Where every Canadian team stands approaching the NHL Trade deadline
We’re just over one week 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’ll look at seven of the most covered teams in the league, the ones that reside in Canada. After a 4 Nations Face-Off win for the country as a whole, it’s a reminder as to why Canada gets such a spotlight in a sport that was invented and grown in there. But Canadian teams are currently riding a 30-season Stanley Cup drought, and that’s a large reason why they’ll be under the microscope as we get ever-so close to the Trade Deadline.
2025 Trade Deadline Countdown: 9 Days
Calgary Flames
Status: Long-term buyers, unlikely to make a big splash in the present
The Calgary Flames find themselves as the only Canadian team truly in no-man’s land at the Trade Deadline. Preseason expectations had them contending for a lottery spot, and yet they find themselves in the final Wildcard position in the Western Conference as we approach March. The Flames have far exceeded their expectations, thanks in part to some bounce-back seasons from their veterans and their young players taking massive steps, particularly rookie Dustin Wolf.
But even as the Flames compete for a playoff spot, it doesn’t feel like they’re ready to buy at the trade deadline, or even say goodbye to the rebuild. We have already seen them make one move as a buy, that being the deal that brought in Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, but that trade seems to have the rebuild just as much in mind as this season. It feels like if the Flames make any more additions this season, it will be more of that variety.
It also makes it tricky to sell any pending unrestricted free agents. Even if trading a couple players for picks has some long-term benefits, the last thing a playoff team wants to do is send the wrong message to their players by selling at the deadline. There are some sells that the Flames can pull off without encountering that problem, particularly Dan Vladar with how Wolf has been playing, but it does seem that Calgary will mostly be quiet on that front this deadline.
Edmonton Oilers
Status: Buyers
The question with the Edmonton Oilers isn’t whether they will buy, but how much will they be able to buy? Evander Kane’s status to return this season remains up in the air, although Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported on Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live that the Oilers are expected to get a concrete answer by March 1. With a $5.125 million cap hit, Kane missing the rest of the regular season would give them even more room to add and beef up the team for another run at the Stanley Cup after falling one win short last season.
If Kane does end up returning during the regular season, and the Oilers need to keep that cap space open, Edmonton will need to hunt in the bargain bins to add for their playoff run. Whether that looks like a player in the high $1 million or low $2 million like Ryan Donato and Jake Evans, or they are forced to only go after players with six-digit figures like Justin Brazeau or Jack Quinn, their options will be a lot more limited.
But if Kane is out until at least the start of the playoffs, it’s a completely different ball game for the Oilers. They can shore up their blueline with Rasmus Ristolainen or Jamie Oleksiak, or they can possibly try to improve on their goaltending with John Gibson or Karel Vejmelka. Perhaps they can even go for the big fish and bring in a Mikko Rantanen to overload their offense, if the Carolina Hurricanes do choose to move on from him. The world would be Edmonton’s oyster, a dangerous thought when the team as it stands is so close to Cup contention.
Montreal Canadiens
Status: Sellers
The run was fun while it lasted for the Montreal Canadiens. While the Habs briefly threatened to make the playoffs in January, eventually the team cooled off and they’ve settled back into more familiar territory. They’re still only five points out of a playoff spot, so it’s not insurmountable for the team to hang around in the race, but they were already playing over their heads to begin with. The team isn’t quite there yet, but they’ve at least shown what they’re capable of.
The Canadiens now find themselves as sellers once again, and it looks like the players they could move on from are Joel Armia, Jake Evans, David Savard and Josh Anderson, although you also have to wonder what the market may look like for a middle-six center and pending UFA in Christian Dvorak. With these potential sells, the Habs will be able to get a few more picks and prospects out of this deadline to add to a pool of futures that is looking better and better by the year.
If there’s one thing the Canadiens’ brief stretch of good play could change from the normal gameplan, it’s that they could potentially look to add a big name with a long-term outlook on the team, even if it’s a gamble. Whether that’s Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittlestadt or Elias Pettersson, the Habs have the cap space to be flexible to add a player like that and potentially give their lineup a jolt in the long run.
Ottawa Senators
Status: Buyers
The Buffalo Sabres usually steal the spotlight for lengthy playoff droughts, but the Ottawa Senators are currently in their eighth season since their magical run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2017. After a lengthy rebuild featuring many seasons where the young core was close but not close enough, this is finally the year where they are in the hunt and will look to be in the hunt for the entirety of the season. And they’re good enough to do it.
So without question, the Senators are buyers at this year’s Trade deadline. The players, the organization, even the city needs postseason hockey in Ottawa again, so the Senators need to make at least one move to bolster their team down the stretch. They’re good, but far from perfect, and they’ll certainly need an upgrade to their depth up front or on the blueline to really help their chances of making the playoffs.
