Every NHL Team's Nightmare 2024 Trade Deadline Scenario

The NHL trade deadline is one of the biggest events on the league calendar. Whether your team is a Stanley Cup contender or a rebuilding team looking to the future, it's an opportunity to add major pieces for the short and long term.

Everybody dreams of the perfect, franchise-changing trade, but not all of the trades made end up working out. Sometimes teams get too aggressive or are not aggressive enough, or make changes they do not need to make and all of it could set them back.

With that in mind, let's look ahead to a potential nightmare trade deadline situation for every team in the NHL. That list includes players who should and shouldn't be shopped and needs that must be addressed.

The Anaheim Ducks don't seem likely to trade Trevor Zegras, but his name has been mentioned so many times as possibly being available that it's worth at least pondering what it would look like.

There might come a time when the Ducks decide that the 22-year-old has too many flaws away from the puck and that he isn't a true cornerstone player, but that time shouldn't be now. Not in the middle of a down year offensively, and not when he is still signed to a reasonable contract ($5.75 million per season against the salary cap) for two more full seasons.

The Ducks can afford to let this play out and wait for Zegras to bounce back, at which point they can decide to move forward with him as part of their core or move him when they will get a significantly better return.

Don't trade young players who have shown top-line ability in the NHL at their lowest value. It won't work out in your favor.

The Arizona Coyotes are clearly going to be sellers at the trade deadline as their playoff hopes slip away, especially with a couple of veteran unrestricted free agents who could be valuable to a playoff team (specifically Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba).

The problem would be if the Coyotes get too aggressive in their sell-off and go beyond the expiring contracts.

There is finally a decent core of players here that are signed long-term, including Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse, along with rookie Logan Cooley. Starting goalie Connor Ingram has also emerged as a prominent player.

Unless somebody knocks their socks off with an offer for any of the aforementioned players, the Coyotes should be willing to roll forward with them into the offseason and try to build something around them.

This is the most interesting roster Arizona has had in years, and it needs to start making a commitment to trying to win at some point.

Sell the UFAs. Keep everybody else.

At the start of the season, a center would have seemed like a slam-dunk in-season trade for the Boston Bruins.

Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí retired, and they were left with a new 1-2 punch of Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha. On paper, it did not seem like the sort of thing that Stanley Cup dreams were made of.

However, we are now almost three-quarters of the way through the season, and the Coyle-Zacha duo has actually held its own and solidified the center position in a way few would have anticipated.

It has almost made it so that center isn't even a primary need, especially now that Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan have already been moved.

Adam Henrique and Nic Dowd are probably the top two center options available, and while they would give the Bruins a fantastic trio down the middle, they would probably cost a significant number of assets that Boston simply does not have.

The team also has other needs that it probably needs to address, specifically on defense.

The Bruins have been a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of their defensive metrics relating to shot attempts, scoring chances and expected goals against, but goaltending has masked those flaws.

If Boston does make a big move, it should be to fix the defense.

If the Buffalo Sabres want to listen to trade offers for Casey Mittelstadt over fears of his next contract or because they want to shake up the culture of a stagnant team, that would be a fair approach. It might even be a solid one if they can get the right trade package in return.

However, the Sabres shouldn't be actively trying to deal away any other potential long-term pieces this season to try to salvage something. The season began with playoff expectations, but they have evaporated in a sea of disappointment.

The best course of action for the Sabres would be to sell any pending unrestricted free agents, see what the rest of the roster does down the stretch, and reassess their weaknesses in offense and figure out what is needed to end a likely 13-year playoff drought.

Throwing future assets at trying to salvage this season would be a huge mistake.

The Calgary Flames need a reset, and they have a bigger opportunity to accumulate more long-term assets at the trade deadline than almost any other team in the league.

They already received one first-round pick and a potentially productive NHL player in Andrei Kuzmenko in exchange for Elias Lindholm, and they have two more pending UFAs in defensemen Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin.

