A Look Ahead At Sign & Trade Candidates

Avalanche: Avs have a few very notable RFAs, although it’s extremely unlikely any of them go un-signed. Taylor Hall is the only real sign & trade candidate, and he’ll surely be re-signed.

Blue Jackets: Jeff Skinner. Skinner recently signed a massive deal in Buffalo; one that’ll cost Jesse well over 10 mil per season if he re-signs Skinner. Skinner will be available for sign & trade offers, or at the very least test RFA. I expect Skinner to have a new BRHL home next season.

Canadiens: Conor Sheary. Not a big name, but it’s unlikely Steve will re-sign Conor Sheary. He’ll be available for either a sign & trade or test RFA waters.

Capitals: Garnet Hathaway. I only put him on the list because GGMBRHLH will surely shop him around.

Ducks: Cam Fowler, Dmitry Orlov. These two defensemen will likely be available for sign & trade at years end. It’s possible that Orlov could be re-signed, but Fowler surely won’t be.

Flames: Joonas Donskoi. Donskoi is having a nice season in Colorado, but it’s unlikely to warrant a $5,000,000 contract moving forward. He’ll likely be available at year’s end.

Hurricanes: Tyler Toffoli, Brayden Schenn, Erik Gudbranson. Three candidates in Carolina. Almost a certainty that Gudbranson will remain one, while Toffoli and/or Schenn could very well be re-signed. Production throughout the rest of the NHL season will likely decide these player’s futures.

Jets: Nikita Zaitsev. Zaitsev will have a nice DF rating, but the rest of them will be rough. No chance he gets 5mil + from Jordan. He’ll likely be shopped at or before year’s end.

Lightning: Brock Nelson, Michael Granlund. Nelson will be rated really well, but probably won’t warrant a 5 x 7.5 (or around there) contract. That remains to be seen, but a sign & trade will likely provide more value for the Lightning org than a contract extension would. Granlund’s value is at an all time low and he’ll certainly be dealt in a sign and trade.

Oilers: Evgeny Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov is a star, so he could be re-signed. However, he’ll command north of 12 mil per season over 5 years. That’s a huge commitment to make for a team featuring stars that will get raises (McDavid) and future UFAs that will cost a lot to re-sign (Stamkos).

Penguins: Evander Kane, Michael Ferland. Kane will certainly be dealt to kick off the rebuild for Pittsburgh which will surely start at season’s end. He’ll have a market and fetch a strong return consisting of futures. Ferland is simply too expensive to re-sign and his rates won’t justify the contract. It’ll be a busy offseason for the Pens.

Predators: Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasenko could be re-signed, but GM Sheds has already mentioned he could be traded in the right deal. I don’t think anything will change between now and season’s end, and I’d bet Vlad becomes a sign & trade candidate.

Rangers: Charlie Coyle, Nate Schmidt. Another two solid name’s added to the sign and trade market. Not stars, but very good players who will certainly fetch decent returns respectively.

Red Wings: Tyson Barrie. The only reason for Detroit to hold him is to deal him in the offseason for more than he’d get now. He could be re-signed (in two days) and dealt (whenever), so we’ll have to wait and see in this case. It’s important for a rebuilding team like Detroit to handle this properly, and now how I’d handle it.

Senators: Tyler Seguin, Mark Stone. YIKES. These two can not possibly be re-signed, right? Maybe though. Steph is GM and he’s a wild card. We’ll likely see these two guys dealt for roster players under contract. Ottawa has no picks in any draft approaching, so a rebuild would be painful. Worse than NHL Sens, even.

Stars: Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz will almost certainly hit the sign & trade market, and the timing is good as he’s having a solid year. His contract would be manageable should Junya decide to re-sign him, but more value would come of a sign & trade for the Stars in all likelihood.