The 2022 NHL Offseason has been a symphony of beautiful chaos. Shane Wright, the consensus #1 overall pick in the draft, fell down to fourth overall on draft night. Johnny Gaudreau stunned the Flames, signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets in free agency.
Then, the trades opened up, and the entertainment factor dialed up to an 11. Here are three teams that are buying and three that are selling with the latest NHL trades.
Carolina Hurricanes: Buyer
The Hurricanes’ playoff window is still wide open, but after several seasons of disappointment, including a failure to advance past the second round in each of the past three postseasons, a major roster shakeup was needed.
Hurricanes Analysis
Carolina let defenseman Tony DeAngelo walk in free agency before landing star defenseman Brent Burns in a deal with the San Jose Sharks.
The Hurricanes sent center Steven Lorentz, goaltending prospect Eetu Makiniemei, and a conditional third-round draft pick in 2023 while also adding AHL forward Lane Pederson from San Jose.
But the Canes didn’t stop there. Taking advantage of the Vegas Golden Knights cap crunch, Carolina added left winger Max Pacioretty (19 goals, 18 assists in 39 games last season) for future considerations.
Pacioretty’s Scoring Proficiency
Adding a player of Pacioretty’s scoring proficiency and playoff experience adds a potent punch to the Hurricanes’ offense after Nino Niederreiter signed with the Nashville Predators.
This series of trades has Carolina looking at the fourth-best NHL betting odds of around +1000 to win the Stanley Cup next season.
New York Islanders: Seller
While not your traditional “seller” trying to move pieces for draft capital or prospects, the Islanders join the group of “sellers” on the latest NHL trades list for one reason: Nazem Kadri.
Kadri had a career year in 2022, scoring 28 goals and adding 59 assists in 71 games with the Colorado Avalanche before adding seven goals and eight assists in 16 playoff games and winning the Stanley Cup. He’s one of the top free agent prizes this offseason but has yet to sign a new deal with any club.
The Islanders are heavily linked to Kadri, but according to CapFriendly, the Islanders have just over $11 million in cap room.
The Need for Restricted Free-agent
They also need to sign restricted free-agent defensemen Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov, meaning the Isles will need to clear a considerable amount of cap room to free up space for Kadri.
If they can get a deal done, it’s not too far-fetched to think Anthony Beauvillier or Josh Bailey would be out the door.
Keep an eye on Brock Nelson and Anders Lee as well; moving them will be harder as both have partial no-trade clauses, but as we’ve already learned, no player is truly unmoveable in a trade.
Ottawa Senators: Buyer
Ottawa accelerated its push to return to the playoffs this offseason with a series of deals. The Senators swung for the fences to acquire Alex DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks, adding a top-flight goalscorer to the top of the lineup.
Ottawa also moved goaltender Matt Murray (statistically a bottom-five goaltender in the league the past three seasons) to rival Toronto, then acquired Cam Talbot from the Minnesota Wild.
While they still have some cap room to play with, Ottawa needs to get Alex Formenton and Erik Brännström under contract. Still, don’t be surprised if the Sens make another depth signing or trade to round out the bottom-six forward group or their third defensive pairing.
Vegas Golden Knights: Seller
As touched on earlier, Vegas gave up Max Pacioretty for, quite literally, nothing in a trade with the Hurricanes.
The Golden Knights missed the playoffs last season for the first time in franchise history, and NHL expert picks seem torn about whether or not Vegas will return to the postseason in 2023.
The Golden Knights are still up against the salary cap, requiring a trade to acquire Shea Weber’s contract for long-term injured reserve (LTIR) cap relief.
How Injuries Can Affect?
It’s a loophole that has come under scrutiny in recent years, allowing teams to “exceed” the cap by taking on the contracts of players whose injuries have effectively caused them to retire. While Weber hasn’t officially retired, it seems highly unlikely he’ll play in the NHL again.
With only nine forwards under contract for next season, don’t be surprised to see Vegas moving out more players to dress a cap-compliant roster.
Florida Panthers: Buyer
Following another early playoff exit, Florida decided to shake up the forward group by sending Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt, and a lottery-protected first-round draft pick in 2025 to the Calgary Flames for Matthew Tkachuk.
Both Huberdeau and Tkachuk passed the 100-point total last season, making this one of the most prolific trades in recent memory.
First or Second-round Exit
The Panthers are still in a bit of a tight spot in terms of financials, but one thing is clear: Florida is all-in on a Cup run next season. A first or second-round exit won’t be good enough.
Adding Tkachuk creates more difficult NHL matchups given his gritty style of play, which should also open up space for:
- Aleksander Barkov
- Anthony Duclair
- Sam Bennett
Chicago Blackhawks: Seller
Closing out our list, the Blackhawks are headed for a scorched-earth rebuild, as reflected by their latest NHL trades.
Beyond moving star winger Alex DeBrincat to Ottawa, Chicago traded young center Kirby Dach (the third overall pick in the 2019 Draft) to Montreal. The move came after Brandon Hagel was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning at last season’s trade deadline.
If DeBrincat, Hagel, and Dach weren’t the pieces to rebuild around, who is? That’s a tough question to answer, and Chicago fans may not get an answer for a few seasons there.
Franchise-wide Reset
The franchise-wide reset has sparked rumors that Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the faces of the team for more than a decade, could be on the way out the door.
Both are in the final seasons of their contracts. While the Hawks would likely need to retain salary in a deal, you can almost guarantee both will be gone by next season’s trade deadline.
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