With just a few weeks to go before the NHL trade deadline, it's time to look at what players might be on the move.
- The NHL trade deadline is slowly but surely appearing on the horizon. Although a number of trades have already been made, and many are likely to take place between now and the final buzzer, most of the deals take place in the weeks leading up to it.
- This year's deadline is set for 3:00 PM ET on February 25th. That's on a Monday, so you'll want to start coughing and looking unwell on the Friday so you can call in sick.
- Pending UFAs usually dominate the NHL trade deadline as bottom feeders ship them out to playoff teams looking for a boost. This year, the list of top UFAs includes names like Sergei Bobrovsky, Mark Stone, Artemi Panarin, Jeff Skinner, Mike Smith, Matt Duchene, Kevin Hayes, Alex Edler, Gustav Nyquist, Mats Zuccarello, Jason Spezza, Cam Talbot, Jakob Silfverberg, Wayne Simmonds, Thomas Vanek and Cam Ward, among many others.
- Several players under contract beyond this season have been circulating in the rumour mill as well, including Charlie Coyle, Vladislav Namestnikov, Jesse Puljujarvi, Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez. Our Trade Rumour Board has a full list of players in the NHL rumour mill, their likelihood of being trade in the next year, and what teams are rumoured to have interest. Many more names are likely to surface in the coming weeks.
- NHL Rumour Report's Trade Rumour Board keeps track of rumours around the NHL year round, and will be updated regularly in the lead up to February 25th. Our live trade deadline blog will launch in the weeks leading up to the deadline, likely some time in early February.
