1 Trade Idea for Every Team Watching the Stanley Cup Final

Thirty NHL teams are sitting at home right now that would love to trade places with the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers. For them to get to where those two teams are this season, they are going to have to make some changes in the coming months to improve their roster to help get over the hump.

So let's take a look at one potential trade idea for the NHL teams that are sitting at home watching this series.

It might be a tough sell to convince a fan base that it is a good idea to trade a 37-goal scorer that counts less than $4 million against the salary cap, but it might be a good idea for the Ducks to consider it.

As good as Vatrano has been the past two years in Anaheim, he is set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season and he might be the type of player waiting to get overpaid when it comes time for his next contract.

He'll be 31 years old when his next contract starts, and it is unlikely he will score goals the way he did this past season. He is a pretty one-dimensional player and is not a cornerstone piece. The Ducks are also not quite ready to compete this season, and given his cheap salary they could probably get a significant return for him if they trade him this offseason when another team gets him for a full season.

They have to keep thinking big picture, and a Vatrano trade might be the most sensible option to get them another player that could be part of the next good Ducks team.

The goaltending duo of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark has been a key part of the Bruins' success over the past couple of seasons. But it seems inevitable that their time together is about to end.

Swayman has clearly taken over as the team's new No. 1 goalie and as a restricted free agent this offseason is going to be in line for a significant pay raise.

As much as the Bruins love splitting the net between the two goalies, it is just not realistic to pay two goalies more than $5 million per season especially when the team has other, more significant needs that must be addressed.

That is why trading Ullmark seems like the move to make.

The Bruins reportedly tried to trade him before the trade deadline, and there should be nothing stopping them from exploring it again this offseason. Especially if it can help land them a top-line center that they desperately need.

As good as Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha were this season, neither one of them is going to lead a team to a championship as a top-line center. Whether the Bruins trade Ullmark straight up for a center or move him for assets that can be flipped elsewhere for a center, that might be the most sensible approach they can take this offseason.

As soon as the Sabres did not win the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery they should have started calling every team around the NHL and seeing what value the No. 11 overall pick would have on the trade market.

It is simple -- the Sabres have missed the playoffs 13 years in a row and are coming off what might be the most disappointing season of that streak given the preseason expectations.

They have to win, and they have to win now.

There can not be any more patience here. They have to have serious urgency this offseason, and that No. 11 pick, which is far from a guarantee to ever produce a star, should be shopped for immediate help.

The Sabres have an extremely talented defense corp and some potential long-term options in goal. They have a star forward in Tage Thompson and some really intriguing players at forward, but they need more depth up front. Use the No. 11 pick to help get it.

The Flames made major changes during the 2023-24 season and went into full seller mode by trading Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, and Noah Hanifin. Markstrom was another player mentioned in trade speculation leading up to the deadline, but did not get moved.

This offseason is probably the time to do it.

The Flames require a full restart, and as good as Markstrom is, a soon-to-be 35-year-old goalie is not going to be the difference between them being good and not being good. He is one of their most valuable trade chips still on the roster, and there are enough contending teams in the league in need of goaltending help that they should be able to get a decent return for him.

As good as the Hurricanes have been, they have consistently needed more players who can finish and put the puck in the net, especially come playoff time.

That need could be multiplied this offseason as they face the possibility of losing some productive players.

Trade deadline addition Jake Guentzel is set to be an unrestricted free agent, as is veteran forward Teuvo Teravainen. Restricted free agent Martin Necas has also been talked about as a potential trade candidate and if even one or two of those players leave, let alone all three of them, it is going to put more added emphasis on adding offense.

St. Louis' Pavel Buchnevich seems like he would be an ideal fit for the Hurricanes given his style of play, while Columbus' Patrik Laine could be a high-risk, high-reward player given his shot and ability to finish on the power play.

The Hurricanes are going to be a playoff team and probably win at least one round -- as they typically do -- but they still need a bit more of a spark to finally break through and get to the Stanley Cup Final with this core.

There is not one single player on the trade market or free agent market that is going to turn the Blackhawks into a playoff team this offseason. They are still a couple of years away, and that is okay given where they are in their rebuild.

They have an emerging superstar in Connor Bedard and will have a chance to add another cornerstone piece with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Now they have to start building some serious NHL talent around them and at least take a step closer to the playoffs.

