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Whether your favorite NHL team is a Stanley Cup contender, a fringe playoff club or a rebuilding bottom-feeder, you can be sure its general manager is working the phones in advance of the NHL trade deadline.
Most teams will make some sort of a deal between now and the March 3 trade deadline, and they all have a player or prospect who is going to be their best asset to dangle.
For contenders, it will be a top prospect or young NHL player. For the rebuilding teams or teams looking ahead to next season, it will be veterans who might be in the final year of a contract.
No matter the situation, let’s take a look at every team’s top trade chip ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
Anaheim Ducks: Adam Henrique
Pending unrestricted free agent John Klingberg is the player most likely to be dealt out of Anaheim . But how good of a trade chip is he going to be? Every team in the NHL had a chance to sign him in free agency and passed on it until the Ducksagreed to a one-year, $7 million deal, and Klingberg has followed that up with a very down year.
The Ducks should get something for him, but it won’t be a ton.
And they certainly are not going to trade young core players like Trevor Zegras or Troy Terry.
That means a veteran like Adam Henrique might be the best asset they could dangle. Henrique still has term beyond this season on his contract, which carries a reasonable $5.825 million cap hit, and he is still very productive. Over the past two years he has scored 29 goals per 82 games, he plays a premium position and he might even have more to give with better offensive players around him.
The Ducks are not going anywhere this season, and Henrique probably does not fit into the team’s long-term outlook beyond next season. This might be a good team to cash in and get something back.
Arizona Coyotes: Jakob Chychrun
The Coyotes figure to be big-time sellers, and they have a few intriguing pieces. Shayne Gostisbehere seemed like the most likely trade candidate, but his recent injury might hurt that cause with him potentially not back before the deadline.
Even if he does move, the best trade chip here has been—and will continue to be—fellow defenseman Jakob Chychrun.
Chychrun has been mentioned in trade rumors and speculation for more than a year now, and it only seems to be a matter of when, not if, he gets moved.
He is a very good player, but maybe a little overrated based on that big season a couple of years ago when he scored 18 goals in 56 games. Still, he is 24 years old, he has the size NHL GMs love in a defenseman and he also has the benefit of having a wildly team-friendly contract with a $4.6 million cap hit for another two full seasons.
Arizona could easily get a first-round pick, a top prospect and maybe another asset for him. That sort of return could really help the rebuild.
Boston Bruins: Fabian Lysell
The Bruins are the NHL’s best team, and they should absolutely be buyers. Not only because they look like legit Stanley Cup contenders, but there is no telling what their future will look like after this season with Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and David Pastrnak all playing on expiring contracts.
Will Pastrnak re-sign? Will Bergeron and Krejci play another year? Who knows!? So you better try to win now while you have the chance.
The Bruins are one of the teams considered likely to be in on Vancouver Canucks forward Bo Horvat, and he will not come cheaply. The Bruins farm system is not particularly deep, but 2021 first-rounder Fabian Lysell should be a very attractive target for a rebuilding team.
And the Bruins should not hesitate to pay that price if it can get them a difference-maker.
Lysell is a good prospect, but he is not so good that it will hurt the inevitable rebuild that has to come in a few years. Banners hang forever. Try everything you can to win them when the opportunity is there.