We will have a little bit of a change in format this week. The trade deadline is fast approaching and that means we are inundated with trade and contract speculations. It is hard to know how much weight to put in any of it. For the West I have tried to sort teams into Buyers and Sellers, take a look at what they might be missing and see who could be available at the deadline. The list is not intended to be prescriptive – and I certainly haven’t included player’s names because I know they will be traded. The potential adds are based on the positional needs of the club, and the amount of flexibility they have at the deadline.

Cap info courtesy of CapFriendly.

Team positions and points after Sunday’s (2/17) games

Likely Buyers

Winnipeg

Current Position: First in the Central Division, 76 points

Deadline Cap Space: $27,493,539

Needs: Potential second line center to allow Bryan Little to move on to the third line.

Potential Adds: There are some high quality centers potentially available with the cap space Winnipeg currently has.

PLAYER

TEAM

CAP HIT

SALARY

AGE

POS

6. Matt Duchene	OTT	$6,000,000	$6,500,000	27	C, LW
19. Kevin Hayes	NYR	$5,175,000	$5,175,000	26	C
29. Marcus Johansson	NJD	$4,583,333	$4,750,000	27	C, LW, RW
43. Eric Staal	MIN	$3,500,000	$3,500,000	33	C

Nashville

Current Position: Second in the Central Division, 73 points

Deadline Cap Space: $29,083,839

Needs: Depth scoring particularly on the wing. Kevin Fiala, and Craig Smith just aren’t getting it done with any consistency.

Potential Adds: Again the cap space gives Nashville som real flexibility here.

PLAYER

TEAM

CAP HIT

SALARY

AGE

POS

31. Mats Zuccarello	NYR	$4,500,000	$4,500,000	30	RW
32. Justin Williams	CAR	$4,500,000	$4,000,000	36	RW
37. Carl Hagelin	LAK	$4,000,000	$3,666,000	29	LW
40. Jakob Silfverberg	ANA	$3,750,000	$3,750,000	27	RW, LW
55. Richard Pánik	ARI	$2,800,000	$2,800,000	27	LW, RW
79. Ryan Dzingel	OTT	$1,800,000	$2,100,000	26	LW, RW, C
83. Micheal Ferland	CAR	$1,750,000	$1,800,000	26	LW, RW

Dallas

Current Position: First Wild Card Position, 63 points

Deadline Cap Space: $1,795,834

Needs: Depth scoring and defense. That top line is killer, but the pace falls off dramatically – even when Dallas breaks up Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov

Potential Adds: There is still some reasonable talent at this cap level.

PLAYER

TEAM

CAP HIT

SALARY

AGE

POS

99. Sven Andrighetto	COL	$1,400,000	$1,550,000	25	RW, LW
112. Martin Frk	DET	$1,050,000	$1,050,000	24	RW
131. Josh Leivo	VAN	$925,000	$925,000	25	LW
133. Frank Vatrano	FLA	$925,000	$925,000	24	LW, C
140. J.T. Compher	COL	$925,000	$925,000	23	RW, C
141. Pavel Buchnevich	NYR	$925,000	$925,000	23	RW, LW
144. Nick Schmaltz	ARI	$925,000	$925,000	22	C
155. Colin White	OTT	$925,000	$925,000	21	RW, C
158. Alex Iafallo	LAK	$925,000	$925,000	24	LW, C
167. Alexander Kerfoot	COL	$925,000	$925,000	23	C, LW

San Jose

Current Position: Second in the Pacific Division, 77 Points

Deadline Cap Space: $5,328,621

Needs: With the most goals against of anyone currently in playoff position: Goaltending.

Potential Adds: There is a reasonable market of potential goalies at the moment, though Jimmy Howard is the only one outperforming his Expected Goal numbers.