The Blackhawks have almost no long-term commitments on their roster, they have over $32 million in salary cap space and 27 draft picks over the next three years, including 12 picks in the first two rounds of those classes. That includes five first-round picks.

If there is a top-line player on the trade market, the Blackhawks have the money and draft capital to get them. Even if it does not make them a playoff team right now, it could get them closer and get them a player that might be a part of the next contending team in Chicago.

The days of tearing down are over. Now it is time to start adding.

The Avalanche do not have a lot of weaknesses, but goaltending is the one position that could probably use an upgrade.

Even though Alexandar Georgiev led the league in wins for the second year in a row, that total was largely due to the goal-scoring support and defensive play in front of him. His individual play took a big step backward this past season and into the playoffs, and they did not really have another option to provide a safety net or true plan B.

It is not that they should give up on Georgiev, but if they can find an upgrade at a decent price they should look into it, and if they can find a better backup or even a platoon partner to take some of the workload off of him it might be worth doing.

Goaltending can single-handedly ruin an otherwise great team, and the Avalanche still have the talent to compete for Stanley Cups with the roster they have.

Laine originally arrived in Columbus with big expectations and the hopes that he could become a star and cornerstone player for the franchise.

It simply has not happened, and now everybody involved just needs a change.

Injuries, off-ice issues and not being a fit with head coaches have limited Laine's production and performance, and his $8.7 million salary cap number is just a little too big for Columbus' roster at this point. The Blue Jackets are already reportedly working to move him, and it should be one of the priorities of the offseason even if the return is not substantial.

There are other moves Columbus needs to make this offseason and other players that could be traded by first-year general manager Don Waddell, but this seems like the inevitable starting point.

Laine will be better off for it.

The Blue Jackets will get some much-needed salary cap space and a chance to continue rebuilding the roster.

The 2023-24 Stars were one of the deepest teams in the NHL offensively, and while they will still have a great core coming back next season they are facing the possibility of losing a lot of that depth.

Joe Pavelski has retired, while Matt Duchene and Craig Smith are set to be unrestricted free agents. That is potentially 63 goals walking out the door that need to be replaced.

The Stars are one of the best teams in the league and a bonafide Stanley Cup contender and should be willing to do whatever they can to help keep that championship window open.

There are some really intriguing forward options that could be available, including St. Louis' Pavel Buchnevich, Winnipeg's Nikolam Ehlers, Carolina's Martin Necas and Columbus' Patrik Laine.

Any of them would look good in a Stars uniform.

The Red Wings scored enough goals to end their playoff drought this past season.

They did not do enough job preventing goals, and that has to change next season. And the pressure is going to be mounting on general manager Steve Yzerman to do something about it because he has been there long enough for this team to be a factor in the playoffs again.

The lack of defensive depth in Detroit this season resulted in Moritz Seider having to take on one of the heaviest defensive workloads in the league (in terms of ice time, defensive zone starts, and quality of competition) and he handled it about as well as could have been expected.

But it is not fair to him -- or the Red Wings -- to keep tying him down that way. He needs help on defense and another quality top-four defenseman to come in and take some of that pressure off of him.

The most obvious trade candidate is Ottawa's Jakob Chychrun, but even if it is not him the Red Wings have to find more defensive depth this offseason. It has to be the No. 1 priority. Perhaps even the second and third priorities as well.

There is a fine line between good and great in professional sports, and the Los Angeles Kings are on the wrong side of that line.

They have rebuilt themselves into a playoff team, but can not get out of the first round of the playoffs and need to invest in more goal-scoring to help them break through.

They should start that by pushing for Guentzel, one of the top goalscoring wingers in the league and a bonafide top-line playoff performer. They can get a head start on the free agent signing process by acquiring his free agency rights from the Hurricanes. It should be the first trade they make this offseason, especially since it probably would not cost more than a mid-round draft pick.

This could be a risky move given Gustavsson's upside and how good he was during the 2022-23 season, but goalie is a position where the Wild have some quality depth and they don't really have many other reasonable trade options.

The Wild are still dealing with the salary cap fallout that is coming from the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts and will have $15 million in empty cap space on their books for one more season.

They also have some big holes to fill throughout their roster and not many avenues to fix them.

