Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!

It’s your favorite Hockey Dad back for a special edition during our Olympic hockey break!

I told Viz that I was up for putting together a bit of a trade deadline piece for each conference while the NHL was on its hiatus, and he was up for it, so here we are.

Today, I’ll go over all that there is to consider for the Eastern Conference Trade Deadline rumor mill. Next week, we’ll head West to do the same thing for our Pacific pals.

Are there teams that have cap space to add to their roster?

Which teams have holes to fill due to injuries or ineffectiveness? 

Who could use a boost to the power play, penalty kill, or defense corps? Which clubs are looking to add depth players, a top 6 scoring threat, or a bottom 6 grinder to eat up some minutes?

I broke the Eastern Conference into three groups:

SELLERS

NYR, NJ, FLA, PHI

BUYERS

TB, MTL, DET, CAR, NYI

CONTENDERS or PRETENDERS?

BOS, BUF, CLM, WSH, OTT, TOR, PIT

Then, I took a look at the list of players who will be UFAs and RFAs at the end of this season.

Some of these guys aren’t going anywhere. Most players who will stay put are already on contending teams or are too valuable to the squad to jettison for future draft picks and/or prospects.

PENDING FREE AGENTS

UFAs – Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Darren Raddysh, Alex Tuch, Evgeni Malkin, Claude Giroux, Anthony Mantha, Charlie Coyle, Patrick Kane, Bobby McMann, David Perron (5-7 weeks, groin surgery), Mason Marchment, Andrew Peeke, Patrik Laine, Calle Jarnkrok, Scott Laughton

RFAs – Trevor Zegras, Zach Benson, Arseny Gritsyuk, Peyton Krebs, Jamie Drysdale, Braden Schneider

SALARY CAP ISSUES 

I also looked at teams close to or “in the red” based on projected cap space. In theory, this should make adding to a roster more difficult for these teams, barring any “phantom injuries” that land players with large contracts on the regular season IR before they are magically healed before Game 1 of the NHL playoffs.

Some teams are less likely to have room to make additions to the active roster without getting “creative”.

*One more caveat for the Eastern Conference before we begin. This conference is ridiculously tight with everyone but the Rangers and maybe the Devils being one hot streak away from busting into the playoff picture. Keep that in mind when considering who might buy or sell in a few weeks.

BUYERS

NEW YORK ISLANDERS – minus $3.22 million (red).

The Islanders were quick to make moves before other teams with the January trades for Ondrej Palat (NJD) and Carson Soucy (NYR). Any additions to the squad will likely involve subtracting pieces with a big paycheque and shipping them to sellers with cap space to burn. It’ll likely cost them one of the two first-rounders they have in the 2026 draft (their own and a conditional COL pick), but it’ll be worth it if they can shed salary like Jonathan Drouin’s $4 million.

DETROIT – $12.99 million in cap space available. 

Here’s the Eastern Conference team with the most space to maneuver around. Motown is sitting pretty with a solid core group, hardly any significant injuries to regular players, and no pressing needs to address with the on-ice personnel. The Wings would benefit from adding a puck-moving defenseman on the back end, and they have enough picks and cap space available to get creative. (DET has picks in each round of the 2026 NHL draft, all their own except for the 4th rounder – CLM).

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING – minus $788K (red).

This is the eastern version of the Vegas Golden Contract Buriers. I’ll assume that Nikita Kucherov isn’t going to fall victim to a phantom injury, but I wouldn’t be surprised if guys like Yanni Gourde or Nick Paul end up with some sort of lower/upper body injury that holds them out until early April. It’s harder to believe that they could pull the same kind of thing with Victor Hedman, but with Darren Raddysh filling in admirably, I’m sure it’s at least been discussed internally.

CAROLINA – $8.86 million in cap space available.

They have three above-average scoring lines and a fourth that features players who would land in some teams’ middle 6. Carolina’s defense is a solid mix of puck movers, offensive strength, and defensive awareness, so it’s unlikely to see any big additions either. Their goaltending? I’ve documented that one pretty well, too. The Pyotr Kochetkov injury would have been lethal for any other team, but Brandon Bussi seized the opportunity, and the Hurricanes are looking as strong as they ever have.

The only trade movement that might go down here is trading away Jesper Kotkaniemi. And Carolina is in a good position to take a low-ball offer of quantity over quality if it means adding depth to an already strong roster.

SELLERS

NEW JERSEY DEVILS – minus $2.81 million (red).

It’s full-on sell mode for the Devils. They’ve already ditched Ondrej Palat’s $6 million contract for Maxim Tsyplakov’s $2.75 million one, and gave the St Louis Blues a bit of a salary break by taking Nick Bjugstad’s $1.75 million last week. 

They were all set to move Dougie Hamilton out before Luke Hughes went down with a shoulder injury. Hamilton will still likely get shipped out, and the increase in minutes is only beefing up New Jersey’s potential return.

FLORIDA PANTHERS – minus $7.69 million (red).

The Seth Jones addition last year was a huge boulder around the Panthers’ necks, but winning a Stanley Cup in back-to-back years makes it tough to criticize this front office. Bringing the band back for another encore puts them in a tough position to add players to make a run at that final wild card spot (8 points behind Boston). It’s tough to count out a team like this, but if they sputter coming out of the break, GM Bill Zito is going to have to make some hard decisions. 

NEW YORK RANGERS – $2.08 million in cap space available.

