Five potential unsung heroes of the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline
With the halfway point of the season in the rearview for all 32 NHL teams, the countdown to the 2025 Trade Deadline is well underway, and Daily Faceoff will continue to publish daily related stories until GMs have to put their phones down at 3:00 p.m. ET March 7.
Today, that means checking out the under-the-radar trade candidates who can shift the league’s balance of power this spring.
2024 NHL Trade Deadline Countdown: 52 days
As exciting as it is to envision Dylan Cozens or even Elias Pettersson joining up with one of the league’s elite teams, Stanley Cup winners don’t often rock the boat to that extent, not in the last decade.
Typically, deadline activity for future champs entails lowkey additions that pay dividends come playoff time, many of whom make their living further down the depth chart. As contenders look to add versatility, toughness, and responsibility to the lower rungs of their lineups in 2025, these five players could make bigger impacts than some of the top names on the Trade Targets Board.
Ryan Donato, Chicago Blackhawks
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 190 lbs
Age: 28
Contract: $2 million through 2024-25
Trade Clause: none
Two offseasons ago, the Blackhawks rolled the dice on Donato as a player who at worst was good for 25 down-lineup points and at best could prove he’s a functional top-nine NHLer. In a rare successful veteran signing for Chicago, the latter scenario has played out: Donato has 13 goals and 24 points in 41 games and is set to blow away his career highs in 2024-25.
The Bostonian would be an unconventional depth addition because he relies heavily on scoring, and he wasn’t doing that at a terribly relevant clip before this season. He’s not a penalty killer like or even a particularly adept faceoff taker (45% this season, a career-high). That said, Donato isn’t so one-dimensional that he’s not worth a look for a club in the playoff hunt; he doesn’t shy away from the physical aspect of the game, has decent size, and even has a few fights under his belt in recent seasons.
Donato knows he won’t always enjoy the career-high minutes (14:50 ATOI) and power-play time he’s gotten in the Windy City. In the player’s own words, “[whether] you’re first-line left wing or fourth-line center… it doesn’t really matter. You just have to make the right plays at the right time, be responsible.” With that attitude, Donato’s scoring pop and ability to slide up the lineup in a pinch could make him an asset on a playoff team, even if only on a rental basis.
Brian Dumoulin, Anaheim Ducks
Height: 6’4
Weight: 207 lbs
Age: 32
Contract: $3.15 million through 2024-25
Trade Clause: 10-team no-trade list
Like teammates Radko Gudas and Jacob Trouba, 33-year-old D-man Dumoulin is a gutsy, veteran player who soaks up tough matchups as youngsters Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger develop on the blueline. Dumoulin has held up his end of the bargain, providing break-even metrics beside both Zellweger and Mintyukov while leading the team in total ice time.
Brian Dumoulin is known as a "meat and potatoes" d-man, but he's shown a surprising amount of deception this year, especially when retrieving pucks to spark breakouts
Layering that into his textbook defensive habits has made him a top pair D for most of his career#FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/SfWaKn0kMT
The problem for Dumoulin is that, even after trading Cam Fowler to St. Louis, the Ducks have a logjam on the left side of their defense. LaCombe (20 P, +3 in 36 GP) is the top dog, and coach Greg Cronin’s preference for traditional lefty-righty pairings only leaves one spot behind Dumoulin.
“I don’t really want to lose that chemistry,” Cronin said last week. “You have [Mintyukov] and [Zellweger] battling for ice time, and I think that’s a healthy thing.” It’s not hard to tell who the real odd man out is.
The Ducks have every reason to get some value out of Dumoulin. The market for lefties could get very thin very fast if Ivan Provorov decides to stay put in Columbus; that could lead to an inflated price for the former Penguin. There’s no glamor to his game (25 G in 669 career GP), but Dumoulin is an excellent bottom-pair guy or low-end fourth defenseman depending on his deployment. His defensive commitment and Stanley Cup pedigree would make him a fit on any playoff roster.
