Don’t do it: Which players should teams reconsider trading before the deadline?
With less than a month until the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline on March 7, we’re delivering at least one deadline-focused story every day at Daily Faceoff.
Today, we pump the brakes on a few popular trade candidates and urge their teams to reconsider dealing them.
2025 NHL Trade Deadline Countdown: 27 days
This time of year, so much ink and airtime go toward hyping up potential trade candidates leading up to the deadline. But as the old adage goes, sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make.
With that, Roundtable: Which talked-about trade candidate do you think it would be a big mistake to move?
MATT LARKIN: What do Quinn Hughes, Zach Werenski, Owen Power, Rasmus Dahlin, Cale Makar and Brandt Clarke have in common? They are the only six defensemen averaging more 5-on-5 points per 60 than Jake Walman this season. The Detrot Red Wings attached a second-round pick just for the San Jose Sharks to take him in exchange for nothing last summer. Now, he’s popping up as a trade candidate for San Jose to sell off as it tanks for another lottery pick. But why? He’s 28. He’s under team control another year. He blocks shots. He plays almost 23 minutes a night. He brings an infectious personality to the dressing room. Don’t you just need another Walman if you trade him away? If I’m the Sharks, I’m at least waiting until next year when he’s a pending UFA to see how he fits into the team’s plans. You can’t just hand all the blueline duties over to the prospects.
PAUL PIDUTTI: Everyone recognizes Buffalo can’t trot out the same roster next year and hope that incremental gains among its young talent will launch them 20 points up the standings. But Bowen Byram shouldn’t be part of the exits in their latest retool. He’s been a fixture playing the right side beside present and future No. 1 Rasmus Dahlin in a pairing that has worked well together. He’s contributing offensively and holding his own defensively, he’s 23 years old, he won a Stanley Cup already, and he’s team-controlled until 2028. While this all makes him attractive to other teams, if these are the types of players that the Sabres are walking away from, when do they start, you know, retaining solid, team-controlled players? Shocking as it may sound, it’s been hard to see or measure a difference in impact between Byram and Owen Power (22 years old, $8.35 Million AAV). While Byram may land Buffalo a good haul at the deadline or in the off-season, the Sabres may regret it in both the short and long-term.
SCOTT MAXWELL: I’m going to follow a similar path to Paul, but pick a different position. I can at least see the Sabres moving on from Byram because they have two high-end left-shot defensemen already, but considering the Sabres’ history, it feels like moving on from Dylan Cozens is a regret waiting to happen, no matter how much he’s underperformed since signing his new contract. Considering how many players have left the stink of Buffalo to greener pastures and not only improved, but found championship success (looking at Ryan O’Reilly, Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour here in particular), it really does feel like Cozens will become a high-end player with a new team, all while the Sabres are selling him at his lowest. Yes, it feels like there’s no solution to the Sabres’ problems at this point, but do you know who was one of those teams last year? The Ottawa Senators, so much to the point where I even made the argument that they should have bought out Josh Norris, and look at them now. A lot still hinges on if Tage Thompson can consistently find his form, but I think if he does, and the Sabres have a smart summer, they could be closer than you think.
STEVEN ELLIS: Every team wants a guy like K’Andre Miller, and the New York Rangers should, too. He’s 6-foot-5 and moves so well, but he’s having an off year. His value can’t be good right now, but as a pending RFA, they can use his weaker season as leverage to get a more favorable deal. Of all the potential Rangers trade chips, it feels like Miller is the one you’d want to keep the most because you can’t teach size (yeah, I hate that cliche, too, but it works sometimes) and if Ryan Lindgren doesn’t stick around, Miller could be primed for more time.
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