PLAYER

TEAM

CAP HIT

SALARY

AGE

17. Jimmy Howard	DET	$5,291,666	$4,250,000	34
65. Anders Nilsson	OTT	$2,500,000	$2,000,000	28
81. Chad Johnson	ANA	$1,750,000	$1,750,000	32
94. Petr Mrázek	CAR	$1,500,000	$1,500,000	26
105. Keith Kinkaid	NJD	$1,250,000	$1,300,000	28
164. Cal Petersen	LAK	$925,000	$925,000	23
196. Joonas Korpisalo	CBJ	$900,000	$1,100,000	24

Calgary

Current Position: First in the Pacific Division, 77 points

Deadline Cap Space: $6,978,074

Needs: Secondary scoring and goaltending, though Matthew Tkachuk, Mikael Backlund, and Michael Frolik do have a history of performing when it counts.

Potential Adds: Some flexibility with available cap space helps with the options.

PLAYER

TEAM

CAP HIT

SALARY

AGE

POS

19. Kevin Hayes	NYR	$5,175,000	$5,175,000	26	C
31. Mats Zuccarello	NYR	$4,500,000	$4,500,000	30	RW
32. Justin Williams	CAR	$4,500,000	$4,000,000	36	RW
40. Jakob Silfverberg	ANA	$3,750,000	$3,750,000	27	RW, LW
43. Eric Staal	MIN	$3,500,000	$3,500,000	33	C

Las Vegas

Current Position: Third in the Pacific Division, 68 points

Deadline Cap Space: $16,497,033

Needs: Nothing glaring. Top two lines both capable of scoring, defensive core is strong, and goaltending is holding up well. Vegas has a lot of solid pieces already so

an ideal add would be a game breaker. They could be in the running for many of the other depth forwards, but with William Karlsson’s regression a top producer might be needed.

Potential Adds:

PLAYER

TEAM

CAP HIT

SALARY

AGE

POS

6. Matt Duchene	OTT	$6,000,000	$6,500,000	27	C, LW
8. Artemi Panarin	CBJ	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	26	LW
10. Jeff Skinner	BUF	$5,725,000	$6,000,000	26	LW, RW

St. Louis

Current Position: Third in the Central Division, 67 points

Deadline Cap Space: $5,196,696

Needs: Some depth scoring wouldn’t hurt, but adding some defense would help shore up the backend.

Potential Adds:

PLAYER

TEAM

CAP HIT

SALARY

AGE

POS

33. Cody Ceci	OTT	$4,300,000	$4,300,000	24	D
49. Michael Del Zotto	ANA	$3,000,000	$3,000,000	28	D
54. Ryan Murray	CBJ	$2,825,000	$2,825,000	24	D
56. Ben Hutton	VAN	$2,800,000	$2,800,000	25	D

117. Chris Wideman	FLA	$1,000,000	$1,000,000	28	D
136. Zachary Werenski	CBJ	$925,000 📢 advertisement:	$925,000	20	D
159. Neal Pionk	NYR	$925,000	$925,000	22	D
168. Will Butcher	NJD	$925,000	$925,000	23	D

Likely Sellers

LA

Current Position: 15th in the West (9th in Wild Card), 52 points

Deadline Cap Space: $9,877,056

Available Assets:

PLAYER	TEAM	CAP HIT	SALARY	AGE	POS
37. Carl Hagelin	LAK	$4,000,000	$3,666,000	29	LW
158. Alex Iafallo	LAK	$925,000	$925,000	24	LW, C
164. Cal Petersen	LAK	$925,000	$925,000	23	G

Anaheim

Current Position: 13th in West (7th in Wild Card), 55 points

Deadline Cap Space: $559,167

Available Assets:

PLAYER

TEAM

CAP HIT

SALARY

AGE

POS

40. Jakob Silfverberg	ANA	$3,750,000	$3,750,000	27	RW, LW
49. Michael Del Zotto	ANA	$3,000,000	$3,000,000	28	D
81. Chad Johnson	ANA	$1,750,000	$1,750,000	32	G
121. Brian Gibbons	ANA	$1,000,000	$1,000,000	30	C

