Seravalli: Trade Deadline War Room – Pacific Division Objectives

The NHL’s 32 War Rooms have been active in the early part of 2022. Most of the initial high-level meetings have been conducted between executives and their pro and amateur scouting staffs, charting a path toward the March 21 trade deadline, which is now less than five weeks away.

Marching orders are being formulated. With insight from team and league sources, here is a look at the top deadline objectives for each of the eight Pacific Division teams:

Anaheim Ducks

Primary Objective: Sign or Trade
Briefing: Pat Verbeek is just two weeks into his tenure as Ducks GM, but the clock is ticking on new contracts for pending UFAs Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson and Rickard Rakell – probably in that order of importance for the organization. Without knowing Verbeek’s opinion of the players, the smart money is probably on Manson and Lindholm re-signing. There’s no easy avenue to replace those two on the Ducks’ backend; Rakell’s responsibilities can be gobbled up by the young guns on the rise in Anaheim. Either way, if Verbeek is given an indication that either blueliner will cost too much or isn’t willing to re-sign, he’ll likely have to make the decision to cut bait at the deadline given their value on the market and what it would mean toward building the future of the franchise. The fun part is in figuring out what type of other ‘hockey trades’ Verbeek might have up his sleeve to put his first stamp on the roster.
Pieces potentially on the move: Rickard Rakell, Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson, Jakob Silfverberg, Jacob Larsson

Calgary Flames

Primary Objective: Defensive depth
Briefing: The red hot Flames checked a big box in adding Tyler Toffoli on Valentine’s Day, fulfilling GM Brad Treliving’s wish for a talented secondary scorer. The best part? Toffoli was basically a pure upgrade. Tyler Pitlick was the only piece pried off the roster in order to make it happen – necessary for salary cap reasons. That Ben Chiarot was originally included in the discussions gives an indication of Calgary’s now primary objective. You can never have too many defensemen, or so the saying goes. The Flames will have just shy of $1 million in salary cap space when deadline day rolls around, so they might have to work with a team on retainment if that is indeed their intention. It sure would be easy, though, if Juuso Valimaki could revert to his old form (pre-knee injury) and be Calgary’s own deadline addition from within.
Pieces potentially on the move: 2022 2nd Round Pick, Dillon Dube

Edmonton Oilers

Primary Objective: Starting goaltender
Secondary Objective: Physical, shutdown defenseman
Briefing: Mike Smith has a chance to flip these objectives around. Over his last three starts, Smith has a .955 save percentage and appears to be rounding into form after an injury-ravaged season. Is his recent run enough to assuage fears that Edmonton’s goaltending doesn’t have the goods? Smith is 39. He’s played a total of 11 games this season, sidelined for two prolonged stretches. His durability is fair to question because Mikko Koskinen has not proven capable of carrying the ball for long. The problem the Oilers have learned as they’ve scoured the goalie market for two months is two-fold: There aren’t enough difference makers available and the acquisition cost is expensive. GM Ken Holland has said he doesn’t envision trading his first-round pick. Short of that, they could really use a physical, shutdown defenseman that would support whoever is in net.
Pieces potentially on the move: Dmitri Samorukov, Tyler Benson, Kailer Yamomoto, Mikko Koskinen

Los Angeles Kings

Primary Objective: Trust the process
Briefing: Time. That’s exactly what the Los Angeles Kings need. They are scratching and clawing for the second wild card spot. They may well make the playoffs this season, as they’ve assimilated a lot of young players to the lineup and learned more about others. Watch how much they missed Mikey Anderson (injury) to understand how big a chunk of the rock their young players have ripped off from veterans. The best part? They’ve got cap space, picks, and plenty more prospects on the way to be involved in transactions that fit their age scheme (Jakob Chychrun?). They may or may not be a big deadline mover or shaker, but they’re heading in the right direction. Quinton Byfield, Arthur Kaliyev, Anderson, Tobias Bjornfot and Sean Durzi will soon be joined by Alex Turcotte, Rasmus Kupari, Samuel Fagemo, Gabe Vilardi, Brandt Clarke and whoever else is ready to break through.
Pieces potentially on the move: Olli Maatta, Andreas Athanasiou