They are two of the most prominent rentals available on the market, and it is not a stretch to think the Flames could get first-round picks for each of them.

Add in the possibility of a Jacob Markstrom trade, and Calgary could really kick-start its rebuild.

Failing to do so and capitalize on the trade assets they have would be a real missed opportunity to bring in some major long-term assets. Even if the Flames want to flip some of those potential incoming picks for more immediate help, it would give them plenty of options.

There is a lot to like about the Carolina Hurricanes this season.

They are a top-10 offensive team, they are getting big seasons from almost all of their key players, Andrei Svechnikov is rounding back into form after a slow start, and they are once again a rock-solid team defensively.

Just about the only weakness or question mark in the team is in net where they don't really have a reliable situation.

Injuries and ineffectiveness have resulted in the Hurricanes having to use five different goalies this season, with only Pytor Kochetkov giving them league-average play.

They do not necessarily need a starter, or even a goalie who can steal games. They could simply use another reliable option as a safety net in case they need one in the playoffs.

Nothing can ruin a potential Stanley Cup contender faster than subpar goaltending. The Hurricanes can't afford to let that happen and waste another year of their core without getting to a Cup final.

In some ways, the Chicago Blackhawks' nightmare trade deadline scenario has already played out.

Instead of dealing veterans on the roster who could have had some value as rentals, they have already re-signed several players to multi-year deals, including Petr Mrázek, Nick Foligno and Jason Dickinson.

When you combine that with the season-ending injury to Taylor Hall, it has pretty much robbed the Blackhawks of most of their realistic trade assets.

They should resist any such temptation with Tyler Johnson and deal him to the highest bidder.

Yes, Chicago needs to fill out a roster next season. Yes, it needs to reach the salary-cap floor. But players such as Foligno, Dickinson and Mrázek are interchangeable with virtually any free agent they could sign for a similar price this offseason.

The Blackhawks should have flipped the veterans to keep stockpiling draft picks and used the salary-cap space this offseason to look for better players.

None of these guys will be part of the next Stanley Cup-contending Chicago team anyway.

For the past two years, the Colorado Avalanche have had a glaring need in their second-line center spot and have been unable to replace what they got from Nazem Kadri during their 2021 Stanley Cup run.

They were hoping Ryan Johansen could help fill that spot this season at a discounted salary, but he has not been up to par for what the Avalanche will need if they are going to get through the Western Conference playoffs.

The best rental option at this point is Anaheim's Adam Henrique, or they could try to get a little aggressive and go for somebody who still has term remaining on their deal.

Colorado actually has some interesting trade assets to work with, including its own first-round pick and, if it really wanted to get bold, defenseman Bowen Byram.

The Avalanche have a real chance to compete for another Cup, and they cannot let that slip away, especially not in a season when Nathan MacKinnon is playing at an MVP level.

The Columbus Blue Jackets already made one of the most significant moves they could have this season when they removed former general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen from his role.

Who knows what their trade deadline would have looked like if they hadn't; based on the past two years, it likely would have been more haphazard roster moves with no set plan in place.

With the GM's seat now open, the Blue Jackets would be wise not to try anything major and let the new executive start fixing the mess in the offseason.

They only have one major UFA (Jack Roslovic) and no other major pieces that would be easy to move or are necessary to move.

Stand pat and wait for a new full-time voice at GM to put a plan in place.

The Dallas Stars have one of the best offenses in the NHL and an incredibly deep collection of forwards. They also have a No. 1 goalie in Jake Oettinger, who is starting to get back on track.

A dynamic offense and a top-tier netminder playing on top of his game can take a team a long way.

The one area where they could use some help is on the blue line where it's mostly a question of depth.

Miro Heiskanen is fantastic as a No. 1 defender, and Thomas Harley is starting to make a big impact offensively.

