2025 NHL Trade Deadline: Ranking the top five seller teams in assets

Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

We’re five weeks from the NHL’s March 7 trade deadline and we’ve got you covered at Daily Faceoff with at least one trade-focused story every day until Deadline Day.

Today, we’re looking at five teams with some valuable assets to sell ahead of the deadline.

2025 Trade Deadline Countdown: 5 weeks

Is your team having a garage sale this spring? Maybe they should.

We’re about a month away from the NHL Trade Deadline, so activity should start to pick up a bit. The Mikko Rantanen/Martin Necas/Taylor Hall trade was a wild way to start things off, but there are still plenty of teams that could benefit from moving on from some contracts as the playoff picture starts to become clearer for some organizations.

These five teams listed below have substantial assets available. Most of the players are pending UFAs – potential rentals or others just needing changes of scenery. Others are players on deals past this season that could provide the missing piece for contenders looking to solidify their cores.

So, let’s get to it, with help from Frank Seravalli’s trade targets board:

5. New York Rangers

Trade Candidates: Ryan Lindgren (D), Zac Jones (D), K’Andre Miller (D)
Pending UFAs: Reilly Smith (RW), Jimmy Vesey (LW), Jonathan Quick (G)
Projected Salary Cap Space: $5,020,186
2025 Draft Picks: 1/3/4/5/6/6/7

The Rangers have revived their playoff hopes in recent weeks, with the team sitting just outside the top five in points in January. They’re playing like a legit playoff team, and while the Wildcard race is still red-hot, the Rangers have as good of a chance as any team to qualify right now. But they’ve also relied on Igor Shesterkin a bit too much, leaving many to wonder if they’ll blow things up on the back end after trading Jacob Trouba earlier in the year.

Lindgren is a pending UFA after signing a one-year RFA deal last summer. He started the season off on the wrong foot but has played some better hockey as of late. Could that make him an attractive option for teams trying to bolster their bluelines for the playoffs? Miller would be a difficult defender to move on from, given that the highs are definitely good. But teams like big, mobile defenders, and he fits the bill as a 6-foot-5 25-year-old. Jones, meanwhile, was once a notable prospect, but he has been a healthy scratch since just before Christmas. It feels inevitable that at least one of them will be traded. But it’s not out of the realm of possibility that we could see the Rangers enter the playoff push with a reinvented blueline.

4. Montreal Canadiens

Trade Candidates: Jake Evans (C), David Savard (D), Josh Anderson (LW), Michael Matheson (D)
Pending UFAs: Joel Armia (RW), Christian Dvorak (LW), Michael Pazzetta (LW)
Projected Salary Cap Space: $-3,030,706
2025 Draft Picks: 1/1/2/2/3/3/3/4/4/5/6/7

January was an exciting month for the Habs – they legitimately looked like a playoff-caliber team. But they’re in the midst of a four-game losing streak and just look a little lost at points, and they’re suddenly back in the draft lottery race for the first time since early December.

The Canadiens don’t have a top-end center or winger at their disposal, but they have quantity. Evans is having a career year for Montreal and could fetch a nice return for a team needing a smart, skilled bottom-six center. Savard is a no-nonsense defender, and while his best days are way behind him, he’s still a great fit for a team looking for a shot-blocking, third-pairing veteran. Matheson has another year on his deal, and while he isn’t going to come close to the 62 points he registered a year ago, he is still Montreal’s time-on-ice leader – that type of experience could prove handy. Maybe Montreal capitalizes on Armia’s rebound season, too. So, while they’re unlikely to get a haul for one of these guys, they can easily flip a few assets and turn them into long-term solutions.

3. New York Islanders

Trade Candidates: Brock Nelson (C), Kyle Palmieri (RW), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (C)
Pending UFAs: Matt Martin (LW), Hudson Fasching (RW), Mike Reilly (D), Tony DeAngelo (D), Dennis Cholowski (D), Jakub Skarek (G)
Projected Salary Cap Space: $-3,907,202
2025 Draft Picks: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7

Under GM Lou Lamoriello’s leadership, the Islanders have qualified for the Conference Final twice. But that core group has either moved on or just aged to the point where they’re not as dangerous as they once were. The Islanders probably won’t get back to contending again until a new GM comes in – but for now, it’s Lou’s show, and it’s up to him to either blow things up and get back on the right track or commit to mediocrity.

The Islanders have been playing better recently, but selling should still be the goal here. Nelson is one of the top trade targets in the NHL this year. Expect many teams to push for the pending UFA. Palmieri is also set to become a free agent, and at nearly 34, he doesn’t seem to fit the team’s contention window. He should bring in a number of suitors, though, given he’s on pace for a second straight 50-point season. Pageau is a productive third-line center, good for around 40 points a year. He’s also signed until the end of 2025-26, so he can be more than a rental, too. None of the other pending UFAs will likely give them much of a return. But after signing DeAngelo and trading for Scott Perunovich, they actually have quite a bit of defensive depth.

2. Buffalo Sabres

Trade Candidates: Dylan Cozens (C), Jack Quinn (RW), Bowen Byram (D)
Pending UFAs: Jason Zucker (LW), Jordan Greenway (LW), Nicolas Aube-Kubel (RW), Henri Jokiharju (D), Jacob Bryson (D), Dennis Gilbert (D), James Reimer (G)
Projected Salary Cap Space: $6,145,279
2025 Draft Picks: 1/3/4/5/6/6/7

For the sake of the fanbase, the Sabres need to get out of the rebuild sooner rather than later. But that’s not happening this season – not even a little bit. Calling this season a disappointment would be the understatement of the century – this was a team many expected to put up a fight in the playoff hunt. Instead, a handful of the team’s top young players could be on the way out, including Cozens, who is signed until 2030.

Cozens hasn’t lived up to his 68-point breakout season from two years ago, which helped him earn his expensive deal. The Yukon native had just 47 points last year and is on pace for just 42 this time around. The 23-year-old Quinn is on track for just 33 points as he sits 10th in team scoring, far below expectations. Byram, meanwhile, is having the best campaign of his career, but as a 23-year-old pending RFA finding his stride, he could bring back an incredible return on the trade market. In a best-case scenario, the three would be a big part of the team’s future. But right now, it just doesn’t seem likely.

1. Vancouver Canucks

Trade Candidates: Elias Pettersson (C), J.T. Miller (C)
Pending UFAs: Brock Boeser (RW), Pius Suter (LW), Phillip Di Giuseppe (LW), Derek Forbort (D), Noah Juulsen (D), Kevin Lankinen (G)
Projected Salary Cap Space: $1,239,746
2025 Draft Picks: 1/2/4/5/6/7

Sorry, Canucks fans. It’s going to be a chaotic next few weeks, no matter what happens. It’s never a good sign when your GM publicly says there’s “no good solution” in keeping your top two forwards around despite signing them to long-term deals not too long ago. At some point, the team will move on from one of either Pettersson or Miller, but there’s no way they’re going to get equal value for either of them.

At this point, plenty of trade avenues are on the table beyond EP40 and JTM9. Boeser is a pending UFA and has had his name thrown around in recent weeks. At this point, pretty much everything needs to in play for the Canucks as they bounce around the Pacific Division standings. At the team’s best, they’ve got the ability to make some serious noise. But between injuries and the reported riff inside the dressing room, the Canucks might be better off shipping key pieces out and starting fresh.

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