draft choices round 1 – 6
2023 draft choices round 1 – 7

The Wild have surprisingly risen to the level of being one of the favorites to come of the West, and GM Bill Guerin has never shied away from making bold moves. With the spectre of the cap hit of the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter eating between $12-to-14 million the next three seasons, Minnesota may take a swing for the fences before the deadline.

There are still questions of whether Cam Talbot or Kaapo Lahkonen have what it takes to make a long playoff run, which is why there has been some talk about the Wild being interested in Marc-Andre Fleury. With Matt Dumba on the injured list and most of the blueline over the age of 30, Guerin might be looking to add some inexpensive defensive depth.

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Nashville Predators

Buyer/Seller – ???????

Cap Space – $10.493 million

Needs – Scoring depth

Salary retention slots – 3

Rentals available

G David Rittich
F Filip Forsberg

Assets to trade

G Connor Ingram
D David Farrance
F Zachary L’Heureux
2022 draft choices round 1 – 5
2023 draft choices round 1 – 6

The Preds have been stronger than expected with Juuse Saros taking over for the retired Pekka Rinne, Roman Josi putting up another Norris Trophy caliber campaign, Tanner Jeannot in the mix for the Calder, and a bounce-back year from Matt Duchene. GM David Poile wants to get Forsberg locked up on an extension, but there continues to be chatter that they will consider trading the 27-year-old pending UFA if they cannot get him inked to an agreement before the deadline.

Nashville is middle-of-the-pack offensively, so even if they choose to keep Forsberg or get him re-signed, Poile may be looking to take advantage of his available cap space and add a few rental forwards to help out on the score sheet.

St. Louis Blues

Buyer/Seller – Buyer

Cap Space – $175,000

Need – Defensive depth

Assets to trade

G Ville Husso
G Joel Hofer
D Scott Perunovich
F Zach Bolduc
F Jake Neighbours
2022 draft choices round 1, 3 – 6
2023 draft choices round 1 – 7

The Blues are well-positioned to make the playoffs, with depth up front and in goal with Cup winner Jordan Binnington and Ville Husso, but the perception is that they need to add to their “blue” line to match up with Colorado and Calgary in the West. GM Doug Armstrong has reportedly been eyeing rental defensive options like Montreal’s Ben Chiarot but has the young talent in the pipeline to match the price tag that brother Bill is looking for in return for Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun.

Winnipeg Jets

Buyer/Seller – Seller

Cap Space – $2.23 million

Salary retention slots – 3

Rentals available

D Nathan Beaulieu
F Paul Stastny
F Andrew Copp

The Jets were expected to be in the playoff mix in the Central after upgrading their defense in the offseason with trades for Nate Schmidt and Brenden Dillon, but a slow start under Paul Maurice saw the veteran coach re-sign and things have not progressed much under interim bench boss Dave Lowry. Barring Winnipeg closing the gap in the next three weeks, it is likely that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will shop center rentals Stastny and Copp to playoff-bound clubs looking for depth up the middle, holding off on more consequential roster changes until the summer.