But there is a bit of a drop after them further down the depth chart. There are several defensemen available over the next couple of weeks who could help, and failing to add one would be a missed opportunity given how close the Stars are to the top of the league.

The Detroit Red Wings have missed the playoffs seven years in a row, but they finally have a real chance to make it back this season.

They certainly score enough goals to be a playoff team. What they don't always do well enough is prevent them.

It is a multi-layered issue that involves their defense, goaltending and pretty much everybody on the roster. They are 26th in the NHL in expected goals against per 60 minutes and 21st in goals against per game, and neither figure is playoff quality.

Whether it's by adding another defenseman to complement Moritz Seider and take some of the defensive-zone pressure off of him or adding a goalie, the Red Wings need to do something to keep the puck out of their net.

Failure to do so might extend their playoff drought to eight consecutive seasons, and that would lead to questions about whether they are really on the right track.

The one big knock on the Edmonton Oilers in recent years has been their inability to give superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl enough help.

Three years ago, general manager Ken Holland made the regrettable comment to say that you have to "pick and choose" when you go all-in, and that it isn't something you can do every season.

That is a terrible mindset to take when you have players as good as McDavid and Draisaitl.

The correct year to go all-in with them, especially when they are in their prime years, is all of them.

To Holland's credit, he did make a huge move a year ago to get Mattias Ekholm from the Nashville Predators, which significantly upgraded the Oilers' defense (and still is upgrading their defense).

He needs to make a similar splash this season, whether it is on defense, in goal, or even another goal-scoring winger for more forward depth.

The Oilers have been one of the hottest teams in the league since the first month of the season, and they look like a Stanley Cup contender in almost every meaningful way.

They need to be willing to go the extra mile and look for the final piece of the puzzle. This is not the time to be conservative.

Find the goalie. Get the defensive depth. Do not let any draft pick or prospect in the farm system stop you from getting it.

While some teams have real needs that need to be addressed, others might be sensible to hold back and not do too much. The Florida Panthers are one of them.

They don't have a lot of needs, and they have such a good thing going right now that adding anything major could be more of a disruption than anything else. And they should know that from recent experience.

The Panthers are getting solid goaltending, are second in the NHL in goals against for the season and have an offense that has been fifth-best in the league since the start of December.

Everything is clicking right now and they should not do anything more than making a minor tweak to the depth or adding an upgrade to the fourth line.

During the 2021-22 season, the Panthers had the NHL's best team and made dramatic changes to the roster at the deadline, trading Frank Vatrano, Owen Tippett and several future first-round draft picks to bring in Ben Chiarot, Robert Hagg and Claude Giroux.

It was a major overhaul to a roster that didn't really need it and played a big role (at least with the defense additions) in holding the team back and slowing it down. After barely sneaking by a mediocre Washington Capitals team in the first round, they were swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round.

This is a good team with few obvious flaws. It has taken Florida to the top of the NHL standings. Trust that and stick with it.

There is a lot to like about the Kings this season. They are a relentless defensive team, they control the pace of play territorially and even their goaltending has been better than expected.

Anže Kopitar is still great, and Quinton Byfield is finally emerging as a star. All is good.

If they are going to make noise in the Western Conference playoffs, though, they are going to need more offense, especially on the wings.

They are only 16th in the league in goals per game for the season, and they have dropped down to 30th since Dec. 1.

Adding another finisher could give the Kings a fighting chance to come out of the West.

It might be a relatively quiet deadline for the Minnesota Wild, and that's the way it should be.

They do not have many obvious players to sell, and there is no real reason for them to even attempt to be buyers. They still have an uphill battle when it comes to making the playoffs, and they don't look to be ready for any sort of a serious run if they did make it.

They have major salary-cap issues next season with the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts still looming, and they probably aren't going to have much of a chance to compete until the big numbers on those buyouts go away.

Stand pat. Sell some pending free-agent veterans. But don't waste resources by adding to a team that would simply be a warmup act for a real contender to toy with in the first round.

