It is a sellers’ market and the prices are steep.
That is evident, based on the deals to date. Teams wanting to upgrade ahead of Monday’s NHL trade deadline are going to pay a premium, especially for players with term. See Blake Coleman.
Even the rentals — from top-six wingers like Tyler Toffoli to bottom-pairing defenders like Marco Scandella — are fetching significant (and surprising) returns. Nobody is coming cheap.
The real impact players are sure to command substantial packages.
Whether that is Chris Kreider or Matt Dumba, Tomas Tatar or Sami Vatanen. There
are quality players available despite the lack of sellers, with so many teams
still in playoff contention.
That makes for more buyers, which means bidding wars. Several
general managers are feeling the pressure to add — or the urge to improve
— while matching the moves of their rivals.
Take the Pacific Division, for example, where Arizona acted
early in landing Taylor Hall and Vancouver reacted to their injuries by reeling
in Toffoli. Now all eyes are on Edmonton and Calgary to keep pace on paper. Both
Alberta teams are missing their captains at the moment but aren’t expected to
stand pat — not with the standings so tight as of today.
Other arms races will emerge between now and Monday, as
every team attempts to accomplish their deadline goals in addressing their
needs going forward.
Established contenders will be seeking a specific piece to
put them over the top. The playoff locks will be shopping for a ringer to
ensure a longer run. The bubble teams may also be looking to load up for a postseason
push. Or they might pull the plug to focus on their future — retooling to some
extent for next season, if not entertaining a full rebuild.
Regardless, it should be an exciting few days in the hockey world. Who knows what will happen, but it’s always fun to speculate. I enjoy making predictions at this time of year — it had become an annual tradition until I sat out the 2019 deadline — but I’m admittedly terrible at trade proposals, so I’m going to try something new for 2020.
I’m calling this project Fisher’s Big Board of Bait — get it
Fisher, fishing, bait … as in trade bait. Essentially, this is a list of
players I envision being on the block — listed in order of their likelihood to
be dealt. Starting with the teams that have the most players available.

In total, there are 130 players from 20 teams — primarily
from perceived sellers since the buyers will be parting with draft picks and
prospects as currency, which is more of a crapshoot.
Realistically, I’m anticipating around 50 more NHL players to move by Monday and I’m hoping the majority of them will appear here on my bait board.
Montreal Canadiens (12)
Ilya Kovalchuk — Traded to Washington
Tomas Tatar
Jeff Petry
Nate Thompson — Traded to Philadelphia
Jordan Weal
Nick Cousins — Traded to Vegas
Brett Kulak
Max Domi
Artturi Lehkonen
Charles Hudon
Christian Folin
Keith Kinkaid

(Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
Ottawa Senators (10)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Traded to New York Islanders (extended for six years)
Ron Hainsey
Tyler Ennis — Traded to Edmonton
Vladislav Namestnikov — Traded to Colorado
Chris Tierney
Mikkel Boedker
Craig Anderson
Max Veronneau — Traded to Toronto
Filip Chlapik
Mark Borowiecki

(Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
Buffalo Sabres (10)
Conor Sheary — Traded to Pittsburgh
Michael Frolik
Johan Larsson
Jimmy Vesey
Evan Rodrigues — Traded to Pittsburgh
Zemgus Girgensons
Rasmus Ristolainen
Zach Bogosian — Signed by Tampa Bay (following contract termination)
Colin Miller
Jake McCabe

(Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Florida Panthers (10)
Mike Hoffman
Michael Matheson
Mark Pysyk
Henrik Borgstrom
Denis Malgin — Traded to Toronto
Evgeni Dadonov
Vincent Trocheck — Traded to Carolina
Brian Boyle
Dryden Hunt
Aleksi Heponiemi

(Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Detroit Red Wings (9)
Trevor Daley
Mike Green — Traded to Edmonton
Jimmy Howard
Valtteri Filppula
Andreas Athanasiou — Traded to Edmonton
Luke Glendening
Darren Helm
Patrik Nemeth
Anthony Mantha

(Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
San Jose Sharks (9)
Patrick Marleau — Traded to Pittsburgh
Melker Karlsson
Tim Heed
Aaron Dell
Barclay Goodrow — Traded to Tampa Bay
Joe Thornton
Marcus Sorensen
Radim Simek
Lukas Radil

(Darren Yamashita/USA TODAY)
Nashville Predators (9)
Mikael Granlund
Craig Smith
Dan Hamhuis
Kyle Turris
Nick Bonino
Colton Sissons
Rocco Grimaldi — Re-signed for two years
Miikka Salomaki — Traded to Toronto
Daniel Carr

Minnesota Wild (8)
Matt Dumba
Jonas Brodin
Ryan Donato
Marcus Foligno
Ryan Hartman
Brad Hunt
Eric Staal
Devan Dubnyk

(Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
New York Rangers (7)
Chris Kreider — Re-signed for seven years
Jesper Fast
Alexandar Georgiev
Lias Andersson
Anthony DeAngelo
Pavel Buchnevich
Brady Skjei — Traded to Carolina

(Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Los Angeles Kings (7)
Alec Martinez — Traded to Vegas
Trevor Lewis
Ben Hutton
Derek Forbort — Traded to Calgary
Tim Schaller
Joakim Ryan
Martin Frk — Re-signed for two years

(Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Anaheim Ducks (7)
Derek Grant — Traded to Philadelphia
Ondrej Kase — Traded to Boston
Michael Del Zotto
Devin Shore — Traded to Columbus
Ryan Miller
Daniel Sprong — Traded to Washington
Josh Manson

(Sergei Belski/USA TODAY)
Toronto Maple Leafs (7)
Jeremy Bracco
Nic Petan
Tyson Barrie
Kasperi Kapanen
Alex Kerfoot
Frederik Gauthier
Michael Hutchinson — Traded to Colorado

(Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY)
New Jersey Devils (6)
Sami Vatanen — Traded to Carolina
Wayne Simmonds — Traded to Buffalo
Kyle Palmieri
Mirco Mueller
Michael McLeod
Louis Domingue — Traded to Vancouver

Edmonton Oilers (5)
Jesse Puljujarvi
Jujhar Khaira
Sam Gagner — Traded to Detroit
William Lagesson
Cooper Marody

Chicago Blackhawks (3)
Erik Gustafsson — Traded to Calgary
Brandon Saad
Robin Lehner — Traded to Vegas

(Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Arizona Coyotes (3)
Michael Grabner
Christian Fischer
Brad Richardson

Columbus Blue Jackets (3)
Josh Anderson
Sonny Milano — Traded to Anaheim
Riley Nash

New York Islanders (3)
Josh Ho-Sang
Michael Dal Colle
Tom Kuhnhackl

(Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Philadelphia Flyers (1)
Shayne Gostisbehere

Calgary Flames (1)
Sam Bennett

(Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Well, what do you think — could any or all of those players be traded prior to Monday’s deadline? Are there any glaring omissions? Feel free to weigh in or share your own predictions in the comments below.
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