Scott Laughton, Philadelphia Flyers
Height: 6′1
Weight: 191 lbs
Age: 30
Contract: $3 million through 2025-26
Trade Clause: None
If Laughton changes hands via a trade, he’ll doubtlessly be the most expensive player on this list. The Flyers’ regime is huge on culture, and no one has a bigger voice in their close-knit locker room than Laughton save for coach John Tortorella. That’s important to GM Danny Briere, who admitted after last year’s deadline that he wouldn’t “trade [Laughton] for fair value because … the intangibles that he brings in the locker room are something that has no price.”
Is it really worth going above the market rate for a player averaging under 15 minutes of ice time? Probably. We saw the Tampa Bay Lightning move heaven and earth to land similar cost-controlled, versatile players in Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow in 2020. Two Stanley Cups later, it’s safe to say that worked out OK. Aside from all the mushy intangibles talk, Laughton is comfortable on the left wing and at center, leads Flyers’ forwards in shorthanded ice time and has shared a line with everyone from Garnet Hathaway to Matvei Michkov.
As a new trade deadline approaches, the Flyers continue to reiterate the crafty vet is not for sale, but how much of that is bluster to boost his trade value? Briere would certainly have accepted a first-rounder for the 30-year-old’s services last season, but no one bit. Now, Laughton is on pace to match his career-high in points (43) despite inconsistent use. It’d be a shock if a contender doesn’t call the Flyers with an offer they can’t refuse.
David Savard, Montreal Canadiens
Height: 6′1
Weight: 235 lbs
Age: 34
Contract: $3.5 million through 2024-25
Trade Clause: None
Canadiens fans weren’t always thrilled at the idea of dealing Savard in the last year of his contract. Sure, Savard’s Stanley Cup ring and blood-and-guts style would make him a coveted asset on a playoff team, but is a mid-round pick worth losing a leader who’s shown unparalleled commitment to the club? And besides, who would take Savard’s place as Lane Hutson’s partner and on-ice mentor?
Then, the Canadiens pulled the trigger on the Alexandre Carrier trade, and the thought of shedding Savard suddenly became considerably more palatable. Savard’s junior by six years, the feisty Carrier has taken the former Blue Jacket’s spot in the top four while providing a bit more offense (5 A in 11 GP for MTL) than the 34-year-old is capable of at this stage in his career. Hutson, meanwhile, has taken off in a slightly unconventional pairing with fellow puck-mover Mike Matheson; the Canadiens’ new top unit controls 54.29% of expected goals at 5-on-5.
Savard’s days as a 20-minute man are through, but his elite shot blocking (2.58 blocks per game, fourth in the NHL) and simple game should make him an asset in the sort of bottom-pair role he occupied during Tampa’s 2021 Cup run. His reward for several years of wandering in the desert with his hometown team could be a chance at another championship.
Brandon Tanev, Seattle Kraken
Height: 6’0
Weight: 189 lbs
Age: 33
Contract: $3.5 million through 2024-25
Trade Clause: 10-team no-trade list
The Kraken are in free fall during Year 4, and their habit of stocking up on decent middle-six players without any superstar linchpins has created a roster worth less than the sum of its parts. Seattle trails the rebuilding Ducks in the Pacific Division despite having played more games, and it seems GM Ron Francis might have to sell everything that isn’t bolted down to protect his job.
That makes ole ‘Turbo’ expendable, and there will be suitors for the veteran’s services. Tanev’s scoring touch has gone cold since a 35-point mirage in 2022-23, but his speed remains a major asset even as he wades into his 30s; he grades in the 90th percentile among wingers per NHL EDGE, and his ability to force turnovers and streak down the ice makes him an asset in transition. A Selke darkhorse in his younger days, Tanev is still averaging more than two hits per game and leading Seattle’s forwards in shorthanded ice time.
Brandon Tanev scores on a breakaway (!!!)
Gorgeous top corner snipe for his second goal of the season. pic.twitter.com/HEdKcg8PUk
— Emerald City Hockey (@EmeraldCityHky) November 9, 2024
The 33-year-old veteran has some control over his destination with a 10-team no-trade list, but any team bidding on his abrasive style and affable locker room presence should be in the playoff hunt and potentially enticing to him. Expect to see Tanev back in the postseason this spring; his (goofy) picture is in the dictionary next to the phrase “playoff-built.”
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