Today I will look at who we could see buying, selling, and who might be available come trade deadline day.

West Buyers: Ducks, Stars, Blues, Hawks, Flames, Sharks, Wild

East Buyers: Capitals, Islanders, Hurricanes, Bruins, Blue Jackets

To be blunt, there's only really 5 teams with any sort of chance of making it out of the East. The conference is total garbage aside from the teams listed above. Steve's Habs may be an exception, but he's not one to panic and shake up his entire organization to make the playoffs. He'll likely ride it out, maybe sell a guy or two, and look towards next year.

In the West it gets a little more interesting. There are plenty of very good teams, with three current stand-outs (Ducks, Stars, Blues). The deadline activity is going to boil down to whether or not the Hawks, Flames, Sharks, Wild want to try and greatly improve, or ride it out with what they have and keep their teams intact for next year.

Ducks: 11 mil in cap room currently. Can take on tons of salary at deadline, but might not want to make any changes.

Stars: 2.7 mil in cap room currently. Can take on some salary at deadline, but not a ton. Won't likely see major changes.

Blues: Around 5 mil in cap room. Can take on significant salary at deadline. Have shown ability to beat anyone with current roster. May see them ride it out with what they have.

Hawks: 12.5 mil cap room currently. Can add just about anyone they want at deadline. Not losing anyone significant in off-season, can easily see them looking towards next year.

Flames: 6.3 mil cap room currently. Can add a significant piece or two at deadline. I think based on strength of conference Kevin may look towards next year, but could easily make moves to try and win this year.

Sharks: Literally zero cap space. Going to need a miracle string of moves to become a top contender. I have no idea how Sumit approaches the deadline.

Wild: Al has zero cap space. Doesn't own his own first, either. Varlamov is gone after the year and is the main reason the Wild are a playoff team. Only logical thing for Al to do is sell or ride it out and hope Varlamov can take him to the cup. Crazier things have happened.

Capitals: Basically zero cap space. Larry has said that he's afraid to shake things up because he's been so successful lately. I completely understand where he's coming from. Being so tight to the salary cap limit, it'd be tough for him to find a move that would make him better without adding salary.

Islanders: 5.5 mil in cap space. That's a ton at the deadline. We could see Joe make a move, but there's a reason we call him blue balls. I doubt he makes a move, and I doubt anyone beats the Isles in the East. We'll see.

Hurricanes: 3.5 mil in cap space. Definitely enough to work with. Not much in the way of futures, and not much of a need to improve his team at this time. I could see Rich adding a couple of depth pieces at the deadline, but nothing more.

Bruins: Zero cap space. Team is good and the GM is busy with life stuff. I doubt we see much activity from the Bruins.

Blue Jackets: 5.2 mil in cap space. Jesse has been on record saying he'd like to add a goalie. Adding a high end goalie might make this team a legit contender. We'll see what happens.

Some players we could see dealt at the deadline from selling teams:

Jeff Petry & Ryan Johansen (Lightning) - There's no way Eric has any attachment to these two. Last place in the league currently. Petry screams retention deal to a contender. Johansen could be scooped up by any mid-top tier team. We'll see.

Drew Doughty, Josh Manson & anyone not named Marner or Nylander, WOO (Jets) - Doc has been a known seller since the beginning of the year. We could finally see someone pull the trigger and grab Doughty at the deadline, but it seems like that depends on whether or not Doc is willing to lower his price. I could see it happening.

Marcus Foligno & Tyson Barrie (Red Wings) - Foligno was signed to a big contract, but is having a career year and has solid rates. Could EASILY see him fetching some picks in the top two rounds. Barrie may entice someone with a need to boost their PP.

John Carlson & Sidney Crosby (Kraken) - May be tough to deal these guys without retention. I can't see Crosby moving, but Carlson very well could.

Jack Eichel (Senators) - Let's see if Steph was bluffing, or if Eichel winds up being dealt. Would be an enticing add for most teams in the league, especially teams like Calgary, Chicago, who will have big seasons next year.

Josh Anderson (Maple Leafs) - An interesting name that's recently been thrown out there by Garrett. I could see a Habs homer picking him up, though he should garner plenty of interest.

Jonathan Bernier (Hurricanes) - Another name recently added to the trade block - Bernier would be a solid add for a lot of teams. He's also been Carolina's best goalie, so if I was GM Rich I'd think twice before moving him.

Jakub Voracek & Sami Vatanen (Panthers) - Both are interesting names with decent ratings this year. The only way I see them staying in Florida is if Tynz runs out of contending teams with cap space to offer them to.

Patrik Laine (Sharks) - Laine is one of few pieces we could see GM Sumit using to improve his roster this year. It wouldn't shock me to see him moved to a team that has someone rated well now, but might not be as valuable going forward. A great buy low candidate.

Mike Smith & Austin Watson (Penguins) - There's no way Smith was signed for any other reason - other than to be dealt. I doubt he stays in Pittsburgh. Definitely a deadline day move. Watson is a great depth add for a team that needs a solid 4th liner with elite PK rates.

Alexander Radulov (Avalanche) - I was going to be bold and list a bigger name from the Avs, but Radulov is much more likely to be dealt than some of the young stars. I think Bryce would be nuts not to deal him, and he'll fetch a very solid return.

There are PLENTY more names that will more than likely be dealt at or before the deadline. Let's see how things shake out.