Peters: Prospects, young players to watch as NHL trade deadline nears

As the trade deadline approaches, teams are constantly assessing what it’s going to take to land that key piece to help them be better positioned to contend now. In some cases, the best assets to trade are draft picks.

However, prospects and/or young players already on NHL rosters can be valuable commodities as well, especially for teams that need pieces that can contribute in a more direct way right now.

With the deadline just weeks away, I wanted to take a look at teams with some of the more intriguing assets that rebuilding teams or deadline sellers could covet.

I also wanted to examine some of the young NHL players still early in their careers who have become part of the trade talk. Some of them could benefit from changes of scenery, while others still have plenty of value to be mined.

This is also the time of year where teams get nervous, though, too. No one wants to be the GM that traded away a future star for a rental or a player that doesn’t end up helping as much as they had hoped. So deals involving any of the players listed below are no sure thing as GMs remain reluctant to be the next guy to pull a Filip Forsberg-for-Martin Erat type of deal.

Owen Tippett, RW, Florida Panthers: There has been growing chatter about Tippett potentially being moved. It probably would benefit him and the Panthers. He’s been through three different coaching staffs essentially and hasn’t quite found a regular role with the team. He is currently in the AHL and getting back to scoring with six points in six games since being sent down last.

Tippett has a lot of tools that suggest he could be a higher-end scorer than he has been. There’s good hand skills, a high-end shot and he plays with good jump. It just hasn’t clicked all the way at the NHL level. With him not really finding a spot, an NHL team could potentially buy low on him and give him the right situation to spark his offensive upside. It seems like things have run their course in Florida.

Filip Zadina, RW, Detroit Red Wings: When Frank Seravalli listed Zadina in a recent Trade Targets list, it raised my eyebrows even though it made sense. At 22 years old, he’s still a developing player. The question is, will he continue to develop as he gets pushed down the lineup and sees his minutes limited.

Given Zadina was a top-10 pick, Detroit would be selling low on him, but I think that’s where an opportunity exists for a team that has some veteran talent and some play-driving centers to give him a look. I still believe Zadina has the skill level to be a middle-six scoring depth piece and would be worth the gamble if it doesn’t cost too much.

Brandon Hagel, LW, Chicago Blackhawks: Hagel is one of the biggest “Will they? Won’t they?” young players in the trade deadline chatter. Frank had him listed No. 4 on his most recent Trade Targets board, and I thought I’d offer a little more insight into his game.

Hagel was signed as a free agent out of Red Deer after he went unsigned by the Buffalo Sabres who drafted him in 2016, and he’s been on a bit of a journey ever since. He’s now on pace for 26 goals and has become a valuable middle-six forward for a struggling Chicago team. And the best thing about him is that he’s producing at that level on a $1.5-million cap hit with two more years after this one.

The Blackhawks appear reluctant to deal Hagel but, as they are in a rebuilding mode, it’s hard to see his value increasing a ton in the coming years. There’s no doubt he has versatility, some grit and that scoring ability that teams should desire. However, I understand Chicago’s reluctance. If it were to get a first-round pick, as has been rumored in offers for him, it is likely a late first-rounder in a draft that’s really only OK beyond the lottery this year. That said, Chicago has precious few assets that can command outsized returns. If Hagel is not part of the team’s core moving forward, he’s the kind of player you sell high on and don’t look back. I’m just not convinced he’s going to gain any more value than he has right now.

Jack McBain, C, Minnesota Wild: According to multiple reports and through some of my own sources, McBain is not expected to sign with Minnesota. He is four years past his NHL draft and will be eligible to be a free agent this summer. However, McBain – who is currently a senior at Boston College and recently went to the Olympics with Canada – could be willing to sign if the right team acquired his rights, and it sounds like the Wild could be ready to make that deal.

McBain is a big forward who has really broken out this season with 29 points in 22 games for BC. He’s got some power-forward elements and this year really found his goal-scoring touch. It’s been a slow build for McBain, who was at one point a projected first-rounder for the 2018 Draft but underperformed and slipped to the third round.

Up until this year, I wondered if Minnesota would even want to use a contract on him because he hadn’t shown a ton of progression in his time there. But that was before he really blew up this season and started to look more like a pro-caliber player. His skating, physicality and nose for the net all look vastly improved now to the point where he could be a solid bottom-six, scoring depth option for a team. It sounds like there is a lot of interest in him and Minnesota likely would be able to grab a conditional draft pick for him so it won’t lose him for nothing.