However, the Senators are currently projected to have just $55,000 in salary cap space at the deadline if you don’t account for Nick Cousins and Jacob Benard-Docker on long-term injured reserve (and that only increases to $1,660,000 if you do include them). That does significantly limit their options in terms of buying unless money is going out the other way. There’s still some solid options in the bargain bin, like Donato, Evans and Brazeau or even a Brandon Tanev, but I wouldn’t expect them to splurge on a Brock Nelson or Rasmus Ristolainen. They should tread carefully with the bigger names anyways, as there’s no sense in giving up any major capital on a rental for a team that isn’t quite a Cup contender yet.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Status: Buyers
The Toronto Maple Leafs have the longest run as “buyers” among any of the Canadian teams, a sentence that would feel very weird to type only 10 years ago. But, the problem has not been making the playoffs with this core, it’s been winning in the playoffs, and the more help they can get, the better. That feels even more apparent this season, as while their goaltending appears to be rock solid, their defensive game has been suspect, and until recently, depth scoring was a major issue.
In a perfect world, the Maple Leafs make the biggest splash that they possibly can with the money that they have to give them the best roster possible and the best chance to win one, two, three, maybe even four rounds in the playoffs. However, history suggests that that will not be the case, as general manager Brad Treliving rarely goes for the big fish at the deadline. The best-case scenario seems to be that the Leafs instead go after a Scott Laughton to shore up their hole at third-line center, a Luke Schenn to shore up their defense, or just bring in anyone from the St. Louis Blues. As of press time, we await an update on defenseman Chris Tanev, who left Tuesday’s game in a sling. The severity of his injury could affect Toronto’s cap situation one way or another.
The one factor that could spark some chaos in the Leafs’ deadline plans is the looming contract status of Mitch Marner. It’s possible that he may decide to test free agency, so with the precedent of the Rantanen trade already set, maybe the Leafs pivot for a quick replacement? Heck, Rantanen himself is on the market again. However, the Leafs seem set on riding things out with Marner and hoping that’ll eventually sign with the team.
Vancouver Canucks
Status: Sel-…buyers?
The Vancouver Canucks are easily the toughest team to read heading into the Trade deadline. They’re only one point behind the final Wildcard spot in the West and are one season removed from winning the Pacific Division and looking like a team poised to be a contender for years to come. And yet, chaos has found a home in Vancouver, with the much-publicized feud between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson causing the former to be traded, and now after a month of continued struggles, the latter may be out the door by March 7 as well.
So on one hand, the Canucks should be buyers given where they are in the standings. They are in a good position to make the playoffs, and while they did move on from Miller, they did buy with some of the assets to acquire Marcus Pettersson from the Pittsburgh Penguins to shore up their blueline. But now with Elias Pettersson back in trade rumours, you have to wonder what Vancouver will look like if they’re forced to gut their center depth, especially since they traded or will be trading two elite centermen for pennies on the dollar.
And after that’s happened, what do the Canucks do? Do they use more assets to plug the holes at center with a short-term option like Nelson or a long-term gamble like Cozens? Or, with Brock Boeser also lurking around in the rumour mill and not close to re-signing with Vancouver, do the Canucks just opt to blow up the whole group? And where do they draw the line for blowing it up at: Pettersson and Boeser? Thatcher Demko’s future in Vancouver’s net is also cloudy after the big extension to Kevin Lankinen. There seem to be more questions than answers in Vancouver right now, and it feels like we won’t truly know the answers until the summer.
Winnipeg Jets
Status: Buyers
While the Canucks are a confusing case to figure out their trade deadline plans as, the Winnipeg Jets are about as easy as it gets. They currently have the best record in the league and have for most of the regular season. They are getting career years from several of their stars and depth players, all wrapped in a bow by another phenomenal season from Connor Hellebuyck. I may be well known for my doubt of the Jets as a legitimate Cup contender, but make no mistake: they should be buyers this season.
The Jets are currently looking to have north of $10 million in salary cap space when the Trade Deadline comes next week, which means that the salary cap will not get in the way for a majority of their transactions, at least to start. Their need for a middle-six center has been well documented, and Nelson’s northern Minnesota roots have made him an easy tie to the Jets, never mind the fact that he’s probably the top center on the market. Should they strike out there, Laughton or even a Cozens or Mittelstadt could make for a solid backup plan.
And depending on how much the Jets spend at center, they might not need to stop there. They could prowl the defensive market and add some depth on their blueline, or even add another offensive depth piece to really bolster their lineup that is already clicking at a high level. Even if they do run out of cap space, there’s potential money to move out in an underutilized Alex Iafallo to make even more room. The Jets are not going to get another season quite like this, so they might as well make the most of it.
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