10 NHL trade deadline candidates

With the NHL's trade deadline less than a month away, the trading season is officially here and we have already seen a couple of major moves.

There will definitely be more — perhaps one or two that could significantly alter the 2018-19 season for several teams.

Contenders are trying to find the final piece to their rosters, teams on the outside of the playoff picture are looking to get what they can for the future, and there is even one situation in which one of the league's best offensive players on one of its better teams could be a player on the move. It is going to be a fascinating four weeks around the NHL for trades.

Here we will take a look at all of that and more with a focus on 10 players who are trade candidates over the next month.

1. Artemi Panarin, Columbus Blue Jackets

Under normal situations this would not be an option because of how good Panarin is and where the Blue Jackets are in the standings. He is their best player and one of the top offensive players in the league, and they are a playoff team fighting for the top spot in their division. But Panarin informed the Blue Jackets in late January that he will only be willing to discuss his future with the team after the season when he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency. That almost certainly means he is intending to test the open market. That means the Blue Jackets have to explore all options, up to and including a trade. The problem is that trading their best player sends a horrible message to fans that they are punting on this season, because it is going to be nearly impossible to get equal value in return. Either way, he is almost certainly available and would be the top potential trade target on the market. Having said that, the best move for the Blue Jackets is to keep him, perhaps try to add around him and take one more run at it with him.

2. Micheal Ferland, Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are in a tough spot — right on the playoff bubble in the Eastern Conference but probably far enough away that it is not worth being buyers. They did add Nino Niederreiter from the Minnesota Wild, but that trade only made sense because of his contract status that has him signed for several more seasons. Ferland is a free agent after this season and is in line for a pretty significant raise that the Hurricanes may not want to pay. He is a good player but probably one who has the potential to be overpaid under the salary cap. A trade seems likely, and he will absolutely help a contender through the stretch run.

3. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets

This is another tough situation for the Blue Jackets with a pending free agent who is probably not going to re-sign with them after the season. The intriguing thing is that with the way Bobrovsky has played this season, they could probably stand to get an upgrade in goal. They have managed to remain in the division race despite their starting goalie having one of the worst seasons of his career. It is terrible timing for the Blue Jackets to have a really good team in a season where the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals have taken steps back, but also to be in a position where they might need to consider trading their two best players.

4. Matt Duchene, Ottawa Senators

The entire Matt Duchene experience for the Senators has turned out to be a disaster. They acquired him with the hope that he could be the missing piece to put a team that was in double overtime of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final with the eventual back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins over the top. Duchene has been good since the trade, but everything around the Senators collapsed almost immediately and they started a huge rebuild that has them near the bottom of the league. Even worse, their 2019 first-round pick (who would be the No. 1 overall pick!) now belongs to the Colorado Avalanche as part of the trade. Duchene's contract expires after this season and while the Senators need to pay somebody to reach the salary floor and might like to re-sign him, a trade still seems like the likely outcome here.

5. Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators

With Erik Karlsson now playing in San Jose, Stone has been the new face of the franchise and its best player. But like Duchene, he is also an unrestricted free agent after this season. It might make more sense for the Senators to make a push to re-sign him instead of Duchene simply because Stone is the better player and because he is two years younger. But if you're Mark Stone and see unrestricted free agency staring you in the face, a situation where you could be one of the top players available and have the chance to join a winning team, why wouldn't you take a look at that option instead of re-signing with a team that is starting a massive rebuild? The name of the game for the Senators now is stockpiling future assets and looking ahead. Trading Duchene and Stone is probably the option here.

6. Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia Flyers

New general manager Chuck Fletcher has some huge decisions to make regarding the future of the Philadelphia Flyers, from finding a new permanent head coach to deciding whether to rebuild or retool the roster. One move that seems to be a given is trading pending free agent Wayne Simmonds. His play and production have declined a bit, but he can still be a good net-front presence on a contending team's power play. He is the type of physical, power forward who every general manager wants to have on a team come playoff time.

7. Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers

The Rangers' rebuild has been underway for more than a year now and has seen them deal a number of prominent players, from Derek Stepan, to Ryan McDonagh, to J.T. Miller. There will be more this season, as Kevin Hayes and perhaps even Pavel Buchnevich could be shipped away before the trade deadline. The biggest name, though, and perhaps the toughest one for Rangers fans to swallow, is Mats Zuccarello. At 31 and a free agent after this season, he probably does not fit into the long-term plan and would be the Rangers' most marketable trade chip. He has been an excellent player since arriving in New York and one of the heart-and-soul players over the past six years. But that time seems to have come to an end for the two sides.

 8. Gustav Nyquist, Detroit Red Wings

Ken Holland finally started the long overdue rebuild in Detroit last season and stockpiled a ton of draft picks. With the Red Wings headed for their third consecutive non-playoff season, you can be sure that is going to continue and Holland has no shortage of players to deal. Thomas Vanek, Jimmy Howard, Niklas Kronwall and Mike Green are all trade possibilities, as is forward Gustav Nyquist. Nyquist is a free agent after the season and has been close to a point-per-game player this season. He carries a perfectly reasonable cap hit the rest of the way for what he provides. It would be a great way for the Red Wings to add more draft picks to a cupboard that already has 11 for the 2019 class.

9. Alec Martinez, Los Angeles Kings

The Kings started their retooling by trading Jake Muzzin to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It will only be the beginning of the trades. The problem for the Kings is that players they might want to trade are not attractive to other teams around the league due to their contracts — some albatross deals on this roster for players who are 30 or older. One of their best trade chips might be defender Alec Martinez. He has been one of their steadiest defenders this season and is still under contract beyond this season, so he would not be a rental for any team that acquired him. There is no reason to think they could not get a return similar to the one Muzzin brought them — a first-round draft pick and a prospect or two.

10. Andre Burakovsky, Washington Capitals

This just seems like a situation where a player needs a fresh start and a change of scenery to get his career back on track. Burakovsky has never really taken a step forward for the Capitals and has had his name mentioned in trade speculation for a few months now. One option for the Capitals would be to flip him for a couple of draft picks and then use them to find some additional help in their quest for a repeat championship. Burakovsky is still only 23 years old and is extremely talented, so there will no doubt be a number of teams willing to take a chance on him. It has simply not come together for him and the Capitals, so at some point it's time to move on.