Gustavsson's contract ($3.5 million) is very reasonable, and he might be an attractive goaltending option for a goalie-needy contender.

The Wild also still have Marc-Andre Fleury for another season and former first-round pick Jesper Wallstedt who is coming off two strong seasons in the American Hockey League. He is probably their future at the position, and could make Gustavsson a decent trade chip this summer.

Necas is one of the most fascinating players to enter the trade market in the early stages of the offseason. He is a proven 20-goal, 50-point player who can play a top-line role on a contending team and he is still only 25 years old and in what should be the middle of his peak years in the NHL.

He is also a restricted free agent and in line for a significant pay raise this offseason.

The Hurricanes have reportedly set a high price on him in trade talks, but if there is a team in the NHL that might be able to match that price the Canadiens might be one of them.

They are loaded with draft pick capital over the next two years (24 draft picks) including multiple first-round picks in 2024 and 2025.

They also have a major need to give their rebuild a jolt, and adding another top-line scorer would be a great way to do that. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky can be a solid starting point, but they need more. Necas would be a great addition, and if he really is available, the Canadiens should be making a strong offer.

The Predators are in a fantastic position this offseason to try and land a star, whether it be in free agency or the trade market.

They already have a good team that took a big step forward during the 2023-24 season and established itself as a playoff team. They have also worked to create a pretty big amount of salary cap space (more than $26 million) with an opportunity to create even more if they move veteran goalie Juuse Saros.

That cap space, combined with a solid farm system and a huge collection of draft picks, should make them try for a big score.

Marner is the player they should go for.

Even though things have not worked out on a team level in Toronto, Marner is still an elite offensive player during the regular season and might do well to get away from the pressure cooker that is the Toronto media and expectation machine. Nashville wouldn't have the same microscope constantly hovering over him, and it might be a good opportunity for the Predators to take a big step forward from "playoff team" to "legitimate contender."

The Devils had a major goaltending question mark to start the 2023-24 season and did nothing to address it.

It ended up being a major weakness for one of the league's most disappointing teams.

They can not ignore it again and waste another year of their championship window.

When Saros is at his best he is one of the top goalies in the NHL and would be the type of player that could help put the Devils back into the discussion among Stanley Cup contenders.

They have the cap space and young talent to give Nashville what it might need to move Saros, and they should do everything in their power to convince them to do it.

General manager Lou Lamoriello might hate the idea of trading Nelson, but the Islanders need to make some tough decisions to start advancing the franchise forward.

They have settled into mediocrity where they are good enough to compete for the playoffs, but not anywhere close to good enough actually to get close to a championship. As good as Nelson has been (70 goals over the past two seasons), he is going to be 33 years old early this season, and the Islanders are already one of the older teams in the league and have some ugly contracts.

Nelson's could be another one added to that list if they were to re-sign him beyond the 2024-25 season.

He is the one player on the roster that could bring back a significant return without really hurting the long-term outlook.

His value is still high. The Islanders should take advantage of that.

Trouba might be the Rangers' captain and a fan favorite for his thunderous hits, but he is simply no longer a productive player within their system. If anything, he became a major liability in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and his $8 million salary cap number is a drain on a team that still has some big needs to fill.

The return would not be much, but that is irrelevant here.

The Rangers simply need to overhaul their defense corps to become more mobile, and they are going to need salary cap space to do it.

Trouba's contract is the most problematic one on the roster and the No. 1 priority of the summer should be finding a way to move it.

When the Senators acquired Chychrun at the 2023 trade deadline it seemed like a big statement move that they were ready to bust out of the rebuilding phase and make a serious effort to compete.

On a team level, it has not gone according to play.

But Chychrun has been mostly everything they expected him to be, and his 2023-24 season was one of his best in the NHL to date and also his healthiest.

So why should the Senators be looking to move him this offseason? There are a couple of reasons.

The most significant of which is the fact he is entering the final year of his contract, and given the investment the Senators already have in left-side defenseman (Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson) they probably can not afford to make another big investment in a player whose best side might be the left side.

That makes him a little expendable, especially since there is some concern as to whether or not Chychrun would even want to re-sign with the Senators.

He would be a pretty valuable trade chip on the trade market this offseason and that could help the Senators add some much-needed forward depth. The classic case of dealing from a position of strength to fill a position of weakness.

