The National Hockey League’s 2022 trade deadline in set for March 21st, only 73 days away. A lot of activity will happen between now and then as teams across the league try to gear up at a potential run towards the Stanley Cup. Today, I’m going to take a look at who I think are the top ten candidates to be dealt by March 21st.
1) Ben Chiarot – Montreal Canadiens. Age: 30.
- Contract: Pending UFA, currently making $3.5 million AAV.
- Potential fits: Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins.
2) Tomas Hertl – San Jose Sharks. Age: 28.
- Contract: Pending UFA, currently making $5.625 million AAV.
- Potential fits: New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames.
3) Joonas Korpisalo – Columbus Blue Jackets. Age: 27.
- Contract: Pending UFA, currently making $2.8 million AAV.
- Potential fits: Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues.
4) Marc-Andre Fleury – Chicago Blackhawks. Age: 37.
- Contract: Pending UFA, currently making $7 million AAV.
- Potential fits: Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche.
5) Phil Kessel – Arizona Coyotes. Age: 34.
- Contract: Pending UFA, currently making $8 million AAV.
- Potential fits: Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Carolina Hurricanes.
6) Jake DeBrusk – Boston Bruins. Age: 25.
- Contract: Pending RFA, currently making $3.675 million AAV.
- Potential fits: Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks.
7) Calvin de Haan – Chicago Blackhawks. Age: 30.
- Contract: Pending UFA, currently making $4.55 million AAV.
- Potential fits: Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, New York Rangers.
8) Reilly Smith – Vegas Golden Knights. Age: 30.
- Contract: Pending UFA, currently making $5 million AAV.
- Potential fits: St. Louis Blues, Anaheim Ducks.
9) Jakob Chychrun – Arizona Coyotes. Age: 23.
- Contract: Three years left following 2021-22 season, making $4.6 million AAV.
- Potential fits: Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins.
10) Alexandar Gorgiev – New York Rangers. Age: 25.
- Contract: Pending RFA, currently making $2.425 million AAV.
- Potential fits: Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues.
Also in the mix: Dylan Strome (Chicago Blackhawks), Mark Giordano (Seattle Kraken), Brett Kulak (Montreal Canadiens), Nick Leddy (Detroit Red Wings), Anton Khudobin (Dallas Stars).
Some notes
– A good chunk of these players have a high AAV and their current team will likely have to eat up to 50% of their salary in order to facilitate a trade, or a three-team deal could come into play in for cap reasons.
– Two of the three goalies I listed on here (Korpisalo and Gorgiev) I have as possible options for the St. Louis Blues. That is because beyond starting goaltender Jordan Binnington, they’re pretty thin and these two would provide a significant upgrade over Charlie Lindgren and Ville Husso.
– Reilly Smith of the Vegas Golden Knights is on my list simply because of cap constraints. Jack Eichel and his $10 million salary is expected to be activated at some point in February. Smith will likely become a casualty of the salary cap issues Vegas will have in order to activate Eichel from injured reserve.
Sources
– https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/seravalli-20-trade-targets-in-play-as-market-heats-up/
– https://www.thefourthperiod.com/trade-watch-list-2021-22#.YdSiMZIVgUg.twitter