Trade Deadline Rumors: Who Could be Dealt?

The hockey world is about to be engulfed in Olympic fever, but there’s a ton of key players in the league who are on the trading block. Who is your team looking for? Who is your team willing to part with?

Sam McCaig for THN blogged about each of the 30 NHL teams, and put together a short list of the personnel that could be on the move. I covered the ‘Kovalchuk to Chicago’ rumor a week ago, and while it’s not clear where he’ll end up, it’s likely that he won’t resign in Atlanta – which would force Waddell’s hand.

“A player with Kovalchuk’s size, speed and skill set doesn’t come along often; if the Thrashers can’t sign him, they’re forced to trade him because the team needs to set itself up for a post-Kovalchuk reality (i.e. they can’t lose him for nothing). It’s not a good situation if you’re a Thrashers fan – but if you’re a supporter of the team that lands Kovalchuk, it might be a memorable spring.”

You’d have to figure only the big-market teams with the cap space to take Illya would be in the running, and the Ottawa Sun purports to have the short list of teams interested (take with a grain of salt, they’ve been very wrong before):

“This will come down to the deadline, with at least 6 teams involved; Flames, Capitals, Blackhawks, Bruins, Kings and Rangers.”

We know the Kings made a serious run at Marian Hossa when he wanted out of Detroit, so it makes sense that Los Angeles would chase after another big-name forward. The Bruins have been struggling offensively, notching a league-worst 2.37 Goals per Game percentage. Kovalchuk would give Boston a desperately needed breath of fresh air in their top six.

St. Louis (barring yet another huge second-half run) doesn’t appear to be making the post-season in the highly competitive Western Conference, so the Blues will probably be dumping talent and salary when the trade deadline rolls around. Vancouver is supposedly interested in Paul Kariya, and pretty much any contender who needs a veteran power forward will be looking at Keith Tkachuk – he’d definitely come cheap and have a decent impact on a playoff-bound squad.

Toronto is in a similar position; they’re sitting at 28th in the league, and are looking to add some picks to replace the two first-rounders they lost in the Kessel trade.

The Leafs are prime candidates to move some bodies between now and March 3. Center Matt Stajan and winger Alexei Ponikarovsky, both UFAs this summer, might not be top-line talents, but they’d fit in nicely as support players. And, of course, there’s Tomas Kaberle. The mobile Leafs defenseman is under contract for one more season, but the right package of players, prospects and draft picks might pry him loose (assuming he wants to be traded).

Ponikarovsky would fill out a second or third line quite nicely, and Matt Stajan is a highly-underrated forward who Burke would probably deal for a handful of picks. Teams in rebuilding years like the Leafs often deal the most during the deadline, and Toronto needs future considerations more than anything during these formative years.

There are a couple of goaltenders available, but the Nashville Predators are knee-deep in goaltending talent, and they’ll have to make a choice this deadline on which keeper they want to resign – Rinne or Ellis.

‘This year, Ellis and Rinne are splitting time for a Nashville team that’s focused on the playoff picture. Problem is, both stoppers are UFA-eligible. Nashville probably wants to re-sign Rinne as he’s younger, bigger and comes with a better pedigree. Of course, he’ll probably be more expensive, too, so maybe the Preds will opt for Ellis.’

This year, it seems like most of the major contenders are set for goaltenders – but if Detroit is looking to shore up their goaltending situation, they might pick up either Ellis or Rinne as a solid backup for their future franchise goaltender, Jimmy Howard. Osgood has been an absolute sieve in his starts this year, and the Wings administration has made it clear that Howard will be the go-to guy in the future.

Finally, the Avalanche have planted themselves in playoff contention, and by all appearances, they should be able to lock up a spot in the middle of the post-season picture. Don’t forget about the Coyotes, though. This time last year, Phoenix was sitting comfortably in 5th place in the West, when they suddenly hit a terrible losing streak and eventually dropped to last place in the conference. If a similar fate would befall Colorado in the second half, there’s a handful of players they would likely drop:

‘Look for pesky winger Darcy Tucker or depth scorer Marek Svatos to be up for grabs. Veteran D-man Adam Foote knows a bit about playoff intensity and Ruslan Salei has seen his share of pressure-packed post-seasons, too. Brett Clark is another Avs blueliner who can play 20-plus minutes a night.’

Power-forwards like Tucker are worth their weight in gold when the deadline rolls around, and Svatos is the kind of dangler that has streaky success in the playoffs (i.e Fernado Pisani) – his great hands, explosive speed, and timely goal scoring would be an asset to nearly any contender. I’ve also read some speculation about Colorado entertaining offers for Anderson, but I doubt they’d considering parting with him unless a perfect deal came around.

The 2010 trade deadline is going to be filled with some great deals – expect some noteworthy and significant moves that will shake up the league for sure.

(H/T to THN)

Related posts:

1. NHL Trade Rumors: Tomas Vokoun to Chicago?
2. Has the Kessel Trade Backfired Already?
3. Leafs acquire Peluso at deadline
4. T.J Oshie Levels Jovanoski
5. Kovalchuk to Chicago?