Laughton was one of the more popular names at the 2024 NHL trade deadline given his production and the fact he still has a couple of years remaining on his contract. The Flyers ended up not trading him, but they should revisit the idea this offseason.

Not because Laughton isn't good or has a bad contract, but because they might be in a situation where his perceived value across the league might be higher than his actual on-ice value in Philadelphia.

He is the type of player they could trade for a strong return without really hurting the long-term outlook. He is not somebody who is going to be a key piece on the next contending Flyers team, so if they can get a nice return, they should do it without hesitation.

As much as the Flyers overachieved this past season, they need to be realistic about where they are in their rebuild. They are not ready to contend just yet and should explore trades involving players whose value is at its highest point.

If the Penguins do anything this offseason the primary focus has to be figuring out a way to improve one of the NHL's worst power play units.

That group was a massive disappointment during the 2023-24 season and was one of the biggest reasons they missed the playoffs for the second year in a row.

A good way to fix that might be to try to take advantage of the Laine situation in Columbus as the two sides work to find a trade partner. Whether it be swapping one of the Penguins' bad contracts (Reilly Smith, Rickard Rakell), or Columbus retaining some salary, it might be a good opportunity for the Penguins to buy low on Laine and hope that a fresh start with Pittsburgh's future Hall of Fame centers could help revive his career.

He is still in his prime years and for whatever flaws he has away from the puck, he still has the ability to change a game on the power play. The Penguins need a presence like that.

Along with getting the No. 1 overall pick in the draft lottery, the Sharks also have the No. 14 overall pick in the draft that originally belonged to the Pittsburgh Penguins. That pick (which was top-10 protected) was part of last year's Erik Karlsson trade and transferred over to San Jose when the Penguins failed to move up in the lottery.

While San Jose is still in the very early stages of a rebuild and needs to keep building up its prospect pool, that could be a pick that is used to land somebody closer to the NHL level and can help move things along a little faster.

San Jose has multiple first-round picks over the next two years so it's not like it will hurt them too much to lose one of them, and it might help them get a player that is a better bet to help them long-term.

One area they should look to target -- defense.

The Sharks still have one of the worst defensive groups in the NHL and perhaps they could find a young, emerging player that can join their rebuild group in a trade for this pick.

The Kraken took a massive step backward in 2023-24, and their offense was one of the many culprits in that decline.

The 2022-23 was mostly driven by several players all hitting career highs in shooting percentage at the same time, resulting in the Kraken finishing near the top of the league in shooting percentage at both 5-on-5 and in all situations. It was unlikely to repeat and they seemed like a team primed for a big regression.

That regression happened, and the Kraken went from sixth in the league in goals scored all the way down to 29th.

Buchnevich was a player mentioned in trade speculation for the better part of the 2023-24 season, but the Blues never actually moved him given the extra year he had remaining on his contract.

After a second straight non-playoff season, and with Buchnevich entering the final year of his contract, he seems like a prime trade candidate this offseason.

His ability to score at 5-on-5 and produce at a 60-point level would make him a huge upgrade for the Kraken.

It doesn't matter which defenseman it is. It could be any of Torey Krug, Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko, or Nick Leddy. It does not even need to stop at one of them. It could be multiple players from that list. And it does not even really matter the return. The Blue just need to do something to shake up their defense.

They have more than $23 million in salary cap space tied up in that quartet, and they are not getting anything close to that level of play from them.

The Blues have been one of the worst defensive teams in the league for several years now and have been unable to make major changes to that group.

At some point, they have to figure out a way to do it. Even if it means retaining salary, or taking back another team's problem contract, they just need something different on the back end.

The Lightning already made one major move to their defense this offseason by bringing back veteran Ryan McDonagh in a trade with the Nashville Predators.

While they needed some additional depth on defense, it sets up a fascinating situation for the rest of the offseason.

For one, they have just a little more than $5 million in salary cap space to work with and need to make some improvements to a roster that has started to get a little older. They also have a huge decision to make with captain Steven Stamkos. If they have any hope of re-signing him they are going to have to clear out some salary somewhere, and the most obvious candidate might be Cernak.

His no-trade clause does not kick in until the start of the free-agent signing period, so they could still move him without needing his clearance on it. He might also have some value as a defensive presence. The only other potential trade options that would move out major money are either core players they will not want to move, or players with no-movement and no-trade clauses.

