Top 30 Players to Watch Approaching the 2021 Trade Deadline

Taylor Hall (Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports)

Let the trading begin. Or not. Honestly? No one knows what to expect from these unprecedented circumstances.

The list of names being bandied about as targets approaching the 2020-21 NHL trade deadline is pretty exciting. We should temper our expectations, however. Quarantine periods, the flat salary cap of $81.5 million and expansion-draft protection schemes will serve as roadblocks to executing easy deals. That said, the Canadian government agreeing to shorten post-trade quarantine periods from 14 to seven days will encourage more trades.

We will surely see some NHL teams make moves in the days leading up to the April 12 deadline,. Which players are most likely to get dealt? Here’s a primer to follow based on the rumors swirling out of each market.

THE TOP 30: Realistic Trade Candidates, Ranked by Potential Impact

1. Mattias Ekholm, D, Predators

Age: 30
Cap hit: $3,750,000
Years left: 1
Clauses: none

The top prize. Blends top-pair shutdown ability, an extra year of term and a criminally low cap hit relative to his impact. But is there a chance Nashville makes a surprise Ryan Ellis trade instead?

2. Filip Forsberg, LW, Predators

Age: 26
Cap hit: $6,000,000
Years left: 1
Clauses: none

Still young enough to be part of the Preds’ long-term plans, and GM Poile went on the record earlier this month about his reluctance to move his first-line left winger. So why place Forsberg on this list? He’s attractive to too many teams. The offers should be plentiful and tempting.

3. Rickard Rakell, LW, Ducks

Age: 27
Cap hit: $3,789,444
Years left: 1
Clauses: none

Among players with at least 500 minutes played at 5-on-5 this season, only Connor McDavid averages more shots per 60 than Rakell. He could do real damage as a high-volume chance generator with a star center feeding him the biscuit. Very affordable contract, too.

4. Taylor Hall, LW, Sabres

Age: 29
Cap hit: $8,000,000
Years left: UFA
Clauses: full no-movement clause

With the Sabres enduring the longest winless streak of the shootout era, teams might get ‘Buffalo discounts’ at the trade deadline because every Sabre’s stats are so ugly. If a team can land Hall for less than a first-round pick, he might be a steal. The Sabres have been better with him on the ice than without, for what it’s worth.

5. Sam Reinhart, RW, Sabres

Age: 25
Cap hit: $5,200,000
Years left: RFA
Clauses: none

If the Sabres don’t want to go nuclear with the rebuild and trade Jack Eichel, a Reinhart deal would still shake the franchise and bring in significant future assets. He’s long been a streaky player, but when he’s on, he can be a difference maker.

6. Joonas Korpisalo or Elvis Merzlikins, G, Blue Jackets

Age: Korpisalo 26. Merzlikins 26
Cap hit: Korpisalo $2,800,000, Merzlikins $4,000,000
Years left: Korpisalo 1, Merzlikins 1
Clauses: None

Korpisalo has the more impressive sample size of playoff success and the cheaper contract, whereas Merzlikins has shown a higher ceiling and is exempt from the expansion draft. Both are attractive trade targets should the Blue Jackets decide to sell, but they’re not dead yet in the Central.

7. Mikael Granlund, C, Predators

Age: 29
Cap hit: $3,750,000
Years left: UFA
Clauses: none

Versatility is Granlund’s game. He has experience at all three forward positions and has spent time in his career playing a pure scoring role or a hybrid scoring/shutdown role on a two-way line.

8. Nick Foligno, LW, Blue Jackets

Age: 33
Cap hit: $5,500,000
Years left: UFA
Clauses: 10-team no-trade list

Foligno is a Columbus institution, a beloved captain who sits third on the franchise’s all-time list in games, goals, assists and points. He epitomizes the heart-and-soul brand of hockey GM Jarmo Kekalainen and coach John Tortorella love. But that also makes Foligno an ideal trade target, someone other players will go to war with in the playoffs. There will be suitors.