The blowout sale in New York is officially on. Artemi Panarin hamstrung the Rangers by informing them that he’d only accept a trade to the Kings, but that didn’t slow down Chris Drury and the rest of the rebuild. Carson Soucy was shipped to the Islanders. Vincent Trocheck is tied to any team with a pulse. Most teams could use a big center like Trocheck, but the loudest buzz is around the Bruins, Hurricanes, and Red Wings.

The Rangers also have 6 picks in the first three rounds of the upcoming 2026 entry draft. That’s enough to lay a good foundation for the future AND to package a couple of early round selections to try to pry a nice building block away from a team looking to shake things up.

CONTENDERS OR PRETENDERS?

PITTSBURGH – $11.708 million in cap space available. 

There was a time, a couple of months ago, when a lot of the hockey world was mourning the end of an era in Pittsburgh. The Penguins were looking stale, folks were trying to figure out what the team could do to re-tool on the fly, and there were some whispers about the ultimate sacrilege: Would Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin join Erik Karlsson on the way out the door to expedite a rebuild?

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the trade deadline. Pittsburgh didn’t collapse, and the Pens find themselves in a playoff spot with 25 games to go. If things go south, Pittsburgh has a ton of forwards that would draw interest on the open market. But I can’t see the Pens blowing anything up. It looks like a do-or-die situation until the two big guys decide to file their retirement papers.

BUFFALO SABRES – $1.989 million in cap space available.

No. Just no. I know there are a lot of people who are waiting for Lucy to yank the football out from under Charlie Brown’s foot again here, but can we all agree on one thing, and one thing only?

The Sabres need to load up at the deadline and go all-in.

If you tell me there’s another team that needs a playoff appearance more than the Sabres do, you’re wrong. If you think the Sabres are just an overachieving team that should deal pending UFA Alex Tuch for a bag of magic beans, you are delusional.

This is a time that Buffalo needs to commit. Who cares if they flame out in Round 1 and Alex Tuch leaves in free agency without the Sabres getting anything back for him? There is not one child who attends elementary school in Western New York who has seen a live Sabres playoff game. 

The 14-year drought needs to end now. If you’re Jarmo Kekalainen, maybe you try to see if any of the rebuilders are looking to flip something of substance for RFA Zach Benson. Maybe a team is looking to build around a young goalie and has interest in Devon Levi. If I were Jarmo, I’d be giving Chris Drury a call once every couple of days over the break.

BOSTON BRUINS – $1.17 million in cap space available.

The Bruins are another oddball team that seems unsure if they’re coming or going. Last year, GM Don Sweeney cleaned out the cupboards and threw out anything remotely close to its expiry date. The Brad Marchand trade still leaves a bad taste in Bruin fans’ mouths, but the Fraser Minten and a 1st round pick for noted Dunkin Donuts pylon, Brandon Carlo, was nothing short of highway robbery.

This year, the Bruins find themselves in a Wild Card spot with 25 games remaining, and are enjoying a successful “soft re-tool” with the goodies they acquired since last year’s trade deadline. 

I can see the Bruins being both buyers and sellers, depending on what’s available and who is looking at their roster. Matthew Poitras’ recall from Providence on January 29th was an obvious showcase move. He’ll be back up after the break to give him some time with the big boys, but mostly to see if anyone wants to float an offer for the former Canadian Juniors’ center.

Andrew Peeke is a good depth defenseman for a contending team to add, so if the Bruins slip a bit, the pending UFA should be the first ‘regular’ out the door. Other than that, it all depends on how the team does right after the break. I read that the Bruins have the second-toughest final 25-game schedule, so they’ll be in deep. If they come out strong, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make a play for Vincent Trocheck or maybe even flip some draft picks for a lesser piece like Mason Marchment or a reunion with Charlie Coyle.

Depending on conditions, the Bruins could have 9 picks in the 2026 entry draft. That’s a lot to shuffle around and add some extra incentive for sellers looking to stockpile at the deadline.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS – $1.12 million in cap space available.

Of course. No trade deadline preview is complete without a section on the beloved (or not so love-ed) Maple Leafs. 

At risk of being mistaken for a Toronto media personality – and make no mistake, the media clickbait is what drives the madness around this team – it’s been a season of ups and downs for the Leafs this year.

If they flop after the break, Bobby McMann is the logical piece to jettison out the door. The 19-goal scorer has fit in riding shotgun for John Tavares and William Nylander, and has brought a nice physicality to mix in with players like Nick Robertson and Max Domi. Physical, “team first” guys like McMann aren’t what the Leafs should be looking to shed, but he’s a UFA, so if they decide to sell, he’ll be first on the block with lots of suitors lining up for first crack. Nick Robertson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and even a guy like Scott Laughton should warrant a few inquiries if the Leafs decide to pack it in.

But, you all know as well as I do that the Leafs can’t commit to a rebuild, nor can they ever seem to admit when their squad just isn’t built for that next step. The Mitch Marner exit was supposed to free them from the jinx, but it looks like it might have done the opposite. If the Leafs come out swinging after the break and decide to load up again, there isn’t much to offer in draft picks (3rd, 5th, 6th in 2026), or younger prospects to deal outside of Easton Cowan and defensive defenseman Ben Danford.

That’s all, folks! I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to drop any questions or comments below, and be sure to come back to visit me next Wednesday when I jump over to the Western Conference and preview the Central Division.

Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social