NHL trade deadline preview: darkhorses, 50/50 bets and surefire trade bait


Lots of big names are floating around this rumour season, but which ones will actually move by the deadline? Let's break it down into three categories: likely on the move, 50/50 likelihood, and darkhorses.





Possibly moving (50/50 territory)
These players have been in the rumour mill consistently this season, and there's a reasonable chance they move before the deadline.
  1. Marc-Andre Fleury
  2. Matt Duchene
  3. Kevin Shattenkirk
  4. Gabriel Landeskog
  5. Ben Bishop
  6. Evander Kane
  7. Dmitry Kulikov
  8. François Beauchemin
  9. Brendan Smith
  10. Jannik Hansen
  11. Dennis Wideman
  12. Ryan Murphy
  13. Alexandre Burrows
  14. Cody Franson
  15. Ondrej Pavelec
  16. Deryk Engelland
  17. Brian Gionta
  18. Michael Hutchinson
  19. Teddy Purcell
  20. Andreas Martinsen





Likely trade deadline movers
These are the players we can be reasonably confident will be on the move before the March 1st deadline. Unfortunately this list isn't all that long yet. I wouldn't be too concerned, as a fair number of the players listed in the 50/50 category above should become "probables" as we approach the deadline.
  1. Martin Hanzal
  2. Michael Stone
  3. Thomas Vanek
  4. Radim Vrbata
  5. Jarome Iginla
  6. Shane Doan
  7. John Mitchell
  8. Rene Bourque
  9. Tomas Jurco

The darkhorses
You might have heard plenty of rumours surrounding these players, but it's still a longshot they're traded by March 1st. We're all hoping a couple of these guys end up moving to spice things up.
  1. Dougie Hamilton
  2. Jacob Trouba
  3. Travis Hamonic
  4. Jordan Eberle
  5. Patrick Sharp
  6. Steve Mason
  7. Ryan Miller
  8. Ryan Spooner
  9. Semyon Varlamov
  10. Thomas Greiss
  11. Tomas Plekanec
  12. Johnny Oduya
  13. Jaro Halak
  14. Antti Niemi
  15. Kari Lehtonen
  16. Anthony Duclair
  17. Michal Neuvirth
  18. Erik Johnson
  19. Shea Theodore
  20. Zemgus Girgensons
  21. Curtis Lazar
  22. Reto Berra

Expect a lot of shuffling of players between these lists as we approach the March 1st NHL trade deadline. Want even more darkhorse trade rumours? Check out NHL Rumour Report's trade rumour board for a look at every single player in the rumour mill.

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