9. Josh Manson, D, Ducks

Age: 29
Cap hit: $4,100,000
Years left: 1
Clauses: 12-team no-trade list

Trading for Manson means spinning the revolver with more than one bullet in the chamber, because his rugged, self-sacrificing style gets him banged up often. But a healthy Manson brings a playoff-friendly game on the right side of the blueline.

10. Conor Garland, RW, Coyotes

Age: 25
Cap hit: $775,000
Years left: RFA
Clauses: none

Trade Garland? The Coyotes aren’t forcing it, but they’re reportedly receiving bites and could move him if the return is significant. The team linked to him most frequently at the moment is his hometown club, the Boston Bruins.

11. Alex Goligoski, D, Coyotes

Age: 35
Cap hit: $5,475,000
Years left: UFA
Clauses: 8-team no-trade list

He gone. Goligoski is a veteran puck-mover on an expiring deal, playing for a rebuilding team and signed by a previous regime. He can likely be had for a pick or prospect or both – though the Coyotes may have to eat some salary to help out his new team in the flat-cap world.

12. Dustin Brown, RW, Kings

Age: 36
Cap hit: $5,875,000
Years left: 1
Clauses: 7-team no-trade list

If the Kings absorb some salary from the contract, which isn’t nearly as prohibitive as it was a few years ago, a contender could consider adding Brown for his physicality and playoff experience. Any team buying him for his resurgent numbers could end up disappointed, however. His shot metrics haven’t rebounded at all. Only his shooting percentage has – to a number way above his career average. A regression looms. Actually, it’s already begun.

13. Darcy Kuemper or Antti Raanta, G, Coyotes

Age: Kuemper 30, Raanta 31
Cap hit: Kuemper $4,500,000, Raanta $4,250,000
Years left: Kuemper 1, Raanta UFA
Clauses: none

Both Coyotes stoppers could provide significant upgrades in net to a contending team, particularly Kuemper, coming off consecutive top-seven finishes in the Vezina Trophy vote. But both goaltenders are injured. Kuemper’s week-to-week timeline puts him on track to return before the post-season. The pending UFA Raanta would be the logical guy for Arizona to move, but he’s expected to be out longer than Kuemper and won’t command as big of a return.

14. Kyle Palmieri, RW, Devils

Age: 30
Cap hit: $4,650,000
Years left: UFA
Clauses: 8-team no-trade list

Throw out his terrible 2020-21 numbers on a disappointing Devils team. He averaged 30 goals per 82 games in his first five seasons in New Jersey and is a perfect rental target for a team in need of a reliable top-six scorer who can help on the power play.

15. David Savard, D, Blue Jackets

Age: 30
Cap hit: $4,250,000
Years left: UFA
Clauses: none

With the Jackets needing a new deal for RFA Patrik Laine and potentially Foligno if they bring him back, not to mention an extension looming for blueliner Seth Jones, it’s difficult to imagine them having room to keep Savard, so he’s a logical piece to sell off as a rental. He’s big, right-handed shot-blocking machine who limits high-quality chances.

16. Eric Staal, C, Sabres

Age: 36
Cap hit: $3,250,000
Years left: UFA
Clauses: 10-team no-trade list

Bet on Staal to end up with a Cup contender before the deadline passes. With his size, experience and leadership, he’s a natural third-line center target.

17. P.K. Subban, D, Devils

Age: 31
Cap hit: $9,000,000
Years left: 1
Clauses: none

Could it happen? Subban has quietly played better in his second season as a Devil, especially in the last month or so. If a team is willing to inherit half his cap hit at $4.5 million, with New Jersey retaining the other half, he could be a bargain acquisition. He’s not close top a top-pair guy anymore, but his well-rounded skill set could make him a useful middle-pair contributor.

18. Anton Khudobin, G, Stars

Age: 34
Cap hit: $3,333,333
Years left: 2
Clauses: none

While they have games in hand, the Stars are seventh in the Central Division, not expecting Ben Bishop and Tyler Seguin back any time soon. It feels like a lost season. Since Bishop has a no-movement clause and breakout rookie Jake Oettinger is expansion-draft exempt, the Stars are pretty much set for their netminding tandem next season and beyond if they decide to trade Khudobin, who should attract attention after helping Dallas reach the final last year.