Edmonton

Current Position: 14th in West, (8th in Wild Card), 53 points

Deadline Cap Space: $4,269,166

Available Assets:

PLAYER

TEAM

CAP HIT

SALARY

AGE

POS

73. Tobias Rieder	EDM	$2,000,000	$2,000,000	25	LW, RW
76. Alex Petrovic	EDM	$1,950,000	$1,950,000	26	D
147. Jesse Puljujärvi	EDM	$925,000	$925,000	20	RW

On The Edge

Chicago

Current Position: 12th in the West (6th in Wild Card), 57 Points

Deadline Cap Space: $21,173,677

Needs: If they want to make a playoff run shoring up their defensive end and goaltending is a must.

Available Assets: If they end up being sellers they have some potential options.

PLAYER

TEAM

CAP HIT

SALARY

AGE

POS

45. Marcus Krüger	CHI	$3,083,333	$2,300,000	28	C
51. Cam Ward	CHI	$3,000,000	$3,000,000	34	G
115. Chris Kunitz	CHI	$1,000,000	$1,000,000	38	RW, LW
160. David Kämpf	CHI	$925,000	$925,000	23	C, RW
170. Dylan Sikura	CHI	$925,000	$925,000	23	LW, RW, C

Colorado

Current Position: 11th in the West (5th in Wild Card), 57 Points

Deadline Cap Space: $52,148,839

Needs: A playoff push will require more depth scoring. Carl Soderberg is the only player doing much of anything off of the top line. Their goals against numbers are also a concern, so an improvement on defense might be needed as well.

Available Assets:

PLAYER	TEAM	CAP HIT	SALARY	AGE	POS
9. Semyon Varlamov	COL	$5,900,000	$5,500,000	30	G
64. Patrik Nemeth	COL	$2,500,000	$2,500,000	26	D
71. Nikita Zadorov	COL	$2,150,000	$2,200,000	23	D
99. Sven Andrighetto	COL	$1,400,000	$1,550,000	25	RW, LW
130. Gabriel Bourque	COL	$950,000	$950,000	27	LW, RW
140. J.T. Compher	COL	$925,000	$925,000	23	RW, C
167. Alexander Kerfoot	COL	$925,000	$925,000	23	C, LW
190. Sheldon Dries	COL	$925,000	$925,000	24	C

Vancouver

Current Position: 9th in the West (3rd in Wild Card), 59 Points

Deadline Cap Space: $40,755,855

Needs: A supporting cast for Bo Horvat on the second line, and a true number one defenseman.

Available Assets:

PLAYER	TEAM	CAP HIT	SALARY	AGE	POS
56. Ben Hutton	VAN	$2,800,000	$2,800,000	25	D
96. Markus Granlund	VAN	$1,475,000	$1,475,000	25	RW, LW, C
107. Derrick Pouliot	VAN	$1,100,000	$1,100,000	24	D
110. Tom Pyatt	VAN	$1,100,000	$1,200,000	31	C
131. Josh Leivo	VAN	$925,000	$925,000	25	LW
137. Tyler Motte	VAN	$925,000	$925,000	23	RW, LW, C

Arizona

Current Position: 10th in the West (4th in Wild Card), 57 Points

Deadline Cap Space: $29,486,236

Needs: Arizona has reasonable defense, but needs to improve scoring, and an un-injured goalie would help.

Available Assets:

PLAYER	TEAM	CAP HIT	SALARY	AGE	POS
55. Richard Pánik	ARI	$2,800,000	$2,800,000	27	LW, RW
84. Jordan Weal	ARI	$1,750,000	$1,750,000	26	C, LW
122. Nick Cousins	ARI	$1,000,000	$1,050,000	24	C, LW
144. Nick Schmaltz	ARI	$925,000	$925,000	22	C

Minnesota

Current Position: Second Wild Card Spot, 60 points

Deadline Cap Space: $8,937,430

Needs: Arizona has reasonable defense and goaltending. Like Vegas they also have a number of middle six forwards, but are missing the top tier talent.

Available Assets: