7 Teams at Serious Risk of Blowing the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline

An interesting way to look at the NHL trade deadline is that it represents the unofficial kickstart to the offseason. Yes, there'll still be a month left in the regular season, but for many teams, the realization that the dream of the playoffs and a run at the Stanley Cup is over is a hard one to face.

That's a grim way to look at things for teams that are bordering on being out of it, but teams that are gearing up for a shot at the Cup see this as their chance to fortify their lineups by picking players off those lottery-bound teams.

And yet, despite all those circumstances, a lot of teams are going to take things right down to the wire on Friday trying to extract the best offers possible whether or not they have a leg to stand on in negotiations. For those franchises, paralysis by inaction is a real possibility, and we're going to highlight a few of them who've yet to make a real dent ahead of the deadline.

Yes, there are a few days to go yet, but given the spot some of these teams are in, it's a bit worrisome that they haven't gotten ahead of things.

Perhaps we should go a little easier on Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald. He did fire head coach Lindy Ruff late Monday afternoon, so making trades may not have been at the forefront of his thoughts.

Then again, why haven't trades happened that maybe could've helped prevent the team from firing Ruff in the first place?

The Devils' biggest problem this season apart from injuries has been goaltending, and that issue became quite clear early on this season. Heck, it became somewhat apparent in the playoffs a year ago, but this season it was abundantly clear they were going to have to improve the position. And yet, it's gone untouched.

They could still deal for Jacob Markström in Calgary or maybe take a wild swing for Linus Ullmark in Boston, but they've slipped far enough in the race for the playoffs that any move now might be too late. But they've got to try and do something to save face and prepare for the future because going from being one of the best teams in the NHL last season to possibly out of the playoffs this season is a terrible fall from grace.

Ah yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Unlike some of the teams we're mentioning today, Toronto has made a move ahead of the deadline by re-acquiring defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin from Anaheim.

The good news there is they addressed the main position that needs help and got a right-handed defenseman who's played in Toronto somewhat recently, so there's familiarity. They need more help on defense and Lyubushkin addresses that need.

However, if Lyubushkin turns out to be the biggest move they make before the deadline, it's difficult to see how that helps them keep up with the likes of Florida, Boston, the Rangers, or Carolina. The Maple Leafs have the offensive weapons and forwards to push them in the postseason, but their defensive depth is an issue. That they added Lyubushkin, and he immediately was on the top pairing with Morgan Rielly is telling.

Yes, the Leafs have the cap to manage and work around, but so do most other teams. If they're going to actually be serious about throwing their weight around in the playoffs, they must do more.

The Sharks are in a fight with Chicago to be the worst team in the NHL and have the best odds at Macklin Celebrini. They're also built to be sellers at the deadline with a host of soon-to-be unrestricted free agents they can move for picks and/or prospects or other roster players.

However, the most recent trade the Sharks made was in December when they acquired Jack Studnicka from Vancouver. Before that, it was when they added Calen Addison from Minnesota in November, and the deal before that was the Erik Karlsson trade over the summer.

The Sharks should be moving guys like Anthony Duclair, Mike Hoffman, Alexander Barabanov, and Kevin Labanc with relative ease. All could be valuable players to contending teams in depth or specialty roles. They've also got Mikael Granlund with another year on his contract at a $5 million cap hit who could be valuable elsewhere.

The Sharks are rebuilding, and more picks and prospects can go a long way. Sitting tight and hoping it becomes more of a seller's market can backfire, too, especially when you're holding a few potentially useful players in your hand.

The New York Rangers are fun to watch and could win the Stanley Cup. Another fun thing about them is how their name is in the mix for a lot of different players and they've yet to make a move at all.

Wait, no, that's far less fun.

We've seen the Rangers attached to players like Seattle's Alexander Wennberg, Buffalo's Kyle Okposo and Alex Tuch and Anaheim's Frank Vatrano already. Their need for some help further down the lineup at center or the wing is noted, and GM Chris Drury is notorious for holding his cards close to the vest. We won't know what he'll do until he does it, basically, but he hasn't done anything just yet.

Last season, we saw the Rangers go big going after Vladimir Tarasenko ahead of the deadline and landing Patrick Kane much closer to it. Drury's not afraid to pull the trigger, but after a tough loss to Florida on Monday night, he's got to know it's time to step up, or else it could be another Stanley Cup-free season in Manhattan.

Things have been trending up for the Edmonton Oilers in the second half of the season, and now their improved play and Vegas' struggles have them sitting in second place in the Pacific Division. If they're going to be the team that comes out of the Western Conference this year, though, they'll need some help. It's long about time they got that taken care of.

The biggest player out there for them is Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel. There might be more pressure for them to go after him, because Vegas is desperate to snap out of its funk and, thanks to Jack Eichel returning from LTIR, the Knights have got a lot of LTIR money from Mark Stone's absence to easily add him in a trade.

The Oilers made a great deal a year ago when they added Mattias Ekholm, but they needed a little bit more to go further. That's still the case for them now. They could use some more help on the blue line, but adding a scoring winger would make the Oilers much scarier to deal with in the postseason.

The Bruins are in a fight atop the Atlantic Division with the Florida Panthers, and if they want to escape having to face Toronto in the first round of the playoffs, they'll need to step things up.

The problem for Boston in making any deals is they don't have a lot of quality prospects to give up, and their draft picks won't exactly get it done, especially without their first-, second-and third-round picks in this year's draft.

That means if the Bruins are going to add, they're going to have to make a hockey trade. Roster players for roster players, and that means Boston players on expiring contracts become the focus.

Jake DeBrusk, Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, Kevin Shattenkirk and James van Riemsdyk are all going to be UFAs in the summer, and the debate for Boston becomes: Are they better off keeping those guys to add players who may or may not be the upgrades they're looking for?

There's also the talk swirling around Linus Ullmark possibly being moved, and if they're going to add a splash player, Ullmark makes the most sense as the big piece to move to get them. Of course, Ullmark has a 20-team no-trade list...so good luck.

The Bruins could already have the roster that can get them to the Stanley Cup Final and win it all, but after losing to Florida in the first round last season, they're more than aware of what it will take to deal with the Panthers and other contenders. Sitting tight is not a good option for GM Don Sweeney.

Another season, another year of expectations that fell short for the Ottawa Senators. This time around, they've got new ownership and new management in place and may or may not be looking for a new coach next season. The Sens have their main players in place, but they've got moves they can still make.

Take, for instance, Vladimir Tarasenko. The veteran scorer netted a decent catch for St. Louis last season, and Ottawa could find a market for him among teams that might not be able or willing to go for Jake Guentzel or Frank Vatrano.

There's also the possible market for Jakob Chychrun if the Senators want to shake things up there. He's got another year left on his contract and he's young and valuable. Ottawa would be in a great place to shake up the trade market if it wanted to, it's just a question of how GM Steve Staios intends to prepare for next season and beyond.

Ottawa is in a weird place, though. It's not going to make the playoffs this year, and its goal is to get back there as soon as possible. But if the Senators want to be the chaos element of the trade deadline, they could do that right now.