San Jose Sharks

Primary Objective: Cut the cord
Briefing: Acting GM Joe Will recently expressed the Sharks’ desire to keep Tomas Hertl. It’s just that Hertl didn’t sound as eager to stay – which should be just as well for San Jose. They need to cut the cord. The Sharks are on track for their third straight season in lottery territory. They have nearly one-third of next season’s cap tied up in three aging defensemen in Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Erik Karlsson. No one is denying Hertl’s talent or how difficult it would be to adequately replace him in the lineup. But that the Sharks could begin re-stocking their pipeline with the assets acquired would be significant for the future of the franchise. The Sharks haven’t really gotten close to getting it done these last three years with Hertl, there’s little reason to think signing him to a long-term pact at the age of 28 will help them get where they ultimately want to be – which is why their top deadline priority should be in maximizing his return.
Pieces potentially on the move: Tomas Hertl, Andrew Cogliano

Seattle Kraken

Primary Objective: Determine the drivers
Briefing: For the most part, the conversation surrounding the Seattle Kraken and their disappointing inaugural season is centered on their pending UFAs. The more difficult conversation that looms is: Which of the productive players under contract are primary drivers and going to be with us for the long haul? Because if stockpiling picks and assets for the long game is the play, then … should the Kraken also be talking about moving Jordan Eberle or Joonas Donskoi or Carson Soucy? They would be able to get demand an absolute king’s ransom for Jared McCann. Jeremy Lauzon’s availability would deplete Ron Francis’ cell phone battery. There is low-hanging deadline fruit to be harvested, for sure, but if Seattle is truly playing the long game then there may be some bigger names in play.
Pieces potentially on the move: Mark Giordano, Joonas Donskoi, Calle Jarnkrok, Marcus Johansson

Vancouver Canucks

Primary Objective: Create salary cap flexibility
Briefing: Jim Rutherford has made the Canucks’ deadline priority crystal clear: Vancouver needs to find a way to clear salary cap space heading into the offseason. He hinted that it may not be in moving a contract. And, well, Rutherford has already traded Tanner Pearson once. It’s possible to get there by moving out mid-level contracts. But another easy way – particularly if you’re not sold on the player’s performance being commensurate with his pay – would be to move someone like Brock Boeser. New GM Patrik Allvin was noncommital on Boeser’s future with the team in a radio interview on Friday. We’ve reported chatter has increased on him in recent days. They have a decision to make on pending UFA Tyler Motte. They’re going to try to work on Jaroslav Halak to waive his no-move clause. And if a team is willing to step up and pay the price for J.T. Miller, he is a distinct possibility as well. In other words: Buckle up.
Pieces potentially on the move: Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, Luke Schenn, Tanner Pearson, Tyler Motte, Jaroslav Halak

Vegas Golden Knights

Primary Objective: Starting goaltender
Briefing: GM Kelly McCrimmon flatly denied our report that the Golden Knights expressed interest in a potential reunion with Marc-Andre Fleury. We did not see McCrimmon deny anywhere the other part of that report, that goaltender Robin Lehner has a torn labrum in his shoulder – the same one that previously required surgery in Oct. 2020. While coach Peter DeBoer has said publicly the hope is Lehner won’t be out long – and he can potentially battle through it – the truth is Lehner definitely won’t be at 100 percent for the remainder of this season. Vegas goaltending already ranked 22nd in the league in save percentage. So whether it is Fleury, Alexandar Georgiev, or one of the other netminders on the market, including Joonas Korpisalo or Braden Holtby, the Golden Knights have work to do in the crease. On a roster overloaded (on the cap) with talent, it’s a bit ironic that what might hold the Knights back on their quest for hockey’s holy grail is the position where they traded away the person crowned best last season.
Pieces potentially on the move: Reilly Smith, Evgeni Dadonov, Jonathan Marchessault

Previously: Atlantic Division, Metropolitan Division and Central Division.