There really is no good reason for Jake Allen to remain in Montreal after the trade deadline.

The 33-year-old is not only their most logical trade chip at a position where several top contenders need help, but he also plays a position where the Canadiens have some legitimate NHL depth and can afford to part ways with a roster player and not really lose out.

Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau can handle the role the rest of the season while dealing Allen would add a draft pick that is almost certainly within the first three rounds to their rebuild.

Allen's value will never be higher than it is right now. Wasting that would be a mistake.

The Nashville Predators are still mathematically alive in the Western Conference playoff race, but that should not prevent them from making a major deal if the opportunity presents itself.

They haven't won a playoff series since 2018, have been steadily regressing as an organization each year since then, and are looking at what will probably be a second straight non-playoff season.

They need every possible variable and X-factor to fall in their favor just to have a chance at the playoffs, and even then it's far from a guarantee.

There really shouldn't be many untouchables on the roster, and Nashville certainly shouldn't be looking to give up future assets to add help.

If GM Barry Trotoz gets a fair offer for starting goalie Juuse Saros, he should be willing to jump at it. This is the peak time to trade him given his contract situation (one full year remaining beyond this season), and the Predators have a potential starter waiting in the minor leagues in Yaroslav Askarov.

They need to recognize what they are as a team, what their ceiling is, and the steps they need to take to raise that ceiling in the future.

There have been two things holding the New Jersey Devils back this season.

The first has been injuries. That is out of their control and more bad luck than anything else.

The second has been goaltending. That isn't bad luck, because pretty much anyone who looked at their roster before the season recognized the flaws at the position.

Given the overall strength of the roster on paper, as well as the salary-cap flexibility they had to work with, it was stunning that they were willing to roll with Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid in net coming into this season. It's the one position you cannot be bad at as a Cup contender, and the Devils seemed content to roll the dice.

It's not working.

Whether it is a star-level player like Juuse Saros from Nashville, Jacob Markstrom from Calgary, or a lower-cost name such as Jake Allen, the Devils desperately need to do something to fix this glaring weakness.

Failure to do so would be organizational malpractice.

The Islanders have probably reached their peak with their current core, and general manager Lou Lamoriello is sure to understand this.

Their roster is old, lacking in difference-makers, and it has long-term contracts tying up salary-cap space. And if the goaltending is not actively stealing games, they really don't have much of a chance.

Lamoriello does not like to throw in the towel, and he has a track record of making big deadline deals for the Islanders, but they can't afford to go in that direction this season.

If anything, they should think long and hard about becoming sellers, and potentially even moving somebody like Brock Nelson at what might be his peak value.

Kaapo Kakko has yet to become a star for the Rangers, and his name has been floated in trade speculation for a couple of months now.

However, the Rangers should not consider making that sort of move with the 23-year-old.

For one, his value is probably at its lowest point as his offensive production has taken a step backward this season. He is also unlikely to be the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade to bring an impact player back.

The Rangers don't need to move Kakko, and he does enough good things outside of goal-scoring that he still brings value to the lineup.

They would also run the risk of him blossoming into an impact player with another team and making New York look foolish for giving up on him too soon.

The Rangers need to add more 5-on-5 scoring depth, but it should not come at the expense of the Finn.

The Senators have been one of the bigger disappointments in the NHL season, and it's not a good look for the progress of their rebuild.

When a team regresses like this, normally there is a temptation to want to deal a core player to change things up. That wouldn't be a wise move at this point for Ottawa, though.

The Senators' issue isn't within their core group of players (Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, Thomas Chabot). It's strictly in the lack of forward depth, defense and goaltending.

If there is a big move for the Senators to make, it might be dealing defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who might not be a long-term fit or have a desire to re-sign in Ottawa. He is also not what you would consider to be a part of their actual core. Pending UFA Vladimir Tarasenko is also a logical trade candidate.