New York Rangers prospects

The Rangers have executed a rebuild in such a way that they’ve become a playoff team in short order, but still have a war chest of a prospect system full of players that are solid future pieces for the Rangers or extremely valuable trade chips, including their first-round draft pick.

They’re particularly settled on the right side of their defense for the next several years. Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba are locked down long term and Braden Schneider has shown tremendous promise that he could be the heir to Trouba’s spot in the top four down the line.

Suddenly that makes Nils Lundkvist look a little more expendable, but he’s not the kind of prospect you just give away. Lundkvist’s first foray in the NHL has not been amazing, but he’s starting to get the hang of things in the American Hockey League. He twice had 30-plus points in the Swedish League before coming over. He is a gifted offensive defenseman with upside as he’s still learning the North American game a bit.

The Rangers also have Vitali Kravtsov under contract, though he is currently on loan to Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL. He will be an RFA after this season, but it is believed he wants to come back for a shot at the NHL. His value is middling right now, though.

Kravtsov has finally returned to the Chelyabinsk lineup after nearly two months without games. He had three points in four playoff games and is playing top-six minutes. It’s been known for months that Kravtsov wants to be dealt, but the market appears softer. Still, he’s an option as a potential throw-in with other pieces for the right deal.

The Rangers have a lot of other prospects they could use as chips, though it would stand to reason Schneider, Brennan Othmann and perhaps Zac Jones would all be players near impossible to pry away from New York at this point. Will Cuylle, a big power winger currently playing for the Windsor Spitfires, is another one that likely would be hard to acquire, but if the Rangers are serious enough about contending, he could be a valuable piece.

Los Angeles Kings prospect pool

When you talk about surplus, it’s hard not to look at what the Kings have built with wide eyes. They’re competing a little bit earlier than I think most expected them to and looking like they can crack the post-season. I don’t anticipate they’ll be especially aggressive about picking apart the carefully crafted and well-stocked prospect system they have put together in order to make a run this year at some of the flashier options.

They still have their first-round pick, which I think would be easier to part with given the many young players they already don’t have enough spots for in the NHL. That’s the thing about prospects. You can build up your system as big as you like, but the chances of every single one of them making your team is fairly low – unless we’re in a year like this one, where COVID-related call-ups lead to a ton of different transactions.

They are loaded up with right-shot defensemen in their system. Helge Grans and Jordan Spence are young guys playing very, very well in the AHL. Grans is just 19 and holding his own in his first North American pro season. Spence is averaging nearly a point per game from the back end at just 21 years old. They also have Brock Faber coming up from the University of Minnesota in the near future. He was Team USA’s No. 1 defenseman during the Olympics and looks like he could be a long-time staple of the Kings’ blueline. All three of those guys would be hard to deal, and I would think Faber is close to untouchable, but there are options and teams love their right-shot defensemen.

The Kings also have a lot of exciting young forwards in their mix that they may not end up having room for in the next few years. Tyler Madden, acquired in the Tyler Toffoli trade with Vancouver, is really taking off this season and is highly skilled. Meanwhile, Gabe Vilardi is currently down in the AHL and dominating at that level but could benefit from a change of scenery.

I wouldn’t term Vilardi as likely to be dealt, but he’s a player that NHL teams should be inquiring about as he is a 6-foot-3, right-shot center who has NHL experience already and is finding his offensive touch once again in the AHL. There might be a clearer path to the NHL for him elsewhere and I could see a lot of teams in a rebuild phase trying to get him in their mix.

Carolina Hurricanes prospect pool

The Hurricanes may not have to do anything to their roster at the deadline, but if they choose to, they’ve built up a pretty solid prospect system with robust options for teams that could be looking to deal.

Unlike the Kings and Rangers, there aren’t a litany of former first-rounders to choose from. The Hurricanes have had a lot of success finding some gems in the middle rounds that are starting to develop into higher-level prospects. And they have an awful lot of those kinds of players.

One such player that prop scouts have been keeping an eye on is Jack Drury, who has 37 points in 48 games for the Chicago Wolves in the AHL. These last three years, he’s developed into a solid offensive performer who comes with a tenacious style of play. He’s developed so well that Carolina may not want to part with him as he should figure into its plans in the near future.

The Hurricanes don’t have their first-round pick for this season, which is why they may have to dip into their prospect pool. Former first-rounder Ryan Suzuki has dealt with injury issues in his young career, but comes as a highly skilled, highly regarded player who is back in the Chicago Wolves’ lineup. Jamieson Rees, who has not produced a ton in the AHL, has a lot of fans in the scouting community for his quick, gritty play. Those are the types of players that should have higher value if the Hurricanes feel the need to make a move.