Cernak is the obvious candidate.

After another first-round playoff loss, it has become pretty apparent that this Maple Leafs core is not the one to make up for other deficiencies on the roster and lift them to anything close to a championship team.

It is not just that the Maple Leafs are not winning a Stanley Cup.

They are not getting close to it.

Eventually, you have to reach a point where you try something different. The most obvious member of the core to be shopped is Mitch Marner as he is set to enter the final year of his contract and is coming off a disappointing series against Boston. The Maple Leafs should not look to give him away or just simply trade him for the sake of trading him, but they should aggressively put him on the market and look to shake things up with a core that has never won more than five of the 16 postseason games required to win the Stanley Cup.

They need more salary cap space. They need more scoring depth. They need more defensive depth. It is hard to see them accomplishing any of that without doing something drastic.

It is rare for teams to trade picks this high in the draft, but if any team should consider doing it, Utah is the one.

This is a pretty unique situation for the franchise as it is finally in a situation where it has a legitimate ownership group that might be able to build something, while also having mountains of salary cap space and draft capital to trade.

It should be looking to take full advantage of that.

This is a situation where there is going to be pressure to win to start building a new fanbase, and the No. 6 overall pick could be a fantastic trade chip to go for an impact player.

Utah should be going star hunting and seeing what it can acquire.

Be bold. Swing for the fences.

It is not that Mikheyev is a bad player, it is just that his salary cap hit of $4.75 million over the next two years makes him a pretty expensive luxury the Canucks can not afford.

They are going to be facing a big salary cap crunch this offseason, especially if they want to re-sign players like Nikita Zadorov, Dakota Joshua, or Elias Lindholm, not to mention pending restricted free agent defenseman Filip Hronek.

Mikheyev scored 11 goals with 31 points this past season, but his offense really dried up in the second half of the season.

The Canucks have had a tendency to give out some costly contracts in recent years that have damaged their salary cap situation, and this is one of them.

The contract isn't so bad that it is untradeable, but it is one that is still potentially hurting their offseason plans.

In what is now a yearly occurrence, the Golden Knights are facing a position where they are going to have to make some major moves in the offseason to figure out their salary cap situation. This year's cap crunch is especially tight after the trade deadline that saw them acquire Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanifin (signing the latter to a huge contract extension).

The Golden Knights have never been afraid to make major moves, and you can be sure at some point this offseason (or during the 2024-25 season) that more are going to be on the horizon. That is just how they operate and how they build their team.

To make that happen they are going to have to move somebody as they have less than $2 million in salary cap space entering the offseason with only 20 players under contract at the NHL level.

Karlsson is the player they need to look to move.

Yeah, that would be a difficult move for the organization (they have never been afraid of that) given his history with the team, but it honestly makes sense.

With Jack Eichel and Hertl signed long-term they would still have an outstanding 1-2 punch at center to build around, and Karlsson is coming off a huge year offensively that he might not be able to duplicate at his age. It was largely driven by a huge shooting percentage spike and he is going to be 32 years old next season.

His value might never be higher. It would be a very Vegas type of move to take advantage of that.

There is going to come a point in the very near future where the Capitals are going to have to start a serious, full-scale rebuild.

But is that going to happen as long as Alex Ovechkin is still on the roster and chasing after Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record?

Not likely.

Especially after the team overachieved in 2023-24 and made the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Their first-round pick is in that weird gray area in the first round where the odds of finding a star and key long-term piece are probably only around 50 percent ... at best. That pick might have more value as a trade chip than an actual pick. That also creates a lot of potential options. They could use it to try and move back in the draft and collect more picks, or they could try to swap it for a young NHL player that could help them in the short-and medium-term outlooks.

Ehlers seems like the most likely Jets player to be on the move this season as he is set to enter the final year of his contract.

Ideally, Ehlers isn't the type of player you would want to move given his consistent production and how good he has been throughout his career.

But there is no guarantee he re-signs with the Jets, while management has to accept the reality that it needs to significantly upgrade its defense to help take some of the pressure off of starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

If they are going to move Ehlers, that might be a great way to bring in some significant defensive help to help insulate their franchise goalie so he does not have to put the team on his back and carry it as he did for much of the 2023-24 season.