However, the Senators shouldn't look to move anybody above them unless they get an outrageous offer they cannot refuse. And that's unlikely to happen in-season with a contender.

With the Flyers looking like a strong bet to make the playoffs, there might be a desire for management to either look to add players or refuse to deal potential trade pieces.

That would be a mistake.

Even though Philadelphia has overachieved this season, this is not a team ready to compete for the Cup, at least not this season. Its time might be closer than anybody expected, though, and the clock might start ticking when Matvei Michkov arrives in the coming seasons.

Players such as Sean Walker, Nick Seeler and Scott Laughton should be traded if the offers are there, and the Flyers should remain patient with their long-term plan and vision.

Refusing to deal veterans like that and passing on the chance to add more potential long-term assets for a team that is probably looking at a short postseason experience no matter what would be nonsensical.

Be patient.

The most baffling thing about the Pittsburgh Penguins surge into mediocrity is how inactive the front office has been this season.

The Penguins spent the entire offseason doubling down on their veteran core, added a $10 million player in Erik Karlsson and acted like a team that still believed it had a chance to compete with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.

Then as the season started to slip away and flaws began to expose themselves, management simply sat with its head in the sand and not do a thing to try to fix anything. No coaching changes, no trades, no major strategic changes to the way team plays.

It almost seems like they are content to let the season play out and not do anything.

They cannot do that.

The Penguins either need to triple down on trying to win and do something to address their lack of offense, or they need to sell, even if that means trading star winger Jake Guentzel.

The 29-year-old is the one big trade chip they have, and with contract talks seeming nonexistent at this point, they run the risk of losing him in free agency. If he is going to leave after the season anyway, and the Penguins are going to miss the playoffs with or without him, they should try to get as much back in return as possible.

If the Penguins refuse to do that, and resist making any sort of move in either direction, it is going to look like a directionless front office that doesn't really have a plan.

The San Jose Sharks are in the early stages of a major rebuild, and they have eight unrestricted free agents on their roster.

If the more prominent of those UFAs—Anthony Duclair, Mike Hoffman, Kaapo Kähkönen—remain on the roster after the trade deadline, it would reek of a big missed opportunity to add more draft picks or prospects to that rebuild.

Honestly, the Sharks should not stop there.

If there is some sort of path to deal a Tomas Hertl or Logan Couture, they should not pass on that opportunity.

They already traded Brent Burns, Timo Meier and Erik Karlsson. There is no reason that anybody on this roster outside of the youngest players should be untouchable.

Put up the "For Sale" sign. Everything must go.

It's been a tough season for the Kraken as they have taken a pretty significant step backward from the team that reached the second round of the playoffs last year.

They weren't able to maintain the ridiculous high shooting percentage they had as a team last season, second-year star Matty Beniers has not taken a step forward, and they just have too many holes to overcome in a tough conference.

It is important to remember that even though the Kraken found a lot of success in year two, they are still a developing franchise that is far from a finished product. They need to accept that.

They should avoid the temptation to try to salvage this season and focus more on adding more long-term assets.

That means trading Jordan Eberle, Alexander Wennberg, and Justin Schultz if possible.

The good news for the St. Louis Blues is they have a strong chance to qualify for the playoffs.

The bad news is they are probably going to be a bottom-tier playoff team that doesn't really have much of a chance to do anything.

The worst news is they have significant flaws defensively that are not going to be easy to fix in the short or long term.

The latter two points make it difficult to argue for the Blues to be buyers, and it might even present a good argument for them to strategically sell.

Pavel Buchnevich is the biggest trade chip they would have, and his name has been mentioned in trade talk as a top-line player who might be available. The main reason for his rumored availability is that the Blues might not want to pay him his next big contract after next season.

The 28-year-old's value is sky high right now and dealing him could help St. Louis fix some of long-term holes. If it passed on that opportunity to try to make a short playoff run as a second wild-card team, it would be losing sight of the big picture and ultimate goal.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are typically one of the most well-run franchises in the NHL, and they have tended to hit some major home runs at the trade deadline.

They took a huge swing a year ago by trading five draft picks, including a future first-round pick, to the Nashville Predators for Tanner Jeannot.

At the time, it was understandable to see what they were doing. They identified a young player under team control they figured could be a big contributor for multiple years. Not unlike past trades for Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow that helped them win two Cups.

However, the Jeannot experience has not worked out as well, as the power forward has scored just seven goals with 16 total points in 62 games with the Lightning, while most of their key trade capital has been depleted.

They are positioned for a playoff spot and have some needs, especially on defense, but they need to be careful about how much they give up to address those and what they are acquiring.

Every year around this time, we get bombarded with hot takes about how the Toronto Maple Leafs need to get tougher and fix their defense.

It's usually a misguided approach because their defense has been very good typically, while a lot of their moves were geared toward adding more grit and physicality at the deadline.

But this might be the year they actually do need to acquire defense, and given the number of defensemen who could be available, they should have plenty of opportunity to do so.

Injuries and ineffectiveness on defense have resulted in the Maple Leafs being 18th in goals against and 22nd in expected goals against.

They finally won a playoff series a year ago, but they cannot be satisfied with that small victory and the pressure is still there for this core to make a serious playoff run.

Auston Matthews is playing at an absurd level, William Nylander is re-signed, and Mitch Marner and John Tavares are still having big years. They can't waste all that with a subpar defense.

The Canucks are the biggest surprise in the NHL this season and have come out of nowhere to emerge as a Stanley Cup contender in the Western Conference.

They also already made their big trade deadline move to get Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames.

With that trade completed, they really don't have many other pressing needs at the moment.

But one area they might want to address is their goaltending depth,

Thatcher Demko has been having a great season in the starter's role, but Casey DeSmith has seen his save percentage drop to under .895 for the season.

It might be wise for the Canucks to secure a better backup goalie to give them a better insurance policy in case Demko gets injured or struggles in the playoffs.

If the Vegas Golden Knights are going to have any chance of repeating as Stanley Cup champions, they might need to make another big move to help round out their roster. Specifically, they could use another goal-scoring winger to play in their top six.

They are missing what Reilly Smith provided a year ago after trading him to Pittsburgh over the summer, and they are only 14th in the league in goals per game.

Their method of team-building has always been to swing for the fences, and there has never been a big-name player available that they did not have interest in.

Whether it's Vladimir Tarasenko, Jake Guentzel or Pavel Buchnevich, they should be doing what they can to land one of them.

The Washington Capitals seem headed for a second straight non-playoff season and are likely to be sellers.

Veteran power forward Anthony Mantha appears a solid bet to go, as does defenseman Joel Edmundson. But the player the Capitals really need to shop is center Nic Dowd.

The 33-year-old is under contract for another season at $1.3 million, and that is what should make him their most valuable trade asset.

While Dowd might not be a star or a top-line player, he is an effective bottom-six center and the fact that he is signed for another year at a team-friendly rate will no doubt skyrocket his value. He is the type of player who might go for a first-round pick.

The other potential nightmare scenario here isn't that the Capitals don't trade him, it would be that they are unable to trade him if the injury that took him out of Tuesday's game is significant enough to keep him sidelined for the long term.

The Winnipeg Jets are another of the NHL's biggest surprises, but if they are going to get through the Central Division bracket of the Western Conference playoffs (where they will have to compete with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars), they are going to need to address their penalty-killing unit, which is ranked 24th in the NHL.

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has had a strong year in getting a good return for Pierre-Luc Dubois while also adding Sean Monahan from the Montreal Canadiens in-season.

He might need to make another minor move to really give his team a chance in the West.

Data via NHL.com, Natural Stat Trick and CapFriendly